Bookstore Photoshoot and Great-Grands

Well, we had another crazy week on our hands!

Thursday, we went to Adam's 18 month check-up! He's doing great and surprisingly did pretty well getting three shots. 24 lbs (48%), 30.75 in (7%) height, and 18.25 in (22%) head. He's definitely a short little guy, but the doctor says he's perfect. We don't have to go back until he turns two - which seems like a very long time, but also too close for comfort.

That same day, my parents and grandparents from Florida came over to visit and for my grandparents to see our house. 

Oh, and whilst at the pediatrician, we talked about moving to a front-facing car seat and decided it was an okay thing to do. Adam loves being able to see everything!

Friday, we went to my parents' house for dinner to see my grandparents again before they head back home and to celebrate my mom's birthday. We, of course, had to take a picture of the whole group.

Saturday, Adam, Rusty, Julie, and I went to a church down the road because they were selling pumpkins. We let Adam run around and play with all the pumpkins and then we adults picked out pumpkins for ourselves (Adam already has one from the previous patch). 

Sunday, we went to church, Adam got a nap, THEN we went to a bookstore, The Book Nook, in Marietta to do Adam's 18 month photoshoot with my sister, Katie Cooper Photography. She posted a couple of sneak peak pictures and I LOVE them all! I can't wait to see the rest! Doing them at the bookstore, which shows Adam's and our whole family's love of books, was a perfect choice!

Monday, after dinner, we began singing some of the songs Adam likes from Toddler Time. He's been picking up a lot of new things lately and while we were singing "The Little Green Frog", he even did the "blink blink blink". It was really cute and cool to see him learning so quickly.

Yesterday, Adam and I had a lunch date at Chick-fil-a. We actually ran into Rusty's cousin, who apparently works there. We said hey but didn't want to bug each other. Adam decided to wear his sunglasses the entire time! He's something else.

Today was pretty low key after Toddler Time.

GQ Baby

I realized this week that I must take too many pictures of Adam. He found out his pants have pockets and kept putting his hands in them, which was so cute, so I told him to let me take a picture. He "cheesed" wide and I got a picture that looks like he could be a GQ model. Look out, ladies!

In case you missed it, Friday was Force Friday. Disney released a new line of merchandise for the new Star Wars trilogy. Rusty and Julie went to Walmart at midnight for the release, but they didn't end up buying anything. The next morning, Julie, Adam, and I went to the Disney Store at the mall and ended up getting some shirts. Adam even got in the mood with a Yoda hat!

That same afternoon, we played outside because the weather was SO wonderful! Here is Adam from the beginning of the summer (May) to now (September). It's crazy what a few months can do.

Saturday was the first game for UGA! I dressed both Adam and Kirby up to celebrate!

We also went to the new park with Rusty and Adam was brave enough to slide on one of the big slides by himself!

Rusty's been keeping it kind of a secret, but for the past couple of weeks, he's been having voice lessons with the guy in charge of the music at our church. This Sunday, he was invited to practice with the praise band. He was nervous, but hey, it was just practice. Jokes on him - after practice, the guy in charge says that they'll just set up his mic too and he can join during the service. Rusty was caught off guard, but it ended up being just fine because he didn't have enough time to get too nervous. He did just great! Adam is in nursery during the service, but he was so excited to watch his dad practice!

Katie got back to us with pictures from the photoshoot with Rusty's mom. As always, they were wonderful! Plus, Memaw LOVES them! That's exactly what we wanted. Now she's trying to figure out where to hang them all! Ha ha ha!

Another thing that makes me laugh - Rusty and Adam made funny faces together!

Tonight, right before I sat down to right this, Adam had his bath time. When we went to Target this week, they had soap crayons from Crayola. Adam LOVED them! He colored all over himself (and looked a bit ridiculous. ^_^

Swimming and Jam

Last Wednesday night, I wanted to make a dessert and discovered that I had very ripe bananas. I've never made banana bread, but thought I'd give it a whirl. Julie told me that it's the best she's every had, so I think I must've done okay. I gave Adam some the next morning since he was asleep when I made it. For someone who doesn't like bananas, he ate it right up.

My dad had the day off, so we visited him and had lunch with him. Spaghetti was on the menu, which means we had to snap some hilarious pictures of Adam.

After we ate lunch, we went to Emma's house (she also had the day off) and spent the afternoon swimming. Adam of course loves swimming. My mom even joined us once she got off of work.

Saturday, Katie came over as well as Rusty's mom to do a photoshoot. It was a late birthday present to give Rusty's mom new photos with Adam and her kids. Katie showed me a couple the same night and they look really good. I think she'll love them!

Sunday, Emma came over and Katie had already spent the night, so all of us plus Julie made strawberry jam for the wedding shower we're throwing for my cousin in a couple of weeks. It took a long time, but we had a lot of fun working together.

Adam has become quite the daredevil baby, climbing on things and attempting new feats like practicing on the slide without my help.

Toddler Time is back! We went this morning and Adam had a fun time, like always. It's good to be back and see how all the other kids have grown over just a month.

After Toddler Time, since we still had plenty of time before lunch (and I remembered the bread), we went to the lake in our neighborhood and fed the geese. Adam loves birds, but I thought these would scare him - NOPE! Even with them hissing at him for getting too close, he still loved it.

First Birthday Photo Shoot

I'm a SO excited to reveal Adam's Easter and First Birthday photoshoot pictures! Because these two events happened a week apart, Katie Cooper Photography was able to give me both at the same time!

Tips for getting the most out of your photoshoot:

• Choose a photographer who has the style you're looking for
• Schedule it with nap time in mind
• Have bright or noisy toys available
• Keep all props close to switch out quickly
• Offer treats, like a blueberry or puff
• Let the child lead
• Just roll with it and have fun

We were able to start shooting almost as soon as breakfast was over. Adam was well rested, full, and ready to look good. While he ate breakfast, the photographer and I were setting up the backyard with props. She was also choosing the best angles and areas for lighting. 

The photographer brought a train whistle as well as a singing card to get Adam's attention. I also had ready his Mario stuffed toy and Kirby, our dog, to keep his attention.

All the props I wanted to use were within arms reach. The props included:

• Picnic blanket
• Red wagon
• Letters with his name
• Birthday hat
• Smash cake
• Rusty (we were going to get some family photos in)
• Bubble gun with bubbles

This photo shoot is a little different from those in the past (or future) because a smash cake was involved. Because of that, I cleaned our bathtub beforehand so that the photographer could continue shooting as we got Adam clean.

I got somewhat frustrated throughout the photo shoot because I felt like Adam wasn't smiling and he is typically a very smiley baby. I wanted his personality captured and I felt like that included smiling. It turns out, she was able to capture all of his little personality, even without his smiling much. All of the non-smiling pictures are so cute that it doesn't even matter. She was able to capture the moments he DID smile, so I was concerned for nothing.

Let me know if you have any other tips for photographing a toddler or if any of these tips helped you out!