Fall Birthday Pictures of the Kids 2015

Adalyn age 4/ Declin age 1/ Jensen almost 3

Photos taken by Kelli Cooper Photography 

It is pretty well known by now that I love getting professional pictures of my kids taken.  Over the past year I have had many conversations with people about the ins and outs of "getting your pictures taken".  I have also thought about it a lot and had many discussions about them with McKay.  He listens to me ramble on about them and then together we have tried to do what is best for our family budget wise and family history wise.  I use the term "family history" very loosely here because in no way am I saying that you HAVE to have professional photos done of your children.  Honestly I have them done because I LOVE them and it is SO fun for me.  I love choosing outfits, a location, a photographer, and then of course getting the special pictures after.  I LOVE the quality that photographers can get and the details that you can see in each image.  But my absolute favorite part of the whole process is printing the images and hanging them around my house.  Every time I walk past the walls with my kids pictures I smile.  Seriously!  I love being surrounded by such meaningful pictures in my home.  These new photos are already on my wall and I LOVE looking at them.  Taking professional pictures is such a "mommy hobby" for me.

The first thing people ask me is about the price.  Yes it is expensive.  I came to terms with the cost last year and I really try to not complain about the cost anymore (I have slipped up at times).  Photographers put a lot of money and time into their business and in turn it costs money to have them take our photos.  Every photographer charges a different price depending on their level of experience.  So I think it is great that we can find someone that fits our budget.  These days when I am looking for a photographer I try and find someone with my similar taste in style and quality.  The price that fits my style has ended up being between $175- $350 per photo shoot.

Another thing I have been asked about is how I coordinate our outfits.  For each session I decide on a color theme for that session.  With young kids I only plan one outfit for each person.  There is no way my kids would make it through a clothing change during a photo session.  Then I usually end up buying 1-3 new items for each person's outfit to all coordinate together and then just pull from our existing wardrobes for the rest of our outfits.  Layers are my friend for photo shoots and really help and interest and detail to the shoot.  For the most part I do not have anyone match exactly.  While that used to be the style for family pictures; these days the more colors and patterns you can throw in the better.  I usually start planning our outfits a couple months in advance so I can watch for sales.  Old Navy, Gap, and Target have been where I find the majority of our clothes for photo shoots.  I will buy things when they are having their 40% off sales with free shipping.  I also usually get Adalyn a hair accessory and those usually come from a local boutique.  Although someday soon she may out grow these accessories which will make me very sad. ;(

Location and when to take the pictures is sometimes hard to figure out.  Indoor photos with the whole family are hard so we are trying to do family sessions outside from now on.  This past May we did a family session and it rained for 2 weeks before our session and for a week after.  We literally took advantage of one of the only dry evenings of that month.  It was stressful but SO worth it since that session will forever be my favorite one ever!  This most recent session was perfect weather wise and the leaves were perfect.  So for Idaho weather I aim to do photos anytime between May and October.  As far as location goes I usually just let the photographer pick one of their favorite locations since I feel like they are more experienced in that area then I am.

My question that I have been trying to figure out this year with regards to photography is how often should we get photos taken?  My original idea was to do newborn photos, family session (with everyone) when the baby is 6 months old, a 1 year old session and then fall yearly "birthday" pictures after that.  This was the schedule that we started when Adalyn was a baby and have followed up to this point.  We also started that schedule when I was getting practically free photos from my aunt. Now that we are paying more for photos I have realized that our original schedule is a little too much for us.  So I started asking around about how often people get photos done and I quickly realized I was pretty much the only crazy one out there WITH a schedule.  haha! So I came up with y own new schedule.  We are now scaling back to newborn photos for a new member of the family and one session a year for everyone.  Whether that "other" session is a family one if we just had a baby or just a kids school/birthday session will just depend on the year and what I feel like doing.  This new schedule feels more realistic. ;)   (haha! Definitely more realistic the last one was intense!)

The last photo info I want to add to this post is where I print my photos.  My photographer suggested Nations Photo Lab.  My photographer was happy with their quality and coloring and so am I.  I used to print at Walmart and Sams club, but soon was not happy with the quality and coloring that I was getting!  Like it was really bad! So I decided if I am paying good money to get good quality photos I want good prints too.  Nations Photo Lab is actually really affordable.  They do charge for shipping since they aren't a local company so I just make sure to order all of my prints at the same time to save a little on that cost.  The large photos that I print to hang on my wall I print on single weight mat boards.  Then I frame the mats, but leave out the glass in the frame.  I love the way it looks on the wall and really helps the photo be the focus.    

Love these cute kids of mine!  They are the best things in my life.  So happy to be their mother!  

                  

Happy Halloween 2015

Halloween is always a fun holiday.  Some years I wish that I made a bigger deal about it.  Such as more decorations, more effort on costumes, more fun activities for the kids.  But I also love the low key feel of the holiday... so who knows if we will ever get around to all of my big plans.

This year Adalyn asked to be a Butterfly fairy.  In all of my extensive searching (aka. Amazon) I could only find a Butterfly PRINCESS costume that fit our standards (meaning had sleeves).  Luckily she loved the costume and was happy to change plans.  Really I think she just wanted the wings.  Oh but then Halloween morning she watched the movie Maleficent.  So the rest of the day she told people that she was Maleficent.  Yeah we didn't get it either...  We just told people to smile and nod.  hehe!  

 

For Jensen I found a few costumes on a buying/selling facebook page that were his size.  They were cheep and should last him for a couple more years.  I let him choose which costume he wanted to wear this year and he chose the tree frog costume.  So we sort of had a princess and the frog theme going.

Declin got stuck with Jensen's hand-me down from a few years ago and so he went as Cookie monster.  I loved his little hood when he would leave on!

Halloween was on a Saturday this year so it was fun to spend the whole day together.  Not that we did anything too exciting, but we had fun anticipating the trick or treating.  Then in the evening we decided to start a little tradition of grilling hot dogs for our Halloween dinner.  It sounded easy enough to me and the kids loved it.  We grilled and ate them outside as we watched the sun go down and all the trick or treaters start heading out through out the neighborhood.  McKay even stayed out and roasted more for those coming around trick or treating while playing Halloween music in the back ground.

The kids made it to about 12 houses before they decided that they were tired and wanted to go home.  I was a little bummed that they didn't last longer, but happy that we didn't have a ton of candy to worry about.  So we went home and they watched a special Scooby Doo Halloween movie while McKay and I sat outside and passed out treats.  Our neighbors were even nice and we didn't have any trick or treaters after 8 pm so we put the kids to bed early and we watched our own movie.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween too!    

 

Our Toy Guidelines

Guys I started listening to Christmas music today!  It is totally unlike me to listen to it this early, but it just sounded fun.  It wasn't Jingle bells or anything too obnoxious it was calm, relaxing, piano music.  While listening I felt a deep and overwhelming gratitude for the birth of Jesus Christ.  His birth was just the beginning of all of the beautiful miracles that his life brought to this earth.  I am so grateful to know my savior and feel of his love daily.

So needless to say I am excited for this Christmas season!  Something that also comes along with Christmas are presents.  I know many of us stress over shopping and buying gifts, but for me this is a fun part of Christmas.  I even started my Christmas shopping back in September since I was so excited for it.  Today I am pretty much done with my main Christmas shopping.  I just have to press 'buy' in my virtual shopping cart in Amazon on the last of the gifts.  I have probably spent more time on it then is necessary, but most of my "shopping" was online during nap time so I feel ok about it.

This summer we spent a lot of time dejunking our house.  We worked on refocusing our goals on only bringing things into our house that brought us joy.  Along with dejunking my New Years resolution for 2015 was make my home a healthier place to be by getting rid of some of the chemicals that surround us.  This goal has been a year long process and I will share the progress that we have made in cleansing our house in a future post.  But I mention these goals now, because they have really affected our outlook on kids toys.  McKay and I have discussed things and we now have some guidelines that we like to keep in mind as we shop for birthday presents or Christmas presents for our kids.  A few of you asked, so I thought I would share our guidelines here.

* P.S.while these guidelines ARE working for us now I have no idea if we will keep them all forever.  I haven't worked with kids over six years old very much so I have no idea if their needs and wants will cause us to change some of these.  Just thought I would throw that in.  :)

1. No Batteries
This has been a rule at our house since day one.  McKay has always insisted that we don't buy battery operated toys and for the most part I don't argue.  Usually batteries limit the toy to being just a "push and watch" toy which we don't love.  Also batteries are expensive.  The few battery operated toys that we do have I keep in good working order and try to replace the batteries when they run out since toys are always more fun when they work properly.

2. When possible, buy wooden/metal/cloth toys instead of plastic ones.
We are trying to reduce the amount of plastic that we have in our house especially infant/toddler plastic toys since they are most likely to go in babies mouths.  McKay doesn't think this rule is a big deal, but it feels important to me so I am trying to choose the wooden versions of toys instead of the plastic ones.  Beyond just the chemicals found in plastics I feel like the wooden toys are more appealing to the eye and are usually built better.  We still have a lot of plastic toys, but it feels good to not be getting more.  A big exception that I see us making in the future to this rule is Legos.  I love them (probably wont love them spread all over my house) and hope my kids will too as they get older.  So we will be getting legos/duplos even though they are plastic.

3. Quality over Quantity
We focus on getting good quality classic toys that both boys and girls can love for a very long time.  We look for solidly built toys.  Sometimes that means buying a child less number of gifts since the ones they did receive cost more.  We are happy when we find nice toys secondhand, but we are also (Or I should say 'I') not afraid to spend money on something that we feel will last for a long time and will be well loved.  I know someday we will feel like we have WAY too many toys.  We are not quite there yet since our kids are still young, but I feel it coming.  Hopefully limiting the toys that they get now will help us slow the inevitable of an over abundance in the toy department.  Plus I am not afraid to get rid of toys if my kids don't play with them.  Any random happy meal toys that make their way into our house gets to be loved for a week or so and then I toss them out.  I toss them out in secret and my kids have never asked me where the toy went.  Bigger toys that they don't play with get sold on Craigslist/Facebook.  Sometimes they see me selling something and they ask about it, but I just explain that they don't play with it so we are letting someone else have it.  Luckily so far they have been satisfied with that answer.  Just last night I gave away our collection of Mega blocks since they never play with them and they were happy to give them to their friends.    

4. No character toys.  Meaning we try to not buy toys (or any clothes for that matter) with a Disney or TV show character on it.
 Instead we usually shoot for generic animals or shapes.  For example I bought the kids some backpacks for Valentines day this year.  Instead of getting the Cars themed one or Princess Sofia one I got a Frog and Butterfly ones.  This was actually a rule at my house as a kid so it seemed pretty normal to me.  McKay liked it too so we went with it.  There are a million Disney themed toys out there and while they are fun in the moment they often loose their interest over time.  I really want these toys to last for a long time so that maybe my grand kids can play with them.   Also themed toys and clothes seem to usually be more expensive and lower quality then their generic counterparts since you are paying for the brand.      

5. Buy toys that encourage creativity and can be used in multiple ways.
I debated about including this rule because it is still a work in progress at our house, but I love the idea of it.  Not all toys will fall into this category, but I would love to have a few of these sets someday.  When I taught preschool we had tons of toys that were open ended toys that kids would create amazing structures and buildings with.  The top toy in this category was Duplos.  Every 4-6 year old classroom had them and every boy played with them every single day.  Definitely a keeper in my book.  A few other favorites from my preschool days are-
Classic Wooden Blocks (this is the only set that we have so far)
Wedgits
Stacker Pegs
Zoobs

Magna-Tiles were not really around when I was teaching, but they are definitely on my list for next Christmas.  I have only heard good things about them.

The last guideline at our house is keep toys organized.  Some homes just have a "toy room" and as long as the toys stay in the room it doesn't matter where they go.  At our house every toy has a box for all of its parts and every box has a spot or shelf that it goes on.  This system helps keep toy pieces together and helps them be more appealing for our kids to want to play with them.  It also helps makes clean up easier since the kids know where everything belongs.  No random toys scattered all over the house.  

Well those are the toy guidelines at this house, and they are the rules that I used when shopping for the kids Christmas gifts.

I feel like Christmas shopping is so different these days because of the internet.  Amazon is my best friend followed closely by Pinterest (cliche I know!).  Thanks to these two websites I keep things pretty organized with future gift ideas for each member of my family (including future babies!).  Everyone in the family has their own wishlist that I have created on Amazon and whenever I see something they might like I add it to their wishlist.  I also have a wishlist for children's books that look good and preschool games/activities that I would love to add to our collection.  When a birthday rolls around or Christmas I just consult the wish lists for ideas of what to get them.  Then once I choose what I want to buy I shop around to find the best price.  Often amazon has good prices or deals, but other times I find things cheaper at Target, Zulily, or if I am lucky- second hand.    

Another aspect of children's toys are grandparents.  Grandparents are awesome and SO willing to buy presents for grand kids.  I am so grateful for all of the help and love that my parents and McKay's parents have shown to our kids through special gifts.  But grandparents don't always have the same toy guidelines that we do.  I am not one to stand up and tell a grandparent what they can and can't buy, but there have been a few things that have worked in our favor on this subject.

-Last Christmas McKay's step mom decided to do a toyless Christmas for the grandkids.  This decision came after going into a few strangers homes to clean their carpets (they are carpet cleaners) and being overwhelmed by the shear number of toys that the kids had.  So instead of toys she got the kids special plates and bowls to use at meal times, backpacks, temple and Christ pictures for their rooms, coloring supplies, jeans, etc.  A toyless Christmas was great and the kids still loved their gifts from grandma and grandpa without them having to be toys.  McKay's family does not exchange Christmas lists.  It is a "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" kind of idea.  So I don't really have a say on what my kids get from them, but they are great and you can tell Grandma really tries to buy things that the kids will like.  

- My family is the exact opposite from McKay's family.  Christmas lists are your best friend and my mom asks for a list from every member of the family including the grandkids, usually in early October.  So I have started emailing her each child's wish list from Amazon (and I usually send her my wish list too haha!), which is simple and quick and then we just make sure that we don't buy them the same things.  My mom loves getting the suggestions and having a list makes her shopping easier.  Plus then my kids get things that are geared towards their personality and interests.

-We are not afraid to get rid of things. I repeat.  We are not afraid to get rid of things.  I know I said this earlier, but if a toy isn't a great fit for our family we just get rid of it!  The hassle of storing obnoxious random toys is not worth it to us!  If my kids are given something that we don't love; I let them keep it for a while (usually about 6 months, so that I don't feel too guilty) and then we sell it.  Some of the toys are even ones that I have bought, thinking that they will love them and then they just don't.  For example:  McKay and I re decorated a huge doll house for Adalyn last Christmas.  We were so excited to give it to her, thinking that she would love it.  The girl hasn't played with it once this year unless I am sitting there forcing her to.  haha!  I think it is just too big (or she is too young, I can't fully tell) since she will often play with the dollhouse people and furniture just not the house.  So we are going to get rid of it and move on.  Yes it is kind of sad, but I don't want such a big toy just sitting in my house unused.

Anyways I think we have heard had enough toy and "what to buy" lists on this blog to last us for a VERY long time so I will be done now.  :)

Good luck with all of your holiday shopping!  Happy November!            



 





      

   

Lots of Little Things- October Style

We have had the most beautiful fall weather this year.  Such a nice and easy way to transition into winter.  We have done some fun little adventures this fall and I just wanted to take a moment to document them.  

Declin has spent the last few months walking circles all over the place as he figures out this walking stuff.  Oh and climbing up stairs and going down slides are pretty fun too.

 

Adalyn is showing signs that she is ready to read.  So this mama spent the last few months scrambling to figure out 'how' to teach her how to read.  It is funny because after all of my preschool experience I have never made it to the actual reading part (I always taught the younger kids).  It has felt a little bit like rocket science (I assure you it isn't).  But I have figured a few things out now and Santa will be bringing her a few essentials that will get us started.  So fun to watch her grow and learn.  Anyone have any suggestions of materials that they have loved?  Beginner books?

We took a family hike to Menan Butte a few weeks ago for FHE.  It is the closest hill to our house that we have to climb, and it ended up being perfect for our families hiking abilities.  Adalyn walked the whole way and talked our ears off about Volcanoes (The butte is an old Volcano).  Jensen and Declin got to ride.  The weather was perfect once again and it was fun to get out and do something active together since we are really good at "talking" about going hiking then actually doing it.

We have made some new friends this summer and have had a lot of fun getting to know them.  The kids have been riding bikes in our cul-di-sac with their friends while the moms or dads supervise and visit.  Adalyn had a few weeks of being afraid to get on her bike, but the positive peer pressure to ride it like the big kids helped her give it another chance.  Oh and poor Jensen WILL be getting some new wheels for his birthday.  Luckily he doesn't seem to mind the princess car.  Letting the kids run around the cul-di-sac with friends was the exact reason why we wanted to live on a circle so I am glad that it is working out so well and the kids are having fun.  

Our friends invited us over for a caramel apple party for FHE one night.  They introduced us to honey crisp apples and I am not sure if I will ever be able to go back to gala apples.  The honey crisp ones are SO good!  Our friends have 2 boys that are close to Adalyn's age and it is hilarious to hear them playing together.  They always want to play Star Wars or Wolves with swords and Adalyn just goes along with whatever they say and then comes home and tells me all about this new game "starburst".  haha!   

Adalyn started swimming lessons in October.  This was our first organized sport/activity that one of our kids has been in and I was surprised at how nervous I was on that first day.  I was mostly nervous about how I was going to keep the boys OUT of the pool, but a little nervous about the whole overall experience (I had no idea what I was doing).  So after the first day of figuring it all out it has gone great and Addie is loving it.  The boys and I just hang out upstairs on the bleachers behind glass and watch her swim.  So thankfully there isn't a way for them to jump in the water too.  I am sure we have many MANY more years of taking kids to and from activities.  

On Oct 21st we took some pictures with all the fall leaves up Kelly Canyon.  These were the kids "birthday" pictures and I was so excited to be able to do them outside with the pretty fall colors.  We should get them back this week, and I can't wait to see how they turned out.  Jensen was a little stinker during the session (I think he was hungry, it was around dinner time).  But stopping at Chick-fli-a perked him right up and the kids were so silly the whole time we were there.  Crazy kids!

    

 We painted pumpkins.  This was the first year that we gave the kids the option of painting or carving pumpkins (in years past we have just painted to make things easier and to let them be more involved).  Addie chose to paint.  McKay decided to carve his still and I have a feeling we will be carving them from here on out since they loved seeing McKay's pumpkin all lit up with the candle inside.  

We started going back to all of our usual indoor activities that we do all winter long while we are stuck inside.  In the summer we focus more on outdoor places like parks and splash pads, but in the winter we go to preschool play at the rec center, story time at the library, train table at Barnes and Noble, and the ride on cars in the mall.  Our neighborhood is even doing a weekly play date so we have not been lacking in places to go.  The kids are enjoying it, and we will see how long it takes for us to get our first colds of the season.  

Fall is such a beautiful time and I am totally on the same page as everyone else- "I am so glad that we live in a world where there are Octobers." -L.M Montgomery