Love, love, love this dress from Lillipops Designs. The cut, the shape, the fit, the flow, the fabric…so classic and romantic and still child-like. Much to my surprise, the dress sold out just after she posted the pics on her FB page, but hang in there, I think she’s planning to create this dress again, just with a different material.

Oh dear, we had a time trying to get these pics. Basically, Amry doesn’t like me to be more than 1 foot away from her. So short of shooting everything with a fisheye lens, I’m forced to set her down, run, and pray I can get one or two shots before she starts crying for me. [All the folks around me just looked at me and shook their heads in pity–not sure who for? me or her?]. I thought the popcorn would do the trick, but quite literally after I took that pic, she turned the entire box upside down. I’m in major trouble in a few years, aren’t I?

Now for the news on Pinkle Toes holiday sessions. Are you ready? Here it is: there are only 4, that’s right FOUR, openings left for Premium Sessions (2 in August and 2 in Sept) for the holidays. Yeah. I couldn’t believe it myself. I double counted. It’s accurate. Now, I will be holding some Xpressions mini sessions scheduled in the fall, but keep in mind that those are only for up to 3 immediate family members.

Anyway, I just thought I’d throw that out there. I know it’s hard to think about holiday pictures when it’s 110 outside, but I don’t want you to get “left out in the cold” either (funny, huh?). So, if you want to snag one of those openings, you need to contact me ASAP. They will be filled first-come, first-serve.

While Pinkle Toes is still technically “closed” through the end of July, I felt like I had to pop on and blog our beach pics. Somehow, an event doesn’t seem real unless it’s blogged. Frankly, the blog has become the only family record I really have these days…how sad is that? [Before you click “contact” to ask me where I got the above dress, be sure to read all the way to the end of this post ;-)]

We had our annual trip to Port Aransas…it’s such a lovely little beach town (even if the hurricane kicked up all kinds of lovely seaweed on the beach). The kids just loved it.  Well, the boys loved it. I’m afraid Amry would much rather be kicking back with a sippy cup and a can of Pringles by the
pool than dodging seaweed and surf.

Virgil and I had fun, too, but when did a vacation become so much work, LOL? Virge and I kept having to split up…he mostly hung out with the boys and I had Amry attached to my hip. I don’t mind being close to Amry–I love getting to spend all of this time with her. But I really feel like I’m growing apart from the boys. I hope not. I hope it’s just me.

And yes. I actually posted a picture of me. In a swimsuit. As is. Muffin top and all. Oh well. I’m obviously tired. But alas, it’s me and my girl together and that’s all that counts.

Now…about that dress in the top pics. I gotta tell you that it’s my most absolute favorite dress I’ve ever purchased for Amry to date. So unique, so fun, love the colors and the textures. It’s unfortunate for me that I like this dress so much because now I’m going to go broke shopping at Zozo Bug Baby on Etsy. This gal is SO creative and I can’t even count how many times we got stopped in town by people wanting to know about the dress. 😉

ETA a link to my swimsuit. Also, some of you asked about the giraffe suit…that’s from Gymboree this year, but it’s sold out online. You can try in store or ebay perhaps?

[Side note: I know many of you also follow my friend Lyndsay’s blog. Her sweet little boy is going through a really tough time right now. I’m very upset for them and I feel pretty helpless, but perhaps if you could let her know you’re thinking of them, maybe all of that positive energy will do something to carry them through this.]

In spite of starting at the crack of dawn, we fried today. What’s up with the humidity in Austin?? Oi. But, I guess working with cute kiddos makes up for it. 😉

Oh, and before I get a bazillion e-mails asking about mr. man’s hat and onesie combo up there (yeah, I died, too), mom is on the case and she’s supposed to be sending me links soon.

Meanwhile, I gotta buckle down here. I have to finish a bunch of proof galleries, fill orders, return e-mails, prepare for this week’s sessions, and pack for my upcoming trips to L.A. (.emme. boudoir) and Utah (rockin’ workshop with a bunch of online friends).

And then…in July, I’m finally taking a break. I mean, I’m taking the whole month of July OFF. I haven’t had a real break since probably after Amry was born. I always promise myself I’ll take January off to recover from the holiday rush, but this year, it simply did not happen. Seriously, it has been non-stop over here for way too long. Thankfully, my husband came to the rescue and gave me permission to take a rest. And I believe I will. I cannot wait to hang with the family, travel, and take pictures for leisure for a bit.

So, until then, I’ve got a few more sneak peeks for you, but after that, I hope it will get quiet on here. 😉 Happy summertime to everyone!!!

P.S. Speaking of the holiday rush, if you haven’t booked your holiday session yet, you’ll want to do that pretty soon. Typically, holiday sessions are held in Aug, Sept, and Oct. September and October are almost completely full and now they’re starting to overflow into August. Eeep! Can you even believe it’s almost that time again?

ETA: That awesome hat is from here. Onesie here.

The past few weeks have been wonderful with Miss “Sharon” (as my kids called her, even though her name is Shannon) helping us out. I loved watching how she interacted with Amry…their time together doing laundry, picking out just the right shoes, Amry prissing around in my necklaces. She was so wonderful with the boys, too (like their spikey hair-do’s?).

Miss “Sharon’s” last day was yesterday and I just want her to know that we are going to miss her very, very much, but we also want to wish her the best of luck as she ventures out into her career.  We were very blessed to have her and we are even more blessed that an equally wonderful replacement was able to pick up right where she left off. J…can’t wait to spend the summer with you!

Finally getting some help with the kids/house has changed our lives! I can’t even begin to tell you how nice it is to have work days that actually have an end now, because for a while there, the days and nights were just blending into one. Sure, I still have to do a few things at night, but at least now I have a solid block of uninterrupted time when I can really get things done. I can’t believe we waited so long to take that plunge! It’s been so refreshing to actually have a few hours in the day when I can just focus on the family and savor all of those wonderful moments like watching Tristan’s butterflies eclose or taking care of Logan’s shiner that resulted from a falling pipe or reading Amry’s favorite stories to her over and over again. For the first time in a very long time, I’ve had a bit of free time. And I quite like it. And I think my kids do, too.