Spring at Castle Mohr

It is spring here in St. Louis land.  It is one of my favorite times, because despite the neglect that our yard receives all year long, every spring, all these amazing flowers and plants turn green and spring up all over the place.   Here are a few pix from the back yard.  

There are other things coming into bloom during this season.  Our baby angel, who can throw the best fits, (mostly over not being aloud to touch things like, the remote, my camera, our cell phones,)  is learning to stand up without holding on to the furniture for support.  She is the most precious little girl, even when she is crying.  This round of tears was brought on by mama not letting her chew on the camera.

Notice the extremely cute outfit Grandma Bonnie made for Arie Alex?

Ahhhhhhh!  But we found a passie, and it was all better after that!  See how great I am at standing up?

Arie Alex Turns 1!

Baby angel had a beautiful first birthday party on a beautiful day. We were able to spend most of the day in the back yard and many of our closest friends and family were there to celebrate. Arie Alex was a little unsure about her cake at first. She picked at it with her thumb and forefinger like a perfect lady at first. But after I stuck a small dollop of icing in her mouth. She started devouring the little cake, like a perfect one year old. I was very engergetic and happy the whole week. A lot of people said I might get sad or emotional thinking back at how my baby girl has grown up, but it was more of an exciting week, where I felt blessed and happy that my sweet girl is so healthy and I fall in love with her more every day.

Pick of the Week: Dragonfly Designs Taggy Blankets

One of our favorite gifts we received for Arie Alex, was a taggy blanket. It was made from the softest, pink fabric, and the tags were all made from brown, pink and green ribbons. Her name was embroidered in the corner and a sweet little tag that read, "Dragonfly Designs" was fastened around the middle. Since receiving this blanket, I have started purchasing them for other friends who are having babies, and they too are finding it is one of their favorite gifts. If you have a baby, then you know their favorite part of any toy is the tag. The taggy blanket provides them with endless tags and is also very Hollywood chic. Fortunately, my friend, Abby makes these blankets at an amazing price. They come in a variety of colors to meet your taste and style. You can visit the Dragonfly Designs Store in Eureka, right out side St. Louis, or go to the website or blog.

Arie Alex: 11 Months

So here are the latest pix of our baby girl.  She is learning to do more everyday.  She is very expressive and is learning to communicate better all the time.  She pulls up and can cruise along the furniture.  She has even started pulling up on boxes walking along behind them has the slide across the floor.  

Airawen can clap and wave and brushes her hair when you hand her the hair brush.  She says, "King Dog", which actually sound more like "Ga Do", but it is very consistent, and there is no mistaking he is the light of her life.

She splashes the water in the bathtub when you say, "Splashing, splashing"  She has also started touching her head when you ask, "Where is the baby's hair?"

Airawen is my favorite baby to take pictures of and has made this the most fun year of our life.  Tim and I get so much joy just out of watching her play, and learn how do things on her own.  She can drink out of the sippy cup, or bottle by herself, and flips through her books.  She throws things behind her head when she is finished with them.   It is crazy that she is going to be one in only a couple of weeks!  This year has been so fast wonderful.  We are so blessed that Arie Alex is our daughter.  Being parents is more fantastic than we could have ever dreamed.

Arie Alex and King Dog

Hey, look!  There is my King Dog!

I love this King Dog!  Every morning I wake up and say, "Ga Do"  Which means "King Dog"  He makes me laugh a lot, and I love to pet his soft fur.

He is really good about letting me play with is face, and climb on him for about 5 minutes, then he asks mommy to put him downstairs so he can get away from me. 

He sniffs me first though, to see if there are any crumbs he can lick off my face.  He is learning that I have good food that I throw on the floor for him to eat.  I think he is starting to like me as much as I like him. 

Arie Alex: 9 Months

Our sweet girl turned 9 months old on December 5th.  We tried to do something more formal for pictures, but she doesn't sit still very long, so this is what we got.   Airawen is very expressive and talkative.  She also quite dramatic and has become kind of a mama's girl.  If I put her down she will sometimes throw herself prostrate on the floor, sobbing.   I have asked her if she would like some sackcloth and ashes to go with all that weeping, but she just holds her arms up for me to pick her up. 

Most of the time she is actually quite easy going and happy.  My favorite time of day is when she wakes up in the morning.  She will just start jabbering to herself in sweet little melodies.  When I walk in to get her she is always waiting with a huge smile and starting bouncing up and down.   She has learning to pull up to standing in her crib and it is still kind of  a shock to see my little baby standing up.

Tomorrow begins my last week at Covenant Seminary as their Audio/Visual Producer.  It is a sad and exciting time. I will miss my amazing staff and all the wonderful learning experience that I get there, but I also am overjoyed to be coming home to raise my baby and become a full time photographer.  Beautiful Mess Photography is starting off 2009 hopeful and with great certainty that this is what God is calling me to do as a wife, mom and artist.  

For those of you who have not seen the website... www.beautifulmessphoto.com 

Pass on the word to anyone you know who is getting married or needs baby/family/senior pictures.  I would love to tell your story in the Beautiful Mess style, so don't hesitate to check  us out!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year!

Arie Alex: Christmas Angel

This is our baby angel at 8 Months old.  I didn't release the picture earlier b/c we wanted to use it for some Christmas presents.  She is in full crawl/cruise mode now and has started pulling up on anything that will hold all 19 lbs of her.  She is sporting 5 teeth and is eating solid food.  Arie Alex wakes up more fun and beautiful everyday!  We had a great 1st Christmas with our baby girl this year.  Stay tuned for more Christmas pictures!

Arie Alex Goes to See Santa

One of my photography jobs this holiday season, was to take pictures of kids with Santa at a nearby elementary school.  Tim and Arie Alex came with me to help.  We haven't really decided if we are going to do the whole Santa thing with Airawen or not, but I thought as a traditional American icon for this time of year, and it being Airawen's first Christmas, we could get the one shot of her on Santa's lap.  Thankfully she liked him a lot and wasn't at all afraid.  The pictures came out really cute so I thought I would share.

Heidi's Wedding

My sister, Heidi, got married in November, to Johnn Houston.  It was a great time and we are so excited to have Johnn as part of our family!  There were tears and laughter and hugs and all the things that weddings should have.  The pictures are all from the rehearsal and the girls getting ready the next day.  (I had the day off from taking pictures, so I don't actually have the wedding pictures to post yet.)  Congratulations Johnn and Heidi!  We love you!