smarty pants dance

ok so i don't really like photoshop for portraits.  it has some cool tricks, but when it comes down to it, i prefer to just take a good picture the first time.  that is usually my goal.  but what the client wants, i try to deliver.  recently i had a photoshoot with a cute little newborn.  newborn photography is tricky.  not that it is hard to take a cute picture of a baby.  the tricky part is that right now putting babies in unnatural poses (ie with their hands holding their head up) and places (pick a bucket, any bucket.  insert baby) is very popular.  if you know newborns, then you know they are not able to hold their head up with their hands, or anything like that.  so unless you hire a professional who knows photoshop you are either not going to get the photo or you are going to put the baby at risk.  anyway all that blah blah blah is leading up to is that i am pretty darn proud of this photo i just did.  it is not my natural style, but i think it looks pretty cute and i know the client will be happy.  here's the before and after.

 this baby was a mover and a shaker, so mom held on to her to keep her from flailing right off the bed.

when computers attack

so some time this week our computer got attacked by hackers/viruses.  bah.  they got a hold of my business credit card and tried to buy something in ireland.  thank goodness my bank was on top of it and no transactions were actually finalized.  but irritation aplenty.  i think we got the computer all sorted out now though.
anywho.  last week we went on a mini vacation with ben on his days off.  in typical us fashion we crammed as much as possible into two days.  w did the houston aquarium, galveston, and the natural history museum in two days.  but we had a great time and it was nice to spend time together as a family, which we don't get to do often b/c ben works so much and we always have five million things to do.  sometimes you just got to stop doing and have fun.  so we did.
i've had requests for photos, so here they are.  all fifty something of them.  and i have more.  i always have more.  =)

davis now likes to eat her apple whole

waiting patiently for the shark train

about to enter the shark tunnel

ben and marley won this monkey and a blue won playing some type of carnival game.

deep sea carousel

at first i thought she was nervous b/c she hadn't been on this carousel before, but it went really fast.  she started shaking.  don't worry i took her off and held her and then she was just fine.  

what else would you see at an aquarium but a chinchilla?

oh yeah.  and a white tiger.  they were checking each other out.

watch out behind you!!!!

my snuggle bug

we went and had a fancy pants dinner.  dad needed a steak.  i ordered mac and cheese for marls and she ate my salad instead.  can't complain about that!

we got upgraded to a suite for no charge!

searching for sea shells

so happy on the beach.

on a mission to get those birds

no fear.  we had to pick her up or she would have kept going.

not quite tall enough....

australian leaf bug

butterflies!

a rare exotic butterfly landed on ben's head.

all whiners will be fed to t rex

no exceptions

petrified wood

the natural history museum's exhibit on nihilism

pea pie

she needed to stretch her legs?