15 Months Old

Whitley is actually almost 16 months old next week but since I've been the worst blogger I thought I would put these up! These were taken out in colorado up in the mountains at our family reunion (which I should blog about but I'm not making any promises :) ) It has been a busy summer! We were able to go to the lake, a couple horse rides, Me and Whitley were in Colorado for 3 weeks and then just the normal day to day stuff. I have also been incredibly lucky to have been booked every week since I started my business 2 months ago, so I feel so grateful for that! So since I got photoshop to be able to edit my clients pictures, I have also taken advantage of it's other possibilities. I have been digitally scrapbooking! I have always taken WAY too many pictures my whole life, so I have tons and tons of pictures I am way behind on scrapbooking on. I hadn't even started on Whitley's pictures. But my eyes were opened to this amazing way and I'm never going back! I don't have to print another picture (except when I print a page out) or buy anothe scrapbook paper or sticker again!! I'm so excited and loving all the things available online. So I thought I'd show her 15 month pages I did. I definitly keep them pretty simple, lots of people go overboard, but it is way faster and I really enjoy it!

That time of year again!

Alright don't freak out that I am already advertising for HALLOWEEN already but I am just so excited about these mini sessions I couldn't hold it in any longer! Even though this isn't my photography blog, I'd thought I would share any ways just for fun. This has been in the works for a little while, and I'm actually almost done with Whitley's costume because I'm going to be doing some pictures of what the outdoor studio I'll be doing the session in, will look like. Spread the word if you know anyone in Driggs or even Rexburg because this really will be a lot of fun and SO cute of all the little kids dressed up!!

Up and Running

That's right! I never would have dreamed this would/could actually happen but I'm doing what I've actually always wanted to do. I was always the kid trying to pose my siblings and do "photoshoots" in our backyard, I have always admired amazing photographers and always wished I would be able to take great shots! Now I'm not saying that I am great by any means but I'm going to give it a go! I've done quite a few shoots now and I am enjoying it more and more each time and I come across new situations and challenges with each shoot. My prices are still pretty cheap since I am just starting so if you or anyone you know has been wanting family/child/baby/maternity ect pictures taken, I'm a really good deal right now! :) check out my website and I'm on facebook too!

www.jessicacalderwoodphotography.blogspot.com

Whitley's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe I have a one year old!! I can still vividly remember the day she was born, and can't believe how quickly this year has gone! It's amazing to think how much babies accomplish in their first year....even though Whitley isn't walking yet :) she is getting close and is always standing and pulling herself up to everything. She also got her 6th tooth on her birthday (May 12th), so anyway I am just in awe of how 11 months ago I was so excited that she was holding her head up so well, to now watching her almost walk.
So now onto the fun part, we had a big party for Whitley on Saturday the 15th. It was mostly Chantz's family but there were a good 40 people that came. My inspiration came from the Riley Blake fabric collection called I Wanna Be A Cowgirl and it just went from there when I found they had scrapbook paper that was made to look identical to the fabric! Amazing right!! So I threw some bandanas and burlap in along with everything else and called it good.
The Decor
Guests were greeted by this....well Whitley didn't sit there the whole time, but they were welcomed with a Saddle Up Partner sign with a saddle and bail of hay.

Next was a picture from every month of her first year on the railing, this was fun but sad at the same time looking through all her pictures. I wanted my baby Whitley again! :)

This was the cowgirl princess's chair!

Here was the dessert layout.

This was my first attempt at making a fondant cake, so don't look too closely. But I did like how the cake topper turned out!

For the party favor I made little boots, hats and horseshoe chocolates for all the guests to take home that said "Thanks Ya'll" :) And let me just say I made all of those cupcake toppers too, all 50 of them, thank goodness for my Cricut or I never would have gotten them done! I also made the cupcake stands which I was quite proud of (not to gloat or anything :) )

The food table where we ate pulled pork sandwiches, watermelon, beans and pink lemonade (of course the food had to be pink and brown to color coordinate!) Above the spread was the Happy 1st Birthday Whitley banner.


Here was a table centerpiece that my little sister graciously loaned me her doll's boots, chaps and hat.

The Festivities
Whitley was not a fan of the candle that was lit.....

But she loved when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her!

Not quite sure what to think of this whole cake thing...

But then dug right in, mostley just ate the frosting though

Then we opened presents. This girl got spoiled! Everyone was so gracious to bring her a gift which included books, clothes, a pool, toys, and I, of course, had to get her some wranglers, pearl button shirt and her first hat!

My only picture with the birthday girl :)

And the only picture I got with her hat on cuz she ripped it off right after I got the picture, guess I shouldn't have spent so much time on it.... :)

And that was Whitley's first Birthday Party. I thought it went over great and had a lot of fun. Whitley was kind of a grump, but she never had done very well in loud areas with lots of people. I may have gone a little bit overboard and don't plan to go this all out with next years party, but everyone kept telling me "what I do for the first kid I have to do for all of the others"......we'll see about that! :)

I took Whitley's one year pictures so I'll be posting those soon!

Spring Break

Ok So I am the worst blogger! I am always too lazy to upload pics onto my computer so I probably have 700 on my card right now just waiting to be blogged about, but lets be honest I'll probably never get around to it. :) But luckily, my family came up for Spring break last week and took a bunch of pictures with her camera so I had to upload them before she left. So I am finally updating the blog now that I have some pictures!! So like I said my Mom, 2 sisters and one of my brothers came to visit me for a week! It was so fun! We went skiing, snow mobiling, got our hair cuts, (I chopped off about 10 in even though it still looks somewhat long) went shopping and then just ate a lot of good food and relaxed the other days. Whitley was able to go on her first snowmobile ride and she did great! She was just looking around and enjoying the ride. I'm sure she was a little used to it since I snow mobiled and skiied up until I was 8 1/2 months pregnant :) Anyway, I love having my sisters around because I pretty much don't have to take care of Whitley, they want to do everything with her! Here are some pic's from the week!

After snowmobiling we had to make a stop at the famous Square Ice Cream shop! Whitley LOVES ice cream!!

Whitley Update:

So I just noticed I haven't had a Whitley update since she was 5 months old and she is going to be 11 months in 11 days! Oh how the time does fly! Well her biggest milestone was her FINALLY learning to crawl around 9 1/2 months. I didn't think she would ever crawl because she was hardly even trying to, but she woke up one morning and just started crawling like she has known how to all along. Typical Whitley doing something when SHE wants to! :) She also got her first tooth at 9 months...and got 3 more within a week and a half. She wasn't too bad of a teether, just a little grumpy. I didn't even notice that her 2nd one came in til I stuck my finger in her mouth and I felt it! And her 5th tooth just poked through yesterday. She continues to be a good eater and seems to like everything we give her, especially if it is something we are eating. As seen in the pic above she got her first taste of ice cream last week and loved it! We may have created a monster because since then I have noticed a little more prefernce towards sweeter foods. And she seems like she is to the point that she wants to feed herself, so I'm having a hard time figuring out good finger foods to give her all the time. (Suggestions are welcome) She is clapping, waving, holding the phone up to her ear (typical girl) and saying mama and dada. She is pretty close to pulling herself up on things but I'm sure she will do it on her own time like everything else. She is still a great sleeper while pulling 12 hour nights and 2, 2 hour naps. She has the cutest little sense of humor and loves fake laughing when we laugh at her. I can't complain much except for when she wants her way she is quite the fit thrower already, I think she gets it from her Dad! I took Whitley in to the Dr about a week ago for a check up and she was 16 lbs and 25 inches which puts her at 4% for weight and 1% for height. So she may be a runt but she has some killer leg and arm rolls that would make you think differently. I'll try to be better about blogging but in the mean time I am wishing so badly for spring to come (but at the moment I'm watching the snowfall and I'm sure there is atleast 6 inches outside and more to come ugh...)

Here are just a few pictures I thought I'd throw in since I think they are cute. The last picture is of her playing the piano which she loves to do!

Another giveaway

I'm sure you guys are all getting sick of these but who doesn't love free stuff :) There is a giveaway for a dvd on floral arranging which I would LOVE! The link is www.takeitfrom-me.blogspot.com/2010/01/flower-duet-arranging-how-to-dvd.html I'm crossing my fingers for this one!

I wanna win a camera strap :)

So this post is totally a selfish one but if I blog about this giveaway on makeitandloveit.blogspot.com I have a chance of winning these really cute camera straps that would go perfect with my new Nikon D3000 that I got for Christmas!!

Won't my camera look great with.........

This camera strap!! :)

Family Pictures

Alright I know I have been SO bad at updating lately but it was a crazy holiday season and I am finally getting back into boring real life (even though I still haven't unpacked all of our bags yet). I will update later about thanksgiving and Christmas and new years later when I have a little bit more time but this is an easy post that will put me back on a few people's good list. :) Before Christmas we had some pictures taken to put in the annual Christmas letter I send out. It was freezing and Whitley was really grumpy so we didn't get a ton but they turned out pretty cute. Just don't mind Chantz and his squinty eyes. He can never keep his eyes open with a flash let alone a really sunny day. :) After our family pics she did a couple of just Whitley is her Christmas dress and a cowgirl outfit and I especially love how they turned out!