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?

Avery

Brad's brother Jeff and his wife Tammy are taking a much needed trip alone to London this week, and so Annika is getting some good cousin bonding time with 9 month old Avery. Anni can be so sweet sometimes, crouching down and chatting with Avery in a high-pitched baby voice. But other times she is not so sweet, like when she hits Avery on the head or steals her binkie and toys. I think she is getting better though, and someday all the practice will make her a good big sister.

I love Annika's big brown eyes, but sometimes I wish that she could have eyes like Avery's. Look at those beautiful baby blues!

Hey Mickey!

I really need to start bringing Annika with me on my photo shoots! She keeps missing out on the most adorable little boys! Shauna invited me to tag along on another photo shoot with her this week. She is an amazing photographer, and I was grateful for another opportunity to pick her brain and watch her work. Mickey was a little shy at first (who can blame him, with two big cameras right in his face?), but he warmed up eventually and I even got to see his million-dollar smile. I think he could have picked grass and thrown it all day, and I would have been content to just sit and watch him do it. This is why I love what I do!

Look! They're Big!

It has taken me forever, but check it out! I am figuring out how to put pictures up so that they are BIG!

I seriously had a really good time taking pictures with Shauna last week. We had some great models that were very patient as I tried to figure out some new ways of focusing and shooting. So, thanks again, Edgar! I hope that the trip to Barcelona was fantastic!

And could this guy get any cuter? He was busy doing some serious exploring and did not want the lady with the camera to get in his way. He had work to do! I wish Annika had been there; I think they would have really hit it off. I've seen this look coming from her quite a few times.

Birthday and BIZ CLASS

Today's my birthday and I am now 24 years old! I am closing in on a quarter of a century! I am leaving like right now to go hang out with my wonderful friends, but I wanted to post a couple of my favorite pictures from my CRASHcourse with Shauna the other day. I had an awesome time -- not only is Shauna a blast to hang out with, but I learned a ton about photography and business and making it all work. Plus, we had some great models!

So, Erica Holland Photography is here for real! Get ready for some awesome deals and a lot of great photography. I am really going to work on updating this blog much more often, so keep checking back. If nothing else, I should have lots of pictures of Annika to post, and she is a good lookin' kid!

Baby Blues

I really should be patient and just wait until I have more pictures edited to post, but I just loved these pictures and wanted Monica to be able to see them. I babysat Ryan today (if you can even call it that) and we took a few pictures while we were playing. Annika is so much happier when she has a friend around; Monica was really just doing me a favor by letting us hang out with Ryan. More to come later!

Ryan's One!

Ryan turned one in February, but we were not with her in Arizona to celebrate. Lucky for us, they are back in Germany now and we can party all the time! Annika is certainly happy to have her friend back and they both get very excited to see each other. The weather has finally been nice the last couple of days and so we headed out to get some one year pictures. I love seeing Ryan standing -- she is getting to be such a big girl! 

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. 

Beautiful Bella

It is easy to take pictures with a subject as cute as this one! Isabella was wide awake almost the whole time, but considering how pretty her eyes are, it is probably a good thing. I don't remember Annika ever being so alert at that age -- Bella just kept looking around with those big beautiful eyes, checking everything out. Annika was Isabella's age when Brad left; it was crazy to see how much she has changed since then. Brad will be home for R&R in less than two weeks and will have the chance to get to know his daughter again. We can't wait! 

. . . and just for a little color . . . 

Introducing Isabella

. . .  more pictures to come! 

Bubble Bath

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