i heart faces - 'Pet Week'

Another theme over at iheartfaces that I could not resist entering...Pets! I am a huge animal LOVER and this here is my sweet baby doll, Roxy! She doesn't look too 'sweet' in this picture...rather, she looks more like Swamp Thing but I simply love this picture of her. Playing fetch and swimming in the pond...that's what she loves to do!If you're an animal lover as well, make sure to head over to iheartfaces to see all of the other adorable critters this week!

Belly Business

Recently I had the honor of doing a maternity shoot for my absolutely B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L friend Stacie and, with her permission, I am sharing a few of my favorite shots with you.
I do not have a studio, nor do I have any lighting {someday...I just have to have a little patience} but I am very pleased with how these photos turned out. I guess it goes to show you can't take a bad picture when you have such a flawless subject ;)
The photos were actually taken in the nursery that the babe in her belly will be calling home in a few short weeks.
Hopefully it is hard to tell, but we fashioned a make-shift back drop with a piece of black fabric and a furry white piece of fabric I picked up at JoAnn Fabric (I've used the fuzzy white one before here with baby Garrett.)
And we also used a piece of stretchy white fabric to get the profile shot above.
I think these two are my favorites (above and below).
But it is so hard to choose because she is so gorgeous and her belly is so very perfect!
What I wouldn't give to have looked this cute when I was pregnant!
And, looking back I wish I had some better belly shots of myself, rather than the ones I took using the timer on my point-n-shoot. Shoulda, woulda, coulda...right?!
Regardless, I am so happy that Stacie let me capture the beauty of her baby belly and that she is so kindly allowing me to share her beauty with all of you.
Can't wait to meet that little babe inside and finally know if it will be a little Mike or a little Stacie!!!

i heart faces - 'Self Portrait'

I've been outa the game for a while but when I saw iheartfaces theme this week I knew I had a picture ready to enter so I figured what the heck! Make sure to head over to iheartfaces by clicking on the link below to check out all of the other self portraits!

Tootie cuteness and a random update...

I'm not exactly sure why but I have been is such a blogging funk lately. I am sure you could tell from the lack of posts. Duh! But in the spirit of trying to be a good blogger, I thought I would share a few pictures of the cutest little girl I know.I do have to confess that in being such a blogging slacker, I have enjoyed a little down time. Some times it is sooooooo nice to just sit on the couch, after everyone has gone to bed, and simply veg out!
Yes, my name is Carrie and I am a couch potato!
Okay, not really. I am usually too busy to even sit down to eat dinner, but when I do find the time to just sit and enjoy a show or movie without the interruption of a child who needs some milk or a snack or without multi-tasking on my blog, facebook and editing pictures, I am in hog heaven!!!
Thus my affinity for Hulu.com I'll be the first to admit that my guilty pleasure is to sit up late (sometimes even with a glass of wine) and catch up on episodes of Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Cougar Town and Castle. If you haven't ever watched Cougar Town it is a MUST. I was a Friends super-fan back in the day, so I gave Cougar Town a chance, when it first came out, since it stars Courtney Cox. Sooooo worth it! I love their quirky humor and inside jokes!!!
Enough about me and my lazy ways! On a positive note, I have also been working much harder on 'me'... eating (a little better and a little less), working out more and attempting to take some time for myself. So far I have lost 5 lbs but I would still like to lose another 10. Wish me luck over the Thanksgiving break because starting tomorrow we have a long weekend filled with family, friends, our anniversary, a 40th birthday party and well...lots of FOOD!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

The Bird Hunter

I'm pretty sure that this post won't come across as funny as Grant has been lately about hunting but I'll give it a try...
This all goes back to the end of Oct when the hubs came back from Elk Hunting in Colorado. Their group didn't end up getting any Elk and when Grant found out that they didn't bring home any meat, he decided to take it upon himself to put a little meat in the freezer by way of trapping birds. YES, you heard me right. Trapping birds.
I have always loved to feed the birds. It makes me think of my Grandma Barb because she always had the most beautiful birds at her feeder. I guess Grant figured the birds would be an easy target since they were right outside the window. After he told me his master plan, my comment to him was, 'I sure hope you catch one of those Blue Jays so we at least get some breast meat." (Notice that there actually is a Blue Jay on the ground by the trap in the picture below :)
The part that makes me giggle the most is that he bugged his Dad for 2 days to help him set a trap. He even drew pictures of what the trap was going to look like and how it would work. Finally, Duke broke down and helped him set a live trap with bread in it for bait. The first 4 days the trap was set, it rained. But Grant checked that trap religiously. Once the rain had stopped, we took a good look at the trap and to every one's dismay, the camouflage on top of the trap had been knocked off and the bread somehow disappeared but the trap empty.
His next attempt at baiting was to put bird seed in the bird trap. Sounds logical. Until the very next morning when much of the seed was gone and still nothing in the trap. I kinda figured that we may end up with a squirrel in the trap but nada!
The cat, on the other hand has been doing a stellar job of thinning the flock. Don't get me wrong, I love having a cat, but I hate that when I feed the birds it is more like baiting them for her! See her 'hiding' behind the tree above and below.
She's pretty sneaky, isn't she! I keep telling her if she ever gets one of this she's in BIG trouble! You see, we love our Cardinals around here as they are always a sign that a Grandma who has passed is watching over us.
The snow has begun to fall in MN so I have a feeling that bird trapping season will be coming to an end soon, but until then, wish my little man much luck!

i heart faces - 'Silhouette'

This week's theme over at i heart faces is 'Silhouette' and it just so happens that last week, prior to winter's sudden onset, I took the kids to the park and captured some super cute silhouette shots. This one is my favorite one because it looks so serene with the little sun flare in the background but all the while, little mister was yelling at me to stop taking his picture so I could help him on the monkey bars! Good thing it is a silhouette shot or you would probably see a great big scowl on his face :)Make sure to head over to iheartfaces.com by clicking on the button below to check out all off the other super cool silhouettes!

Sleeping Beauty

Call me strange, but I LOVE it when I have the chance to capture my children sleeping, especially in unusual places!
These pics were from a couple of weekends ago and, if you can't already tell from the massive amount of toys and babies on the floor in the background, it was a day filled with play. Lots of play!
It was past nap time and when the time came that she could no longer stay awake, Little Miss Moo folded up her 'brown blankie' and fell fast asleep.
Maybe I like taking photos when the kids are sleeping because it reminds me of when they were babies. Or maybe I just love how peaceful they look as they are asleep and dreaming.
Okay. lets be honest...I also love that I get a couple of minutes of peace and quiet!!! Nap time is a Mama's blessing :)

p.s. Wishing a very Happy 18th Birthday, to my niece, Austin! If you ever read this I hope you have a fabulous Birthday!

Prepare for Photo Overload: Halloween Style!

Time to prepare for photo overload cause this one has LOTS and lots of pictures form Halloween. I couldn't help myself, they all turned out so cute!
In case you can't tell, Grant was a Storm Trooper (with a gun because "Storm Troopers have guns, not light sabers, Mom!") and Audrey was a Rock Star!
Grant changed what he wanted to be like 5 times but once Audrey set her mind to being a Rock Star, there was no turning back!
80's headband, leg warmers, tattoos, leopard print mic, hot pink tiger striped guitar, PINK hair and all!
And, YES, that is her REAL hair! Sprayed PINK, of course!
After two bath's it is STILL kinda pink! She likes it, but I am thinking I am going to have to try to strip it out before Monday because I want to bring the kids in for pics at J.C. Pennys. It's been 2 years since anyone but me has taken their pics so I think it is time.
Here are their beautifully painted pumpkins!
The kids sure had fun dressing up this year, and I had a blast watching their excitement and anticipation.
They surely got their use of their costumes - Grant had 3 occasions to dress up for and Audrey had 4! Let's just say that between Audrey's b-day, school/daycare/friend parties and Trick-or-Treating, it was a BUSY weekend!Halloween Day was such beautiful weather. We even got outside for some pics before heading out to Trick-or-Treat AND the kids were hamming it up for once!
Not a whole lot else for updates around here so I'll just let you enjoy the rest of the pictures without interruption.
{Hey, there's Trixie the kitty!}
{Photo taken by Grant}{Photo taken by Audrey}
Our first stop Trick-or-Treating was to our good friends the Krumrei's. Aren't their costume's awesome!!!
Julie was even nice enough to take a few of me and the kiddos. Since I rarely make an appearance in pictures with my children, you are going to have to suffer through all 3 of them!
And last but not least...this one is my fav! I think she looks like a little fairy or a pink pixie!
Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!