Her haircut

I have some more photos to share, but thought that I'd finally take some photos of Lilly with her new haircut! I might actually keep it short for awhile since it's so much easier to take care of with all of her curls.
It's snowing here today so we'll be staying inside all day. I'd take Lilly out to play in it, but it's really cold and windy so I think we'll stay warm inside instead! The kitchen floor has been removed and we're down to the hardwood. I'm glad that it's in good shape but at the same time I'm upset that it was covered up with so many layers of horrible crap! I'm glad that we decided to pull it up instead of add to the layers. Now we just need to sand it down, stain and poly it and it'll be as good as new......but with a little bit of character added in! We'll also be putting the drywall up and knocking down the wall between the kitchen and living room and turning it into a half wall. I think that the kitchen will consume my thoughts until it's done. So I'll be back with more pictures of the house, Lilly and Christmas!

Her Christmas Photos

I guess I can share them now since our Christmas cards went out already.....

Her first haircut....

I still need to take some photos of her after, but since the light wasn't that great outside today we'll wait a little bit. But here is a photo of her getting her hair cut with her big sad eyes and facial expressions.....

A new look.....

so I decided with my new found time on my hands earlier this week that I'm ready for a new look business wise. With that came a decision that I needed a logo. I was first thinking about hiring a graphic designer to do the work for me, but I thought that I'd try my hand at it first and get some opinions from some friends on what I created before I went that route. So here is the new look of Carrie Ann Photography.....
I love trees. They mean life to me and I think that they can be reflective of people the way that they change. I'll be working on updating my website and blog with the new look in the coming weeks. I may even get a whole new website sometime next year, but we'll see!

In other news, we're still in the middle of remodeling chaos! Part of the leaky pipe was replaced today only to find out that the other end of the pipe......the vent end that goes up to the roof has a leak. The leak is actually in the seal around the roof so since it was raining really hard today it was coming down the whole length of the pipe and right into my kitchen. The leak must have just happened since the pipe has been exposed a couple of times and it's rained just as hard and never leaked. Thankfully, it can be fixed and will be in the coming weeks. We'll also be replacing all of the plumbing in the bathroom since we have to replace the drywall in the kitchen ceiling anyways. It's best that everything is happening while everything is exposed anyways and in this case I'm really looking at this as a positive thing. We know then that everything has been updated and will be as it should be, with a little character thrown in!

Lillian had her first hair cut today and everything that I thought would happen did. I prepared myself by bringing along some candy, juice and the iPod with a Dora movie on it. Dora helped a little bit, but for the most part it was a cry fest with big crocodile tears running down her face the whole time. She was fine sitting on the booster seat, but as soon as the cape was put on her she freaked out. She kept saying "I stuck, I stuck!" I grabbed a few photos which I'll upload tomorrow.....not sure how good they came out since my glasses were on top of my head and I really couldn't see! She now has a cute little curly bob and we trimmed up her bangs since they were a little uneven. So I'll be back with some new photos!

This is what happens....

when little girls decide to not take their daily nap!


It was like 6:30 and she was watching Little Monsters (thank goodness for free movies and tv shows on demand!) and running around and loving it. From time to time she likes to sit on the edge of the coffee table and watch tv. So I'm at the computer doing some editing and all the sudden I hear some really loud snoring and there she is.....in her new dress shoes, a pink tutu and no shirt......totally picture worthy!

I'm pretty much done editing photos for 2008 which feels great! I'm working on some business stuff this week, but since there's no rush to get it over with I can take my time. I never imagined that I'd be as busy as I was the second half of the year! It seems like it's been non-stop since the end of August which I'm so thankful for because it makes me value my free time with my family even more.

So with more free time on my hands, I'll be doing some crafting, cleaning, painting and plain old relaxing and playing with Lilly and at the same time taking more photos of her. We both have a little bit of a cold at the moment, but hopefully the snow on the ground will stick around for a couple more days till her cold is gone so I can take her outside!

Oh....

and a couple pics of Marianna over on Betsy and Justin's blog....

www.betsyandjustin.blogspot.com

An out-take....

I won't share the rest of Lilly's Christmas photos, but I love this out take of her.....it shows her nice and long lashes....

She actually did pretty well while I was taking her photos, before hand is another story! I'm getting ready right now for my last session of the year and then I can just finish up my editing and stuff and get some much needed family time in. I'm hoping to be completely done with all of my editing and marketing for next year by this time next week, that way I can just enjoy the holidays ahead!

I have a wedding at the end of January in Bennington which is my next scheduled so I'm really looking forward to the break which I'll certainly need as the construction (or deconstruction) in the kitchen begins. We've decided to go down to the hardwood floors and sand them down, nail holes and all! It'll be messy kitchen for awhile (and messy house too) as we get things done, but it'll be worth it in the end. My first instinct is to just tear down the other wall in between the kitchen and dining room, but I know that we'd be biting off more than we can chew financially so that would be a stupid move on my part!

Anyways, time to get ready, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that you're staying warm!