Annika Overload

Brad has officially been home from Iraq for a week and a day. He has had reintegration in the morning, but afternoons he has been free to spend with us. On Thursday was the big welcome home ceremony and mini-carnival with free food and little rides. Annika yawned through the ultra-slow merry-go-round and looked slightly panicked when Brad took her on the bumper cars. Block leave started on Friday, but we don't really have any big plans. We just want to be home together, and Brad wants to get to know his daughter. They are great pals already. Annika loves being outside and lately she just stands at our front door waving "bye-bye" and hitting the door to let us know she wants to get out. So, we do. We jabbered at the monkeys at the zoo, we explored a forest, we picked daisies in a field, and we go to the park almost everyday. Now that there are two of us home, I can take pictures while Brad plays with Anni. I am loving it! Here are just a few shots of our overly photographed little girl.

She just ran and ran down this little dirt road as fast as she could go.

I love her pursed lips and concentrated face. She is a girl with her own ideas these days.

Brad (aka Mr. Amazing) took this picture of Annika the other day when we were exploring one of the forests around Baumholder. It captures her perfectly -- finding something new and exciting, and then wanting to share.

This last one I took when Annika and I visited Rothenburg in May with my Mom. I was playing with some new textures and opened up this picture to try them out. My brown-eyed girl.

That finishes up your Annika fix for the day. Hope you enjoyed it!

A Break from the Rain

I am sitting at my computer now while the rain pours down outside. We spent the last two days in Rothenburg where it rained, and we drove home in the pouring rain, and it is still coming down. Don't get me wrong, I  do kind of enjoy the rain, and we had a great time in Rothenburg, but I am really feeling the need for some sunshine. So,  I am posting some sunny photos. 

On Saturday Annika hung out with her Oma all day while I competed in Baumholder's Iron Spouse Challenge. We had a great time, enjoyed a little bit of sunshine, and took second place! After the awards ceremony I decided Annika needed some time to play in the sun too, and so we stopped by a park for a little bit. Despite the bad weather, it is spring, and dandelions are everywhere. Annika loves picking flowers, and she loves trying to blow the dandelion seeds and watching them float away. She also tried to eat an entire dandelion head of seeds, but she didn't enjoy it very much. In fact, she choked and gagged on it and I had to try to fish them all out of her mouth. 

Still, she's getting the hang of it and as we watched all the seeds blow into the sun, it felt like summer might be on its way. 

Baby in Bruges

It's been a long time, I know. But, I've been busy and I'll be posting a lot soon to make up for it.

My Mom flew in last Tuesday for a much-appreciated visit and she brought with her our new Canon 5D Mark II. My Mom is also a photographer and we have been having lots of fun playing with the new camera and trying to take pictures of a very uncooperative Annika. Oh, but when we do get a picture, it is good!

We took a trip to Bruges where we started a very cool photo project I will post about later. We also ate lots of chocolate and waffles, took a boat ride, walked lots and lots, and played with Annika in the parks. I love Bruges and could go back again and again.

I haven't had much editing time, and so these pictures haven't even been opened in photoshop. They've been proofed in Camera RAW, but other than that, these are pretty much straight out of the camera (and a good example of of my awesome new 5D!) Also, since I didn't open them in photoshop, I didn't resize them right, so they are a little smaller than usual. Better small than nothing, right?

Teething + Photoshoot = Bad

The date had been on my calendar for two weeks. Britteny cleared her calendar so that she could go with me and keep Annika happy. I picked out four different outfits, I deliberated on the perfect location, and I charged my camera batteries. I was going to do a full-blown photoshoot and get some really good one-year pictures of Annika. The only thing missing was a happy and cooperative baby. By about 9:00 in the morning I knew it wasn't going to be good. She had cried all morning and she had only been up for half an hour before she was rubbing her eyes. She slept most of the day and cried a good majority of the time she was awake. The poor girl was finally cutting her top front teeth, but she had chosen the worst day to do it. I decided to haul her out anyway, to see if I could get at least a few pictures before rain replaced our beautiful weather. This is what happens when you try to take a tired, cranky, teething baby out for pictures:

Poor, poor Annika. I did actually manage to get a couple of good pictures. Here is one of my favorites. I love that she is trying to give me the flower that she picked. She probably ate it after I took the picture. She loves eating flowers.

Luckily Lexi tagged along with Britteny and let me take this picture after Annika had completely melted down.

So, if any of you book a session and the day of the pictures your child decides to cut teeth, or get sick, or wake up all night long and completely falls apart, then just know that I understand how you feel and I would be happy to reschedule.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

I've been waiting for months and months to be able to take pictures of my little girl and her Daddy. Annika loves having her Dad home, and I love seeing them together. 

Scary Santa

The weekend after Thanksgiving, as family tradition dictates, we went hunting for our Christmas tree. When we arrived at the tree farm Christmas carols were playing, people were drinking hot cider, and in the distance I could see a Santa Claus happily greeting tree hunters. I figured this would be a great time to introduce Annika to Santa Claus. As I started to hand Annika over, I realized that this may not have been the best first Santa experience. This Santa was scary! He was friendly enough, but he had a scraggly beard, crooked, yellow teeth, and really bad breath. Annika was apprehensive at first, but after she really checked him out (and got a whiff of that breath) she was sure that she DID NOT like Santa Claus. I really can't blame her. I was a little afraid of him myself.

Bubble Bath

Annika had her first bubble bath tonight -- who knew that eating bubbles could be so enjoyable?