{the blog} of stacey woods photography

Pack 'em up, head 'em out....

     

I've moved! Well, this blog has moved anyhow. I thought it was high time for an upgrade! So change your bookmarks... the new blog can be found  http://www.staceywoodsphoto.com/blog.  The party's already started... see you there!

When you're a little distracted and sleep deprived....

Your preschooler will try and trip you up.  Guaranteed.  He's already been acting out some (okay, a lot) with a month of much-loved company and a new baby sister in the house, all of which are, unfortunately, derailing his nice predictable routine. 

So here is the latest shenanigan.  The baby is napping.  I'm at the computer catching up on emails and lab invoices, trying not to fall asleep myself.  Parker is unusually quiet for a rambunctious 4-year-old boy in a kitchen.  I finally hear the clank of the steel garbage can lid and the triumphant smack of two hands dusting each other off.  I slowly turn my office chair around and cautiously ask my son... "Umm, what are you doing?"  He just looks sneakily at me and shrugs his shoulders... "Ohh, just putting a little trash in da garbage can."  And then quickly rolls his eyes and walks past me into the living room.  Hmmm...

Three seconds later, I hear a scratching-on-metal sound and then a muffled "mrrrreowwww".......

Busted.

Yes.... there are more....

I really HAVE been photographing my daughter the past 2-1/2 weeks.  I just haven't had time to process and upload them!!  Ahem, so it's been a little hectic, okay?!  ;)  No really I have to send a huge THANK YOU to my Mom, she and my Dad have been staying with us since right before Lila was born, and I would not have been able to hold my eyes open at this moment if it weren't for her.  She's made breakfast, lunch and dinner, cleaned our house, taken care of Parker, taken care of ME, and let Chris actually get some work done instead of being bombarded with all of the "helping out" on his own.  I secretly think Chris will miss her as much as I will, if not more!

 

And... we've had a breakthrough over the past couple of days!  Parker has relented it seems, and has been calling his baby sister by her real name for two days in a row!!  I'm so relieved.  I was just anticipating my little girl being confused about her name all the way until kindergarten.

He's already assumed the role of Protector, and has been keeping a watchful eye on her while she's in her carseat, so her tiny head won't flop over without Mama knowing about it... also putting her pacifier back in her mouth every time she spits it out in complete disapproval.  ;)  

Oh how I love that shot.....  she's lying in my dad's hands.  :)

And of course I'm on maternity leave... but I'm still here.  :)  I'm returning all phone calls and emails as soon as I'm able... albeit on a delay.... catch as catch can these days!  Thanks for bearing with me.

I also wanted to send lots of hugs and appreciation to each and every one of you who have sent us such sweet love notes and comments here on the blog... to our friends, family, and clients, my goodness... to all of y'all who have emailed or called to congratulate us!  We are so grateful for this much care and support right now, and we love you all dearly!  Of course, Parker has been highly anticipating the UPS guy's almost-daily visit to our door now too... so thank you to everyone who has been so sweet as to send presents for Lila, and to Parker!  I can't tell you how much it means to us.  :)  xoxoxox

The Early Weeks

Just thought I'd post a few images of our sweet girl from the past two weeks.  We're all adapting well to the sleep deprivation slight adjustment, to a family of four instead of three.  ;) 

Lila is a great baby, and her big brother Parker is SO proud of her... and he's being such a big help to us as well.  Even though he refuses to call her by her real name -- he insists on calling her by the name HE wanted for her.  So we are finding ourselves going behind him and correcting friends and family who have been told, "My new baby sister's name is Ava Caroline!"  Love his heart though.  He was so disappointed when we decided on Lila Kate at the eleventh hour.  (Hey, I did all the hard work here though, so shouldn't I have gotten the final say?!  Yes, that's precisely what I thought.)  ;)


I dearly love the above shot.  Poor Lila -- although Parker is beaming like he's the best babysitter ever.  LOL!


Who can resist a shot of a baby's feet??  Or a baby's bum, for that matter?  :)

Happy Father's Day BABY!

Yes... she's here!  Our little girl has arrived.  She's simply captivated us, and has melted all of our hearts!  Meet our newest darling....  Lila Kate Woods.

And she was the perfect Father's Day present for Chris... she was born on Sunday morning, June 15.  She also shares her birthday with her Papa Donnie.  And you can bet he was floating a few inches off the ground that day too.  ;)  I love this shot of my tiny Lila in his big hands....

Lila and I are both doing wonderfully, thanks to my amazing doctor, the angelic team of nurses who cared for us while we were at the hospital, and all our friends and family who drove 12-15 hours to be with us for her birth, and who are so generously giving of their time and talents to help us settle in.  You'll never know how much you all mean to us!  

Thanks again to my sweet friends Amy and Stacy, for coming over to "play" today.  I had sooooo much fun!  And I can't wait to see the gorgeous images you created for us!  We love you both!  xoxo

I promise to post more photos of our sweet girl  later on...  oh I've got tons to show you!!!  :)