More Tux Pictures

I thought it would be fun to get a few more pictures of Niall wearing his tuxedo before I send it back tomorrow. Today was one of Seattle's glorious overcast days and this morning it wasn't even raining. This was our window of opportunity, so we headed out to the park for a quick pre-nap photo shoot.




When we were looking for a tux for Niall to wear for the wedding, we were lucky to find Gaga's, an online retailer that specializes in children's formal wear rentals. You just select what you want on their web site, tell them the date of your event, and they ship it to you two weeks before. Then, when I discovered I had ordered the wrong size, I called them and they shipped a bigger size the very same day. They only charged me $5 for the shipping and it arrived just in time, two days before the wedding.

Allergies and Mischief

Suddenly my allergies are driving me crazy. My nose is running constantly and I have tissue boxes placed stragegically throughout the house. Spring must be here!

This afternoon I mistakenly left a tissue box within Niall's reach. He took each tissue out, one at a time, and very quietly put them in a big, fluffy pile. By the time I noticed he was nearly finished. I had to laugh and take a few pictures, because this is what happens when I stop paying attention to him for even one minute. Mischief!

Pictures from Kelly & Pat's Wedding

Yesterday my very dear friends Kelly and Pat were married. It will be remembered as an auspicious day in April, with rain, sleet, hail, snow, and occasional sun breaks. Such unusual weather must be good luck!

I took a few pictures while there was still some light to work with, but mostly I left it to Gerald and Airika from Gerald Pope Photography. I can't wait to see their pictures! They showed a special sneak preview on their laptop last night, and the pictures I saw were just gorgeous! This shot was totally set up by them, I just happened to walk by at a good time to sneak a shot!


Here's Niall and Birch posing right before the ceremony. They did such a great job! Niall walked and held the ring pillow just like we practiced. Birch held his hand and pulled him in the right direction. What a team!

The flowers were done by Marianne Graham at The Artful Posy. Everything was gorgeous! Of course Marianne was on hand before making sure everything was just perfect. She even thought to make two boutonnieres for Niall. Unfortunately he destroyed both of them within a minute of me pinning them on, but I blame myself for that.

The cake was stunning and so delicious, although I'm pretty sure the macaroons were supposed to be silver. I might be wrong, but either way it was the best tasting wedding cake I've ever had. Mmmm!

For me, one of the best things was watching Niall and seeing how much fun he was having with Birch and Findlay. He spent the entire evening running around, dancing, hiding under tables, and following them around. I think he had the time of his life last night!




Another detail that was great was the DJ. It's easy not to notice the impact of a DJ, but you sure notice the absence of one. Austin from NiteLite Entertainment was there making sure the music and the mood were perfect the entire evening. For me it was so fun to see Austin there because he is married to my friend Roxanne that I don't see nearly enough of, and they have a beautiful 8-month old daughter. We had a great time catching up and chatting about the miracles of parenthood and how amazing our children are.

Overall the wedding day was perfect down to the last detail. If this day is any indication, the rest of their lives together should go off easily without a hitch! I feel so blessed to have Kelly and Pat as friends and honored to be a part of their big day. Congratulations and much love to both of you!

Rehearsal Dinner Fun!

We just got home from Kelly's wedding and I am SO exhausted. Niall is sleeping upstairs, and Jude is asleep on the sofa so that gives me a few minutes to post pictures from the rehearsal dinner last night.

Niall has had such a good time with Birch the flower girl and her brother Findlay. They were having a blast yesterday playing with cars and running around. I managed to get them to pause for long enough to take a picture.

Later on at the restaurant Findlay wasn't having such a great time, but he looked so cute I couldn't help but take a few pictures.

Tonight at the wedding everyone had a good time, especially the kids. Birch and Niall were nearly inseparable all evening, they were playing, dancing, and running around and having a great time together. What a fun night! I'll post pictures soon, but now I need to sleep. . .

Kelly's Bachelorette Party

My good friend Kelly is getting married this week and last night we had her bachelorette party. We had so much fun! As a mom of a two year old I feel like I haven't been out in about 100 years so I guess last night was long overdue. I'm paying the price today though, let me tell you.

We started at the fabulous Belltown Bistro, where the waitstaff of wonderful women totally took care of us. We enjoyed scrumptious appetizers, delicious dinner, and several rounds of yummy drinks. After that we hit Belltown for antics that only Bachelorettes can get away with. ;)

I brought my new Canon G9 to document the evening. The G9 is possibly the most fun camera ever. It can do RAW, and has great manual control if you want to get creative. For occasions like last night when you're out having fun and just want to point and shoot it's great for that too!

Check out some of the fun shots from last night! All of these were inside dark rooms, shot in full automatic "green box" mode with the camera's direct flash. Look at her, isn't she gorgeous? Doesn't she look innocent?




I love this last shot, taken right after a round of vodka shots. I think this is such a fun party shot, and sums up our evening perfectly!

Playing with Toys

I've been working on Niall's two year old book, and I always like to include pictures of his favorite toys. It turns out that even at my age, toys are still fun to play with! They make excellent subjects, and are generally much more cooperative than two year olds. They sit still, don't try to run away, and they never get tired of having their picture taken.

Everything was going great until Niall noticed that I was playing with his toys. Good thing I was done with the robot setup - poor robot!

Meet Morweena

Who couldn't love a face like this?

Last year when Niall's Grandma and Grandad were visiting from England they brought him a PG Tips Chimp. This is a stuffed monkey toy that came free in a box of PG Tips tea. While it is a cute toy, we didn't really think much about it until recently.

One day a few weeks ago, Niall started playing with this monkey and basically hasn't put it down since. It turns out it's a girl, and he's named her Morweena. He cuddles Morweena, feeds her cereal, and spends most of the day giving her rides on various trucks, cars and school busses. He even puts her down for a nap when she's tired and holds her up to the window when she needs some fresh air. It is so sweet to watch!




Then we found out that it's not just Niall that loves his monkey, but most of England is in love with this chimp. Check out the monkey shop! There is an ad campaign with a popular comedian, a movie, and hundreds of home videos on YouTube. Here are two of my favorites:

• Trev the Monkey's Blog
• PG Tips Monkey Gets Lively