I'm so crafty....

It's a boy!

Welcome to the world, little one. Just a few months to go...

Fall 2013

There's something for everyone at Alexis Ryan Photography! Please feel free to like or share any of these photos on your own page to spread the word.

Now through the end of 2013, any 1-hour photo session also comes with an additional free 8x10 print, when you bring the promotional poster (found on the Alexis Ryan Photography facebook page) to your session!

 

Constantine has something he'd like to say!

Fathers!

This past Sunday was Nathaniel's second Father's Day. He and Constantine both looked very handsome, so I brought the camera along to church to grab a picture before Constantine changed into something more exploration-friendly.

As Constantine is growing and his mind is developing (at a rate that is absolutely amazing to me), I'm trying to indulge his new interests within safe boundaries. He takes his little scooting-bike down to the end of the sidewalk (I walk behind him), he helps me pull weeds outside (although he's still learning that flowers aren't weeds!!), he helped me make sugar cookies the other day by pushing the different cookie cutters into the dough. He likes to help unload the dishwasher, sweep the floor, put clothing in the dryer and he tries to wipe and powder himself when I'm changing his diaper. Oh - and we're potty training, and he sits very pleasantly, as long as he has a Reader's Digest to flip through. It has to be Reader's Digest.

He also really likes to draw - so I'm doing my best to keep pens and markers out of reach when it's not time for coloring, and then let him have the freedom and space to draw when it is. I can't figure out which hand he'll use predominately. When I offer him a pencil, he takes it with either one. Maybe he'll be ambidextrous?

We're having a lot of fun this summer exploring and trying out new projects and ideas. I hope you've all been enjoying this time as well!

Changes on the Blog

There are some big changes here on the blog - I hope you enjoy them. First - new background color! Black was getting a little gloomy. I thought with Spring in full bloom, something brighter was in order.

I have also added an ABOUT page, a CONTACT page, and a link to my SmugMug photography account and Facebook page.

I hope these new changes make navigating my blog easier and more enjoyable. Please feel free to comment below with any feedback you have! Thanks!

-Alexis Ryan Photography

Free Print!

There several promotions running right now with Alexis Ryan Photography. To celebrate 100 fans on Facebook, I am giving away a free 8x10 print with your next photo session booked in 2013. To top it off, if we make 115 fans by tonight at 8:00 pm EST, I will give a free one-hour session away to the first person to comment on the following status update.

If you haven't 'liked' Alexis Ryan Photography yet, please make sure to do so! And tell your friends!

Playgrounds and Growing Up

On the first day of Spring, Nathaniel and I took our son to Rita's for his very first taste of water ice. As the cool, lemony-sweet crystals dissolved on his tongue, he looked up at us with a beaming smile. It's the little things in life. Watching the world through his eyes is such a beautiful reminder of all the things we easily take for granted. Everything is new for him. Every bus that drives by is a "Bus! Bus! Bus!!!! Bye, bus." Every dog is an "Oof, oof!" When he is sad, he wants "Mum mum mum" and when he's hungry he wants "Mur" food. It's so much fun to watch.

The weather has been just beautiful recently, so we broke out the shorts today and walked over to the playground for an adventure. At first, I tried putting him on the slide by himself and holding him as he went down, but he was a little nervous about that. So I climbed up and went down the slide with him on my lap, and he liked that. After a few times going down the slide together, he was feeling brave enough to go by himself (while I held onto him). By the end, he was getting to the bottom and giggling, going "Wowwww!"


If there's one thing I'm learning, it's that these moments really do go by so quickly. I can't believe how big he's getting and how quickly he is learning things. It seems like he's learning at least one new word a day, and even how to put words together. And the photos I have of him when he was younger are so precious to me now that he's getting big. With each new day, I look back at the memories those photos provide and cherish this incredible life that we have.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me...

And I'm feelin' good.

Spring is finally here - and with it, longer days, more sunlight (plus that extra hour we got back with daylight savings!) and the thing I've been missing most of all is on its way... warmth! Bare feet weather! How I've missed you, you'll never know! I can't wait to go on adventures with my little man and explore the world around us!

Already, I've been working on fun projects for summer - a string of paper egg-shaped bulbs to fit around white lights and hang, a gallon jug became a lantern, and right now I'm waiting for two bowls made out of Trader Joe's grocery bags to dry! At the thrift store the other day, I picked up two saloon doors for $5. I'm going to grow herbs in coffee cans and hang them from the doors. These little projects are a lot of fun and great ways to reuse things creatively.

Annual Wedding Promo!

Now through the end of March, I am offering a 15% percent discount on all wedding packages. Same great service, even more affordable price. Call or email today to book!

Introducing, SeaGlass spa products!

This has been my fun little project the past few weeks. Spa products have been something I've enjoyed making for a long time and I've entertained the thought of doing it more seriously. SeaGlass is my first real step into that world.

Everything about SeaGlass is custom made. I designed the logo and the labels, researched recipes and used some of my favorites, but made them my own. Almost all of the ingredients are organic or all-natural and the jars were ordered from a small local business in Seattle.

As a stay-at-home mom, I know as well as most how few moments some of us have in a day to just relax and enjoy some 'me' time. A few minutes in the morning to treat your face to something sweet (literally and figuratively!) makes all the difference.

Cocoa Honey Face Mask

9 oz. $18

Order SeaGlass Cocoa Honey Face Mask for $18!

Sea Salt Honey & Facial Scrub

4 oz. $16

Order SeaGlass Sea Salt & Honey Facial Scrub for $16!

Eucalyptus Mekong Flower Rice Toner

4 oz. $14

Order SeaGlass Eucalyptus Mekong Flower Rice Toner for $14!

Or take home the complete set for $45.

Visit SeaGlassSpa.blogspot.com or email SeaGlassSpaProducts@gmail.com for more information.

Prices do not include shipping and handling. Please allow 2-3 weeks for product to arrive.

All is calm. All is bright.

With Christmas right around the corner, I am officially in holiday song mode. I know, the radio has been playing Frosty the Snowman since Thanksgiving, but I try to tune it out as much as possible until these last few days.

See, I really like Christmas music. So much of it is so absolutely beautiful, or lively, or fun, and I really enjoy singing along to all the old classics. But too much of any good thing eventually wears on you. So I wait. And now, with Christmas less than a week away, I'm excited to be dancing around the kitchen with my son in my arms, singing along to The Most Wonderful Time of the Year while the yummy smell of baking chocolate chip cookies fills the air.

For Nathaniel and I, the excitement of Christmas now has so much to do with watching our son experience everything. And I enjoy all of the family, the time spent together, the gifts, truly - I do. But I am most looking forward to Christmas morning at our church, where the beauty of this day shines through the commercialism and cuts to the simple, sweet message underneath it all.

Your Nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shone to the world the Light of wisdom!
For by it, those who worshipped the stars,
Were taught by a Star to adore You,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know You, the Orient from on High.
O Lord, glory to You!

Christmas angels

Christmas is a time for joy and celebration, but for a lot of people, Christmas is a very difficult season. For a few friends in particular, these past few weeks have been a struggle to get through. For others, these days remind them of people who aren't here to celebrate anymore, and no matter how much time goes by, you never stop missing them.

At Christmastime, I miss my great-grandmother more than ever. The festive lights always remind me of how we used to drive around and rate houses together, always deciding that although we loved the decked-out gaudy one for its daring, we like the simple white lights best. These should be happy memories, and mostly they are, but I can't recall them without feeling the aching longing for her to be here again and to relive those moments. I'm grateful to have been as close with her as I was, she was an incredible woman.

My beautiful little man is always smiling, laughing, finding something new to explore. His new curiosities are the stuff of professional comic relief and he's recently started giving me kisses - wet, open mouth, protruding tongue kisses on the cheek - and there is nothing in the world that compares with the love that they make me feel for him. He is my Christmas angel. He reminds me of all the beautiful good in this world. Amidst chaos, uncertainty, fear, loss, there is this boy playing in the tub and smiling up at me as though everything is ok. And as strange as it may sound, that gives me hope.

The ones we love.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Here's to the ones we love. Please remember to be thankful for the people in your life. Maybe it's hokey, but I don't think it can hurt to have a day dedicated to remembering all that we can be thankful for. Hopefully, we're remembering more than just once a year!!!

A very long year.

Happy Birthday, Nathaniel!

Today, my husband is 24 years old. Amazing to think that we've known each other roughly two decades, now. Time flies.

I'm so grateful to have this wonderful man as my husband - he's my best friend and I love him more than I can say.

Happy Birthday, babe!!

Here we are, we're still here.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

--- Psalm 43:5

I remembered this verse a few days ago. It was good timing.

This is one of the last photos I took before we moved from the farm. This boy is my sunshine.

Ready for Spring.

The irony of these shorter days is that they seem twice as long to me. Every autumn, I find myself wishing I could curl up and hibernate until the spring comes again. I'm missing long, warm days with grass between my toes and sunshine on my face.

Shooting a wedding the first weekend in October was fantastic. Seeing bright, glowing faces, happiness, love, joy, it was wonderful. Every wedding I photograph reminds me of the day my best friend became my husband.

Saying my goodbyes to summer.

 September is always a bittersweet time of year for me. The sunsets are beautiful, the days are still warm but the nights require sweaters. But lurking around the corner is always winter, and I wish that I could hold it off just a little while longer.

We have found a house.

Baby if that's moving up than I'm...

 The past two weeks have been bittersweet for us as we prepare to leave our little stone cottage on the farm. Although in the past year we haven't taken as many photos as you might expect, we've been making a point to capture as many moments as we can since we found out that we are moving.

It is a sad thing for us, feeling as though the expectation of an honest relationship between landlord and tenant is far more difficult to find than it ought to be. We are being wrongfully evicted after we discovered that for the past year, we have been paying for our neighbor's water.

This isn't legal - eviction as a means of retaliation, particularly where a tenant has tried to resolve an issue with utilities, is specifically prohibited in the Landlord Tenant Act of 1951. However, the stress and discomfort of living just a few hundred feet away from people who wouldn't think twice about doing this to a young family with a baby is enough for us to know that we're not welcome here anymore and deplete our desire to stay.

We have had a good year. It was our dream home when we found it and I know that some day we will find another dream home. Right now, we are not sure where we're going. We had hoped to buy a house, but that isn't feasible and we're having a hard time finding an apartment in our price range. It is heartbreaking to leave this beautiful farm in search of the cheapest apartment we can find. We will likely be moving back into a city - something we had hoped to be done with. But throughout all of this, we believe that God knows the plans He has in store for us. Plans to prosper and not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.