A portrait of each of my children every month: February

I was inspired to do some sort of Photo Project from a blog friend of mine.  Ashley Jorgensen of http://jorgensenbettertogether.blogspot.com/

She does such a fantastic job of photographing her children, herself and her family!  And I loved how she was doing a portrait of her children every week with a little bit about them that week.  Since I barely make enough time to blog anything I thought that I could AT LEAST do it each month starting in February.  Though I technically didn't write it in February I did take these photos!  So, here I go! 


Stella, you turned 8 this month! I cannot believe it because it seems like you were just this little baby and toddler who ran around entertaining the whole family with things you said and did.  You are so smart!  In fact, I am jealous of how easy things come to you!  We sat at the dinner table the other night and were talking about your challenge test that you had taken.  Dad asked "How did your test go?"
You responded so quickly "Well, I think I got them all right." 
Dad and I both laughed out loud. If only things came as easily to us old people. 
You are so sensitive and such a perfectionist.  I think you are just like your cousin Logan.  

You LOVE to read.  Your favorite books are mysteries right now.  I remember really loving mysteries and the Bermuda Triangle when I was your age.
You love to help with your baby sister and brag that she likes you almost as much as mommy.
You really don't like doing your homework and usually end up wrestling your brother instead. And how can I argue with that!  You love to do XtraMath and would spend hours if I let you.  You have always been independent and at this age it is no exception.  You love to just sit and draw, make bracelets, and create.  
I love how you are so thoughtful of others, like how you made me a gorgeous bouquet of paper flowers for my birthday and how last night you worked hard at a dream catcher for your brothers birthday.  
Although we are often harder on you due to the fact that you're the oldest child, we still LOVE you so much! 




Dash,
You turn 3 today!  Last night I sadly hugged you for the last time as a 2 year old.  You make me laugh so often its ridiculous.  Sometimes its because you're being funny and sometimes because you're doing something naughty and I have to hold back.
You love Calliou (we are weaning you off though, yay) and Cars and Trucks and anything boy!!!  You are working hard on your "L's" and still say cute things like - "I yike that truck mommy, yook at that."
You are starting to act like a 3 year old and its a scary thing.  Distraction and timeout are my best friends in making it through some days with you.
Things that melt my heart are when you say, "that make you proud mommy?" "I love you mommy" and "awwwwwww Marlo so cute mommy!  yook at how cute she is"
You are so loving!
Favorite things: Climbing on daddy's shoulders, fruit snacks, getting your own snacks out of the fridge, helping mommy clean, doing anything that is outside of the house.  You love to be told how big you are!  I cannot wait to see what this next month holds for you! Happy Birthday Darling!



Stella's landform, she is quite the artist.


A "cabin fever" gift from our amazing neighbors the Greys.  Stella put it together once and then daddy and Dash did again! Dash was so proud.
A story that Stella wrote about the figure skaters.  I love her stories and am going to start adding them to this.  A child's point of view is just the best.
Chew and his best friend Dash!  I cannot get enough photos of this boy sleeping!


Marlo,
You turned three months this month. I cannot believe how it has flown by.  You go from wanting to get this baby out of your tummy to WOW where has the time gone!  I truly enjoy this time.  You love me so much, in fact, you won't let anyone else handle you from 6pm until bedtime.  This is hard but I do enjoy it when you smile and tell me about your day.
You love when I sing to you and give me some of your biggest smiles. You almost rolled over yesterday.  I was so shocked!  You are so strong and can stand and I can pull you up from laying down.  I know you've been working on your ab muscles ;)
I hope you stay this happy! Love you baby girl!

Awesome photo Stella drew in school.


Flat Stella's Travels

Stella made a Flat Stella, similar to the story book adventures of Flat Stanley.  We mailed her off to our friend Katherine who made this awesome adventure slideshow for Stella!  Enjoy!

Click Here To See What Flat Stella Has Been Up To!

Weddings and Websites!



I have said this for a while now but please bear with me while I neglect my website.  The truth is, I have been busy with weddings and shoots and most importantly, my family.  :)  You can check out my most recent work on my Facebook page @ www.Facebook.com/CStarrPhotography or click on the Facebook logo on the left.  

The less time I spend on this blog/website the more time I have to make beautiful images for you and a beautiful life for my family :)  I am so thankful for all my clients in 2013!  

Don't worry, I will be taking special time this winter to get you a beautiful website to look at as well as some fun new features for my brides including your own website!  Fun huh????

I am quickly filling up for 2014 so don't miss out, contact me today!  




First Edition of BEFORE AND AFTER LeMars Home!


 I am finally getting around to this and I am not impressed with my before photos. :) You'll get the idea. 

Before:  Here is the kids bath. It was PEACH colored as you can see in the toilet photo. I am not a fan of peach yet, it covered nearly our entire home.   Easy change.  The wall with the mirror was covered with rip and tear wallpaper.  Thankfully it was easy to tear down :)



After:  I wanted the kids bath to be bright but not Themey Kids so I went with a gorgeous blue on the cabinets and perfect greige on the walls.  I love the idea of using your own children's work as art and luckily I have a budding artist in my home.  I bought these awesome frames on Amazon and they just look like they were made for this bathroom.  I also love the pop of color the orange towels give the room. I also opted for hooks instead of towel bars and it is proving to be a wonderful choice!  Plus they were like 99 cents each. 

It is not a naturally bright room being that it has no windows but I love the mood that the new light fixture creates and don't forget my awesome steal of a mirror for $12 at Home Depot.  SCORE....  I handed over bath markers and crayons and the children continuously decorate my bath with wonderful drawings. 


RJ | 1 Year Old | Iowa Baby Photographer

RJ is just the cutest and smartest little one year old.  We had several incidents where he got injured during the shoot ( apparently this happens to him all the time ;) and he always knew how to get the most out of us with his reaction.  It was too cute.  We had a great time and it was an honor to photograph this beautiful family!  I have known Jenny since she was little!


Joining the Cauliflower Pizza Train

We are on a cleanse this week and pretty much all we eat is lean protein, complex carbohydrates, fruits and veggies.. We're trying to get back into the habit of eating well again.  It seems like every winter we get into this slump.  I wanted more energy without requiring coffee all the time and without craving all these unhealthy snacks.  So we are on day 3 and feel fantastic.

Today I was going to make salmon with homemade veggie soup over quinoa (will probably have that tomorrow), but I came across this pizza again and I just had to have it.  To quench my "carb" craving ;)

Bonus: I had almost every ingredient on hand!

Here is my version of the recipe:


3c grated cauliflower microwaved for 5 mins and then set out to cool (let it cool or you will burn your hands.)
1/4c - 1/2c we used 1/4c
1tsp oregano
2 eggs beaten

Oven @ 425 degrees            

Once the cauliflower cools put it in a towel and squeeze out extra moisture (important to get a crisp crust)
Put in clean bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients

on a baking sheet lined with olive oil greased parchment paper spread out the "dough" to a thin consistency and cook for 20-25 minutes.

Add ingredients.... put on broil until cheese melts...

kids had pepperoni and cheese blend
we had spinach, roasted red peppers, pine nuts, capers, more oregano a little dash of feta and parmesan

YUMMY!!! The kids went to town on it never suspecting they were eating cauliflower!

Oh and the crust smells amazing while baking!

Here is a photo of the pizza in the oven.  Not great quality but the pizza is gone (proof that its delicious) so I couldn't take another.  You get the point! Enjoy!


FREE PHOTOSHOOT UP FOR GRABS!

First of all, I want to say thank you to so many people for all of the referrals and wonderful sweet words you have given me as I have moved my  family and photography business to its new home in LeMars, Iowa. My job is awesome. I have truly found my passion, and I can’t believe this is actually my “job”. Providing people with memories that last a lifetime is a wonderful gift!
With that being said, I believe in paying it forward and giving back to others as much as I can. So…..what does that mean? I want to give away a free family photo shoot! Yay!!:)
Here is how you enter:
-Leave a brief comment under this post explaining why you and your family or a deserving person or family  would benefit from a photo shoot.
-Click the “like” button on the bottom of this post to share with your friends and family. When you share you will receive an extra entry.  You can have as many family members as you would like enter the contest to increase your chances of winning (mom, dad, sibling, aunts, uncles, grandma, etc….)
The contest will run through March 31 at 10, 10:00am. At that time, I will close all entries and announce the winner. The winner will be decided through random.org because I would have an extremely hard time picking just one winner;)
The photo shoot will take place before April 30 due to my bust wedding schedule. The shoot will need to take place in LeMars, Iowa or the surrounding area up to 25 miles. The session may have up to 5 people total for the shoot, with 20-30 images on a high resolution CD as my gift to you. If you win and already have a session booked, no worries! You can just apply this “free” shoot to your current session that is scheduled.
Good Luck, can’t wait to see who wins!!!

and because every post deserves a photo here is one to remind us of Spring....
To see more of CStarrPhotography visit my Facebook page HERE