Jami & Maddox | Rock Hill, SC

Meet Jami and Maddox.

Can't you just see how much she loves him?

Jami and Maddox go to church with us. I asked her if I could use her and her little man to practice some photography, and she was so sweet to give up an evening for me!

It was a [good] challenge to practice on someone who moves more than the few wiggles I get from Ralphie. Maddox was all exploration and adventure! I LOVE little boys!

This little boy loves to give his mommy some snuggles! All I had to do was say, "Maddox, poor mommy! Can you give her a hug?" and he would run to her and cover her in hugs and kisses.

 Pretty Mommy. :)

 He was very proud of himself, when he got to the top. 

Isn't she pretty?

 Something was just really funny!

Not only did this shoot challenge how quickly I take pictures (no time to take five shots of the same scene to make sure the focus is PERFECT, because in less than five seconds the scene has completely changed!), the light was very different than what I've experienced before. It was after 7, and the big red train created a lot of shadows. I took a whole round of pictures, concentrating on the frame and focus, and then when I looked at them was horrified to see they were all bright white! Gah. Restart. Thank goodness for delete. :)

I'm thankful for this experience though! I know these sorts of things are what I need to help me learn... Jami even said she might want to do it again. I just might take you up on that, Jami!

Before the sun set we wanted to go over the Glencairn Garden and get a few quick shots. These turned out of be my favorite. Maddox was crazy about the water!

 Favorite. I love me some big, brown eyes.

Watching Jami play with her little boy made me giddy for the days that are ahead for Ralphie and me.

 Thanks for letting me share in your evening! Love you two, and I'm so excited to get to know you better.

Love,
Ashlee

This weeks happenings

Today we're headed up to Ohio. We're pretty darn excited. Nine hours in the car? It's a breeze when you have so much to look forward to.

Let me count to you all the reasons we're excited.

1. Wednesday we will see these pretty people again:

Notice that round bump on Angela's tummy?

That's because last time our babies were all in utero.

So, not only do we get to see Angela and Peter whom we love more than the world, we get to meet their children, Sebastian and Katharina.

And in case you didn't know. They're gorgeous.

It's been nearly a year since we were all together (last July 4th), and being on separate continients exacerbates the "I miss you." There are time zones, class schedules, work days, baby routines and bad internet connections that make communication a little harder. 

Screw the FaceTime - we're ready for this face-to-face-for-real thing.

And they also get to meet Ralphie, whom I'm pretty sure they'll like a lot. :)

It's been a monumental year for both of our families, and we're so excited to come back together and celebrate with each other.

Understand how much fun - and emotional - this is going to be??? Good.

2. These pretty people are getting married!

Remember our wedding back in June of 2010?

How could you forget, right? Best. Day. Ever.

But do you remember THIS part about it?

Yeah, me neither. ;) But it happened.

Then this happened.

And then this.

And we're already to the wedding!

Exciting, exciting stuff this is!

3. I get to see ALL of THESE pretty people again.

I love all these people so much. My hugs and snuggles are going to be maxed out by the end of this trip! (actually, that's not possible.)

For all of the males in this picture it will be their first time seeing my own little man. That's pretty exciting.

4. And there's a whole big laundry list of people we can't wait to see, in addition to the above. However, if I were to post pictures of them all this post would never end. You know who you are. ;)

5. After all the wedding festivities Daniel, Ralphie and I are going to visit Daniel's Grandpa in the Dayton area. Great Grandpa meets Ralphie!

6. My parents are hosting a Willeke Family Reunion June 10th - golly, it's been forever since I've seen my cousins! 

My heart is just about to burst with all the goodness!!!

Mama's Lil Helper

Cutest. Face. Ever.

Ralphie helps me make the bed most mornings.

 See that ridiculous grin on his face? That means he likes it.

Chubby-wubby!

Daddy's mouth and chin

O, them eyes. They just kill me.

C is for...

C is for Crib!

This particular crib is rather special. Not only is it Ralphie's favorite place to sleep, it was also mine! My parents bought this crib over twenty years ago while awaiting my arrival. [cue "aw"s from audience]. As if that weren't enough  each of my siblings has also slept in this crib as a baby. This crib has been given a lot o' love.

I love the rich cherry wood. I love the delicate rails. I love the baby it now holds.

 The light was beautiful. I hardly did anything to these photos once I got them off of my camera. 

Love when that happens.

 It was a challenge to get shots from different angles, and different expressions, though. Working on "seeing" things that aren't as obvious....

 I watched a photography 101 workshop a couple weeks back, and one of the tips that the photographer shared was looking for lines that point to your subject. I was super excited when I saw that the crib rails provided just that in the photo above.

Check back next Friday to see what D objects Ralphie gets to put his cute little self with! ;)