Project 52 2014 - Week 2

"A portrait of Jackson, once a week, every week, in 2014."

My favorite picture from our snow day last week.

*Linking up with Practising Simplicity.*

5 on Friday

I'm linking up with the ladies above for 5 on Friday.

We have an interview with a pre-school next Monday evening for Jackson. It's a pre-school that my nieces and nephews went to and they all loved it. If all goes well he can start as early as next week. He would go 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's at a local church. I'm so excited for him and really feel like it will help with his communication and it will give him a little more structure. I just know he will love being around the other kids!

I'm so excited that in 3 short weeks from now we'll be in sunny Phoenix, AZ visiting a friend. I can't wait to get away from this cold, snowy weather, even if it is just for a few days. The friend we are visiting, works in the travel business and can get free tickets to the Waste Management Open, so Jake is pretty excited to go to that. It will also be Jackson's first plan ride, so I'm hoping that goes smoothly and he enjoys it.

 I'm loving the new Camera Coat that Jake got me for Christmas. It's so nice to have a way to transport my camera, without having to lug around a big extra bag. I know it will be great for traveling and fun outings with Jackson. I can now just put it in the camera coat and then put it in my purse or diaper bag and don't have to worry about it getting scratched, wet or broken.

 Baby girl has the start of a super cute wardrobe already. Her Maw Maw and Aunt Ashlee got her several cute outfits for Christmas and I've picked up a few things here and there too. One of my favorite outfits that I've gotten her so far is this adorable little romper! I love just about anything with whales on it and I love the mint green color. Gosh I can't wait to play dress up with her!

Since it's been so cold, and taking pictures outside is no longer an option at this point, here are some great tips to taking photos inside!

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

A Storybook Photography Photo Session - The Jacobs Kiddos

A few weeks before Christmas, I took some photos for a friend of ours. She was wanting some pictures of her kids to give as a gift to her husband for Christmas. It was freezing cold that day and there was snow on the ground, so doing an outside shoot with small children, just wasn't an option. So we decided to meet up at a local Mall that is rarely very busy, and try and find some great light. 

Thankfully we were successful in finding great light and we got some very cute shots of the kiddos. 

Annie, their oldest.

Noah, their only boy.

Clair, their spunky middle child. 

Violet, the oldest of their twin girls.

Caroline, the youngest  of their twin girls.

We tried hard to get a couple good group shots too.

On the Mall Carousel.

It turned out to be a great natural light alternative to an outdoor session!

Snow Day

This past Sunday, we got a ton of snow (around 10 inches) and Sunday night into all day Monday, the temperature fell below zero. So, needless to say, we were stuck at home those two days! We did manage to get Jackson out in the snow for just a few short minutes on Sunday, while Jake was outside shoveling our driveway. He really loved it, except for the cold snow blowing in his face, which I can't say that I blame him there. Ha.

Here are just a few pictures I took from our snow day Sunday. 

Some of the snow drifts were almost as tall as he was. :-)

A pretty pine tree across the street from us.

Our street.

After about 10-15 minutes, I took him back inside and got his wet clothes off. He was happy to be in the warm house again. :-)

Later that evening, after he woke up from a nap, I took a few pictures of him playing with his train table! He really loves it.

Project 52 - 2014 - Week 1

"A portrait of Jackson, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Thanks to Stephanie at This Wonderful Life, I've decided to jump on the Project 52 bandwagon and link up once a week with Practising Simplicity. I'm excited to challenge myself to take a portrait of Jackson at least once a week. I often times do this anyways, but there is the occasional week where I don't get my camera out and I often regret those weeks. So I'm hoping this project will encourage me to get my big girl camera out at least once a week and get a picture of Jackson (and our new baby girl come Spring). 

I've already shared this picture, but thought I'd share it again and use it for my week 1 picture.

23 Week Bump Date

How Far Along: 23 Weeks + 1 Day

(You can check out my 23 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

Size of Baby: (According to babycenter.com) 23 weeks: Your baby is about the size of a large mango. Your baby now weighs just over a pound and is more than 11 inches long – and if you turn on some tunes and sway to the music, he/she can feel you dance.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: At my 21 week appt. I totally forgot to pay attention to how much I had gained total. At 17 weeks I was up 10 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes.

Gender: Its a GIRL!!!

Movement: Yes, she's moving around quite a bit now, and I love it.

Food Cravings: Still no real food cravings.

What I miss: Nothing really at the moment, other than just being able to do normal things without feeling tired or out of breath.

Sleep: Having to get up at least once a night to use the restroom and just can't seem to get comfortable sometimes.

Symptoms: A growing belly, a few Braxton Hicks contractions here and there and some sciatic nerve pain.

Best Moment this week: Just feeling baby girl move more and more.

What I am looking forward to: Having a definite name for baby girl and getting her nursery ready.

New Years Day

I hope you're having a great start to the New Year! Our New Years Day was spent at home relaxing! We never left the house and some of us even stayed in our pajamas all day! Ha. We did get the Christmas stuff put away and the tree outside during Jackson's nap, but otherwise we just relaxed, which is always nice.

I decided to take the opportunity to get my camera out and just get some photos of Jackson in the everyday. I used to do this all the time, but recently I haven't taken very many pictures of Jackson at all, which is not okay. So hopefully I can remedy that and start getting my camera out more when we're just at home spending time together.

Here are some of my favorites from New Years Day!

Maw Maw and Papa got Jackson this "Planes" table for Christmas and he really loves it.

My sweet boy is getting so big and it's happening way too fast.

Such a silly boy!

Stopping to watch some cartoons.

Back to playing.

A sweet close-up.

Having lunch at his new table.