Can you even believe that there are only 34 days until Christmas? Less important to almost every single one of you is the fact that my due date is 74 days away, which seems both like forever and tomorrow at the same time. February 3, come quickly!

We had a serious drop in the temperature from Friday to Saturday, as it went from about 82 degrees to low 40s. We were freezing cold when we went to the park on Saturday morning, but it felt great to be bundled up.

Unfortunately, Isla caught a stomach bug that went around her classroom and had to miss her Thanksgiving party at school on Friday. She was fully recovered (appetite and all) by Sunday, which was good. Fortunately, Sasha and I have seemed to avoid picking up the bad germs (so far at least), which I’m grateful for as well.

We’re excited to spend time with family and friends this week! I’m trying to knock out as much editing tonight as possible so that I don’t have to work on Thursday or Friday. I may have to tape my eyelids open!

• Going to Bayou City Fellowship and hearing guest pastor, RT Kendall, preach a sermon about forgiveness – he was absolutely amazing! We got to sit with our friends, Philip, Sydney and Ashley, which we loved.
• Eating at Sweet Paris with the family and watching Sasha eat two and a half crepes – he’s insane. I’m throwing a shower for Destiny there in a few weeks, and I’m so excited! I received the invitations from Papellerie in the mail on Saturday – those ladies are the best!
• Taking newborn photos for baby Collins, who was an absolute doll!
• Photographing our good friends, Amanda and Scott, with her adorable pup, Gilbert.
• Taking photos for Destiny at her house before the Thompsons headed off to Utah for the holiday!
• Snapping photos of Meg Grant and her son, Berdon, for their holiday card and some product shots for Meg – she is one of the most talented people I know. She’s working on some projects for me and I’m obsessed with everything I’ve seen so far!
• Photographing Alex at Houston Rental Studio – we took tons of fun holiday pictures and I can’t wait for her to share them!
• Doing family photos for a client whose daughter I photographed as a newborn earlier this year. Hazel is the sweetest, happiest little lady and made my job a breeze!
• Doing a family 3-mile loop walk at Memorial Park and then scarfing down lunch at Barnabys afterwards (that Falafel Salad is amazing!).
• Getting my Snoogle in the mail and then finally getting a good night of sleep!
• My older sister came over for dinner on Saturday evening – we walked to Peli Peli, which just opened by our house and we’re obsessed with it.
• Despite Isla being a bit sick, we still had our MOD pizza night on Friday and she was happy to get out of the house and nom on some margherita pizza. 

I hope that you have an amazing holiday week and that you enjoy being around family and/or friends on Thanksgiving! xo

Happy Monday, everyone. A much, much happier Monday than last week circa 11pm, let me tell you! I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry once or twice (or ten times) on Tuesday, but I’m putting all of that past me and ignoring all forms of political media for the next four years. Ha!

The past week was crazy busy, as we’re in the throws of family photo season. However, things slow down in 3.5 weeks, and I’m hoping that the busy-ness of the next month will help February 3 come quickly! I had my 28 week appointment last Friday, and everything is looking good (except, of course, my crazily veined right leg!). 

Isla and I ate lunch with our friend, Mel, last Monday at Ruggles Green and enjoyed good conversation and delicious food. Isla made a friend, whom she named Asher, as apparently that wasn’t his name after all (cute name though, right?). I had her parent-teacher conference, which went well. They said she was very talkative and loved baby dolls and cheese. Sounds like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree!

I photographed four families, Elly, and a zillion dogs and cats at the West Elm x ASPCA event on Thursday evening. Isla, Belle, Ivana and I went to the Arboreteum on Saturday to soak up the gorgeous weather, then later in the day we walked to Peli Peli (which opened close to our house – it’s so good!!!) for dinner. Sasha has been traveling for work during the week, so we’re soaking up ‘Tata time’ on the weekends!

Hope you had a great week and that your Monday is going well so far. Get ready for more gift guides to come this week! xo

Well, everyone – it’s here: election week. I cannot believe that after what seems like the longest campaign season ever, we’ll finally find out who becomes president tomorrow evening. I voted on Friday morning for the first time ever, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous/excited. Not that I even particularly want either to be president (although I really don’t want one to be!). 

In case the election has you down, here’s a happy reminder: 47 days until Christmas! I’m starting my gift guide series tomorrow to get you in the holiday spirit! I can’t wait to share all of the guides I’ve been working on recently.

Some highlights from the past week include:

• Going trick-or-treating for Halloween in Cypress with Destiny, Sid, Truman, Isla and Amanda, since Sasha was out of town in Austin. We had so much fun! The kids only went to a few houses (Truman more than Isla, after we both got freaked out by a moving candy bowl!!!). 
• Taking family photos of the cutest little girl, Georgia, and her parents at The Menil – I cannot get over Georgia’s happy smile or her arm rolls! I hope Emi gets them too!!
• Photographing three of my blogger friends’ (Meg, Esther and Veronika) families at Discovery Green, Summer Street Studios, and The Arboretum. I love how they turned out and hope they do too!
• Taking graduation photos for one of Isla’s sweet babysitters, Lacy, at Rice campus – she is absolutely gorgeous!! I can’t even handle it. And let’s not even talk about her tiny waist right now. 
• Going to the most perfect baby shower for my friend, Kristen, in honor of her sweet baby boy, who is due on January 21! I cannot wait to meet him and for him to have a gaggle of girlfriends (lots of baby girls due in February!).
• Meeting with Meg Grant about some fun baby projects for Emi!
• Going to a smoothie date with Jessica, Isla and her adorable babe, Olivia! I cannot believe how big she is already!
• Having Amanda over to chat about blogs, baby showers (throwing one for Destiny in December), and life! 
• Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship and then having lunch at The Counter – their veggie burger is the best in Houston and I crave it constantly!
• Doing a family dinner night at La Vista, which we love and are excited to live walking distance from next year when we finish building the house!
• Having Ivana sleepover and eating MOD Pizza (our cheat meal for the week – sadly becoming a weekly thing!!!).
• Seeing that Pottery Barn Kids reposted a photo of Isla in her little kitchen here!

I hope you had a great weekend and that your week started on a good note! xo

Happy Halloween!! We’re going trick-or-treating with the Destiny, Sid and Truman tonight, as Sasha is back in Austin for the third week in a row. Destiny had an adorable party planned for Friday, but unfortunately Truman got sick and the doctor said he couldn’t be around other kids. So the party got canceled, and we had another couple over who were planning on going as well. We all kept our costumes on for about five minutes… except for Sasha, who wore his Michael Phelps Speedo for at least two hours before donning a robe (yikes!!). This will be the first Halloween that Isla is actually excited about, so I can’t wait to go door-to-door, even if it’s just for a few houses (or however long they last!).

Some highlights from the week included:

• Taking styled photos for Meg and Channing at Tout Suite and running into Meredith and Kailey who were there for a little coffee meeting. 
• Photographing Destiny, Isla, Olivia, Naomi and Tova at The West Studios for a Willow Crowns shoot – even the editing was a highlight because those models were all perfect (except perhaps my own, who acted as if she had just swallowed five large Pixie Sticks!).
• Getting our final architecture plans from Kelly Cusimano, our architect, and beginning to think of decor for each room.
• Photographing an adorable first birthday party, which was Halloween themed – I’ve never seen so many cute littles in their costumes – elephants, pumpkins, ballerinas, astronauts – you name it!
• Ripping open this month’s Bookroo delivery – two new books which we’ve read every day since! She is obsessed with Wolfie the Bunny. 
• Going to Isla’s first fall fair at her school, watching her freak out with excitement over getting her face painted (she’s asked me to do it every day since) and almost crying with happiness over her first horsie bail ride.
• Photographing the Organized Life Design second birthday party, which was hosted at Meggie’s gorgeous new home! 
• Spending lots of grandparent time with my parents and Sasha’s mom before they all left us for Colorado and Serbia. Anyone free to babysit? 😉 
• Taking family photos for our friends, the Lanhams – I cannot get over how adorable sweet Hollis and Walker are! Walker’s brotherly love kills me (see smooch photo below!).
• Going out to lunch at Counter Burger, which has been my pregnancy craving since day 1. They have the absolute best veggie burger and I would be happy if I could eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner every day!
• Photographing a contract signing in Pasadena for Sasha’s cousin’s company.
• Celebrating the 100 days-to-go mark on Wednesday – my bump has been pretty small thus far (which I unfortunately cannot say about my legs), but I’ve had a serious pain in my stomach the last few days and am concerned my ab muscles are ripping! Totally calling my gynecologist today to see if I should be worried!

Hope you have the best Halloween and that you enjoy the rest of your week! xo

Is it too early to start a Christmas countdown? 61 days to go? Nope, not too soon. I am so excited and praying that the hustle of holiday season makes the days until February 3rd fly by. I’m already pretty uncomfortable and so ready to meet baby Emilia (“Emi”).

My best friend (since fourth grade!) was in town this weekend from Chicago, and we had lots of quality time together – obviously had to sneak in at least one viewing of It’s Complicated… our favorite!! Some other highlights from the past week include:

• Meeting with Kelly Cusimano, our architect, to get V1 of our house plans – I am seriously so excited to start on this process!
• Taking family photos in Katy with my parents and sisters
• A few park dates with Isla and my parents and Sasha’s mom
• Visiting Ivana at her house to drop off a little surprise
• Going to the Needtobreathe concert with Destiny and Amanda and our husbands – they are so amazingly talented!!! I can’t wait until they come back to Houston!
• Taking photos of sweet Lincoln, whose newborns I took last year – feels like only a few months ago!
• Photographing Elly at River Oaks District – she is such a babe!
• Going to Bayou City Fellowship and having Curtis preach a moving message on discipleship 
• Doing a few DEFINE spin classes – my favorite being one with our cousin, Kristina, on Sunday

So… are you as ready for the holidays as I am? Do you have big Halloween plans?