Allison Neal's (almost) ONE!

Alli's first birthday is coming up in just a little over a month, and we're SO excited to celebrate with our friends and family in Atlanta. I wanted to have a fun picture to use for her birthday invitation as well as some pictures to put around the party for decorations, so I hired my friend, Rosie, who took the girls' Easter pictures, to take some cute pictures of Alli in her sunshine birthday gear. Alli was such a trooper, and Lila even cooperated for a few pictures, although she had the most fun playing with the balloons and umbrellas. Rosie even brought a little cupcake for Alli to smash and taste for the first time. She wasn't sure what to think of it, and didn't quite know how to get the icing off of her little hands. It was good practice for the real thing next month! Here are some of the pictures that we took:

Sunday Funday

Last Sunday was the best Sunday that we've had in a long time! We started it off by having my friend, Rosie, take some pictures of our family (but mainly Alli) for Alli's first birthday party next month. She was so cute with her different props, and she even got her first taste of icing. After pictures, we went home to change for church and to wash the icing off of Alli. Church was lovely, and afterwards, we filled up the baby pool and spent the rest of the afternoon up until naptime playing outside in the gorgeous weather! These girls love being outside, and even Alli enjoyed the pool today (she usually doesn't do well with water that isn't super warm!).  While the girls napped, Josh and I went back outside to listen to music and relax by the (baby) pool. We're really getting into the spirit of Summer over here and enjoying every minute of our mosquito-free backyard (thanks to Mosquito Nix!).

lounging in the baby pool

chowing down on some Chick Fil A sauce and a little chicken

sweet girls playing together

slide time!

Alli and Josh

Lila being silly in the pool

Aiden's Rock and Roll 2nd Birthday Party

On Saturday, we spent the morning with Lila's friend, Aiden, to celebrate his 2nd birthday, Rock and Roll style.  Outside of the house there were stars with all of the guests' names on them just like in Hollywood, and there was even a red carpet leading our way to the front door.  They had blow up guitars and microphones as favors for the kids, which were a huge hit! Lila had a great time playing with the balloons and dancing with her friends. Alli had several friends there too, one was even born the same day, just a few hours earlier!  We had a great time, thanks for having us over to celebrate Aiden's birthday!

playing before the party

the girls' Hollywood stars

the babies playing together

the birthday boy

fun with balloons

dance party to "I'm Elmo and I know it"

Chandler and Alli

munching on some yummy treats

Lila and Karsyn

Re-discovering my 50mm

I used to use my 50mm all the time...until my children decided to move around way too much! I find that a zoom lens is easier to use than my 50mm because I don't have to move around quite so much when wanting (or having to) move in and out due to my kids' movement. Therefore, my 24-70mm lens (although extremely heavy) has been attached to my camera 90% of the time since I got it for Christmas this past year. Having said all of that, I miss my 50mm, and I wanted to play with it again! My dog serves as a much less mobile practice participant, so I was able to snap a few of my lazy Chevy doing what he does best...laying on our glass coffee table and making a mess with his slobber and hair!