We Bought A House! | San Jose, Ca

We've been looking for a house for the past 3 years or so.  Once Kellen was old enough to run around we knew the house we had, with a patio for a yard, wasn't going to be enough.  Our hunt has been an on and off again one, but we've always been looking.  Last summer we got serious and put in offers on a few houses.  For those of you familiar with the housing market in the Silicon Valley, you know it's no small feat to actually purchase a home.  You must overbid and hope that your non all cash offer can compete.  We probably put in offers on 5 other homes before we came across this one.  Amazingly, our offer won out and we got the house!

Eventually I'll have another post showing all of the changes we've made to the home.  We are still currently living in a construction zone and with two small children it's a bit overwhelming.  So for now, I'll share with you the last family photo of our old home as well as part of a moving day to our new home.

Christmas Family Photos | History Park, San Jose

It's been forever since I've posted anything.  The reason being is that the holidays were upon us and during all of the Christmas fun, we bought a house!  It's been a very busy few months for our family.  More about the house in another post.  Here is a photo session I did before Christmas!  I love this family.  It's been such a joy to watch "T" grow up.  I met her when she was just days old and now she's  16 months.

October Babies Turn Four | San Jose, Ca

Another year has come and gone and all of our kiddos have turned four.  I met these ladies in my birthing class and they are so fantastic.  A girl couldn't ask for better friends.  The only problem with us having babies together, is that their kids were born 3 days before mine and on the same day as my son.  Thus it makes it nearly impossible to attend one another's birthday parties.  This year we all celebrated together the weekend after their birthdays.  The kids love it because it's more birthday time for them.  We've taken a picture every year since their first birthdays.  You can see my post about them last year here.

Here are the four year olds looking happy and the mommy and daddy helper in our adventure.

This is the first year we have everyone looking at the camera and smiling! 

The boys have acting silly and making faces down.  Poor A is very patient with them and smiling politely.

A decides to join the boys and try to make a silly face.

The younger siblings are pretty excited about getting to eat cupcakes too.

Family Photos | History Park, San Jose

I love this time of year because I get to catch up with all the families I've taken photos of over the years.  These boys were no exception.  They've changed so much in the last year.  We had a ton of fun exploring the houses and buildings at the History Park.  Unfortunately, we were kicked out of the park because they were closing, but we could have kept going for hours.  Everyone was so happy and eager to explore.  It was a perfect shoot!

Teagan Turns One!

It's been a whole year that I've gotten to shoot this little cutie.  I can't believe it!  She was so much fun and determined to be inside the wagon.  She even got nice and dirty in her tutu, the perfect balance of tomboy and girlie.

My Baby Turned One.........

back in January.  He's well on his way to 2 now, but I realized I never posted about his birthday party.  I posted these pictures about his cake smash, but didn't share all of the party details.  We had a brunch, which I'm telling you, is the best way to do a party.  The doughnut holes were a hit with the entire crowd.  I think we ordered 7 dozen or so and didn't have too many leftovers!  My son is obsessed with balls and balloons.  When I came across this invitation from Cake Likes a Party, I knew it was perfect.  Balloons, balls and chevron it made baby and mommy happy.  Please excuse the picture quality, I had to take it at night when I work on all of my projects so the lighting was terrible.

I didn't get to take as many photos as I wanted to.  I'm deciding that means I enjoyed the party.  Here are a few of the decorations.  Yes, I made that balloon wreath and I love it, but it did take a lot of time.  The upside is we now use it for everyone's birthday.

Here is where the picture taking broke down.  We had quiche, yogurt parfaits, coffee cake, doughnut holes, scones, maybe bacon?  I can't remember it's been too long and there aren't photos.  Just know that is was tasty.

Dessert!

My Birthday Boy!

Everyone went home with a balloon sugar cookie favor.

Vintage Modern Bridal Shower

My Mother-in-Law and I threw a Bridal Shower for my future Sister-in-Law at the end of June.  She's a very glamourous girl so we wanted to do a modern vintage type shower.  When I came across this shower  I knew I wanted to replicate some of it.  My mother and grandmother raided their silver cabinets and my grandmother went to a few garage sales to find some pieces that would be just right.  The bride-to-be loves dessert so we made sure there were a lot of options.  In addition, she loves ice cream, so I attempted to make mint chocolate chip bon-bons.  It worked out pretty well except for the fact that it was 97 degrees that day in June.  Everyone ate them quickly to prevent melting!