This is Rachael, who just turned nine this weekend and received a beautiful smocked dress lovingly made by her very proud grandmother – with a matching dress for her American Girl doll Molly. Aren’t they beautiful (both the girl AND the dresses!) ?

And a fun Storyboard:

( Anderson SC children’s photographer, Clemson baby photographer, Anderson SC newborn & baby photographer )

I have wanted a picture of my whole family for ages. Really, I’ll bet you’re wondering why it took so long, right? How hard could it be for a photographer to snap a pic ? Let me just say, I have a real respect for the planning & commitment that is involved. It is very difficult for every single one of us to be together at the same time, and when it happens we are usually on a pretty tight schedule. Factor in trying to plan clothing choices that people have to remember to pack before they travel, trying to predict the weather, throw in a few small children, throw in some distracted son-in-laws, and well – you can start to see why this took 6 months and one previous failed attempt. But I am thrilled with what I got, it really is “us” and you can bet that I’m taking advantage of the canvas sale I talked about in my last post. This is going HUGE in a metallic canvas in my new house!

These girls are cousins of Italo & Rocco (see them here ), and I have been patiently waiting & hoping that I would get the opportunity to photograph them. Mom Jenn has been waiting for two-year-old Ruby to be – well, less TWO – so that the session would go smoothly and we would be sure to get good images. No doubt about it; these THRILLED me!

Ruby was named for a relative before she was even born – so that makes her gorgeous red hair even more remarkable!

Emma was a joy – posed for me in the freezing cold without complaint, and with that beautiful smile that never fades!

Here is another senior session, which I just LOVE doing. We had all kinds of crazy weather for this shoot – everything from rain to hot, humid sweltering sun. But Carly stayed cool and calm and beautiful throughout, and we captured some gorgeous images. Carly is planning on donating her hair to "Locks of Love", so this was our last chance to capture that long silky mane before her new look!

I can’t believe that I almost missed posting these kids on my blog…I think their session happened right before my crazy summer traveling started, and it got buried in my "to-do" pile. Anyway, I have done a few sessions for this family and they always turn out to be great and have gorgeous images. The children are so photogenic and it’s always fun for me to see how they have changed since the last time. They are growing up so fast! Their parents are well aware of this, and it’s a real treat for me to walk into their home and see how they have decorated it with photos of their family. You just know as soon as you enter that family is the priority in their lives!

I immediately refolded all of Jim’s tee shirts to practice, and now I’m an expert! Go on, try it right now!

2 Second T-Shirt Fold!! – A funny movie is a click away

for you coupon-clippers out there: The Grocery Game  – getting good results from what I hear on other blogs & forums, especially if you buy brand-name products and watch for deals. Some girls are reporting savings of several hundreds after just a few months (apparently it works best if you stick with it & build up your pantry – not unheard of to get 10 boxes of cereal for like $10.)

from the site: "The Grocery Game is a website that can save you hundreds of dollars
on grocery bill each month. Log in, spend a few minutes with a pair of
scissors, and you’re off to win The Grocery Game!

When you play, you’ll get a weekly list (called Teri’s List) of the
lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers’
coupons and weekly specials — advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format.

Gather your coupons and Teri’s List and you will have everything you
need to play. Teri’s List matches sales to coupons from weeks past,
along with new coupons from this week’s Sunday paper. Members of The Grocery Game eliminate those time-consuming hours and
usually save even more than the coupon pros. For example, just because
an item is on sale doesn’t mean its time to play your coupon. Our
databases track the sales history on nearly every item in the
supermarket, waiting to use a coupon on rock-bottom sales. Now, the
best possible savings are quickly accessible to busy professionals,
overworked moms, single adults or anyone who wants to cut their grocery
bill by 50% or even more."

Jim & I have been faithfully watching "American Idol" this season…we capture it on DVR & watch it when he gets home from work. We haven’t missed an episode, and we both actually predicted early on that the two Davids would be the finalists. Tonight we really enjoyed the finale, and it came down to the last part where Ryan opened the envelope…said "the winner of this season is….David….." Boom. Nothing. The dreaded "show has ended;delete?" is on the screen. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!!!!

I have been ranting & raving like a lunatic. Our DVR routinely doesn’t get the end of shows, and I have absolutely had it – I swear I’m canceling it tomorrow & going to Tivo!!!! I CANNOT believe I missed it!!!!

Edited to add: Apparently, this was a network glitch – Fox ran overtime by at least 5 minutes, so ANYONE who tivo’ed or used a dvr & did not extend the time missed out! We routinely do it for sports that are of course unpredictable, but who would have thought that something like this would run over? Anyway, I’m still mad but THANK GOD for You Tube!!!! And because of my meltdown, Jim actually dug out the manual for the dvr & looked up how to pad the time so hopefully this won’t happen anymore to our regular shows that we record.

…for the baby whose parents keep an ipod in their diaper bag:

And wouldn’t this make an adorable shower gift? Just so new parents don’t have any misunderstandings about whose turn it is to get up with baby -

Sassie Onesies