As a photographer it would make sense that naturally I love photos! I love having big prints up on the wall of our family, I love coming up with fun ideas or thinking of the perfect pose to blow up in a ginormous size to hang on the wall.  In my head we are positioned perfect with perfect smiles and perfect set up behind us.  I do however have a hard time turning this expectation to someone else to pay to try and capture for my family, and me. So the inevitable happens… I end up bagging Kirk to get dressed up, look like idiots to the people that pass us as we smile at a tripod and suffer through my what seem like endless hours of picture taking to get that one perfect shot! We had not taken a REAL family photo since Adley had been born, and it was killing me! Finally I convinced Kirk and we headed out. This however was our first time with a little one and my expectations were still high... 

Where's the baby?

Needless to say it was an adventure! Both babies were done before we started, more than half the photos where out of focus and I was dripping sweat at the end. I think we will be hiring from now on. But we did get a few keepers.   

BIG GIRL NOW! 

 Adley has moved up to a big girl car seat! It is crazy! I will admit I might of cried a little when she had to switch seats, time goes to fast! But as you can see from the picture below she just loves facing forward!

Just a few random shots!

Happy Birthday Little Miss! Wow this year has gone by so fast! Adley is full of new tricks, waving hi and bye, giving high fives, folding arms. She is saying Dad most all the time, Mom (normally when she is sad or wants something) uh-oh and hi. It is amazing how much they change in just one year. We feel so blessed everyday to have her, she is full of smiles and such a ball of joy, Kirk and I ask all the time how did we get so lucky to have such a good baby? We love you little Rue! 

This is our IVF doctor, Dr. Batzofin We owe him the world for helping us get our sweet little girl. With all of the ups and downs of the process for us, I don't know if I could of done it without this amazing Doctor and his staff! When things were in question they were even checking test results on Christmas Eve for us! They are amazing. 

We were able to have a much needed family vacation over Kirk's break. Ever since we have been out East I have been wanting to see Maine. I don't know why it is just one place I have always wanted to visit.  This break we saw as a great opportunity, so we packed up the car including sleeping bags and a tent and headed North.  We were a little hesitant to camp with Adley especially given the very small size of our tent that Kirk has to lay diagonal to fit in, but we gave it a try.    Along the way we made a stop in Newport, Rhode Island,  which is known for it's cliff walk and mansions along the coast.  A couple of the buildings were part of Salve Regina University.  It was a very beautiful campus.  From there we continued into Massachusets for our first night of camping in Nickerson State Park.  Adley loved walking around the campsite when we got out of the car she found a stick and sat in the dirt and played. She was in heaven. She did really well sleeping that night also.

 The next morning we went to a beach in Cape Cod. The beaches there are amazing! And the area is so cute! Full of antique  shops and cute little beach homes. I loved it.  Following the beach outing we swung by the Cape Cod potato chip factory and a glass blowing factory.  

Our next stop was Portland Maine and we went to downtown area where they had a couple wharfs where the lobster boats would head out.  We had a yummy lobster dinner (I had a steamed lobster and Kirk had a lobster roll.  We spent some time the next morning driving around Portland looking at some really cool lighthouses. We then went to downtown Portland for some more sight seeing.  After another yummy Lobster lunch we headed north to Acadia National Park. 

We had a nice little campsite there that included a pool, which Adley loved.  Camping this time didn't go quite as well, Adley woke up at 3:30 am and wouldn’t go back to sleep.  So we just decided to get up and go on an early morning hike in the park.  We were able to hike up to a few peaks and watch the sun come up.  It was amazing, and worked out perfect. I was so glad she woke up.  The rest of the day we went for a drive around the park on a loop road.  The coast there is amazing. We really enjoyed our 2 days in Acadia National Park and had some fun times making tin foil dinners, cooking smores, and roasting corn over the campfire.  From Acadia we headed further north all the way to the eastern most town of the United States, Lubec, Maine. 

 We stayed at the cutes little in on the water which used to be a sardine factory.  The room was very nice, and had a look over the dock as they were bringing in oysters.  We went on a whale watching tour that afternoon and had a good time enjoying the sights.  Adley had to wear a life jacket, which she didn’t enjoy at all.  We were able to see a lot of whales, eagles, and porpoises.  Adley didn’t last long and slept nearly the whole time we were out on the boat.  That evening we grabbed a bite to eat and I had some delicious seafood chowder.  The next morning and on the last day of our trip we went to Quoddy Head State Park and went on a good hike along the coast. Such amazing country.  Adley was really good, but started to fuss and then all of the sudden she was out like a light.  We wore her out! 

 We were sad to be done, but we had a great time and hope to go back someday.

Our morning hike, we are all in pj's it was to dark when we woke up to try and find clothes and the only warm pj's I had for Adley were Christmas jamies.  So here is our Christmas baby on the Mountain.

When we started getting further North there we signs everywhere for wild blueberries so we finally pulled over and stomped at this actual "blueberry" store to try there fresh wild blueberries and blueberry shake!  

 

We could not get enough lobster! It was soooo good!