Haircuts and a High School reunion

I guess I haven't had any crazy Ava stories lately so I haven't blogged much about our family. Maddie Kate is doing well so far in 1st grade and learning how to read. She has her first official spelling test today, and she knew how to spell the words on Monday, so it's wonderful that we haven't had to study them hard or anything. She has had homework everyday this week though, and that is something I guess we are going to have to get used to! Maddie Kate and I went to Jamie's on Tuesday and had our hair cut, and we decided to try out bangs on Maddie Kate, something she has never had before. Here is a pic of us with our new do's! (I know, I don't look different!)
I had the opportunity to take some photos at Mt. Vernon High School's Class of 1997 Reunion (which was the class right after me, so I knew a lot of the people there) earlier this month. Here are a few photos of the classmates that showed up for the big night!
This last one was cute, so I wanted to share it. In their Senior yearbook, these 6 were the "Class Couples" and this is the pose they did for their picture back in high school! So they wanted to re-enact it. I thought it was sweet that they were all married now with kids!

For any of you 1997 Reunion people who might read this: I will email you the links for the pictures very soon! Thank you!

Another Fabulous Senior! : )

I finished another senior today, so I thought I'd put up a few pics for her to enjoy while she waits on her proof book! I had so much fun with this session, and learned so much! This is Paige, and she was totally wonderful to work with. She knew how to pose and is adorable, so that made things easy for me! They had some friends who had a pond with a dock, so we got a lot of unique shots there, and I always love new locations! As you will see, I had a very hard time choosing favorites, so there are LOTS of pictures!
I LOVE laughing pictures!!!!
They warned me that this cat was going to be terrible, but he just sat there and looked at Paige and me, and acted very calm. He did a great job! I must say, this is the first time I ever took pictures of a cat!

I think this session went great! I was very pleased with the results! Paige, you are too cute!

Jessica

Senior Session

Just finished up a Senior and thought I'd leave her a little blog preview. This is Cassie, she was so sure she couldn't have her picture taken with a serious face, but I think we proved her wrong! She did great, and I think the session went very well. I am pleased with the results, and as always, here are a few of my favorites:



Thanks for a great session, and I'll call you later this week with the proof book! :)
I had a wedding this weekend, and it was so much fun! I was so tired by the time I got home though, I had been on my feet for about 10 hours, quite a big day for this pregnant girl! But I think it went pretty well, so it was worth it!

Just thought I'd tell ya...

that I spent some time updating my flash website this morning! I don't think I had changed it since early June, so it was time for some fresh pictures. I probably won't worry too much about the old dial-up site anymore, I think most people are moving to faster internet, and I like the flash site so much more! There are new pictures in all but one of the galleries I believe, so there's lots to see if you are interested!
By the way, I have managed to get through the morning without Ava doing anything terrible... so today has been a much better day! :)

Jessica

1st day of 1st grade/NO WAY AVA!/ and a Senior

This is my sister tossing Ava in the air and catching her! It was just a fun picture so I thought I'd show it to ya!

Okay, I just have to start this post with telling you that I am having to redo the entire thing because Ava was sitting on my lap and trying to type with me, and I kept telling her no. Somehow she pushed something that deleted all the typing and photos, and right after she did, blogger auto saved for me, so all was lost! If there is a way to retrieve it, I don't know what it is! So here we go again, I'm going to start all over!
I think since I'm on the subject of Ava, I will tell you what she did this morning. I thought she was watching Dora, and I realized that she wasn't even in the playroom. I go looking for her, and she was in my bathroom up on the shelves that we have next to the sink, and she is covered in blue toothpaste and black eyeliner! Also, the sink and shelf are covered in toothpaste, the toothbrush holder is full of water, and the water is still running because she said she needed to wash her hands! Well no kidding, she needed a bath to get all the toothpaste off and out of her hair!
What could possibly make you think this was a good idea? Kids are crazy!
Maddie Kate started 1st grade on Friday, well, registered for it anyway! I don't understand how I have a child in 1st grade, she was just born a few days ago, wasn't she?
I am not thrilled at having a kid old enough to be in 1st grade, but I am sort of looking forward to having a routine again! This summer has been nuts for us, maybe now we can settle down a little and I can get some work done!
Friday night was the premiere of High School Musical 2, which was a very big deal for Maddie Kate. She has been counting down the days ever since she heard there was going to be a second movie when they announced it last spring. So I let her invite some buddies over to watch it.
They were so cute, getting up to dance during the songs and going crazy! Probably partly due to the pizza, soda, cotton candy and M&M's I let them eat.... During the finale, they all got up to jump around, and we had the surround sound on pretty loud, so I couldn't really hear anything else. Then somehow, I hear someone screaming! I realize it is Ava, stuck under the footrest of the double recliner on the sectional! She was under it I guess when the girls got up to dance, and it smashed down on her just enough that she couldn't get out! She was so sad, with giant tears streaming down her face, I had to hug her a long time before she got over it! It was horrifying for her!

Time for Senior Pictures! I have several more to edit, and several more sessions coming up, so there will be lots more in the next few weeks. This is Amanda. She is in our youth group, and I feel like her session went smoothly, and we got some good shots!
I really like this one of her laughing. I love laughing pics!
If you are interested in having Senior Portraits done with me, just check my website for the sessions that I offer at www.jessicahollisphotography.com
and email me at info@jessicahollisphotography.com or call #618-625-6787. I am currently booking September and October sessions!

Jessica

Ava Strikes Again Plus Lots More....

The other day while I was getting ready, Ava walks into my bathroom with some suspicious goo all over her hands and one foot. She held her hands together, said, "Mommy, I breaked it!" and pulled her hands apart quickly. I notice the goo on her foot is yellowish, and realize it must be EGGS. So I go into the kitchen and here's what I find:
I knew it wasn't the greatest thing when she figured out how to open the fridge, but so far all she had done was get sippy cups out! Then a few nights ago, Valerie and Jennifer were babysitting while I took some Senior pictures, she escaped from them and went into my bathroom, somehow reached the hand soap, and proceeded to "wash" her hair with it! No water needed! The girls were laughing about it when I got back, and I said, "See, everyone just thinks I don't watch her good, but she can be gone and doing something insane in an instant!"

I am 14 weeks pregnant now, starting the 2nd trimester, hoping to get some energy back, and you can click HERE if you would like to read about a 14 week old baby!

I thought I would be posting a few Current River pics by now, but I still don't have the water camera pics on CD from Alisa, so I will post a few I took when we were no where near the water!! They aren't as fun maybe, but there was NO WAY my camera was getting wet!

This is the girls on the last day, all ready to head home! Can you tell which one Johnny always says is going to be the class clown?

This is my family! I am the oldest of 6 kids, and I am married with 2 kids, and one of my sister's is married, so it makes a total of 12 people so far. Starting at the left: Troy, Logan, Daddy, Ben, Mom, Tony (bro-in-law), Kimmy, Me, Johnny, Ava, Maddie Kate and Alisa. We are standing in front of the house my parents rented for all of us to stay together in. It was pretty cool!
This is Ava with my Dad. We went down to Blue Springs before we went to Lambert's and home. It's very pretty there!
Johnny took this pic of me and Maddie Kate walking to the spring. I keep telling him he has an eye for photos! :)

Last night we had the youth group over for one last get together before the college students move away to school and the other kids start back to high school/jr high. I must say, having the kids over is always fun, but I didn't feel too well last night, which made me mad. I wanted to have fun! We have 2 girls going to the Bible College in Nashville, TN plus my sister Alisa is going too, so there is going to be a huge hole in our youth group and in my friends!
This is Jennifer, Valerie, Me & Ava, Alisa, and Heather. Jenn, Val, and Alisa (we call her Sweed) are all going away to school this weekend. Heather was away last year, but is going to stay here and go to Rend Lake this year, so at least everyone isn't leaving!! :) I will miss you girls!!! I love you!
This is the crew. Several kids had already had to leave before we took the picture though!

Lastly, some JHP pictures. These are of a family that I shot a few weeks ago at their home. They have a beautiful home and a beautiful family! Actually, I used to babysit for them, and the mom was Maddie Kate's kindergarten teacher last year. Here are some of my favorites!





These kids are so sweet. When they got tired of pictures and didn't want to participate, mom and dad got them to tell me about their Disneyland trip this summer, and they perked right up!I thought they did a good job!
As promised earlier, lots of Senior pics coming soon....

Jessica

It's the middle of the night...why am I blogging?!

I think I may be getting over some of the total exhaustion, hopefully. Here it is about midnight and I am still up working! I'll probably pay for it tomorrow! :) I am 13 1/2 weeks preggo now, so that means it's the beginning of the 2nd trimester, so I should have more energy, I hope! Here's the link for a 13 week old baby, if you're interested, click HERE.
We went to Current River this weekend with my whole family (all 12 of us!) and I think I did pretty good! I managed to stay on the river with everyone all day on Friday...I was surprised at myself! I haven't downloaded those pics yet, I'll have to blog them later! Plus Alisa has a lot of good ones I think on her water camera, so we'll have to get those on a CD!
Anyway, I wanted to post a preview for one of my brides! These pictures turned out great, I am so happy with them. I have loads and loads, so I chose a few of my favorites, as usual! Here we go!
This wedding was so classy and elegant! I was so pleased to be a part of their big day! The downtown shots were so much fun to do, they had such a fun and willing wedding party! Thanks so much for letting me capture your day!

Ava's 2nd Birthday Party & An Engagement Session

Last night we had Ava's two year old birthday party, though her birthday isn't until Sunday, the 5th. She had lots of guests despite my very late invitations (I didn't mail them until Monday!) and lots of presents! We have saved a few things to give her on her birthday, though I'm sure she doesn't know the difference, we want her to have something to open on her real birthday. This is the first birthday that she actually opened her own gifts, and as far as gifts go, the theme of the day turned out to be Dora! Which was perfect since in the last week or so she has just decided that she really likes watching Dora the Explorer. She also really enjoyed her cake!
Her icing turned her face into the Grinch! After I took some pictures of her messy face I showed her one on the camera, and she started trying to rub her face with her towel! She wanted that green stuff off! I do have a little funny story about Ava I forgot to tell: A few weeks ago she was singing with the kids at church, and she had been doing a very good job participating, and the audience was laughing at her a lot. When she and the other kids got done, she started down off the stage and she said, "I think they enjoyed us!" The pastor over heard her and was laughing so hard he almost fell off the stage. I have no idea how or where she learned the proper usage of the word "enjoyed" but somehow she did! Thanks to everyone who came and helped make the day a special one for Ava and our family!

This baby cooking thing is still keeping me in a state of constant exhaustion, so if you are waiting on your wedding or session pictures, please be patient with me! I have a lot of post-production work to get done and don't feel well enough to stay up late every night and get it all finished! I refuse to do a sloppy job for the sake of hurrying it up, so if you can hang on a little longer, I promise you will get your photos, and they will not be half-hearted! Thanks to all my loyal clients! :)

Here are some engagement photos from a session I had the other day that I thoroughly enjoyed! This good-looking couple had so much fun with their session, and were totally a joy to work with!
This last one is my favorite! I'm sure I will be using it somewhere for something promotional soon. This couple is getting married at the end of August, and I am looking forward to their wedding. They were fun-loving, obviously in love, and very photogenic, all which made it very easy to take their pictures! I'll be calling you guys next week when I get the proof book!

Jessica