Just call him Ansel Adams

We have a budding photographer in our house. His appointments are booking fast, so if you'd like to hire him to capture some of your family photos this summer, you better call asap! There is a good chance, however, that all of your photos will end up looking a lot like this:

Because no matter how much we try to teach him to use the camera correctly, he simply insists on using it backwards and super-up-close.

I don't know how he stands the bright flash in his eyes over and over, but it doesn't stop him one bit. I ended up deleting over 35 images of his eye/nose/forehead! And I have to keep a q-tip handy for when I actually want to use the camera because he gets the lens oily and my pictures turn out foggy!

Even though you can't see his smile in the shots, he is definitely smiling because he say's "Cheese!!" with every photo he takes!

36 Weeks

*How far along?: 36 weeks

*How big is your baby?: almost 6 pounds

*Total weight gain?: I weighed in at -4 pounds from the last time I visited the doctor, so I'm at a total of 9 pounds (I hadn't had a meal for the day at that time)

*Sex: still a girl, I had an ultrasound yesterday and asked the tech to double check for me!

*Maternity clothes: I feel like I wear the exact same thing all of the time

*Stretch marks: Unfortunately yes

*Movement: All. of. the. time.

*Sleep: I finally found a comfortable position earlier this week and have slept better than I have in months!

*Best moment this week: Seeing the baby, pre-registering at the hospital, and Jackson putting himself to bed

*Food cravings: Nothing too crazy. 

*Labor signs: Nothing "for real" but I've started having sporadic labor discomforts

*Belly button in or out: more like a nothing... It's no longer in, but it's not quite out.

*What I miss: standing close to the kitchen counter

*What I'm looking forward to: getting the finishing touches done so we're all ready for her arrival

The doctor yesterday had me go in for a quick sonogram yesterday because she couldn't quite tell if the baby was head down (she is). But after the sonogram confirmed the head-down position, she asked if I'd like to see the baby some more, so she spent a good 10 minutes moving the wand around! How awesome! She looks SO scrunched. I can't believe she's going to get bigger. 

This is a side profile picture. The big oval on the right is her head, her fist is balled up in front of her eyes. Her nose and lips are just further down the oval line. The tech assured me that her head really wasn't this large, that it was the angle distorting how big her head is compared to her face. 

We watched her play with her feet for awhile. It was SO cool to see. She was grabbing at her toes with her tiny fingers! You can actually see the little fingers and toes. I can't wait to kiss on them!

A couple weeks ago, I had some maternity pictures done by my friend Kasey. I love all the pictures and have gotten so many compliments. You can contact her here if you're interested in her doing photos for you. She did our family pictures last year, too! Here are a few of my favorites:

(I would like to mention that these are my pre-pregnancy pants that I can still squeeze into, buttoned!)

Family Pictures

A friend of mine, Kasey Allen, took some time last week to head up to Unity Village in Lee's Summit to take some family pictures for us. We ended up with some great shots! Here are some of my favorites.