Well, it’s Thursday, and I really considered just skipping this week’s ‘Week in Review’ but I have done it consistently for almost two years now, so alas, here are a handful of photos from last week! Ha. Better late than never – my philosophy for life right now. We’ve had our good friends from Australia (originally, Katy, Texas) in town this week, so I’ve had my hands full in the best way possible.

Last week, I hung out with Destiny (twice!) and Meredith (twice!), which literally never happens. Isla had ballet class, I took the girls to school and got caught up on lots of emails that came in while we were in Destin. I am co-hosting a shower for Meredith next weekend, and I had fallen behind while we were gone, so I spent lots of time getting my ducks in a row. I went and saw serious updates on the house (hooray!). Jill, Kevin and I drove to Galveston to take their engagement photos. We went to church at Bayou City Fellowship, then ate afterwards with Sydney, Philip and Camden (whom I’m obsessed with!). Erin and Parker stopped by – loved getting to see them, albeit too briefly. I took family photos for my friend, Amy and her family, at one of my favorite spots in downtown Houston. We celebrated my dad’s birthday and Emi’s 8 month-iversary on the 29th, and spent Saturday afternoon together at Levy Park. All in all, there were a lot of happy things that happened during the week. However, one of our close family friends – the man who convinced me to take a job at Accenture, which is where I met Sasha – passed away after receiving a cancer diagnosis the previous week. Tommy had the best personality ever – honestly, he was so full of life. His funeral was on Saturday and the speeches/message was a mixture of hilarious stories and remembrances that made everyone cry. He will be so missed by an incredibly large number of people.

Some photos taken during the week include:

After being postponed for two weeks due to the hurricane, the girls’ school starts tomorrow. Isla is going for three days, and Emi, only two. I have grandiose plans on what I’ll do with five uninterrupted hours (I haven’t had this since Emi was born!), but this week, I’ll be spending most of that time taking photographs. We leave for Destin on Saturday, and I’ve got five photo sessions in the next four days. Madness.

My parents moved into their rental home on Saturday, so the house feels all quiet now that they’re gone. My sister-in-law and niece even stayed with us for a few nights last week! There were 8 people living in our little house – I loved it! Some other highlights from the past week include:

• Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship (Curtis’ message was great – it’s not uploaded just yet to the site, but you can find other sermons here).
• Having a playdate with our best friends, the Thompsons at their house! It had been way too long.
• Watching Isla make new friends and play some soccer at CityCentre after the gym one morning!
• Taking two sets of newborn photos for sweet Parker and baby Harper. They were both insanely cute! Lucky me, ha!
• Taking Isla to her much anticipated ballet class, which she went to with her new bestie, Iris. They are so sweet together. Lots of photos below!
• Photographing Meredith at this amazingly colorful exhibit at Discovery Green.
• Catching up with Monica on a power walk with my sister-in-law, Ivana.

I’m almost 99% positive I’m missing something big, but it’s 11:45pm and I have to get back to editing those sweet baby photos. I’m actually drinking a coffee at this very minute. One of those nights! Have the best week. xo

First of all, happy Labor Day! It does not at all feel like a holiday weekend, so a bit odd to be saying that. The last week has felt surreal, to say the least. As I mentioned in my last blog post, my parent’s house took on tons of water as a result of the hurricane, and once they returned home from Colorado, the emotions were high and the amount of work that needed to take place was intense. Their neighborhood still had to be accessed by boat (as of yesterday), so getting things out of the house right now is difficult. They had a group of amazing volunteers help yesterday, and my parents are so appreciative for that! They hope to get in today (without water) to move more dry items out. My mom and dad also were in a mad dash to rent a house, since 100,000 homes were flooded as part of the flood – places are flying off the market. Fortunately, they signed a lease for a home at 7:30pm on Saturday. It was a huge relief to have that secured.

We did very little this past week, so I wanted to take the girls out of the house to do something fun on Saturday. We went to Levy Park, then had lunch with Meredith at Bebidas afterwards. It felt good to do something ‘normal’ after a crazy week. We have been trying to help as much as possible with the evacuees – it’s been interesting trying to explain to a three year old what we’re doing, but sweet to see her compassionate side come out when picking lightly worn clothing and toys to donate.

Although there were fewer than most weeks, some of the highlights from the past seven days included:

• Aforementioned park and lunch date with Meredith
• Multiple visits from my sister-in-law, Ivana, and sweet Milly Moo! Ah, I might steal her.
• Taking Brittany’s son’s 2 month photos – George is a doll! I am obsessed with him.
• Getting my eye brows done at The Brow Studio – I loved Sara so much! I am on a brow journey, as mine are sort of a mess right now (as is my face – hello stress breakout… I need tips!). I can’t wait to see them in a few months!
• Having a Buff Burger lunch date with my sister, Jill, and future brother-in-law, Kevin, then having dinner with my older sister, Karine, on Sunday! Lots of family time when the ‘rents live with you! It’s been nice having them with us, despite high stress situation, because we’ve never had the opportunity to host them before.

I hope that you are enjoying your Labor Day, and if you’re busy cutting out dry wall in yours or someone else’s house, then God bless you, seriously. So, so grateful for all that people have already done for our family.

Hi from rainy, rainy Houston. What a surreal and devastating few days it has been in the Bayou City. I have many friends whose houses have already flooded, and they’re saying that the rain won’t stop for a few more days. I can’t even wrap my head around this fact, but when I do, it makes me cry. So far, we have been so lucky and have avoided any flooding – we just have a few minor leaks in our playroom ceiling. My little sister is trapped at the hospital where she works, my older sister is stuck in NYC (not a bad place to be stranded, may I add?), my parents are safe in Colorado (but their neighborhood is currently being evacuated by the Coast Guard – can’t think about it!), my sister-in-law and her family are still okay, and my mother-and-father-in-law are both in Serbia (their spouses are both fine here in Houston!). There are so many people who are not okay – turn on the news to see heartbreaking and terrifying videos of people being saved by boats, stranded atop their roofs, stuck in cars on flooded roads, etc. Please, please pray for the rain to stop!

Before the chaos of hurricane prep came on Thursday, we had a relatively low-key week, mainly filled with preparations for the girls’ school (parent orientations and individual teacher orientations). Emi and Isla both met their new teachers, and they seem so sweet. Emi is in a class with only one other baby girl (for now at least), and they have two teachers! You can’t beat that ratio. It makes my mama-heart feel much more relaxed. And Isla’s teacher seems so sweet (she’s legit the cutest) – we have a few mutual friends, one of who has been raving about how much we’ll love her. So yeah, we’re ready for school to start. With the hurricane, the start date has understandably been pushed back a week.

Some highlights from the week included:

• Taking Meredith’s photos for an event that actually got canceled (postponed, perhaps?) – fortunately, we snapped one other one as well AND we got to see our favorite Mimicita, so it wasn’t a waste!!
• Signing up for dance class and ordering Isla’s leotard, tights and ballet shoes. They arrived in the mail a day or two later (what would I do without Amazon Prime?) and as you can see from the photos below, she is ready.
• Fixing some glitches in the matrix on my website with the help of my amazing future brother-in-law, Kevin. (gah, Sasha’s terrible sense of humor is rubbing off on me apparently!)
• Organizing the entire house thanks to a major trip to The Container Store. I feel so much better mentally. Now to organize my desk. Hmm.
• Catching up with Amanda at Ivana’s house when we went to look at her countertops, which I’ll totally be copying. Twinning is winning, am I right?
• Meeting our interior designer, Lindsey Herod, at our new house and meeting to discuss plumbing fixtures! She made some really great observations and I’m so glad to be working with her.

Anyone catch the solar eclipse today? My sister-in-law, Ivana, and I were cracking each other up with our mutual stupidity at our attempts to quickly glance at the sun… despite all of the millions of warnings not to. I wasn’t prepared enough to order glasses, but we did manage to see it via the iPhone camera as the sun went behind a cloud. I’m not going to lie – it was ever-so-slightly underwhelming (here in Houston at least!).

The past week, Sasha worked from home, which was so nice! We love having him here so much. We got to go and walk through the new house together – they are finishing framing this week (thank goodness!). I’m meeting with our designer, Lindsey Herod, on Wednesday at the lot to walk through it and discuss plumbing fixtures.

Some highlights from the past week include:

• Celebrating Isla’s cousin’s 6th birthday party at a nearby stable – she rode a horse for the first time and was literally on Cloud Nine! Happiest gal around.
• Emi’s crawling went from slow and shaky to speedy, and I went from being able to leave her for 30 seconds to having to tote her around with me everywhere we go. Isla is not the most reliable when it comes to leaving small items around, so Emi is constantly on my hip again.
• Baking with my ‘mother’s helper’ – Riley – who is my friend, Monica’s daughter. She has been such a huge blessing to us the past month – helping out with both girls so I can get some work done during the day, not just in the evening!
• Taking Milly’s four month photos! Ah, isn’t she a living doll?! I’m obsessed.
• Photographing an outdoor dinner party for Caroline Harper with florals by Maria Maxit and calligraphy by Nancy of Natalie Gene Calligraphy.
• Capturing the sweetest motherhood moments for my dear friend, Courtney Brown! Her son, Beau, is too handsome to handle! I shared photos here yesterday.
• Taking blog photos for Lyndsey Zorich on Friday at this kind-of secluded Galleria condo building – it was such a fun place to shoot and I love photography Lyndsey because she’s got all the moves!
• Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship! We’re jumping into a new series, which I’m excited for – plus, the speaker said that it will transition from this series to the Advent series and ohmygosh that made me excited for Christmas! Ha.