It’s been a busy end of the year wrapping up my work from last season and getting ready for the two new additions to our family early next year.  I have a fun snow wedding to show you and some beautiful portraits but first, a little christmas post.
I was inspired by a friend’s blog post about a trip to the christmas tree farm with her husband and toddler.  It sounded like something out of a Currier and Ives card with the whole family bonding and singing christmas carols and her daughter running gleefuly from tree to tree picking out the best one.

I think you can see where this might be going.  My daughter who is usually a very happy baby, threw a fit the minute we got out to the farm and carried on pretty much the entire time.  Somehow, not sure how, but with all that distraction and in a rush, Jonathan and I managed to pick the prickliest tree on the farm, which the guy working at the farm so helpfully pointed out after we had already cut it down.  With Jonathan dragging that prickly tree and me trying to carry our screaming daughter back to the car, it was all a bit more griswald christmas then currier and ives.  As Jonathan said on the ride home, maybe next year we should just buy one at the parking lot up the street.

Jonathan was off to Prague after that, so it was up to Giselle and I to decorate.  Considering it was our first Christmas tree chez nous, and I had to wear thick ski gloves the entire time, and of course I was 7 months pregnant with twins and can’t bend all that well, I’m super happy with the result!!  I love my little tree now and I may just keep it until February!

This photo taken of my mother and Giselle playing on Christmas morning just  makes my heart smile.  It completely makes up for the tree farm day.   Sometimes the fun is all in the little moments like this.

Just love Giselle’s red flannel Lanz of Salzburg pyjamas.  We had Lanz pyjamas like this when we were kids as did my mother and her sisters.

Giselle trying out her new radio flyer push trike.  Definitely her new favorite toy.

I hope all of you had a very merry christmas and if it wasn’t quite Currier and Ives, at least it was full of laughter, fun and lots of love.
Tomorrow, I’ll post the results of our great christmas cookie decorating contest!

Jennifer

We have exciting news!! Giselle is going to be a big sister.  x2!

Yes, that’s right she’s going to have not just one but two little brothers. We found out we were having another baby (or so we thought), while we were in Sicily this summer. I wasn’t feeling well and Jonathan thought it must have been something I ate. A couple days and a pregnancy test later, we realized it was little more than a bad plate of pasta! A lot more, we learned at our first sonogram appointment.

We’re thrilled and –and a bit terrified to be honest. But what new parent isn’t a bit terrified? We thought we had this newborn thing down – sort of. And now it’s going to be a whole new world. Twins. Two of everything – at the same time.  And, boys. I grew up in a world of women. A sister, lots of aunties, women’s college. There’s so many things I don’t understand about boy world. Like how do you change a boy’s diaper without getting peed on? Or why do boys and big boys (ie, men) dress up in “their” team jersey and shout at a television set as if it has any effect on the outcome? Forgive me if I’m being sexist. My friend Romina reminded me that there are women that yell at their television sets too. Romina, if you’re reading this, it’s pointless.  They can’t hear you!

Joking aside, we’ll do what parents do. We’ll fumble along. We’ll learn from our friends, parents, and doctors. And we’ll learn from our kids. Giselle has already taught me so much. She’s a beautiful, inquisitive, loving little girl. She dances and sings a tune we sort of recognize but haven’t figured out what it is yet.  She’s happy being outside and seeing lots of people around. She laughes a lot and puts herself in funny yoga-like poses, and she hates to nap (unless she’s being pushed around in a comfy stroller). She loves her dada. I love her dada too and seeing what an amazing father he has become makes me love him that much more. Honestly, Jonathan never seemed that interested in kids before. He’d hold other people’s babies arm’s length away like they might slime on him any minute. With Giselle it’s never been like that.  Some of my favorite memories from that first week are jonathan and giselle napping together with Giselle on his chest, both blissfully content.  When Jonathan’s home he changes just as many diapers as I do and on Sunday mornings he’ll get up and make her whole wheat pancakes just the way she likes.  When Giselle’s not feeling well in the middle of the night, he’ll rock and hold her for hours.  That’s love pure and simple, and when you love someone or something like that it changes you.

We started as two adults who didn’t even have any plants or animals. We worked and played and traveled around the world together. Then we had Giselle and it was the three of us playing and traveling and taking care of each other. Now it’s going to be 5 of us. A lot will change. I am so  grateful for the friends that  just told me that I’ve got this, it’s doable and wonderful too. I have no illusions that this is going to be easy.  That there won’t be days  I’ll want to run out the house and keep running, but if you know me  you know I’ve never run away from difficult.  The best things in my life have never been easy.

*Note I’m still doing office work but I won’t be shooting until next June. Please do contact me for any photography starting in June. I will be very excited to be back at work. I love doing what I do and I always miss it when I’m away.

** pictures at top taken with my iphone at the Standard Miami mud lounge.  With parents like us, how can they not all grow up completely normal??

I’ll end with a a couple cute pictures taken this morning of the big sister.  Doesn’t she look ready to change a couple diapers?

xoxo Jennifer