Christmasing about

as i'm sure most all of you have,

we've been busy.
but do you remember that Christmas is celebrated 2 days in a row in this family? 2 Christmas eves, two Christmas days, and 2 very long days of sleepless babes.
i'm not complaining..
but yessiree... it is heavy duty in this family.
and because of that i like to pretend i feel more tired than you all this week.
:)
does that work for you?

so onto some of the events...

let's see..

.santa came.
somehow, someway, despite many a hefty threat, minie waddled her way on to the nice list, and well poppy by default remains good and snug there at minimum, until her second birthday.
our house seems just the tiniest (largest) bit smaller now, and all the festivities, excitment, skipped naps, steady diet of cookies, candy canes, and whatever else this seemingly careless parent approved their children to ingest have left the girls ( and me)
with a lovely virus of some type or other.
truly though, i think almost everyone would agree it has been worth it.
Christmas really is magical.

.this was our first Christmas staying at our house and we loved it.
it was so incredibly fun waking up to our own tree with presents skirted about. minie was more than a little miffed that santa ate her cookies she left for him the night before.. but soon nearly forgot all, once she discovered the pony he left in lieu of the nibbled cookies.
that girl...
.poppy louise adores her new chair, and crawled right to it as soon as she made her way down the stairs. as long as she has that, she doesn't much mind when minie claims all the other gifts as her own,
and i am just trying to enjoy this probably one year that will be the case.
.dustin's parents spoil the girls rotten.
i'm pretty sure they way out did our own gift giving to the girls... and well.. i remind you yet again how limited the space in our home is now feeling.
.there was also lots of play time with cousins on both sides,
and i know that more than anything was the girl's favorite thing about this year.
my parent's house is a zoo when we all get together... add the christmas crazy to that mix,
and well... it's sheer chaos.
but i wouldn't have it any other way.

the following pictures are in no particular order. i had intentions of organizing something pretty, but then quickly realized i has close to 15 pictures to upload..
and well, this is what you get.
merry christmas

stole this from my mom's blog.
seems to be the only family shot we've had this entire holiday season.

aren't these cute cousins?

loving poppy's intense stink eye here..
goes to show she does actually mind minie's constant jabs, and steals.

"charlie boy" the pony.
lovingly named by mins herself.

note to self: forget big expensive gifts next year.
the $12.99 princess styling kit is all minie has really cared to play with.

somehow kennan always sneaks my camera and captures something truly beautiful.
christmas night produced this...
her right foot is the 8th wonder of the world.
obviously.

and *phew*...
were done.

it feels nice to be closing 2009. it has been a hard year. a growing year.
i think i feel a stop to some of those growing pains,
and i anxiously await the arrival of 2010.
yet, i still feel like i can close this year with a smile.
and i am grateful.

better late than never..

we actually also celebrated thanksgiving...

this post seems a bit anti-climatic seeing as all the photos taken
look as though they could have been captured on any given day

but

they weren't.

and i promise,
i sometimes do actually appear in front of the camera...
just usually not my own.
this particular day i believe i ended up in front of robyn's. sure would be nice to see them.
{yes... that is a heavy suggestion robyn}

anyway,
happy thanksgiving
35 days late.

in case you were missed

hope you've had a splendid season.

merry christmas!

merry christmas to all...

and to all a good night.

:)

the reality of my children

the fact of that matter is they are reeeeaaallly hard to take a picture of.

i snap hundreds, urging them nearly to the point of torture to just "sit still and look at the camera". i don't even really need a smile... just a glance in my general direction will suffice.

but no, no...

instead i get silly tongues, crazy faces, alligator tears, and sister cat fights.

usually i rummage through all that mess, find at least one somewhat decent shot to show off to you and lead you all to believe i've got it together.. that my kids are precious, adorable, and obedient.

but it being christmas and all,

i suppose the gig is up

(at least this time)

so without further ado,

here are the tootsies

all decked out in there christmas fancies,

being every bit as adorable and wicked as they look...

*sigh*....

happy christmas

:)

oh mary, mary

this little lady...

it was her hearts dream to perform the role of Mary in the annual family nativity.

she took her part very seriously, walked so gently as to not upset her pregnant belly (yes.. my 2 year old was sporting a knocked up look. what?), and never broke character.

i love her so much.

has there ever been a sweeter Mary?

or a cuter mary and joseph??

and definitely never a cuter shepherd.

merry christmas my babies.

you did get the true meaning of this all,

even if for just a minute.

p.s.

having kids is really fun.

feeling MeRRy and bRIght mini session SPECIAL

i have finally put together an oliverminie j. holiday photography package.

hip, hip, hooray!

i am especially in love with these photo booth pictures these days, so here is my gift to you:

i will be offering 10 holiday photo booth mini sessions. they will all be about 20 minutes long and will be $75/shoot. that price includes the sitting fee, 5-8 edited photos (depending on how many people are in the group) on a high res. disc, one photo booth collage/strip, and the printing rights of the photos.

due to the nature of these, all sessions must be payed for in advance. i will be doing 5 sessions in December, and then 5 sessions the first part of January. we will be doing this first come first serve so that means that if you hurry up and book these i WILL have proofed and polished pictures for you within a week, making it very possible for you to have a fun and creative holiday card/ christmas gift to give! something i don't even have yet... :)

not to mention how gorgeous these look blown up on canvas hung on you wall..

very perfect.

so hurry up and book peeps!

the dates will all be afternoon shoots and

our december dates are quickly approaching:

wednesday december 16th

and friday december 18th

january dates:

tuesday january 5th

and wednesday january 6th.

{ after you have paid for your session through paypal you will recieve an e-mail confirmation and we will choose a date and time }

*sessions are nonrefundable, but we can be flexible with re-scheduling for another day in needs be!

feel free to call or e-mail me with ANY questions.

brooke

oliverminiej@gmail.com

or

brookechristine7@hotmail.com

(801)380-3533

where we've been

well it's that most wonderful time of the year, and alas the blog has been neglected.

really there is no good excuse..

well maybe one...

Bones.

my new favorite show that is.

TNT got me interested enough to go rent the first season, and well, i'm now a little obsessed. both dustin and i actually.. it might be a slight problem. but we are dealing with it by swiftly working our way through all the seasons. my day is not complete without an episode.

i love me some Seely Booth.

yes.... we are considering a 12 step program of some type. just as soon as i am caught up

:)

no really, truly, honestly we have been semi-busy with holidaying about. i've been staying occupied with photo shoots and we have already had a good share of Christmas parties to attend. combine that with decorating and dealing with minie's constant blows to her sister.. well blogging just doesn't seem to fit in the whole equation.

so here is a little snippet of what we've been up to.

friday night Steve and Alice took the chile renos to see Santa. it went ok. minie had a minor epileptic moment last year upon sitting on Ho Ho's lap, so this year i prepped her days before trying to explain what was going to go down. it actually seemed to work quite nicely. she waddled right up to Santa's lap and quickly informed him she wanted "a pony".. and then was more than a little upset afterwards when he produced a miniature candy cane in lieu of said pony.

we're still trying to help her grasp the whole mechanics of Santa, Christmas, and what it means to be naughty vs. nice.... it's not going so great.

sadly there was no probable way of prepping the one year old for such a terror of an old man in a red suit, so she screamed at what we like to call "poppy decibel" the whole time.

hmm.. maybe next year??

ben is also a santa hater. we didn't have photo documentation this year but look here for a reminder.

he is much more for the "spirit" of Santa.

miss louise also had her first ever trim.

her party in the back was just getting a little too out of hand, so off with the mullet it was.

she even got her hair round-brushed afterwards.

yes.. i thought it was odd too.. but they did it.

she is cute.

isn't she?

and here is my girl, mins.

she got out of the bath the other night and after putting on her nightgown insisted i take her picture.

she is crazy. i love that little round face. she drives me crazy.. but i suppose it is a good crazy.. because i adore her.

so there you have it. i am going to try stay current on this thing but i make no promises.

hope you are all cozy and full of christmas cheer!