busy may

We have had such a busy month of May! I certainly haven't photographed everything we've been up to, but here are a few pictures of this month! Natalie is amazing! She is 4.5 months old now, and she can actually sit up on her own for about 10 seconds at a time!!!! (And a lot longer when supported by the boppy!) She started eating cereal each evening this week and has been sleeping better too. We are going to try to ween her off of her reflux meds (mostly b/c they are so expensive and she is spitting up a lot less these days---taking her off slowly is the only way to see how she'll do.) She is in the 50 percentile for height, weight, and head now. She loves to stand with help and sit up, but still hates most of her tummy time! :) 

Samantha is doing great too! She is growing taller, smarter, and funnier everyday and is such a joy to be around! She has spent a LOT of time with friends, family, and school lately due to our busy work schedule, so with the exception of a little separation anxiety, she is doing great. (When staying with grandparents one night, she didn't want to go to sleep, and while sitting in bed kept saying in her sweet little voice, "My mommy and daddy will be here soon to get me.") Talk about breaking a parent's heart!

She still loves dancing an singing with Elmo!

For Mother's Day we met my mom's side of the family at a restaurant in Cincinnati.

My grandma is one of my favorite people in the whole world! She has the best sense of humor, is a fabulous writer (I think she should be famous for her writing), and she is the sweetest person. I don't get to see her enough and I always love the time we do share together!

OBVIOUSLY Cincy = IKEA! Just a quick trip for some of the last things we needed to complete the studio!

We had so much fun making Mother's Day gifts for our moms (Sam & Natalie's grandmas)! Sammi enjoyed painting watering cans & Natalie helped a bit too!

Sammi and Natalie both brought gifts home from school/daycare for mommy. I'm the luckiest mama in the world!!!!!

Sammi helped me open the plate she colored for me!

We spent Sunday of Mother's Day weekend in Fort Wayne celebrating with Dan's family. His mom made an amazing dinner for us (yes, she cooked for us on Mother's Day---doesn't seem right, does it?)

My parents' neighborhood threw a "Little 500" party & bike race for all of the grandkids. Grandma Sherman helped Sammi around the "track" three times!

Daddy, Grandpa (Sam calls him Crapa & we all think this is hilarious), and Sis cheer from the sidelines.

Sammi earned a checkered flag and bubbles for finishing!

We love bubbles!

The ice cream truck showed up to hand out free ice cream too! Sammi LOVED this part of the day!

Dan and I spent Memorial Day weekend shooting a wedding and family session in Evansville while the girls stayed in Fort Wayne. We managed to do the 'Tour of Evansville's Finest Eating" while we were there.... Turoni's Pizza...

GD Ritzy's cheeseburgers & fries...

And, the one and only....the BEST donuts you will ever eat...DONUT BANK! (Fun fact...also my first job ever, in which I had to get up at 3am for opening and earned $4.15 per hour!) Needless to say, we ate ourselves sick on this trip.

Sammi's cousins Brad (5) and Ryan (2) celebrated their birthdays in Fort Wayne last week! Samantha LOVES birthday parties and she had a lot of fun! Note the way she is eating her watermelon. She eats pizza this way too, but I can't imagine the watermelon tasted too good this way!

Opening presents! (Note Sammi in this photo.) There seems to be a magnetic connection from her nose to her finger these days! We are trying to break her from it! 

We have also been busy in the studio. We hired a summer graphic design intern from AU who is fantastic. (More on that in our upcoming newsletter.) We have gotten all of our senior stuff complete and on the walls. We've started our high school senior model program and chosen several models from high schools to "earn" their senior photography by referring other seniors to us. Now we are working on our product guides and pricing for families, weddings, baby plans, etc! We hosted a high school senior open house & now are planning our Grand Opening Party. In September we're having a "Mums Night Out" event specifically catering to expecting mamas. 

We have had so much fun with the new studio --even while working 100+ hours a week lately and still being behind-- and we are so excited with where our business is {hopefully} going. Starting a business (which is what it feels like to move into this building even though we've been in business for several years now) is hard and draining, and you really have to LOVE what you are doing to make it worth it. So far, we still think it's worth it. :) 

I'm sure there is a lot more I could say but this is already long and I'm already up too late, as always! We are always so appreciative of all the love and support of our friends and family. We appreciate all of the babysitting, volunteering, physical labor (our dads have mowed lawns, scrubbed our bricks, hung our signs & numbers, built shelves, installed everything inside, and much more...) at the studio and especially the prayers as we trudge through this business venture that sometimes feels like a wild roller coaster ride. Sometimes we wonder what in the world we were thinking getting on the ride, but mostly it's just thrilling. 

Thanks to EVERYONE who makes it all possible. We love you.