{Create} Beautiful Images Workshop

I signed up for an all day photography workshop about an hour from where I live back in February. I knew I was cutting it a little close since it was only 10 days before my due date, but I thought I'd chance it. I'm glad I did because I had a great time and learned some new things. Plus it's always good to get a little practice in anytime I can, even if it is in the rain. Here are a few pic's from the class that I really liked.







Two of my favorite tips from the class were to get close to capture detail and to look for the smaller story. These are some of the reasons that I really love photography. A camera allows us to capture small moments that pass by too quickly which can be magical. I really felt like these last 4 pictures did that. I also love that the different personalities of the girls (sisters, I might add), really comes through and without even having to see their faces.

I love to see the temple

We have been fortunate enough to have two new temples built in our area during the last year. Eric and I went to the Draper, UT Temple open house without Megan earlier this year. Our tickets were for 8:30 at night and her behavior was still pretty unpredictable. After talking with Eric's sister about her experience at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and how smoothly it went, we thought we'd bring Megan this time. One of her favorite songs for us to sing to her at night is, "I Love to See the Temple" and I thought it would be a nice experience for our little family. I decided that early evening would work our best, so our tickets were for 4:50 PM. It was the perfect time! After nap, so no cranky 2 year old, and before all the YM/YW groups come. We didn't have to wait at all and Megan did great. She even sat through the 15 minute video before the tour. We were pleasantly surprised. The tour through the temple went smoothly as well and Megan loved seeing all the pictures of Jesus and pointed them out very enthusiastically. I am really glad that we decided to bring her with us. I know she's too young to remember it long term, but I could tell she felt the spirit and knew that it was a special place. It was a rainy day, but it let up for a few minutes so we could get a couple pictures in.

Less than 3 weeks to go...

I'm in the final countdown and am excited for this little bundle of joy to arrive. My doctor said that if I Don't have the baby by the 29th that he will induce me that day and I'm already on the list at the hospital. So, I have a date that I know I'll have this baby by, which gives me hope that this baby really will come someday! I've been busy these last few months getting 2 rooms ready: a "big girl" room for Megan and a small redo of the nursery. We painted the nursery green with white wainscoting so that we wouldn't have to repaint if the next baby was a boy (one of the few smart things I've done), so I just had to get rid of all the pink accents and some more boy friendly decorations and bedding.

I do have to brag a minute about how good my little Megan has been through all these changes. She's a pretty strong-willed child and it's not easy to get her to do things she doesn't want to, so I've been a little worried. The first big change was moving her into a regular bed in a new room. I was prepared for nights of screaming and crying and not a lot of sleep. Much to my surprise, she did great. She loves her new room and did great with the change. She would only get up in the middle of the night for the first few weeks, but now sleeps through the night without a problem. She stayed in her bed pretty well the first week after we'd put her in, but one night, after about a week and a half of being in her new bed, got out 5 times in a row, so we had to put a baby lock on the inside of her door. She doesn't try to get out anymore and we open her door before we go to bed so she's not trapped in the morning. I also have to share a few pictures of her cute, new room:

The other "big" change was that we got rid of the binkies. It was getting a little ridiculous with Megan only wanting her "flower binky" and having to have it when she slept, got upset, or we went in the car. I was really nervous about this too and not sure as to how to tackle this one. I decided to try the trade approach. Megan is really into The Little Mermaid, so I bought her an Ariel doll and had it on the counter when she woke up. I told her she could have the doll if she threw her binkies away. We put them in a ziplock and she walked them out to the trash and threw them away herself. ( I did sneak them out in case things got really bad.) She asked for her binky at naptime that day and I was prepared for lots of tears. I just reminded her that she threw her binkies away for Ariel and she was ok. The same thing happened that night, but she hasn't asked for them since! I am really amazed at how well Megan has handled these changes and hope that things will go this well when Dane arrives.

My fabulous and super talented sister-in-law, Stepha, took my third trimester maternity pictures last week. She did a fantastic job, as usual. I was a little nervous about doing a maternity series because most of the time, you just don't feel cute when pregnant, just huge. I have been lucky this time around and haven't had the water retention problem like I did when I was pregnant with Megan. That alone has made a big difference in how I feel about my pregnant body. We also just had a lesson in Relief Society on the article, " Our Divinely Based Worth" by Barbara Day Lockhart. It was such a great reminder that we are more than just our physical selves and that's not where our sense of self worth should come from. That lesson has also helped me to more embrace this pregnant body I have right now, even my protruding belly button! I don't have a perfect body and have still gained little more weight than I would have liked to, but that's ok and I can still be happy with who I am. That being said, here are a few of my favorite pic's from last week. Also, if anyone is looking for a great family/child/wedding photographer in the Salt Lake or Utah County area, check out Stepha's website: http://www.nubiephotos.blogspot.com/. She's super talented and is great to work with! I'm excited to finish up this maternity/baby series with her when Dane gets here!