Christmas Morning

If we're friends on Facebook or Instagram, you'll already know that I've had my baby! And not on Christmas!! But before we get into that, I want to post these photos of our very chill Christmas morning. It was our first Christmas in Arizona -we usually go home to New Mexico for Christmas. My mom was visiting to help prepare before and after baby boy arrived, but I didn't include her photos here because she had foam curlers in her hair the night before and was rocking a little fro, haha! So I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me sharing those photos. But she was there with us! And made Christmas dinner- pesto chicken, pasta, garlic bread, and salad. Nothing traditional. Very low key. It was nice. 

Gwen liked her presents but was kind of confused as to why she was getting them. We haven't introduced the idea of Santa, yet.... and I'm not 100% sure that we ever will? I'll give it more thought for later this year when she's three and is more aware of things like that. But Ryan is completely OK with not doing Santa. 

Of course she loved the chocolate in her stocking! And Toy Story's 2 & 3 from my mom. It was so nice that I didn't go in to labor this day! It was actually a huge relief. I'm glad we could spoil Gwen a little bit in her last couple of days of being an only child. Having a newborn around has been a little rough on her, but she's slowly warming up to him.

I'll be back soon with my birth story!! 

Little Red and Granny Wolf

I was pretty excited when I realized I would have a baby bump during Halloween! I really wanted to utilize the bump in this year's costume, and I think this idea worked pretty well...? Can you tell why? The bump is supposed to be my "belly full of grandma." Not sure if anyone made that correlation at our church party on Saturday, but whatever! My costume was a little hard to place if Gwen wasn't right next to me. A friend thought I was an old cat lady, which would've been pretty clever!  

My husband didn't make it into these photos, because we do things last minute over here. The sun was quickly setting, and he didn't have his (very easy) costume put together. Plus, he's the one who took all these photos! He dressed as the Woodsman who saves Little Red- he was basically dressed as a lumberjack. I'll include an Instagram photo at the end of the post :) 

I was stressing a little over Gwen's costume because I wasn't sure if I wanted to make a red cape (I haven't sewn anything in years, so the thought made me a little nervous), or order one online (I was afraid it wouldn't arrive in time). I tried looking in a couple of thrift stores and Halloween stores for a toddler sized cape but had no such luck. I had given up on this costume and had decided to just dress Gwen in her skeleton PJs for Halloween. Then I went shopping at Target and was surprised to find this red hoodie thing in clearance!! It was a Target miracle. I bought the basket for $1 at Savers. The rest of Gwen's costume are items already from her closet. 

The only thing I had to buy for my costume was the black face paint. Luckily, my sister was a wolf last year for Halloween, so I just asked her to send me her ears! I made the granny glasses from an old pair of sunglasses, gold paint (that I already had), a necklace, and a couple of Gwen's elastic hair ties. 

I'm so excited to see what we'll come up with next year once we're a family of four! I already have a couple of ideas in the works....

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt / What A Day (@bevhoupt) on Oct 29, 2016 at 10:36pm PDT

Happy Halloween! Have fun trick-or-treating!

Easter Egg Hunt

We planned a little Easter egg hunt for Gwen before church on Sunday. We hid the eggs in plain sight and she loved it, just as I suspected. When she'd find a new egg, she would quickly open it to see what treat/toy/sticker was inside. Her first egg had a Cadbury chocolate egg inside, which I gladly helped her eat. It was just the cutest thing to watch her walking around our little "front yard" with her basket. I debated on whether to take a video or just photos. I'm glad I took these photos, but a little sad that I didn't take a video! I feel like sometimes you can catch emotions much better with a video, and it would have been neat to capture her calling the eggs "eggies", bending down to pick up the eggs, opening them immediately after finding each one, and all that cute stuff. Alas, I'll just have to keep those memories to myself, locked up in my brain. 

He is Risen

This is my favorite Bible video. Imagine how amazing it would be to be Mary in that moment. She's speechless! I mean, who knew how she actually reacted all those years ago, but I'm betting that she was probably speechless.
Christ's resurrection sure is something to celebrate. We had fun celebrating Easter with Gwen this year. She had her first egg hunt! It was the cutest. I'll post the photos soon. How did you celebrate Easter? I'd really love to know. 

Easter is My Favorite

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I decided Easter is my favorite holiday. In the past, my favorite holiday may have been Christmas. While I still love Christmas and the story of Jesus's birth a whole lot, Easter just seems to have a different spirit. It's also wonderful that Easter is in the spring- a time for renewal. I often feel at peace on Easter. The story of Jesus coming back to life three days after His death is miraculous, a true miracle, and it always gives my testimony of Jesus Christ a boost. My heart is full. 

To find out more about Christ's life, click  HERE.  

My Valentines

Above photos by Photography Hill, edits by me. 

It's fun when Valentine's Day lands on a Sunday because then the whole weekend feels like Valentine's Day. I think I've mentioned before how I love Valentine's Day. I think the whole month should be pink and red. Instead, people have moved on to St. Patrick's Day, which is my least favorite holiday. Boo. But it's fine because not too long afterward, there's Easter! Which may be my favorite holiday. 

Ryan and I went on our Valentine's date on Saturday. We ate at an Asian seafood buffet (sushiiiiii) and went to the roller rink afterward! Rollerblading together brought back memories of when we first started dating. We both worked at Sonic as carhops and that's where we actually started talking. Before Ryan was hired, we were just a couple of acquaintances at church. It was so much fun. Except for the part where I ran into the wall and fell. Ha! I kinda forgot how to stop. But I made a speedy recovery and the rest of the night was definitely worth that embarrassing fall. 

Sunday was alright. I loved seeing everyone's Valentine themed outfits at church. I haven't mentioned this on the blog yet, but Gwen has been going to Nursery at church! The nursery is for babies 18 months to 3 years, and Gwen is only 17 months, but they kindly accepted her to join! Ryan and I are both teaching a Primary class and she has been a big distraction to all the kids there, so having her in Nursery is a life saver. It's so fun to see her interact with the other babies. When walking past the room I can't help but to look through the little window in the door to see what she's up to. 

After church, Gwen was in need of a nap, as per usual. She was hungry and cranky, but I really wanted to take some photos with her. I tried to get Ryan to help me, but he was getting frustrated with Gwen. (He needed a nap too LOL.) Her tights were all wonky so he was trying to fix them for the photos. No luck. We argued for a bit and then I didn't feel like taking photos anymore after the whole ordeal. I took off my shoes, undid my hair, and stormed off to the kitchen to angrily wash the dishes. I heard the door open and close while I had the water running. I looked out the window to see Ryan with my camera around his neck, carrying Gwen. He was taking her photos for me! It was the sweetest little gesture. Here are the results-

When he came back inside we just smiled at each other, hugged, and said our "sorries."
Ryan, you my 5-ever Valentine, boo. 

Valentine's Inspired Outfits

I've done it! With the help of my friend Lydia I've created an outfit video. It's not so much an outfit video as it is a cute little video of Gwen and me hanging out. Anyway, please let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more videos like this! I'd like to make more videos, but I need a little reassurance that it's something that people would even be interested in watching. Thanks! And happy Valentine's Day!

Snow Day

Soooooooo. I mentioned that I would be making a video about our Christmas...but that did not happen because I didn't take out my DSLR once on Christmas. I was too busy enjoying family time and hanging out in my pajamas for most of the day.

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt (@bevhoupt) on Dec 25, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt (@bevhoupt) on Dec 25, 2015 at 11:18pm PST

I don't regret that I didn't take a video of Christmas day because I made sure to make a video the day after when it snowed! Snow is a pretty big deal in southern New Mexico, so it was such a treat. It happens maybe once every year/every other year, so everyone makes sure to go sledding or build a snowman. It's real cute.

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt (@bevhoupt) on Dec 27, 2015 at 9:45pm PST

As you can tell in the video, Gwen is a true Arizonan and doesn't care for snow. It was kind of a bummer, but she has plenty of time to change her mind.

Christmas Lights

A couple of weeks ago we went to see the Christmas light display at the Mesa temple. Ryan didn't think that Gwen would enjoy it/understand it, but boy I'm glad that he was wrong! She sat atop his shoulders nearly the entire visit and she kept squealing in delight. She was making such a commotion that Ryan kept asking me if she was okay.
Ryan: "She sounds like she's really upset! Are you sure she's okay?"
Me: "Yes!! She's smiling!"
I didn't get any of that in this video, unfortunately, because Ryan wanted to keep moving along in the large crowds. Next time I plan to have us walk through once to enjoy every aspect of the display and then walk through again to make a cuter video. Ah, the life of a blogger.....
This video isn't the greatest (hello, I'm not even in it (jk jk)), but I'm glad I took the time to make it.

Christmas Greetings

It's here! It's finally here! We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
I hope you are able to spoil the people you love with gifts (literal or figurative), food, hugs, and most importantly, your time. Eat lots of food together and pump up the Christmas music while you're still "allowed to." I know my husband must be sick of all the holiday music I've been playing recently. I may not post again until after the new year, so I'll be seeing ya! I'm hoping to film a lot tomorrow, so you can look forward to that video. Happy Holidays! 

Tiny Little Baby

I was showing Gwen this tiny nativity the other day and explaining who the people are in it. I'm 99% sure that she didn't understand a word of it, but it made me feel good to talk about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. It made me really happy to share the story with her, but it also made me feel kind of sad because I realized then that I should be teaching her things like this every chance I can get. I haven't made any cool traditions with Gwen simply because she won't comprehend or remember those things yet. This time next year I hope to incorporate Christmas stories, songs, and scriptures in our countdown to Christmas. 

What fun and/or religious traditions do you have for Christmas time? I'd really love to know! 

Happy (insert holiday here)!

Happy holidays, everybody! Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year, and it's partly because I can convince my husband to take family photos. (Ha!) He's not one to willingly pose for a picture, but since Gwen was born he's been more accepting of having his photo taken if it's with her. It's ridiculously adorable how big a fan he is of Gwen. We have an unspoken Gwen fan club and our meetings include looking through old photos of her on our phones after she's gone to bed. 

We made a "photo session swap" with a couple of friends of ours- they took these photos, and I took their maternity photos the same day. We then swapped SD cards so we can edit our own photos. Such a sweet deal! Being a photographer is kind of tough when it comes to completely trusting someone else to take and edit your portraits. Whitni and Brandon did a great job of taking our photos, and I know they would have been great at editing them too, but it's much more fun to do it myself. Plus, we didn't have to wait to receive our photos after someone else was finished editing them. If you're a photographer, I highly recommend this idea! 

I hope you're enjoying this holiday season. Happy gift giving! Happy baking!

All photos taken by The Taylor Image, but edited by me.