out with the old

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Deran and I have certainly enjoyed our time with family, gobs of food, and being off work! This will be a picture-less post because the past week has largely been spent cuddling with the dogs on the couch in our pajamas watching movies. While the pugs are very cute, I don't feel like posting photo after photo of me in various stages of lazy.

2008 has been good to us. It's been filled with new family members, new friends, new hobbies, and new opportunities. It's like a new year, only it was the past year...am I making any sense? The year also presented it's share of tragedies, but even then we should celebrate because of the great families we share and good health we've been blessed with.

I had a birthday recently, my 27th, and every year I declare it to be the Year of Amy. I spent a quiet evening at home with Deran and because I wasn't in the mood for cake he just held up candles and sang Happy Birthday. He's the best, and though I can't be certain, I really do think my 27th year will be the Year of Amy! Not that 28 and beyond won't be fabulous, but 27 is going to shake things up in a big way...I can just feel it!!

I'll be back tomorrow with real pictures from a real photographic session! Happy New Year's Eve!

waiting

I found myself with an hour to spare between sessions recently so I decided to check out a couple of the local antique shops. I rarely make any purchases, but it's always fun to walk through and imagine when the items were used and in what capacity.


My Pawpaw had an old rotary dial phone just like the one pictured. I think he was possibly the last person to switch to a touch-tone phone, and even then that yellow phone stayed hanging on the wall in his kitchen!

Only a few days until Christmas and I have a brother-sister session in the morning. It's going to be COLD so hopefully we'll spend some time indoors around the Christmas tree!!

My father-in-law turns 52 tomorrow, Happy Birthday Eve K! We'll see you guys at dinner tomorrow night!

new

I had the opportunity to photograph a one month old and Baby C is so sweet. It's evident that his parents are so completely in love with their new baby boy.

It was kind of cold outside so we took lots of pictures indoors and C spent some time on the couch.



Thanks B and K for letting me come over and see your sweet boy. I hope you enjoy your pictures!

santa baby

My sister brought over my adorable niece, sweet baby A, earlier this week. It's a little late in the season, but she wanted to try and get a few pictures for Christmas cards. A was in a great mood and smiled through three outfit changes!

Isn't her Christmas dress beautiful? It's hard to believe she's already 5 months old! She even made it happily through a diaper change.


She's the cutest Santa I've seen! Sister, I hope you find the right one for your cards. I love you and your baby girl.

delayed

This family has waited for a long time to see their pictures. I did get their Christmas cards done early, but they've yet to receive the rest of the photos! I love this family not only because they're related, but the parents are our best couple and we love the babies to bits!


I have been busy busy busy the past few weeks taking pictures, working, visiting with family, and just living life. I plan to have all sessions finished by Saturday so I can truly enjoy the Christmas break. This brings me to the next item on my list. My website launch has been postponed. It was originally supposed to launch today, and it's thisclose to being ready...but thisclose is not finished, so it will be in the next two weeks. I'll be sure to finally send out an update when it's all done!

Thanks M for always being so patient about receiving your pictures! We love you guys!

a word from the mr. & mrs.

snowy snapshots

What a fantastic yesterday! It was a real snowstorm, and I may be over exaggerating, but it NEVER snows here--not like it did last night. EVER.

Excuse the flash, but I had to capture some flakes. This was the view from the side of my driveway around 8:30 p.m.


I was so giddy and this next picture is so blurry, I mean with the blizzard and all, but my sweet mom took this picture of me holding my monster snowball. Shortly after my hands fell off from frostbite. Luckily, my mom's a nurse.


This morning was beautiful...and very cold! Deran's truck was a little full. And the next shot is looking down the street this morning. How amazing was our sunrise?! It has been such a beautiful day!



I still had to go to work and teach some kids how to use technology. I was sad because I know many of my students have never seen snow and would've loved to play for a couple of hours...actually many did. Lots of kids absent in my classes! My view from the parking lot:


Oops! Somebody left a bike yesterday.


I'll post some cute family pictures tomorrow, but today I've still got snow on the brain!

b is for boat people

The B Family recently purchased a boat and thought it would be fun to take pictures for their Christmas cards aboard. It was a neat idea, and definitely a learning experience for me. It was about 4:00 and the sun fell directly on their boat. It was so bright!


Deran actually works with the lovely K, and she was so nice! Little Miss K was a trooper, she was getting hungry but was able to get through an hour of pictures. Thanks Miss K for the sweet card!

I really enjoyed seeing the new boat, B Family. I hope your cards turn out great!

the memorable m family

The M Family members were real troopers. We started pretty early on Saturday morning and it was cold! Fortunately I like to make family members get reallyreallyclose to each other so I'm sure they stayed warm!


How cute are these two?! No worries, a daddy and an uncle had a very strong grip on them from behind.


I'm lucky enough to count this sweet girl's mom as my first cousin, so you'll be seeing plenty of her on the blog. And really, could you ever get tired of three year old girls in pink furry coats? I think not.


This brother was so into cheesy poses! I swear, I really had to work to make him look normal! Just kidding, he thought I was pretty lame. It's okay though, I like many of his images the most.


Thanks M Family, I enjoyed our time on Saturday and I hope you all enjoy your photos!

sessions

I had three today. While I do have lots of pictures to share, I won't be posting any tonight. The last session was on a boat. The lighting situation was...difficult, but I think their Christmas cards will be cute.

I'm tired so pictures will have to come tomorrow!

o christmas tree

We put our tree up last Friday and it makes me happy. Last year I didn't get it out, but this year I'm loving the holiday season and just walking in the door and seeing my tree makes me very happy.


We added bows this year, something we've never done before. And when I say "we," I mean "me"...and my Aunt Wanda who was staying through Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks for the help Aunt Wanda! Deran is still undecided about the bows. I love every last stripe!


I know it's hard to tell in these pictures, but we have many many ornaments dedicated to "Our First Christmas" as well as several pug ornaments. It's like we're stuck in 2004 and we're obsessed with our dog breed. It makes for a lovely tree.

Speaking of our first Christmas, our good friend Kristen sent us a sweet ornament.


Oh 2004! How I miss you and my single chin! Anyway, we originally received this:


Finzels--I hope you received another first year ornament because we kept yours. Don't worry, those people are not the Finzels, they're paid Pottery Barn models. The Finzels: Keeping us merry since 2004.

lots of this

In all fairness, he did tell me that the sun was in his eyes. It's just that it started out as such a dreary day and ended up so beautiful!


This little cousin and his mom met me this afternoon for a quick session in a field I pass nearly every afternoon. Mr. L was so cute and he is all boy! In between carrying the chair for himself and pulling rubber balls out of his pockets, he managed to clear some of the field of its photolicious weeds. And yes, I am making up words now.


Thanks cousins for meeting me today! I can't wait to shoot the three of you!

silly baby

She really is. She giggles when you talk to her in the craziest voice and she's always bouncing around. She is also very loved.


We spent some time with my husband's youngest brother and his little family earlier this week. While her twin brother was napping, my sweet sister-in-law and I got K in her Christmas pajamas for a few shots in front of their tree. It's a beautiful tree but I think the cute baby in front of it is even better!

p is for portrait

I had the opportunity to photograph the P Family over the weekend. They were so much fun and up for anything!


Baby B is adorable and his sweet face is featured on my blog header this month. I've known his parents for a long time and it was nice to visit again.


Thanks P Family for letting me spend time with you on Saturday. I hope you enjoy your pictures!


I want to send a shout out to Ms. Britney Spears, today's her birthday y'all!

a blog is born

Amy Schilling Photography is now in business...sorta! The new site will launch on December 16th. There is much left to be done, but you can check the blog for updates!

My MOO MiniCards are super cute!