melissaandersonphotography

I love this project because honestly if it wasn’t for this project and how busy crazy things have been these last several weeks I am not sure how good I would have been about taking photos of my sweet family.   I love my sweet photography friends for pushing me to do this each month.

This month has been just as busy as ever.  Kevin has been in the midst of swim season (he coaches the high school swim team) and my kiddos and I have been stuck inside during this cold Ohio month of January. I am going to be honest, there has been days I wanted to pull my hair out in need of some sunshine and even more need to let me kids run around outside and get some of their energy out instead of on each other .  But while we have had many crazy days we have had many more days of laughing and having fun. And in all honesty, how boring would we be if we didn’t fight every once in a while.

These first images are of my sweet little lady.. she honestly cracks me up. She can be so spunky, bossy, sassy and then turn around and be the sweetest little thing and tender hearted little girl I know.  Poor Jacob gets bossed around by her all the time.  ”jacob, go pick up your room”  …. ” Jacob, stop chewing on your shirt”… Jacob, go eat your dinner”… honestly, she is such a little mother hen.  But as my mom reminds me, she is copying you. lol!  The other day she was up in her room playing with her dolls as we have had to move all of her babydoll stuff from the basement to her closet because it was taking over and I caught her reading to her baby doll.. oh how I love little girls and their baby dolls.  Now, once she caught me photographing her, she certainly hammed it up, but those first few moments were priceless.  As a girl.. she is more picky, even at 3, with what she wears each day.. it is adorable and frustrating all at the same time. The dress she has on in this picture is her favorite dress.. if I let her wear it everyday she would.

My big boy.. “special time” .. meaning time with just mom and Jacob is super duper important and much needed with my big guy. Maybe it is because he was my first and had 2.5 years of just me.. or maybe it is just because he loves his mom so much (wink wink).. nevertheless, I try really hard to make time for him and do something special. This time we went to Great Wolf Lodge, which luckily is about 5 minutes downt the road from us.  He wanted to go to the arcades and play some games. So I gave him his allotted money for the trip and he was off.. we had a blast, even though he didn’t win quite as much as he would have liked.

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and I can’t forget my little guy.. just as perfect as he has been since the moment he has joined our family.  Gosh.. I can’t believe we are 2 weeks short of him already being 3 months old. We adore him.. just love every single part of him. And he is so stinkin adorable I could just stare at this cuteness all day long. xxoo

sweet big brother trying to console him while he was crying. xxoo

 

heck out Melissa Zilman’s blog next and check out her sweet family and her adorable little boys!!!

Oh my.. we have had such a busy December. Jacob turned 6…  Brady turned 1 month… Santa came…Jacob lost his first tooth.. we visiting Grandma and Grandpa… and many outtings to the pool, run jump and play, and friends.  whew.. I am seriously exhausted.  Since I sat down tonight about 2 hours before this post was due I realized there is no way I can edit and post more than just a few events.. I have tons of photos in my December folder, so I decided to just pick one special event from this month and right away I knew it had to be our visit to Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Paul’s house.  We all love visiting Kevin’s parents house, but my kids especially just get so excited and are usually asking before we even get home from our 3 hour trip when we will get to see them again.  This visit was just as much fun and special as it usually is.  Opening Christmas presants, eating yummy Christmas Dinner, playing in the snow, making Christmas cookies (the day after Christmas.. haha.. better late than never), and just visiting with each other, laughing, and making memories.  We had a blast.  Thank you Grandma Debbie for always making our visits so much fun and full of memories.. it warms my heart knowing my kids are going to have such wonderful memories of them visiting their Grandparents in Akron and it will be a place they always feel at home.

So in Cincinnati, if we get more than 2 inches of snow, that is a lot!!  Typically that will cause for at least a school delay, probably even school off it it hits at the correct time and the night before the grocery store would have been packed.  It is pretty comical.  So when we heard that Akron was getting 6-12 inches of snow the kids were thrilled! It isn’t often they get to play in so much snow.. so we packed our gloves, snowsuits, and boots and talked about all the fun things we will do in the snow.  They had a blast…. Daddy even got in there and played with them…..

once you take a peak here, make sure to head on over to Melissa Zilman’s blog….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and now onto the cookie madness….

 

and just because I can’t go without showing my cute little Brady.. here are a few… xxoo

 

 

 

I will end it with my big boy.. turned six and lost a tooth all in the same month (sniff sniff).. he is getting so big!!!

 

This was a huge month for our family.. going from a family of 4 to a family of 5.  I had all of these intensions of documenting the days leading up to the birth and the days following the birth, but in all honesty, I was exhausted from being pregnant and then exhausted from having a baby… but I did take time to grab a few pictures.  About a week before having Brady I wanted to take my two kids out for a few pictures of them…. their finals days of just having one brother and one sister.  They were goofs as always and oh so cooperative (wink wink), but we managed to grab a few… and one with dad and the kids too.. this pictures just totally shows their personality…

 

 

 

 

A few short days later on Nov. 14th at 10:54 am, our family changed forever. We went from a wonderful family of 4 to an amazing family of 5 as we welcomed Brady Maxwell Anderson to our family.  I’m going to be honest, I was a bit nervous. I mean I knew I couldn’t wait to be a mom to 3 and I couldn’t wait to meet our little man, but I was a bit nervous… but the moment he arrived, it just felt right instantly, like it was meant to be this way, and it just felt perfect, my heart was full and our family felt complete.   Here are a few from the hospital that my husband/I took.  After having a c-section I can barely walk without feeling terrible pain so I put my wonderful hubby in charge of taking most of the pictures (thanks hun!)

 

These first few were within minutes of Brady being born… and yes, he is a chunker.. 10 lbs, 9 oz and 22 inches long (and a week early).  My body knows how to grow babies I guess… and I am going to be honest, I am glad he is finally here and no longer in my 5ft 2 inch body.  I was getting tired.  ;)

 

 

 

 

Later that day my mom brought the kids to meet their little brother.  They were so excited.. well, I should say one little girl was beyond thrilled.  She couldn’t wait to hold her little brother and play baby doll with him.  Look how excited she is here….

 

and my big boy.. he wasn’t so sure what to think, the first week Brady was pretty much ignored.  I think he was actually a bit nervous about having him around as he would ask, mom, why is he crying or is he ok.  Seriously, he is such a caring little guy.  But now, he loves his little brother.  This was him in the hospital coming in to see me and his little brother…

 

 

This picture is pretty gross of me as I had an allergic reaction to the morphin during my c-section and my face and especially eyes swelled like crazy… … however, this project is all about living in the moment so I am posting it anyway.  My first picture of myself and my gorgeous kids.. love them so much!!!

 

Before we left the hospital I did finally decide to give my husband a break with the camera and take a few pictures of my own.  Look how super cute he looks in his hospital crib.  I couldn’t wait to take our little guy home, so glad we are  here all together.  xxoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I pretty much haven’t picked up my camera since.. instead I have been cuddling my little guy and enjoying the time with my family.  It has been exhausting, but wonderful all at the same time.  :)  I do have more pictures of my sweet family however, because I flew my dear friend in from CA to photograph Brady and our family the weekend we got home from the hospital. So so so glad I did because instead of trying to get images of brady these last few weeks I have just enjoyed the moments I have in these early weeks.. which is exactly as it should be.  If you want to see my sweet Brady and family check out Angela’s blog. She is an amazing photographer as well as friend!

Now please head on over to Melissa Zilman’s blog and check out her wonderful captures from this month!!!

This month is somewhat of a bitter sweet month for me.. it is my last month being a mommy of 2 because come November, I will be a mom of 3. Two boys and a girl.  Being extreamly pregnant and very exhausted there were many days that I didn’t even touch my camera, but I am so glad I had this project to motivate me to capture these final days of our amazing family of 4.  My two little people just make me so happy… I can’t wait till we have our family of 5 in a few short weeks.

I love fall.. it is just gorgeous in Ohio.   Bella is certainly a girly girl.. loves loves babies and has just recently began to like “princesses” . On this evening poor Jacob was inside with Daddy as he was sick (which he soon gave to mom).  So Bella and our neighbor enjoyed some fun girl play. Dress up, dolls, and pink … they are just the cutest….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our mornings are something that I never want to forget and I hope my kiddos never forget either… I work part time as a teacher in the afternoons. So I teach from 11:15-3.  I feel very fortune to have this schedule, because I still have my mornings with my kiddos.  Waking up, cuddling on the couch, watching cartoons, painting, dancing around to music, eating breakfast, playing outside, going to the park.. just taking our time and lettting my litte kids be little kids and not have to rush out the door in the morning to get to work.  Then when they are ready for a change of routine, we are out the door.. Jacob to kindergarten, Bella to preschool and I to teach my 4th grade class.  These mornings have been such a blessing to me.  I am dreading next year when Jacob is in 1st grade and we do indeed have to get out the door at a certain time.  But until then, I am going to enjoy these carefree mornings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last socccer practice of the season.. I LOVE watching my little man play soccer.  He has grown so much as a soccer player of this past year. Yes, I know he is only 5, but last season, he had no care in the world if he scored or even kicked the ball..  This season he was all about making goals and he made almost one goal at every game.  We were so proud of him, and he was so proud of himself!!!  Perfect evening for some pictures at the last soccer game. 80 degrees and gorgeous (too bad it has been freezing since!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two days after the last soccer practice and about 20 degrees cooler, we had his final soccer game.. and he scored the only goal of the game.. GO JACOB!!!  It was so fun to watch!!  I “think” he has decided to try baseball in the spring. I hope that is as much fun to watch as soccer has been!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and since today is trick or treating.. I am going to end this post with a few pictures of my little monsters (my strawberry shortcake and my power ranger).  It was FREEZING!  Raining and in the 30′s, which really stunk, but they still had fun.  :)

 

 

Now you must head over to Melissa Zilman’s blog and check out her wonderful photos.. I could just look at her photos all day long!!!!

 

This sweet little miracle was born at 28 weeks and what a fighter he is!  After spending two months in the hospital, he finally come home with his sweet parents. I was so excited to photograph this little miracle and his lovely parents.  At 3 months, he certainly wasn’t the typical sleepy newborn at times and felt he needed to show me his spunky little personality (which I loved!).  So much love in this family… I had a blast. Enjoy your photos.  I am so happy your sweet boy is doing so well.