October is to Photographers...

As April is to accountants.  Yep.  It's that busy.  I am not sure what it is about fall that makes 9 out of 10 families think that RIGHT NOW is the time for pictures.  I think much of it has to do with the impending holiday's and wanting to send out a card with their little family on it for everyone to oooh and ahhh over. I told myself that his year I wasn't going to overwhelm myself with shoots.  I even turned many people away!  Yet somehow others still snuck in and before you know it I was barely staying afloat in a sea of shoots waiting to be edited.

Even while nearly drowning I have this obsession with cramming every fall fun activity into our already busy lives and I really wouldn't trade those for the world.  I love them.  Multiple pumpkin patches, farmers markets, time spent playing in leaf piles and more.  This fall was wonderful in that regard.  It was long, with great weather and the leaves were more beautiful than they had been in years it seemed like.

We followed up Halloween quickly with Oliver's first birthday party, followed by literally all of us being sick, and then finally....vacation.  We got back very late Wednesday night, enjoyed a quick, but awesome, Thanksgiving with our family in Omaha and then headed home where I spent the next 3 days finishing the editing that went undone before vacation and shooting a beautiful newborn who was born while we were gone.

After being back I have been thinking a lot about last year at this time.  About my tiny sweet boy and how much he has grown and changed.  His first birthday party was a ton of fun.  We had a mustache themed party and for part of the decorations I went through and selected 101 pictures from his first year and made them black and white and added a mustache.  It is always amazing looking back.  You always hear people say "they grow too fast" but sometimes I feel like life is on warp speed!  I just want to freeze some moments so I can hold them a little closer a little longer.

It really was the best party ever.  The day was warm, all of our family was here, and all the kids had fun.  And I have to say, this little guy gave us the best cake smash ever.  He loved the cake and wanted to share with everyone.  He got as messy as you picture kids getting....it was just totally perfect.  

And with that I am off for the day.  Happy to have shared something from our life lately.  More about vacation soon.