My favorite session ever.

It's no secret that I dread photographing newborn babies. They are incredibly unpredictable, and I always feel like mom and dad are secretly wondering what in the hell I am doing to their poor child.

Yesterday, I drove up North to do some photos for a family whose little man came about 2 weeks early.

I set up my stuff, mom put the baby in the middle of the bean bag, walked away...and that was that. There was no one staring over my shoulder. There wasn't constant concern that the baby might fuss.

It was just me and the baby.

And I must say, we made quite a team.

Once Tom gets home from the gym this afternoon, we're going to turn on the football games and set up the Christmas tree. I can't wait! There's nothing I love more than sitting at home in the evening, curled up on the couch with Tom, watching TV and simultaneously admiring the twinkling lights on the tree.

I love this time of year. :)

T-Gives and other things.

I was pretty thrilled this year when my good friend, Stephanie, invited Tom and I over for Thanksgiving dinner with her big ol' family.

First of all, I love Stephanie.

And I love her family.

Win-win.

Good people. Awesome food. No cooking or clean-up involved on my part.

But here's the problem.

No leftovers.

THAT is pretty uncool, I have to admit.

So today, I was forced to be productive and eat leftover pizza.

Sigh.

Oh well.

I placed orders. I edited photos. I mailed photos. I created Christmas cards. I ordered Christmas cards. I wrapped gifts. I paid bills. I threatened the lives of all big insurance companies under my breath. I drank wine. And after I write this post, I'm going to sit on the couch with the most wonderful man in the world and watch Courage Under Fire.

Happy Black Friday.

Let the Christmas festivities officially begin.

(Tom's making me keep this picture because he believes it to be a perfect capture of this kid for most of the day. In other words, Thaddeus is usually pretty pissed off that I'm trying to take his picture.)

I'm alive.

A certain friend of mine continues to hound me to update my blahg, and while I keep insisting that I will, I never find the time to follow through on my promise.

To be honest, my business more than tripled what I had last year at this time. I hope the trend continues, but I never expected such a rapid growth. Needless to say, I have often found myself over-whelmed (lest we not forget the hard drive that totally crashed on me...thank God for that last minute back-up I had run on my external HD), over-booked, over-promised, over the whole law school thing...

...you get the idea.

Tonight I finished up my last session of the season. Aside from a trip I have planned to Texas for boudoir photos and an old friend's wedding, I have nothing more on the books and am not taking any more clients until 2012.

That actually sounds really good to say.

I'm extremely grateful for the boom in my business, but I'm also extremely grateful for a little vacation.

Vacation.

I say that word lightly.

The next 6 weeks still entail final exams, a visit with Craig, Sharon, my sister and my brother, a trip to Texas (with Danielle - holy hells balls this will be fun), a road trip to and from Colorado, a trip to Chicago, and I have about 14-dozen gifts to buy before it gets to the point where the mall makes my head explode.

But I'm still looking forward to it.

For those clients who have stumbled upon my personal blahg, I thank you for your continued support of my business. And for those of you who aren't my clients, but read my blahg because you're infatuated with my honesty or detest my every word, I thank you for your continued support. 

Every visit helps my SEO. ;)