Lately...

Just a random sampling of photos from my phone. That's about all we have time for these days...life is BUSY.

I had an awesome but tiring wedding on Saturday. I don't know what it was, but it beat me down more than usual. I was so-ore. So Sunday evening, we decided to go on a last minute date night to see The Avengers. We were also celebrating Adam finishing his masters classes for this semester. Hooray! We went to the downtown theater where you can order food right at your seat, and we gorged ourselves since we never go to the movies anymore. Pizza, popcorn, and Dr Pepper were my choices. Yummm. But it's been bread and water ever since. Junk food always sounds good at the time...but then makes you feel like a cow afterward. Ha. :)

Sutton still really likes his jumper. Not sure how much longer it'll be safe, but he can keep enjoying it for now. He likes to have all his blankies tucked in around him. If and when they fall out from all his flailing, he's figured out how to pick them up with his feet. Such a smartie.

All you moms with iPhones out there have surely done the trick where you turn the camera around so your baby can watch himself. Well, we were doing that one day and Sutton took this photo of him and me. Budding photographer? :)

I don't like to post bath photos normally, but thought this one was pretty cute and "safe." You see that crazy red hair? We get comments from strangers on it every day!

Sutton is very sensitive to the sun, so we're always having him wear his sunglasses. If he sees me put mine on, he says "Mommy glasses, baby glasses?" Only not that clear. :) On this afternoon, he wanted to wear Mommy's glasses.

We recently gave baby boy his summer haircut. If I haven't mentioned it before, he's a SWEATY baby. I've never met someone that sweats so much. And his mop of hair was always getting soaked and curly. So we took the clippers to it. Above is the before, below is the after.

It's a little too short for my taste (although it looks cute in this particular photo), but I'm sure he feels much better. You may have also noticed his little friend in the background. Yoda is his new buddy. They have all kinds of adventures together. Sutton even likes to put him "Nigh night" by laying him down and giving him his blankies. He often puts him in his high chair and tries to feed him too.

Sometimes he gets to come along on outdoor adventures. Such as playing in the birdbath.

And Diesel's thriving as the only Dreher Dog. He's come out of his shell and is more like his puppy-self. He doesn't always shut himself off in our bedroom anymore, he likes to come hang out with us now, and he'll play fetch outside. I've been taking him with us in the car more often, and he always comes out with me to my studio while I work. Definitely reaffirms the decision we made with Sadie.

In other news, wedding season is in full swing. I'm a busy lady, working til the wee hours most nights to edit photos. It's easy to get burnt out in my line of work since it's all evenings and weekends and cuts into my family time like nobody's business. But I'm enjoying it lately...trying to stay positive and realize how lucky I am to have such a great job that provides for my family. Life is good! God has blessed us.

Rachael & Matt's Belly Photos

I arrived in Kansas City on Thursday afternoon, after a crazy/hectic morning (to say the least). Adam's mom Janet came with me so she could spend the weekend with a friend up there, and we timed the 3-hour drive during Sutton's nap time, so everything went great. I needed the break of mindless driving after my ridiculous morning.

That evening, we went and took belly photos with Rachael and Matt around West Bottoms and in Loose Park. Taking their photos at Loose Park has become a bit of a tradition for us...which I love because it's beautiful! This is where Matt proposed to Rachael, and I took their engagement photos and wedding photos here. I'm sure we'll take some of little Baby Clark here sometime soon too!

Big thanks to Rachael's sister Shelby who entertained Sutton with ducks and sticks while I was busy snapping away. The parents-to-be had planned on taking us to The Cheesecake Factory as a thank you afterwards, but it was past Sutton's bedtime by the time we were done, so we quickly grabbed some Panera and headed back to the house.

To see the full blog post of their photo session, click here!


(So technically, this should be titled Kansas City Pt. I, the Sutton photos should've been Kansas City Pt. II, and the shower was Kansas City Pt. III. Lest anyone sit around waiting for more Kansas City posts...there won't be any.) :)

Rachael's Baby Shower

Rachael's baby shower on Saturday was awesome! I helped plan it along with Rachael's two sisters Amanda and Shelby, as well as Matt's three sisters Kristen, Leslie, and Emilee. We all had our own ideas/projects that we worked on separately, and then we came together Friday night to put it all together...it turned out beautifully! The photo above was our main table layout.

The signs and cupcakes were made by the talented Amanda. The yarn balls and scrapbook boxes were Leslie's baby.

Can you believe those silver silverware are plastic? Neither could I! Perfect for a shower. We had all the guests self-address a Thank You card envelope when they first got there so Rachael wouldn't have to dig up everybody's addresses later on.

Shelby organized the headband-making craft, and we laid out this pretty table with all the supplies and instructions.

The chalkboard was my idea, but then my father-in-law Ed totally put it together for me. Thanks Ed! I chose out a verse to go on in, and Amanda used her mad skills to write it. Another sign made by Amanda on the right.

Leslie made all the decorations on the left, and we used Rachael's recipe for Luscious Slush Punch (it really was luscious). The make-your-own fruit pizza bar was a hit!

Decorations around the gift-opening area.

And one more photo of the table once it was complete.

Rachael got to the shower and we took a photo on the front porch with her mom Sandy, Aunt Dory, and Grandma Lois. She LOVED our decorations. Rachael is the craftiest person ever, so we felt a ton of pressure in planning a shower for her. But by putting six heads together, I think we pulled it off.

The first thing we did when everyone got there was eat. All the food was amazing. Then we gathered everyone together and had them all write a little note to Baby Girl that Leslie is going to make a scrapbook out of.

Then we began our fun headband making craft. Shelby had researched how to make fabric flowers, so she taught us all. I'm NOT crafty, so I had to have proof that I could make a cute flower...that's mine on the right. :)

Next, we spent about 2 hours opening gifts (literally...Rachael has so many people who love her and her baby!), then we finished off by gathering around Rachael and praying for her baby, delivery, and transition to a family of three. We were able to get photos of Rachael with most of the guests before they headed out.

Top left: Great-Grandma Lois, Grandma Sandy, Mama Rachael, Great-Aunt Dory
Top right: Aunt Leslie, Aunt Emilee, Rachael, Aunt Kristen
Bottom left: Aunt Amanda, Rachael, Aunt Shelby
Bottom right: All the hostesses...Shelby, Emilee, Leslie, Amanda, Rachael, me, Kristen

Such a great day honoring such a beautiful lady and her baby daughter. Next up...meeting this little girl!

Kansas City Pt. I

You like that fake smile he's already got going on? I think it's super cute! This is what he does when you ask him to smile.

But there's a more genuine face. So handsome.

This weekend, Sutton and I went to Kansas City to celebrate my BFF Rachael's baby. She's due in June right around Sutton's 2nd birthday (what?!), and I planned a baby shower along with Rachael's two sisters and her hubby Matt's three sisters. It was AH-mazing. I took lots of photos that I'll be sure to share.

I also took some maternity photos for Rachael and Matt. You can see a sneak peek on my photo blog by clicking here.

We also took some indoor bare belly shots, and since the light was so gorgeous in Rachael's house, I had to pose Sutton for a few photos of his own. (Hint hint: Rachael...take all your photos of baby girl by this window.)

I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for this amazing friendship I have with Rachael. We were talking this weekend about how different our conversations are now from when we first became friends. Back in college we talked about our boyfriends and tests...now we talk about babies and finances. Ha! Love it! Love the road our friendship has taken. And now...she's about to have her sweet baby girl. I can't believe it!

So now that you've seen photos of my sweet baby boy, I hope to get the rest of the photos from my time in KC up in a timely manner!

Farewell, Sadie Girl

Yesterday, Adam and I made the tough decision to find Sadie another home.

We'd been discussing this on and off since we got her 10 months ago, so while it wasn't a decision that was "out of the blue," it was hard nonetheless. And I feel like a horrible person for giving up my puppydog. But we found her an amazing home with some people who don't live far away and said we could visit whenever we wanted because Adam told them how hard this was for us.

I'm sure you're wondering why we gave her up. Sadie had a lot of great qualities, and she was a really good dog. But.

We don't think she was as happy as she could've been. She is the type of dog that has a lot of energy and needed space to run and play. She needed more attention than we've been able to give her with our busy lives...needed to be taken on walks and cuddled with constantly.

In the past few weeks, she'd taken to digging through our trash and getting up on the counters and grabbing food while we were gone. It wasn't ALL her fault...she had too much excess energy that we couldn't help her expend. We started having to lock her and Diesel in our bedroom when we left. Then she started destroying my shoes and her bed. So then we started having to put her outside any time we left.

But that meant we had to put Diesel outside too, and Diesel is NOT an outside dog. I felt bad for him. He'd given up a lot after we got her. She was constantly challenging him for the dominant role, and since she was bigger, that would often turn to aggression and she would pin him to the ground. It's a miracle he never got really hurt.

We found ourselves being angry with her more often than we were happy or appreciative of her. We found that Sutton was picking up on that, and he would get frustrated and angry with her for being too close to him, or knocking him over, or trying to steal his food. That's not something we wanted Sutton to be learning.

I miss her already. It's so easy to think of all the bad things when she's under foot and going crazy. But now that she's gone, all I can remember are the good things, and I'm definitely feeling a huge loss right now.

Sadie was the best cuddler EVER. She was always by my side (which I often found annoying, but it was also pretty endearing), and always wanted to lay on my lap. Not an easy task for an 80 lb dog. Every morning when Adam would get out of bed, she'd immediately jump up there and snuggle under the covers right next to me. I'm going to miss that warm body.

Any time I was home alone, she was always my protector, always made me feel safe. I knew she'd scare off anyone or anything so I never had to worry...her bark was pretty loud and scary. But when it came down to it, she was a softie and became best friends with anyone who came over.

She had this way of nosing her way into the tiniest spaces that she shouldn't have fit in. I'd be stretched out on our loveseat, and she'd find a way to curl up in between my legs. Not always the most comfortable, but sweet regardless. She was the most loyal and loving dog I've ever had.

She had an exuberance for life that I couldn't understand. Her joy when we returned home from being gone for awhile was ridiculous. She also had this way of swinging her butt around while she was sitting next to us on the couch that was hilarious. She'd hoard all the tennis balls in the yard and not let anyone near them.

After I got the call from Adam yesterday afternoon saying he'd found her a home, I cried. Then I took her in the backyard for one more photo shoot as my way of saying goodbye. As you've seen, I got some photos of her with Diesel, with Sutton, and all alone.

We said goodbye last night, and Adam took her to her new home. She has a huge backyard to run around in, and the people were SO excited to be getting her. They said she'd be an inside dog (which is good because that's what she's used to) and that she'd get lots of attention. They'd been wanting a dog just like her for a long time but hadn't been able to afford one since purebred Dobermans can be expensive. Adam said she was totally at home running around their backyard, and went into their house without hesitation as he got in his car to leave. He explained all her quirks to them, so hopefully she'd be able to continue her life she'd become accustomed to seamlessly in her new home.

When we first got Sadie, she was timid and very calm. We're not 100% sure what happened to her in her life before she came to live with us, but we like to think we brought her out of her shell so she could let the real Sadie shine through. It seems like she'll be able to do that at her new home too.

Sutton gave her a hug and said "Bye bye Sadie."

Me and my girl, the best I could get with a squirmy puppy. We'll miss you Sadie girl, but we know you'll be so much happier in your new home!

Sutton {22 Months}

Happy 22 months baby boy! I feel like your growing (as far as age goes) has slowed a bit, but maybe it's because I've been telling people that you're almost 2, which makes 22 months sound not that old.

Sutton, at 22 months:

*We've been down to one solid nap for awhile now. It's nice to have that routine. You used to have a rough napping schedule, but now it's pretty much the same every day. You go down around noon for sure, and then you usually get up around 3pm.

*Your vocabulary is skyrocketing. Your favorite phrase right now is "Go away!" You say it to Sadie all the time, but also when I'm changing your diaper and you don't want me to be holding you down, you'll say it. A new word - "heavy" (you like to try picking things up and then tell us when they're too heavy), is probably my favorite. You also learned "owie" when you get hurt, and "big" when things are big. You always have to tell us when you see something big. Mostly cars. Every time we drive somewhere, you're on repeat in the back seat: "BIG car! Big car!" You like big rocks and big sticks too.

 This photo shows your newest party trick. We ask you to smile and you give us the cheesiest grin.

*You're always talking now, and some of the babbling is starting to make more sense. You get stuck on words or phrases and say them OVER and OVER. Like when we take KyAnn home on Tuesdays (KyAnn comes to watch you Tuesday mornings so I can get some work done), you say "Ky home? Ky bye bye" the entire ride home.

*You like to say "Bye bye Y" as we leave the YMCA in the mornings, but you really enjoy going there and they say you're finally coming out of your shell and talking there. Erin is your favorite lady there, and you say her name sometimes on the way to the Y.

*You weigh 29 pounds, which is a little bigger than average for your age. You still wear size 4 diapers and size 5 at night. You're wearing 18 month - 2T size clothes. We need to go shopping for you because a lot of your clothes are too small!

*You love being outside and playing with sticks and in water. You point out all the "puppy poo" when you're walking around our yard.

*You're feeding yourself for the most part now. You use your left hand when you eat with a spoon, but you use your right when you color or draw. Weird.

*Your memory is crazy. You had some mosquito bites on your head this week, and you kept telling me "bite" at random times and pointing to your head. And it's not as if you know what that means or saw them in the mirror or something.

*You peed in the potty for the first time yesterday. It was super exciting. I think I'm going to try setting you on the potty each morning before your morning BM to get you used to that. We'll see if anything comes of that. I realize it's still kinda early for intense potty training, so we'll just go with the flow.

*Every morning when you wake up you say "Mommy. Mommy!" I still love that. Except when you wake up at 6am. I don't love that. We're in the process of trying to get you to sleep in a little longer (and it's going alright) because if you wake up that early, you end up needing two naps instead of one.

*You're in the phase of life where if Mommy kisses your ouchie and says "All better," then you're good to go. Love it.

*You like sleeping...you go down so easily for naps. One day this week, we were watching Diego on my bed to get you to wind down for your nap. We'd watched about 10 minutes and then suddenly you said "Bye bye Diego" and you were ready to get in your crib for your nap. So cute.

*You experienced your first tornado warning. I was shooting a wedding, so I didn't get to be with you during it, which was really hard. But Daddy got you up from bed and you huddled together with the puppies underneath the stairs in our basement, watching the radar. Luckily the tornado didn't go through our area.

*You love saying "Cheese!" for the camera.

*You're definitely starting to be more possessive now, and you don't like sharing. At the park the other day, you got upset when another kid got in a swing you'd previously been using. Ah well, we'll work on the sharing.

*You're such a funny little kid. You make up weird sounds and faces all the time...we're always laughing. You have this thing you run around the house yelling - "Dabby-abby!" and we have no idea what it means or where it came from, and you think it's so funny.

*You still like to cuddle. I love cuddling with you. You always have to have your two blankies, and you'll lay on our chest with your head on the blankies. You're so wiggly though, you never lay still.

*For naps, you still use your pacifier and the two blankies. If we go somewhere early in the morning, those three things have to go with us as well. We haven't started phasing out the pacifier yet...not sure when we'll do that.

*You've developed this habit of hitting yourself in the face (hard!) if the sun is in your eyes. It's really frustrating! So we always have to make sure we have your sunglasses or else we're doomed.

*You still love to dance and jump. I love the spontaneous dancing. We have dance parties a lot. And I love that I can still put you in your jumper when I want to take a shower. Works out nicely.

You're such a joy in our lives, and even though we're getting closer and closer to the terrible twos, I love your little personality and I can't imagine life without you!