First Family Photo Shoot

Just after Claire turned 3 months old we had our first family photos taken by Pamela Quigley while we were visiting family and friends in St. Louis. We met early in the morning at Bee Tree Park on a hot day, heavy with humidity, but Pamela's photos look so light and airy that you would never know it.

I felt like we were totally on the same page in terms of styling the shoot, and style in general. I bought this fun picnic blanket from Land of Nod for our picnic theme and we also brought some special touches, like my late grandmother's picnic basket and the vintage letterpress blocks I bought for Claire just after she was born.

Check out all of the photos here, but I have posted some of my favorites in this post.

We are so happy with our photos and if you are in the St. Louis area, I highly recommend Pamela for any of your future photo shoots.

Strawberry Fields

On Memorial Day we started a new tradition with our new little family: Strawberry Picking!

We were in St. Louis for the weekend, so we invited the grandmas and our friends to join us for a morning of picking berries at Eckert's in Belleville, IL.

Growing up I had been to Eckert's to pick apples, but never strawberries so we were excited to see what was in store for us.

The grandmas both got to work right away in the fields:

Claire was blissfully unaware that there was any strawberry picking taking place, but she did sport a strawberry print romper for the occasion:





Then we showed her the crop (apparently, she was not as impressed as we were with her perfect strawberry):



It really was a gorgeous day.









And our friend's daughter, Little Miss O, made sure to sample the goods:



Our pickings. We walked away with 5.75 lbs of berries from which we made strawberry pie, strawberry jam and strawberry mojitos:



Claire was very excited to be creating these family memories:





I think we'll make this an annual event.



We are looking forward to apple picking this fall, too, expecially since Claire will be a little older. Last year we went apple picking in Wisconsin at Apple Holler Orchard since it is quite a bit closer to home, but perhaps we'll trek back to Eckert's this time around. Oh and I already ordered her an outfit for the occasion...these adorable apple dungarees from Boden:

How cute are these?

Here's to many more fruitful family outings :-)

To everything there is a season...

Although the reason that I was home in St. Louis this weekend was a somber one, I was uplifted by a few things such as reminiscing with family, sorting through old photos and by the most beautiful trees that were in full bloom there.

Particularly gorgeous were the Flowering Dogwood (the Missouri state tree), and also the Bradford Pear trees. These photos were taken from my phone through the car window, but I still think they are just gorgeous.

Being that we had snow flurries in Chicago today, I'm really longing for those spring blooms, the sunshine and the warm spring breeze, but I know it will come soon.

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under the sun.

A time to be born and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to reap;

a time to kill and a time to heal ...

a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance ...

We'll miss you Grandpa

This morning my grandfather passed away. If there is a silver lining here, it's that he did not suffer which is perfect since he lived such a vibrant life.

He is a World War II Veteran, retired from Anheuser-Busch and retired AGAIN from my uncle's company just a few months ago. He loved Budweiser second only to his family... in fact, he taught me how to hold my beer without ever dropping it (pinky finger under the bottle of course). He lived 90 long years, was married for 67 years (wow, can you imagine!) and left behind an amazing legacy and a large, beautiful family.

Please keep my grandmother and my entire family in your thoughts & prayers.

Cutest Birthday Gift Ever

Ok, it's still one hour until my birthday, but I already received a fabulous gift from my new niece and nephew (well, really I guess my sister-in-law & brother-in-law are to thank unless these kids are SUPER high-tech). It's on YouTube, check it out.

I love them!