WINTER BOOKING SPECIAL!

wulp...it's snowing here in salt lake...AGAIN. i mostly love it, though. feels like hero and i are living inside a snow globe.

in honor of this wonderful winter weather, we are offering a very special discount to all utah brides getting married in either february or march!

ALL WEDDINGS BOOKED DURING FEB OR MARCH WILL RECEIVE 20% OFF ANY WEDDING PACKAGE! 

email kellyartsfilms@gmail.com to reserve your date and rake in hundreds of dollars of savings! tell your engaged friends!

xoxo

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fancy eats, part II

a few nights ago, we decided to have an impromptu family adventure. we got all bundled up and went to trader joe's. with a limit of $15, we walked up and down each aisle and picked out whatever treats we wanted. the grand total was $14.83. not bad, eh? and actually, a surprisingly fun little activity to do together!

but let's talk about the food discoveries.

WHEAT THINS + GOAT CHEESE + PEPPER JELLY 

i have, single-handedly, consumed more of this than i'd ever care to admit and i'll prob have some more today. it's the perfect snack to eat while watching parenthood on netflix.

also. trader joe's cookie butter. WHY was the rest of the world keeping this secret from us?! we're obsessed. slather it on some triscuits and it's sweet/salty heaven.

7 months

yes, i realize that between the last two posts, we've seen a whoooole lot of pictures of this kid. i'm ok with it if you are. :)

at 7 months:

getting her to stay still long enough for me to take these pictures is increasingly difficult.

her hair is starting to grow more and more!

she loves sleeping on her tummy, face straight down into the mattress. can you see the red marks on her forehead and cheeks? that's post-nap face.

she is so excited to crawl and can get pretty frustrated with the whole process.

loves touching buttons of all kinds.

can say "hi, dadda" and is such a chatty kathy. sometimes she'll just lay in her crib and talk to herself for hours at a time.

eating baby food is one of her favorite pastimes. she'll laugh to herself as soon as i put on the bib and then in between bites.

loves spending time with her friends and cousins!

>>>

where did my tiny baby go!? love this chub-a-lub!

hero's photo shoot with heather pickett photography

letme start off by telling you a little story.

chas and i are not the biggest fans of baby photography*- especially infant photography. naked babies on top of stacked up vintage suitcases? in a treasure chest? wearing pearls?! like, WHY is this happening?! the whole infant photography situation was very confusing to us.

so we had decided early on that we would pass on getting infant pictures of hero done professionally. besides, we had a decent camera and would be able to take plenty of good pictures of our own baby, on our own time, in our own way, and it would all work out just fine, right? WRONG.

the first month of hero's life was a whirlwind- especially for me. i was too busy curled up in the fetal position, crying to even think about trying to get a few decent photographs of my baby. so, long story short, what we have of the first few months of hero's life is mainly instagrams. cute instagrams, but iphone pics, nonetheless. we didn't even snap a single picture with our DSLR at the hospital!

this, my friends, has been probably the biggest regret i've had as a parent. hero was such a BEAUTIFUL baby and now, i would give anything to have some professional pictures of her when she was so new and tiny.

live, and learn, and...hire a professional!

>>>

now. this is where the story gets better.

let me tell you about heather pickett photography.

heather, just as a person, is so kind, generous, and down to earth. she specializes in newborn photography and is completely professional but approachable at the same time. as a parent, all you have to do is bring her your child and then relax on her couch in her in-house studio. she does all the work. when chas and i were filming this little promo for her, i loved being able to watch, first-hand, how heather works. everything is very calm and gentle. no stress, no fuss.

and the PHOTOS! i check up on her blog often because i love seeing her new work and reminding myself that there will be another baby in our lives at some point, and another chance to have heather take his/her pictures. in the meantime, it warms my cold infant-photo-hater-heart to know that there is someone like heather who always keeps her infant photography very organic, natural, and simple. yes, yes, yes!

>>>

chas and i were counting down the days until hero could sit up on her own so we could go and have heather take her pictures. better late than never, right!?

this weekend, i went to see the final, edited photos. and, let me tell you, tears. in. my. eyes. something about seeing such beautiful photography of my baby...i was overwhelmed with pride and gratitude for this little person in my life. and her little chub face in that owl hat? it KILLS me and chas. we couldn't be happier with how her pictures turned out and will definitely be taking sam&chas baby #2 as a newborn to heather!

>>>

*if you happen to love infant photography of all kinds, that's wonderful! we hope you don't take offense at what is only our own, insignificant opinion and personal taste. bottom line- newborns are darling, no matter what. :) 

prodigy

about a week ago, we were changing her dipe and, out of nowhere, she says, "hi, dada." she then went on to say it again and again. a full sentence, people.
she's 7 months old.

hero may not be crawling yet but we've got a talker!

fancy eats

the last few days, we've had some huge success in the trying-new-recipe department! it's made every meal and snack a total joy (i may need to get out more).

First, we have the egg, arugula, and prosciutto sandwich. I got the inspiration from this recipe and then just made it simple and, therefore, better. :)

EGG, ARUGULA, AND PROSCIUTTO SANDWICH 

toast a slice of bread. 
pile high with fresh baby arugula. 
next comes two slices of prosciutto (cold).
top with an egg, cooked how you like. 
sprinkle salt and pepper.
drizzle with olive oil. 

ok. this little sandwich is a total game changer. it's so easy to make and i feel like i'm at a fancy restaurant whenever i eat it (every day). plus, it's a delicious way to get a good dose of greens.
try it, you'll be obsessed, too.

>>>

we've also made an amazing pasta recipe and discovered some wonderful little snacky treats! stay tuned!

the blizzard

blizzard in review: 

thursday: it started snowing.

friday: chas got to stay home from work because of the snow and because he's been working insanely long hours for the past 10 days.
we had friends over for thai food and games. (p.s. one of the best things about having a kid is NOT having to give up your baby-less friends!)

still snowing, btw.

saturday: poor chas shoveled the driveway for probably the fourth and fifth time. but don't worry, our car still got stuck once while coming out of the driveway and within seconds a good samaritan had pulled over and helped to dig us out. (don't you just love knowing that there are good, decent people out there!?)

it stops snowing and we both feel a little sad inside about it.

sunday: church gets cancelled because of the over 2ft of snow, poor road conditions, and massive snow drifts. we spend the day sleeping in, snugging, and baking pistachio cupcakes in our jammies.

in the evening, we had dinner with my family and, when i'm finished with this post, i'll probably go eat another cupcake and take a hot bath.

>>>

there's nothing quite like a huge utah blizzard. there's something about it that just makes my heart glow with happiness. i stand by our kitchen window and can't stop staring out at the world, everything dipped in white, cold frosting. and i love how everything looks like it has a big russian snow hat! our garbage cans, lamp posts, and fences. everything gets a hat that keeps growing by the minute. and don't even get me started on the icicles lining every roof.

so all that PLUS an extra day with chas and cancelled church!?

yup. we were definitely sad to see the snow stop falling.

my parent's new house

 

my parents moved to highland, ut about 18 months ago. to truly understand how amazing this remodel is, i wish you could have seen what the house looked liked before the extreme makeover. just know that it was pretty plain jane and unappealing.

my mom is the most incredible interior designer and totally worked her magic on this house! everything feels so clean, open, and fresh. i think my favorite part is the huge family art wall filled with original artworks done by my grandmas, dad, sister, and me!

this project is still technically in progress- the house's exterior and a new, separate 2 bedroom apartment (which used to be a garage) are near completion.

i'm so proud of both my parents for all their hard work on such a huge undertaking. i know my mom is really satisfied with the results- as she should be!

joy

today, my little sister, rosie, was over at my house. i was helping her edit together some wedding video footage she shot for a friend. she was being the cutest aunt and taking such good care of hero so i could work on the video. we finished the film, she was packing up to leave, and i was making a bottle in the kitchen for hero.

then she asked me, "is it hard sometimes?" 

i knew exactly what she meant but i still asked, "what do you mean?" 

she smiled a little, then i smiled a little and said, "you mean, is it hard staying here at home all day, every day?"

she nodded. 

"yes. yes, it is," i told her. "sometimes it is hard." 

and you know what's funny? we always want what we don't have. every season in our life is "hard sometimes" in its own way. 

being newly divorced and single was hard sometimes. 

being an art therapist was hard sometimes. 

being a college professor was hard sometimes. 

not being a mother was hard sometimes. 

being pregnant was hard sometimes. 

being a mom is hard sometimes. 

and, yes, staying at home all day is hard sometimes. 

being a stay-at-home mom is a totally different pace and lifestyle than anything else i've ever done in life. before hero, i was always working- usually more than one job. now my job is here, at home, taking care of my baby. this new job brings me unimaginable joy and, honestly, so did teaching college and working as an art therapist. the joy and satisfaction gained through all three roles- mom, teacher, therapist- is each a different and unique kind of joy but still each very real and important to me.

the key, for me, has been to try and focus on the type of joy i have NOW and resist yearning for types of joy i've had in the past. 

so right now, today, i'm choosing to love the joy of spending the day in yoga pants, talking all day to the sweetest baby alive, and ending the day with mint-painted nails and a hot bubble bath soak. 

THIS is the joy of my life now. 

i'm famous!

i posted this picture of my baby self just before hero was born.
then a friend of mine, whose wife reads my blog, stumbled upon this amazing gem of a meme on pinterest this morning and sent me the link.

ok. there are few things that make this situation super amazing:

1. everyone thinks it's a baby boy. (probably because i kinda did look like a boy)
2. it has almost 140,000 likes on facebook.
3. i'm in my very own meme and my life is now complete.

hahahaha. i seriously can't get over the crazy-ness of it all!

so whoever took this picture from my blog and made this meme, please stand up. you deserve a trophy.