2018: A YEAR IN PICTURES

2018: A YEAR IN PICTURES 

JANUARY




FEBRUARY


MARCH



APRIL


MAY




JUNE



JULY



AUGUST



SEPTEMBER




OCTOBER



NOVEMBER





DECEMBER

Kindergarten

It was just yesterday that we found out you were a BABY GIRL! We shot an artsy video in France while Aunt Kiki was in town and played it via Skype for all the grandparents as our big GENDER REVEAL!

We JUST took your baby passport pictures and walked through St. Emillion like rookie parents with a stroller on a cobblestone street.

It was just yesterday that we moved across the WORLD with a 12 week old on an 11 hour international flight back to Texas.  (You slept the entire time!)

It was just yesterday that we drove 2 hours per day in a borrowed car to take Daddy to and from work because we had sold our cars before France and had nowhere to live and no money to buy a new car.

I still remember taking you to Square 1 at Watermark and meeting a ton of Mommas who actually live in Richardson and many are starting kinder with you this year!

I remember how "busy" you were.... You were an incredible sleeper but naps weren't really your thing. You and I ran all over town running errands and you were my little buddy.  Every time we got in the car I would announce "Stella! Time to go on an adventure!"

We moved to Lakewood in a tiny duplex that didn't have a BATH TUB so your whole first year you had to shower with me or your Daddy.  You still prefer showers to baths. :)

I still remember taking you to Baby Bounce at Northpark and it was an EPIC FAIL.  All these moms with well behaved children while you ran around in and out of the babies with your scarves over your head and wouldn't listen to one thing the music teacher was asking you to do. We never went back!

Then we had your first day at Mother's Day Out.  We would drive and get matching smoothies at Smoothie King or split a muffin at Starbucks and then I would drop you off, work as hard and as fast as I could and come back to pick you up.  You loved school from DAY 1.

You are also super flexible as we have moved 7 times in your 5 years of life so far.  When we lived in Lakewood you had this AMAZINGLY bright and cheerful bright turquoise room.  It was my favorite place in the world.

I still remember your 1st Halloween and your cute ladybug costume and how you charmed all the neighbors with how cute you were. Then we had your "ladybug" themed first birthday party in honor of your nickname Stella-bug :)



FAST FORWARD TO this week when I took you to get your nails painted and have your first proper tea party and Daddy took you to play your first round of Putt Putt and you loved it, despite the 99 degree heat.  It is a week of FIRSTS....




I am not sure how we got here, but tomorrow we send you off to your FIRST DAY of Kindergarten.  Each year you have grown, changed, made new friends, and become more and more your own little person.   You are ready.  You are going to be a light. We are SO proud of you. We know this is the right school and you got the perfect teacher.  We are praying for her and for sweet, lifelong friends during these elementary school years.

Soar, baby girl.  You were made to fly. We love you.

Our Newborn Photos: Andrew Moose

Cydnee Jex is the lovely woman who took both Chloé and Andrew's newborn pictures.  I wanted to write a post and praise her work because she has given us pictures (now twice!) that we will treasure forever.

Pictures for me and really important so I was wanting to find someone that would fit our budget and also do beautiful work and Cydnee was that person for us.

Some things that I love about her new in-home studio:
+ She has a HUGE assortment of blankets, props, swaddles, and backgrounds to make your creative vision come to life.  Also NO NEED to buy lots of hats and headbands... she has you covered. (See below!)
+ She has a connecting bathroom complete with a changing table, wipes, pads for Mom (since you are likely 7 to 10 days postpartum) and anything else you could ever need!
+ She keeps the room really warm and has a "Shhh!" machine to help keep the baby comfortable and asleep.

Some things I love about working with HER specifically:
+ She likes to meet with clients at least one time before the shoot to get to know you, the nursery theme and colors, and any Pinterest-inspiration you may have for her to tailor your shoot.
+ She is SO calm and LOVES babies.  I was SO stressed that morning (especially when Andrew started crying) and she never got phased or made me feel rushed or upset.  She let me nurse him for awhile until he was good and full and went back to making the magic happen.  She literally spent 45 minutes calming him down so we could get a certain shot I wanted for the birth announcement.
+ She has an assistant on set to help her so that you can relax or take care of the other kiddos!
+ She does ALL family photos first so that if you do have toddlers, you can get them over with and let them go play while she finishes the shoot.
+ The Photo REVEAL! She had me come to her studio for the reveal and had all the pictures printed out and matted/ displayed on the wall so I could see them, touch them, and choose my favorites.  I got to go home with the printed 5x7 images and she later uploaded the online gallery to share with my family and friends.
+ She has packages for every budget.

A few other facts:
+ She has the option for you to bring in one of her hair/ makeup ladies to prep you for pictures.  Likely since you are sleep deprived, you may not have the time and energy to spend on yourself.
+ She is located close to Little Elm so although it was a bit of a drive for us to get there, it was worth it!
+ She has GREAT printed options such as leather books, photo memory boxes, and some various rustic and modern frame options.  All really high quality.
+ She has built a really impressive portfolio of MATERNITY sessions and has lots of beautiful gowns to choose from if you want to look into her using her for that!  You can also use her gowns for your postpartum shoots as well since they are very loose and forgiving.

Below are a few of my favorite images.  I am saving the Birth Announcement images until we get them printed and mailed out because its my FAVORITE one! It was really hard to choose.

Thank you Cydnee for these priceless images.  So appreciate everything you have done for our little family.

You can find her here:

Website: http://www.cljphoto.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cljphotography/

Instagram: @cljphoto.tx

Email: cljphoto.tx@gmail.com