Botanical Gardens of Huntsville

Dog Days of Winter

The Huntsville Botanical Gardens is having their annual dog days of winter.  We love taking the pup and walking the trails with him.  This weekend they hosted supply drive for a local non profit group of therapy dogs.  We brought in some toys for the therapy dogs and got to walk the gardens for free.  It was a little chilly, but we still had lots of fun.

Downtown Madison

I had a few newborn photo shoots to do this week, and this little lady was my assistant.  She played peek-a-boo with the babies, made them laugh and coo, and even got to hold a real live baby when we were done taking pictures.  She's such a little mama.  She has now named each of her dolls after the babies in the photo shoots and even found clothes for her dolls that match the clothes in the pictures.  Slightly obsessive, but still precious I think. Here are a few pictures of her because she gets a little jealous if my camera isn't pointed toward her.  She looks so grown up. She is grown up. (Sigh.)

Mooresville Alabama

Big Foot

We just bought Drew a new pair of shoes, and somewhere in between the Nike & the Converse isles I shed a few tears.  I kept it from breaking out into the ugly cry, but I just couldn't hold it all in.  For the first time, I bought my little boy a pair of shoes the same size as my own.  (Sniffle, sniffle.)  I was unprepared for the event.  He told me his shoes hurt his feet, but I thought he just didn't like his shoes anymore.  He goes through fashion phases quickly and what he thinks is cool one week is so little-kid the next week, so I might have, just maybe ignored him for a little bit.  He walked in wearing a size three, and strutted out wearing a size five and a huge grin.  (Ok, maybe I ignored him a little too long, but I'm choosing to believe that he had a massive growth spurt last night)  My little boy is no longer a little boy.  I knew it would happen.  I love that it's happening.  I love watching him grow and learn and change, but does it have to happen so quickly?  I just feel like I need to stop time for a moment so I can catch up.  This is the part of parenting that I never imagined... every joy falling in the shadow of the heartbreak of knowing you can never reclaim those moments.  Today, staring at a wall of orange shoe boxes and my kiddo's wiggly toes... today held a little moment that I will always remember.

Ok I'll admit it....I'm a photographer

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” 
  Confucius

I know, we've all heard the quote from our dear friend Confucius.  I've heard it a million times, chuckled, and gone about my merry way.  I LOVE being a mom, but it still feels like work.  I LOVE running, but it's still work.  My conclusion: Confucius doesn't know what he's talking about. Maybe this whole time I've been misunderstanding him though... flip flopping his words around in my head each time I read it.  It's not just do things you like and you won't ever feel like you're working.  Instead maybe it's find an actual occupation you love and you'll never feel like you have to go to work.  So, I'm stepping out on a limb.  I'm climbing out of my comfortable, private, reclusive shell, and I'm going to take a hobby that I love and try to make a little money doing it.  It's probably pretty apparent from the old blog that I'm photo obsessed.  My hubby also bought me an AMAZING camera and even upgraded my lens for Christmas, and I've done several little photo shoots here and there already.  So this must be the perfect time to give it a go, right?

So, here's the info if you're interested.
aglounerphotography.com
facebook.com/aglounerphotography
or email me at amandaglouner@gmail.com if you want to schedule a time to have my camera in your face :)