Something new!

As always, I have so much to post about and, as always, I'm SO far behind! I hope I can get caught up before Clayton starts FIRST GRADE next week, but it's not looking good. I have swimming lesson pictures to post as well as pictures from our awesome mini-vacay to Madison to see two of our favorite people EVER (of course I'm talking about Vanessa and Rick)!

However, all the pictures from the events I've just mentioned are currently saved on my laptop upstairs and, due to the 11.4 miles I ran this morning, the thought of walking up the stairs right now isn't appealing. So, I'm just going to post what's available to me here on the PC. Luckily for all of you, that includes a sneak peak of the family pictures we had taken a few weeks ago and some shots of the kids that Vanessa was kind enough to take for us when we went to Madison.

On to the pictures. The first series are some shots taken by a photographer named Lillian. She is so talented and I have loved looking at her pics for a while now. She always takes the pictures for my brother's family, and I've loved what she's done for them so I was happy to have the opportunity to have her shoot our family before she (sadly) moved out of the South Bend area. She got some really great shots. Thanks Lillian - it was so fun to work with you!
These are not in any kind of order:
I just love this pretty little girl and her big blue eyes!
She captured his personality alright! His new catchphrase is, "But I was interested!" (He tells me that after I've caught him doing something naughty.)
I love the vibrant colors and, of course, this face! He looks so old to me!!


I'm not sure what Noah's doing here, but I like this one!
I love the expression on Noah's face here. This is one of my favorites of the whole day!

I've gushed before about the amazing photographer that Vanessa is. She just has an eye for what will look good and she know my kids so well that she knows just what to do to get them to take a great picture. When we went to Madison, she took a few shots of the kids for me. I love how they turned out! Thanks Vanessa, you know I think you're awesome!
Seriously, could this kid be any more handsome!?! He's the spitting image of his dad and I couldn't love it more. He's devistatingly handsome when he's posing, but I'm also a sucker for the squinty-eyed face of joy! (And yes, he needs a haircut. It's on our list of things to do before school starts.)

This kid is Mr. Personality! When he turns on the charm, it's impossible to resist, but he's got a stubborn streak in him that runs so deep Michael Phelps would drown in it! (Pictured above, the dashing Noah - pictured below, Pootie.)

What can I say? I just love these pictures and this girl. She's got such a sassy personality. She's definitely the diva of the Smith house and, even though it's frustrating at times, I wouldn't change it!
I've been very fortunate these past few months to have two very talented photographers take our pictures. I'm not the most savvy photographer (and will probably never be) so I love it when someone who knows what they're doing takes charge! Now my biggest problem is deciding which ones to frame (although I've got some pretty good ideas)...