Winter is still here, as witnessed by this week’s snowfall.  While out and about, I couldn’t help but notice the simple beauty of snow on all of the tree branches.  This part of winter never gets old to me – the quiet, the peacefulness, the serenity of everything covered in a perfect blanket of snow:

Last week I celebrated another birthday.  It was a special one, my first one as a new Mom!  Remington gave me lots of extra reasons to smile on my special day.  And Reggie surprised me with an iPhone and a roaptrip to Nashville!  It was our first trip without taking Remington along – he had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa!  While we were only gone one night, we sure did miss our little guy!  We made certain to document our time with fun photos using Instagram:

Reggie is the best at giving personal, thoughtful gifts!  I was beyond excited when he surprised me with a little getaway for just the two of us!  We both love antiquing and hunting for unique pieces that get our creative side going. He wanted this trip to be inspiring as we continue to search for our next home.  He also knew that I’d love to visit one spot in particular in the Music City.  More on that in a minute!

Our first stop was at The Most Awesome Flea Market in the World!  It was a crisp sunny morning, so we strolled up and down the outdoor portion before heading inside.  Whoa!  It was a huge building, filled with all sorts of stuff, and since we only had a short time, we decided to keep moving down the road.  We finally arrived in Nashville just in time for some lunch at Rooster’s, seen on Travel Channel’s Man v. Food.  I highly recommend the Diablo Shrimp appetizer!  Yum!  

Next, we visited some local antique shops before going to Antique Archaeology in Marathon Village.  Reggie and I love watching American Pickers, so he knew I would definitely enjoy going to see their Nashville store.  A local band played while fans and shoppers spotted several of the vintage items ‘picked’ on the show.  After taking in a nice afternoon nap, the sun set on Nashville, and we set out for a night on the town.  We tried the city’s best burger at Rotier’s – a must try!  A perfectly grilled cheeseburger on French bread with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mustard.  Sooo good!  We visited Robert’s Western World, and listened to live music by the Don Kelley Band.  Reggie picked up their CD, which served as the soundtrack on our way home. The neon lights along Broadway were so colorful and fun to see.  People filled the sidewalks, and always seemed to smile as they made their way to hear their favorite bands play on a Saturday night.

The sunlight streamed into our room on Sunday morning, and we made our way to breakfast at Fido, which we found out later happens to be one of Taylor Swift’s favorite spots.   Reggie and I both tried their breakfast specials.  I had the Special Scramble – a wonderful melange of eggs, spinach, bacon, grilled onions, and cheese with hash browns and toast on the side.  Poached eggs, spinach, and homemade hollandaise sauce paired with grits and toast made Reggie smile from ear to ear – he loves eggs Benedict, and their Bayou Benedict did not disappoint!  Nashville is known for good food, really good food – and for this reason alone we would definitely go back!  Before leaving Nashville, we drove by the Parthenon, home to the city’s art museum (we’ll have to visit next time!).  Then it was time to head home to tell our little guy all about our travels…ok, so we didn’t really tell him about our trip because we were too busy showering him with hugs and kisses and “did you grow while we were away?!”

Thank you to my parents for watching our sweet baby boy!  And thank you to Reggie for making this the best birthday yet!  I love you so much!

Just a quick little post to wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day!  May your day be filled with love, sweet moments, and your favorite dessert!

I’m so lucky to have my hubby and this little guy as my Valentines!

Four months and ten days ago, our world became forever changed.  We had been blessed with this tiny, perfect little miracle that was all our own.  All the tears, the night feedings, the all day feedings, the diaper changes, the tight grasp of his fingers…they were all ours.  Becoming a parent has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, however, it has been so rewarding at the same time.  More on this in a later post.  So I’ll start at the beginning, when our sweet Remington was a newborn, but not before a little of the backstory.  It was Friday afternoon.  I met up with Reggie to run some errands, and we talked about how our due date was fast approaching – only 5 days to go!  It’s so funny to hear opinions on due dates while you’re pregnant – one camp says the first baby is always early, another says they’re always late, very few say they are right one time.  Well, I figured I had a while to wait since I hadn’t made any progress at my last  appointment.  This was fine with me!  Who doesn’t love a little extra time, you know, to get even more ready, to feel extra prepared, to hope the anxiety would pass… As Reggie and I drove around, he casually mentioned that it would be cool if our little guy came the next day, since we didn’t have any plans for the weekend.  I think maybe the little one heard us talking, because that every afternoon we found ourselves checking into the hospital after fighting rush hour traffic.  Fast forward through hours of labor to Saturday, September 15th.  It was time!  We were going to meet our baby boy any minute!  I’ll spare the details of my c-section, which went very smoothly.  We loved our hospital and all the staff was so completely wonderful.  My favorite memory, one that still makes my eyes well up with tears of happiness and awe and wonder…starts with this photo that Reggie took in the operating room:

Yes, we’re almost half way through January, and I’m writing a post entitled Happy New Year… Better late than never, right?!  While editing, I found some photos I took of my little guy who was sweet enough to indulge me for a few quick shots with a party hat (which is really a tiara, ooops!) and beads.  Remington was 16 weeks in these images – he turns 4 months tomorrow!  Whoa!!! Time has flown by these past few months!  After getting caught up from being on maternity leave, I’ve finally found some time here and there to work on images that I’ve taken of Remington.  He keeps me on my toes for sure! I’ll start with these for now with some newborn images to come soon!

2012 was a fantastic year filled with amazing clients, fun sessions, and beautiful weddings – I can’t wait to see what 2013 holds for me and my business!  Thank you to all my clients for continuing to fuel my passion for what I do, you are the best!  And thank you to my fabulous hubby, family, and friends for their love and support!  I am truly blessed!  Cheers to 2013!