We had a fun trip at the apple orchard this past weekend and came home with a big bag of yummy honey crisp apples! (By the way, if you are local to Columbus, the Orchard and Company is a great place for apple picking with the kids! So many fun activities, hay rides, farm animals, pony rides, pumpkin patch, corn pit, etc!) This year I was determined to actually try out some different recipes with our apples (rather than let them sit on our counter and rot like previous years 😬). So, off to Pinterest I went to pin alllll the apple recipes!
If you caught my instastories the past few days you know I've been making a lot of crockpot applesauce! Mostly because the boys love it and it's pretty easy to make! I also tried out the apple bacon and cheddar quesadillas and they were surprisingly really good! Linked to the recipes below plus some other recipes I'm hoping to try out!
Hey guys! I've been thinking about writing this post for a little while and I thought now was a great time since it's usually about the time everyone is preparing to have family photos taken for their holiday cards. I know I am hoping to get ours done by the end of the month too. Now, I will preface this by saying that we've only had our photos taken professionally twice as a family and the first time it was with just Camden. But, I feel like I have some good experience when it comes to dressing our family in a way that is simple and complimentary, which usually shows best in photos.
1. Colors : I always like to stick to a group of 3-4 colors that are complimentary of each other. Whether it's warm tones, or complimentary bold, gem tones or pastels. Just as long as the colors blend well together. For example, for our fist family photo session I wore a solid burgundy colored blouse with dark jeans and taupe booties. Bill wore a chambray button up shirt and dark jeans. Camden wore a burgundy and white buffalo check shirt and jeans. I wanted to plan our outfits around Camden's shirt because I was most excited for his cute little outfit! So, my top and his shirt didn't clash because they were similar in color. We all had similar dark colored jeans and I feel as though denim is pretty neutral.
We had a similar color grouping for our second year of family photos. I included navy, grey, denim and some neutral tones. I knew I wanted to wear my pink, navy and white plaid blanket scarf with my navy swing dress, so I dressed the boys complimentary of my outfit.
2. Patterns : I think one difficult factor of dressing a family is making sure there aren't too many competing patterns or textures. I'm sure if I had a daughter, I'd want to dress her in all sorts of pretty patterns, lace and ruffles! If you have a certain outfit that you know you want one person to wear for photos, then I would dress everyone else around that particular outfit. So if your daughter is wearing a pretty floral patterned dress, maybe have everyone else in solid colors that compliment or neutral tones. If you have one person in a big bold print and someone else in a pattern, it may not look complimentary to have them together in a photo.
For our family photos last year, I wore a plaid blanket scarf and Bennett wore a gingham button up shirt. I felt like these two prints didn't clash because the colors of Bennett's shirt complimented my scarf and the gingham print was small and more muted.
Here is another example of pattern mixing, but staying relatively in the same color palette. we took some family photos during our family trip to the Outer Banks in July and I chose the color palette of light blues, grey, tan, etc. Bennett was wearing plaid shorts and I was wearing a blue and white pinstripe dress. I don't think the two patterns clashed because my pinstripe dress was a more muted, two toned pattern.
last two photos by me!
I think you can still mix some texture and prints as long as the texture (say, lace for example) is a solid color that compliments one color of the patterned outfit. Neutrals (cream/white, denim, tan/khaki, grey, etc) can be thrown in to help fill in some color gaps.
3. Dress for the season : This tip is pretty obvious and doesn't need a whole lot of explaining. If you are planning to use your family photos for holiday cards, you should want to make sure everyone is dressed in fall/winter clothes (ie. long sleeves, sweaters, pants, etc). The main point being is to make sure the family is all dressed for the same season.
Here's an example I put together of a family of 4 with a son and a daughter:
Shop the collage below:
What are your tips when it comes to dressing for family photos?
I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by! It feels like just yesterday we moved into our new home here in Columbus, when the weather was just starting to warm up by the end of March. We have definitely taken full advantage of the play ground across the street from our house and all the beautiful parks which are in walking distance and short driving distance as well. The boys love being outside and it's always a great excuse to get them out of the house and wear them out get them some exercise before nap time!
We've made so many memories this past summer: The boys' first trip to the beach, their first splash pad and community swimming pool experiences, their first Fourth of July parade, multiple trips to the zoo, playdates with friends, Bennett's first birthday party... the list goes on!
Yea, I'd say we really lived it up this summer!
As much as I love summer, I'm really looking forward to the last quarter of the year (which is actually my favorite time of year!). I love when the leaves change and it's chilly enough to wear a big comfy sweater and drink hot coffee in the morning. There are so many fall activities I'm looking forward to planning for our family and the boys. We went apple picking last year, and Camden had a blast! I'm definitely planning to take a trip to the apple orchard and the pumpkin patch this year as well!
I love decorating our front porch and home for fall. And of course Halloween with the boys will be so fun this year with 2 toddlers (costume ideas for 2 little boys welcome)! And football season should be extra fun this year now that Camden can actually say 'Go Bucks!' and "O - H... I - O!!"
I always feel like it's a new beginning around fall. Probably because we've been so trained on the school year calendar growing up. I like to make new personal goals this time of year as well. Now that the craziness of the busy summer schedule has died down, it's time to really focus on myself, my work, my blog, my fitness/health and my spirituality. I have a list of personal goals I am hoping to start working on for the remainder of the year and I hope to share with you each one in separate posts to come (so stay tuned)!
As far as the blog goals go, I'm hoping to stay on a regular schedule of posting going forward. My upcoming post ideas are to continue my 'Blogger on a Budget' series and share with you my fall capsule wardrobe, more beauty related posts including my everyday make up routine, and of course sharing more motherhood related posts and bits and pieces of our everyday life. These are just some ideas I have, but if you have any suggestions on types of posts you'd like to read, please let me know in the comments below!
First of all... NO, I'm NOT pregnant (phew)! But, life has been a bit hectic around these parts the past few months. We've been traveling back and forth from Columbus (Ohio) and staying with both of our parents while we are there. There are a few reasons why we've been going so much. First, because Bill has been interviewing for a new position in Columbus (which he got! yay!) AND we've been house hunting! So, we've decided to make the move back to Columbus!!
We started talking about moving back a few months after Bennett was born. It was definitely challenging being away from family (and friends) after Bennett arrived. We quickly realized how important it is to have family help with 2 little ones and we also knew it would be best for our family to have the boys grow up being close to their grandparents and cousins that live in Ohio.
SO, we made the decision to list our house in IL for sale over Christmas break and we got an offer that week! Luckily we settled on a longer close (we close end of Feb) so we could have time to look for a new house in Columbus.
This week we are packing up pretty much our whole house except the necessities because we are heading to stay with my parents in Columbus until we move into our new home! The time frame will probably be 3-4 weeks staying with them. We are finalizing the contract with a new home in Columbus (fingers crossed financing and inspection go smoothly!).
SO, I want to apologize ahead of time if I'm a little absent on the blog and social media for the next few weeks as we settle into our new life in Columbus. I do have a really fun post scheduled for tomorrow about an awesome stroller for siblings!
Besides all that craziness, we really enjoyed being with the grandparents over the weekend. AND we loved the taste of spring weather! Camden loved being outside!
Please say a little prayer for us that this transition is a smooth one. I know it will be the hardest on Camden. He is at the age where he realizes there is a big change happening. I'm trying my best to keep his little world consistent by keeping his daily routine intact. We will be setting up both of their cribs at my parents house so that they can sleep in their own beds during the transition period. I think that will help tremendously.
If any of you have experienced moving with little ones, please let me know if you have any advise!
We had a pretty low key weekend which was just what the doctor ordered. The boys have both been sick with a nasty cough/cold (seriously, this cold season can be over now) that has been keeping everyone up at night. Luckily, no one has had a fever so far so I'm hoping it won't escalate to anything worse.
We had our family photo session with the wonderful Lindsay of (www.chicagolandphotographybylindsay.com). The weather could not have been more perfect and with the fall foliage in the background made for some awesome photos! She sent us a few sneak peek photos which makes me so excited to see the rest! I just love the candid shots of the boys! I'm hoping to have family photos taken every year around this time. It will be fun to compare photos from years past. We took family photos last year around this time when Camden was just 10/11 months old. It's crazy to see how much he's grown!
These photos came at such a great time. When I'm awoken at 4:30 am with a coughing babe (even earlier now, thanks daylight savings!) and I feel like I'm never going to get a full night's sleep ever again... I look at these photos and realize that everything is a phase and I need to relish in these moments when they are so little. I just love our little family so much!
Besides taking it easy, we also (when I say we, I mean Bill) put together our new bed/headboard. It was an early anniversary present to both of us. I'm also on the hunt for new bedding and throw pillows. I will share the finished product when it's all put together!
We also took a family trip to the park to enjoy this weather while it lasts and enjoyed a family dinner outing at Panera (currently craving all the autumn squash soup!).
I hope you all got an extra hour of sleep this weekend! Of course, if you are a parent that's not always the case... Why don't these kids get it?!!
I just love how Jenny Beck Photography captured these moments! Jenny was so great to work with and so flexible (we had to reschedule 4 times due to rain!!). There are so many good ones it was so tough to narrow them down to just this group!
I'm so happy we have these sweet images to look back on. Cam is at such an adorable age and I wanted to have these photos to remember this time with my little family. These photos were definitely worth the wait!
