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Blog, Family, friends, kids, st. louis

mother’s day and a trip to the zoo


Over the weekend, we acquired a new lens to try. I’ve heard many people rave about their 50mm lens, so I’ve been excited to try it out. On Mother’s Day, we had a last minute Tuckahoe bonfire–on a hot, sticky day. After cooking our hot dogs and s’mores, we pulled our chairs in a circle away from the fire and enjoyed some good times.

 

 (Photo by Maggi)
little boy at bonfire
I told my kids that all I wanted for Mother’s Day was a picture with them. By the time we got around to it, we were all sticky and gross. 
mom and 4 kids

 

Don jumped in for a few. Nothing frame-worthy, but at least we have a few shots as a family.
big family

 

large family

 

big family photo
Gross, sweaty kids require baths. This time Kingston got to hop in, too.
baby sink bath
kingston and evangeline 2

So I have sad story to go with the next pictures. Last week, Maggi posted about forgetting her memory card when she went to the Botanical Gardens. When she told me the story, I felt genuine sadness for her because I knew how much she had been looking forward to taking her camera and snapping away. You’d think that her story would have made me much more aware when packing our things for the zoo. However, that was not the case. I was confident that we had everything that we needed for the day. When we arrived at the zoo and I turned the camera on to take my first picture, I see the words “no memory card in camera.” Talk about disappointment. It took me a good while to get over it. Thankfully, I still have my phone and was able to get a few pictures. 
So get ready to be acquainted with the back of my family’s heads.

toddler boy at zoo

 

boy and his brother at zoo

 

dad and baby

 

boy looking at map

 

young boy and gorillas at zoo

 

large family at zoo

 

ostrich

 

3 boys standing on fence

 

kids activities

 

I am the opposite of an animal lover. However, there is just something about hippos that I love. Maybe it’s just their large bodies and how graceful they seem.
hippo

 

turns out Evangeline loves them, too!
mom and baby at zoo

 

baby watching hippo
young mom and cute baby girl

 

st louis zoo

 

Afterwards, we met up with Chris and Rachel at Chick fil a for some dinner and “tattoos”
our freinds

 

Maybe next time I’ll double check to make sure I have everything. :/
#lessonlearned

birthday, Blog, evangeline, Family, friends, kids

a birthday buddy party


In the last post I shared the first birthday photoshoot. Now it’s time for the party!

So, you probably already know that Maggi and Evangeline share a birthday. It’s still a big deal to me. I love that I get to celebrate my daughter and my best friend on the same day!  

birthday buddies last year and this year
birthday buddies
I realized that day that I was pretty awful about taking good party decor pictures. But this kind of gives you and idea of how I decorated. And those paper fans? Yeah, those are going to stay. I love them!
diy paper fans
party decorations
birthday decorations
We tried doing a little photo session right before the party but Evangeline wasn’t too thrilled with doing that. She just wanted her mommy.

woman and baby

young woman and baby girl
girl and cute baby
I really wish I would have done a better job about getting pictures of Don and I with her. These are sadly the only ones I got with her.
mom and baby
young mom and cute baby girl
jessica roberts and best friend
I made matching cakes for the girls. I am no cake decorator. 
white birthday cake
26 years old
Kingston’s face in this one cracks me up
blowing out candles
blowing out candles 2

Funny story. As the 25-30 of us (all gathered on our deck) finished singing “Happy Birthday,” we heard the deck’s wood start cracking. Evangeline was already starting to smash up her cake at this point and then there was complete chaos. Everyone started running inside to avoid the collapsing deck. So Evangeline had to finish the cake indoors. Thankfully, I was able to borrow a flash from a friend (thanks Rachel!) to snap a few pictures of my baby girl demolishing her cake. I’m not sure if she even ate more than a bite or two. She had the best time smashing it and throwing it on the floor. I think she may have 3 big brothers 🙂

birthday girl
messy baby eating bitthday cake
cute baby eating cake
After the party, I snapped a picture of the kids on the couch (on the right.) Then last night, I was looking back through the pictures I took a year ago and found this other picture from the night we brought her home from the hospital. I thought it was so sweet to see the change over the past year. But Kai’s giant smile hasn’t changed a bit!
one year later


We are so blessed to have this sweet little girl as our daughter. She has such a silly, happy personality when she feels comfortable in a situation. But the moment things are a little off, she becomes anti-social, serious, and a big time mommy-lover. She becomes more beautiful every day. I look forward to seeing her grow up and I pray that she will become a young woman who loves the Lord and seeks Him first!

baby girl in white dress