What 32!!!!!

Yep that's right it is my birthday today and I am 32! Some days I feel old and look young and other days I look old and feel young. I'm going to just squish it all together and say that I am young :0)

 Look what my honey got me for my B-day... A new lens for my camera! I love it!!!!!! I got it a few weeks early so I have been playing with it a lot. It is so much fun. It is mostly for portraits but I haven't taken it off my camera since I got it :0)

Here are a few of my favorite pics from my last photo shoots! 

What a difference a lens makes! It makes it so much easier to control my aperture which in my personal opinion makes a picture become a portrait. Let me know if you would like to schedule a photo shoot. I'm running a holiday special right now of only $50 for a 45 min session CD included!!!!

My Baby is 2!!!!!!

 Sammy is one funny little man. He is so much fun to have in the house. He is our comedic relief in life.  It is really hard to photograph his cuteness. Those precious moments are hard to capture. Here are my attempts from the other day.

 Here are a few things you should

 know about my little man. 

• He loves to snuggle!!!!!
• He calls everything green. If you tell him it is a different color he gets really mad and yells " No isssss gweeeen!"
• He hates having dirty hands. We usually have to clean them off about 3 times during each meal.
• He loves watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He can even sing the songs. Sometimes he will get a little treasure chest we have and put it on the floor and walk around it and sing the song just like they do in the show. 
• He calls any super hero or villain for that matter Batman. But he doesn't just say batman he says "na na  Batman!" He usually yells it at the top of his lungs. This happens frequently when we are in stores. On lookers think he is hilarious. Sometimes he says batman in his deepest darkest voice.
• He hates fruits and veggies. just last week he let me put some squash on his plate. He didn't eat it but at least he let it be on his plate.Baby steps people, baby steps.
• If you tell him to do something he doesn't want to do he growls at you.
• He is a very serious guy especially with the camera. He doesn't like looking at it and smiling I have to catch him doing it. Which means I get a lot of blurry head pictures as he turns away from me. He loves the camera though. He calls it "cheese" he loves pretending to look through the view finder while it is around both of our necks. 

 His favorite foods are hotdogs, pistachios, chicken "chicky", whip cream, anything else non healthy.

• He hates drinking water! Even if it is 100 degrees outside and we were just playing at the park he wont drink it. I have to mix it with juice. We are now at about 90% water 10% juice. 
• He likes to drag his left foot. I don't think anything is wrong with it I think he just like the way it feels on his shoe.

• He loves going to nursery at church. One time we were walking in the hall and we passed by the door and he started crying because we didn't go inside. When we moved to a new ward there was no hesitation, he just ran in and found a Buzz Lightyear and I never turned around again. 
• He hates riding in the shopping cart. EVERY time we go to a store it is a huge fight to get him to sit down. He kicks and screams as I am shoving him in. Then he cries for the next 10 min in the store. It is so awesome :0/ Any suggestions on this one? I have found that candy works some of the time. 
• His favorite songs are popcorn popping and the wheels on the bus. 
• He loves his little lovey. He and Ben call them Heady. It started out as Eddie but I guess Ben realized that it has a big head on it so they call them Heady. This is a new love for Sam. He wasn't very attached to it until a few months ago. 
• He is a great little sleeper. Sometimes he actually asks to take a nap. Usually we just have to tell him to go get Heady and he will find him in the house and go right to bed. We are going to be giving him a big boy bed this week so we will see if all that changes. I'm so scared. It took Ben over 6 months to sleep in his bed through the night and naps. He slept on the floor for probably 3 months. I hope this time goes better. 
• He has a funny little bald spot on the side of his head. No idea where it came from or if it will ever go away. Can you see it?

• He loves to laugh and be silly. Especially with Ben.
• He loves his 6 year old cousin Jaren. He always runs up to him and gives him a big hug and tackles him. 
• He loves to say prayers. Usually kids repeat what you say but all he says the whole time is "Thank you for this day" over and over again until you say amen. 
•  He is a really happy easy going kid. Some of these quirky things make him sound like he is a handful, which I guess he is, but he is a great listener and super sweet!

We love you so much little Sam Sam. We are so happy you are a part of our family. 

 You are one special little guy!

Father's Day

Not sure if you remember but I do pictures of my boys in their daddy's shirt each year. I then scrapbook a few pages and keep it in a special scrapbook. This is the first year I didn't get a chance to scrapbook yet. My brother had his wedding reception last night and I was a little busy with that so I didn't get a chance to yet. But it will happen this week. I just thought I would let you see the picture before the final product is done.

 

  

 

Sam was not happy about wearing Tom's cloths.

After about 45 minutes of bribing, talking sweet, yelling, begging, pleading we finally got this one.

 I guess it will have to work! 

We love you Daddy!!!!!! 

Hope you had a great day!

Tuesday Toddler Talk ~ Ben's Prayers

When Ben starts his prayers you never really know what he is going to say. Usually he looks around the room for something to talk about. This is how his prayer went tonight.

Ben ~ Dear Hevy Fader. Tank you for dis day. Tank you dat mommy could be mean and I could cry. Pwees bwess da food. In da name of Jesus Cwist amen.

Mom and Dad ~ Amen. Hahahahaha.

Me mean?!!!? Never!!!!!!!!!

Photo Shoot

This is just a test to see if this video will upload to a blog. This is a photo shoot I did last weekend. Isn't it such a cute family. I just love the little Blondy's eyes!

Click, click, click

I have been really busy starting up my photography business. I absolutely love it!!! Take a look at my photography blog to see my latest work.

My Photography Blog

I got tired of posting my pictures on my family blog and on my craft blog so I thought I would make a photography blog. Not that I can even keep up one blog but now I will try and juggle 3. I'll make sure to let you know when I post on it.

My favorite pictures to take are of newborns. If any of you know anyone that is having a baby in the next few weeks please let me know I am in desperate need of a newborn model. I am dying to try out my new Christmas backdrop again. The baby must be younger than 10 days. This photo shoot will be free of charge they will receive a CD of all of the images along with 10 enhanced images. Please send the word out to all your prego friends in Orange County or Inland Empire. An offer like this doesn't come around very often. Visit my blog today to see the backdrop and props I am talking about.

http://violetlufkinphotography.blogspot.com/

Randy and Liz's Wedding

All right once again I have been MIA.

This time it is for a really good reason. My baby brother Randy got married!!!!!

He asked me to be his photographer for his wedding. Not because I am amazing but because I am cheap for family members ;0) It was my first (and possibly my only) wedding. I had a LOT of fun with it. The weather was terrible, the light was fading fast, and we only had about 30 minutes before the ceremony was going to start. I think there may have been a few butterflies involved in this photo shoot as well :0).
All in all I think we got some really good shots. Lucky for me they are both absolutely beautiful people and are so in love. That always makes photography easier. I still have a lot of edits to do but I thought I would give you a little sneak preview. If you want to see more check them out at my new photography blog here Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.I can't wait for them to come back from their honeymoon so I can get pictures of them on the beach like we wanted to do on their wedding day. However, I just looked at the weather forecast and it looks like we are going to have rain again on the day they come in. I guess it just isn't meant to be :0( Aren't they so cute together!!!! I am so lucky to have such an amazing new sister-in-law. I absolutely love her! Thanks for trusting me with your pictures guys!

Miss Tracy

My good friend from my childhood let me photograph her a few weeks ago. These are just a few of my favorites. Is she not the cutest prego lady ever! I can't wait to photograph her baby girl!!!!!!

Baby R

I am just starting to get into photography. I absolutely love it. I am totally hooked. I really want to specialize in newborn and maternity but we will see where this career takes me. I still have a lot to learn and I am nowhere near being a professional but it feels good to have a goal again.
So if you are prego and live in Orange County area (or are here to visit) I would love to take pictures for you. Because I need a lot of practice, I will totally do it for FREE!!!! You will get a copy of all the shots I take and I will edit at least 5 of my favorites for you. Please oh please let me take pictures of your newborn!!!!