Congratulations Jacqueline and Jason!

Jacqueline and Jason had an absolutely beautiful wedding last Saturday at Lake Forest Country Club in Hudson, OH. Their ceremony was outside on the lake with the reception in the clubhouse following. Their family and friends were warm and you could tell that everyone was very close.

Thank you both for inviting us to share in your day!
Steph

Lynsey is 9 months!!

I can hardly believe that this little one is this big already. If any of you have been following my blog for longer than 9 months, you may remember Lynsey from last August. Her parents, Jessica and Nathan gave me the honor of being present for Lynsey's birth. I have since photographed her as a newborn, at 3 months, at 6 months and now at 9 months. She gets cuter each time I see her.

Proud Mommy Moment!!!

I have to take a minute to brag on my boy! Ian is such an amazing child. He started talking at 8 months and never stopped. He spoke in full sentences by a year and a half. He could count to 10 in English and Spanish and had an over 200 word vocabulary at 18 months.

The newest thing to add to his list of accomplishments is my little man can read!!! Today we bought a series of very early readers. He read this first book once with me in the store and here is a video of him reading to Shan when we got home. (This is only the 2nd time he has seen this book!)

Sorry the video is a little dark.


He is 4 years, 11 months and 2 days old! LOL I am just so proud of him!!! (Can you tell!?!? LOL)

Anyway...thanks for letting me brag on him. I am just super excited about this development!

Steph

Congratulations Luther and CarLisa!

Luther and CarLisa were married on Sunday and had a great day for a wedding. The weather was beautiful and everyone was so much fun to be around. They were married at New Trinity Baptist Church in Akron and had their reception at Guy's Party Center. We also went to the John Brown House (Perkins Stone Mansion) in Akron to do photos after the ceremony. It is a beautiful location!











Congrats guys! I wish you nothing but the best!
Steph

Vendors:
Ceremony: New Trinity Baptist Church
Reception: Guy's Party Center
Wedding Coordination: Ninth Street Events

On the Boat Again!

We have a sailboat. Did anyone know that?!? I might have forgotten since the last time we were on it was the summer of 2006 when I was pregnant with Christian! We didn't take it out at all last year, partly because I was nervous to take such a small child on it. Now that Christian is bigger, I am less nervous about being out on it.

So we tried to take the boat out on Saturday, but ran into the glitch of a very dead truck battery when we went to get it out of storage. So the most we accomplished that night was replacing the battery in the truck! LOL Shan and Ian were both super disappointed that we couldn't go out, so Shan asked what we were doing on Monday. The calendar was empty, so he said, if the weather is nice, we will take the boat out on Monday.

Now Saturday the winds were a nice steady 15 mph. Very good for a sailboat.

Monday....the winds were gusting to 7 mph. Not very good for a sailboat.

Shan really wanted to take the boat on Lake Erie again, so we took it to Cleveland and launched it on Lake Erie. Let me tell you....I have never seen Lake Erie this calm. It looked like a pond with a glass surface! LOL Not good for sailboats.

So we spent several hours on the water, made it a bit of a distance from the shore, but nothing to write home about and listened to Christian fuss and Ian sing about sailing and directing "Captain Shannon" and "Captain Stephanie". (I think he thought we were on an adventure like the Backyardigans.) He had a blast and even got in the water some....even though the water was only 57 degrees. Brrrrrrrrr.

More pictures from the point and shoot.

Ian is a great big brother. I love this picture. He just looks so protective.


Christian wasn't sure he wanted to be on the boat. This was his first time...and that binky in his mouth...is now at the bottom of Lake Erie. (He got mad at one point and chucked it overboard! LOL)


Ian loved to stand on the bow of the boat.


This is before we even pulled out of the parking lot.

Hopefully our next boating trip will be a little more exciting! LOL But at least it was an easy start for Christian. (Oh...and did I mention, we found a little hole in the front keel of the boat and it was a little spurting fountain most of the day! LOL We fixed that on the way home.)

Steph

Carnival!!!!

Well, it must be summer because the carnival was in town last weekend! LOL Nothing like rip-off games, overpriced rides and artery-clogging carnival food to kickstart summer!

All joking aside...we did have a great time. Christian is still too little to ride the rides, but he really enjoyed seeing everything and he loved the fireworks display.

Ian is just a hair (like 1/2") too little to ride some of the kiddie rides alone, but he had fun nonetheless. He was all about the rides and the games!

Here are just a few pictures from our point and shoot camera.

Ian's favorite "ride". The fun house. Which his ride arm band wasn't good for, so it cost more. And he sped through it like he was being chased by a lion! LOL I don't think he enjoyed any of the fun parts in the "fun" house.



Here is Ian on the Crazy Bus. He liked this ride!

Ian and I rode the big ferris wheel together. He definitely doesn't have any fears of heights! LOL He liked to turn around to look behind us which rocked the car and made me nervous! LOL He is so thin that he could climb out of the safety bar. So I had a death grip on his leg!


Here is Christian enjoying a "ride" in the stroller! LOL He is actually showing me how big he is. And looking at these pictures....he looks it! (Don't mind that his face and clothes are covered in food. LOL He was enjoying a funnel cake with me!)


Christian tends to be a very somber kid when the camera is around...so this is a rare look at his smile on camera!


Ian and Daddy (Shan).


Christian and Mommy (Steph)


A couple of the fireworks. Not bad for handheld!



Here is Ian riding the little ferris wheel by himself!


The carnival is gone now and Ian is already asking when it will be back in town. The answer...next year buddy!

Steph

Congratulations Jon and Dawn!

Jon and Dawn were married on May 25th on the Nautica Queen in Cleveland, OH. It was a very touching day and we had a great time with them both! They had such great senses of humor and were up for any of our ideas. We did pictures in The Old Arcade, at Rock Bottom Brewery, at Voinovich Park and at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Public Square.

Thank you both for choosing us to capture your day. We had so much fun and can't wait for the After Session!

Steph

Congratulations Matt and Brandi!

Matt and Brandi were married on May 24th at Old North Church in Canfield, OH. We spent the entire day with Matt and Brandi and were welcomed like members of the family. You could tell that this couple are very much in love and have truly grown together throughout their relationship.

After the ceremony, we went to Fellows Riverside Gardens in the Mill Creek MetroParks for pictures. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time with Brandi, Matt and their bridal party. We then stopped at the Cinderella Bridge, also in the Mill Creek MetroParks for a couple pictures of just the newlyweds.

The reception was at the Holiday Inn - Metroplex in Girard, OH. It was beautifully decorated and everyone partied with Brandi and Matt late into the night.

Thank you so much for choosing me to capture your day!
Steph