Two years ago I was lucky enough to have a ton of time on my hands, a passion for photography and countless fun times. So when I participated in Ashley’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections, there was a lot to reminisce about. The next year that followed was all about my pregnancy and, honestly, I couldn’t even think about anything but the upcoming birth, so I skipped MDR.
This year, however, is perfect! It was simple, different, somewhat uneventful, but at the same time HUGE when it comes to our roles as parents and our baby girl. So here is a look back at what 2012 had in store for us, based on the prompts provided by MDR 2012.
Table of Contents
1. Me
As I was going through photos looking for a picture of myself, I couldn’t find a good one where it was just me. I guess the reality is the first year of a new mother is ALL about her baby. And to tell you the truth I kind of love it. So the picture of me will be this one with Alexis, the most recent shot taken.
2. I Love You
Obviously, the new love this year was Alexis. The most amazing love of all. I LIKE this picture because my face reflects the overwhelming feeling of love you have for your children.
{this was a part of the beach trip shoot}
3. Still Laughing…
This was the most classic shot! We were taking pictures of the two Lexis for New Year’s Eve and Alexis has always been obsessed with whatever is on Alexa’s head. So first she tortured the poor girl with incessant attempts at removing her crown, then when the crown was gone, she attacked her for her pretty bow and when that disappeared, she went for her shoes. We attempted to distract them with a sparkly prop, so she whacks her with it! Luckily the prop was made of paper and, of course, Alexis didn’t mean any of it, but it’s absolutely hilarious how we have to watch her every move or otherwise she’d snatch SOMETHING off other babies’ heads because she likes to inspect things. Sorry Alexa! 🙁
4. Winter Wonderland
I can’t exactly show winter since we live in Florida, so this newborn shot I took of Lexi is as close as we can get to all white here.
5. Birthday
Lexi’s first birthday planning is in full swing with less than a month left till the big day. The other day I did a trial run for the invitation photos. I had a rough idea of what I wanted but I needed to play with it a bit to nail down the details, looks, props. This was one of the trial shots. The final invitation looks nothing like it, so I am perfectly fine sharing this photo on the blog without spoiling the surprise for those invited.
6. Friends
This was a hard one. I had a year full of friends’ visits, so it was difficult to decide which photo to post. I ended up picking this one, because the most people were in it at the same time. This was a shot of the girls on my birthday this year.
7. I Was Inspired…
Pinterest is amazing! It makes me wish I had 100 hours in a day and a talent for crafts or design. One thing I can get off of it right now is inspiration for photography. I saw this amazing shot of a woman with her daughter lounging in their underwear on the bed. It was so sweet and memorable I had to recreate it. Mine didn’t turn out as good looking as the original, but it is special to me nonetheless. {Our Pinterest Boards}
8. Spring Fever
Again seasons aren’t really apparent here, yet this photo screams spring to me! This was from a trip to Gaylord Palms.
9. Travel or Vacation
Not much travelling happened this year until we discovered the car seat Lexi tolerates. Since then the only real vacations we’ve taken were to Disney World a few times and Gaylord Palms. Can’t wait to go again soon!
10. Summer Days
Oh summer days! Days at the beach, pitching a tent, playing in the sand, late afternoon naps and gorgeous warm waters of the Gulf. Ahhhhh!
11. A Day In My Life
I actually wrote a post last year about my day as a new mom when Alexis was almost 3 months old. Boy was it different! Days are not the same anymore. They are spent chasing Lexi all over the house who wants to do nothing but walk, but isn’t confident enough without holding onto one of our fingers {edit: she now walks independently}. Needless to say, my back is KILLING me from 3 weeks of constant bending over to let her balance herself with my thumb (tall people problems). But if I were to take 2012 as a whole, the number one thing I did more than anything else was breastfeed. Some days that is ALL I did. So if I were to pick a photo that would illustrate my life in 2012 it would be this photo below.
12. All Smiles
Oh I had so many cute photos of smiles that I wanted to share, but I guess this one is arguably one of the most adorable ones! It was taken at the beach right before Lexi’s very first dip in the ocean!
13. Autumn Harvest
My favorite fish face in the world in the Pumpkin Patch photos
14. Family or Home
This year marked a beginning of our new family, complete with a little bundle of joy. I cannot get enough of this picture – our beginnings!
15. Celebrate!
Celebrating Christmas.
16. Let’s Do It Again…
This was my first time out and having fun without Alexis. It felt so familiar to be the old me for a change. One without a care in the world, boating, dancing, swimming, having fun with girlfriends. There was so much laughter and typical girls antics – it was absolutely perfect! I haven’t blogged about it even though it happened in August. But I think “My first time out” will have to make it into the archives of this blog one day.
17. I Miss You
This picture encompasses the love I have for all my friends who live far away, old and new. There’s something about the beaches and sunset and bikinis that make me think of all of my girls who I miss dearly.
18. Beautiful
My daughter- DUH!
19. Dress Up
from Halloween fun!
20. Macro
I am not a macro photographer. I have no lens to shoot macro and I prefer shooting people, which is why I got into self-portraiture to begin with, before I had a cute little baby to photograph. This is pretty much as close to macro as I usually get.
21. Holidays
A lot of holiday prompts….
Ok, so this is the quintessential Lexi shot- reading a book with lips pursed with concentration. Little Holiday angel!
22. My Favorite
I have taken 25,000 photos this year (2012). Out of those 25,000 I have at least 100-150 that I can call my absolute favorites. T0 pick one would be impossible.
However, this photograph has captured my attention not once throughout the year. I keep coming back to all the photos from the Mother’s Day shoot and I am absolutely in love with the photos and the editing, but this one just stops me in my tracks. The colors, the hair, the wind, the sparkle of Isabella Oliver jackets, the palm trees – absolutely dreamy! {Shot by husband, edited by me}
23. Don’t Ever Change
Again I could pull a million photos of Alexis where I want her to stay the same, but if I had to pick one version of Lexi so far, this would be it.
Eleven months old, little brown curls by her temples, wide open eyes and mouth slightly open in wonder and curiousity, little 7 teeth peeking out, hands spread out in a gesture that usually only she knows the meaning of, her chubby cheeks and munchable legs, her button nose and her absolutely undying love of books. That’s what I want to keep – that little munchkin on this picture. Best age by far!
24. Just Because…So There!
This was another try of pre-birthday photos – trying out different outfits. She wouldn’t smile in these but I love every single one of them!
25. Hopes and Dreams
This is the first year where I don’t have resolutions or hopes or dreams, where I didn’t even have the time to ponder what I want. To be honest, this is the first time the thought even crossed my mind. I am so focused on the present. All I want is for things to stay the way they are. Everything is absolutely perfect. Yes, I’d love more time and for Lexi to nap better, but those are so trivial.
But if I had to think about, I am looking forward to having fun with my girl, laughing and playing games as she is entering her 2nd year! I am looking forward to blogging more, and having more family time. I have a new website coming up in 2013 that I am working hard on. That’s honestly all I can handle at this moment in terms of hopes and dreams. I am hoping to see more friends, to spend a year re-connecting with the old self, now that Alexis is almost a year old and things are infinitely easier. It’s going to be an awesome year, I know it!
No goals this year, just, as usual, trying my best to be the best I can be.
Beautiful pictures, lol @ #3, I like the serious look on her face while she’s attacking. Also, 25,000 photos wow! I thought I had a lot with 4,000 over about 6 months. One of my goals for this year is to take more though, it’s really worth it to have to look back on.
I finally got a chance to catch up and I just love this overview of 2012. What a special year for your family! I love that you had the day to feel like “you” again 🙂
xo
So glad you participated! Great shots! I really love the shots with the balloons, and the one of her sleeping in the tent on the beach. Beautiful!
Would love to know how you store all those photos? External hard drive? How do you organize the ones that are actually on your computer?
UGH! lol
I have 2 internal HDD on my laptop, 500GB and 1TB. I also have 4 external HDDs: 1 TB, 500GB, 500GB and 1TB where I store photos an video, as well as websites. I prefer using several small drives, that way if one fails I don’t lose ALL my data. I make sure that I have data backed up in at least 2 places.
I’ll probably include storage tips in one of the photography series posts.
I loved this!! What a unique way to capture the year:)
Truly exquisite photos! Inspiring!
Every time I read your blog, and see pictures of Lexi, I just can’t wait for our little girl to arrive.
This past Christmas, just a week before we found out we’re having a daughter, all I could picture was a little girl that looked so much like Lexi sitting next to our tree.
She really is beautiful, and you do such an amazing job capturing her.
You’ve had such an amazing year!!!
I love that girls shirt on the end (the one in the white pants beside you). Any idea where the shirt is from?
No I am sorry I don’t know. NY&Company has a lot of chiffon shirts, check there!
I love that picture of Lexi “attacking” my Lexi! Great pics as usual!!! And I LOVE the pic on the invite!!!
Do you mind sharing a link to the purple stroller in the last picture? It looks like it’d be a great one. Thanks!
That’s Emotion by Babyhome, a VERY lightweight thin framed stroller.
do you like it, it looks nice, Im looking for something like that. Beautiful pictures, I love the new years one the best. so awesome.
Maybe next year, I’ll have some amazing images to showcase! Not AS GOOD as yours, but definitely better than my junky old point and shoot with a flash.
My favorite shot is the one of you and your gf’s. I love the lighting, and how alive the street looks behind you!
I’m itching to go to Disney World. I haven’t been since like 1995, as I always lived super close to Disneyland.
xoxo
What an amazing year you had! Your photos are awesome. Love the “all smile” at #3 . Uhh, your baby is so adorable. I love her. Fantastic share!
Picture 24. of Lexi is just the best! It’s first time I saw her as a little girl, not a baby. She is so beautiful!
I was surfing through this post with my 8-month old Daniel, and he was so fascinated by Lexi’s pictures :)) She’s a heart-breaker already 😀