Happy Easter Weekend! | Julie Marie Portraits

and it was good enough to eat!

Happy Hump Day! | Julie Marie Portraits

Lot of sessions coming up....

A Perfect 1st Birthday! | Julie Marie Portraits

When I started thinking about Jakers' first birthday party, I thought Pittsburgh would be the perfect place for it.  It's 5.5 hours for us to get there, it's a 4 hour drive for my family to get there, and my husband's family is all in Pittsburgh.  So once that was decided, I started thinking of what I wanted to do for his birthday party.  I came up with an invite that was orange and turquoise, and I enlisted the help of my sister to help with the planning.  

I was a little nervous as to how Jake would react at the party, but he had the best time and was full of smiles!  He had so much fun playing with his cousins and friends and loved hearing everybody sing happy birthday to him.  It truly was everything that I hoped it would be and even better for my little guy!  Thanks to all of our family and friends for making it so special!

So, here's a little peak of his party:

My mom made the buckets - she covered them with some fabric that I found.  I made the banner across the back - just printed off some paper and cut it.

I wasn't sure how to decorate the tables that everybody would sit at, and my sister said to throw some colorful paper lanterns on the table.....great idea and super inexpensive!!

I made his party hat, but he wanted nothing to do with it.  In other words, he screamed when I put it on him!

I wanted one picture of all of my nieces and nephews, and this is what I got! :)  Everybody is looking one way or another, and Jakey didn't want to smile as you can see.  Oh well, at least I got one!
 Jakey loves his cousins, and they love him sooo much!  He's such a lucky guy to have all of them!

Some friends brought these pretzels.  How fun is that!  It was such a huge hit for the kids at the party....I am definitely going to be doing this again!

He loved his cake!  In fact, I had to take it away because I think he would have eaten the whole thing!

We caught Papa stealing a lick of frosting!

The invite is on the left, and I copied off my sister and took a picture of Jake holding a thank-you sign for his thank-you's!

• The lollipop cookies and cakepops were brought in from Toledo.  Stephanie (who made them) is AWESOME and can do anything!  Check out her facebook page to see more of her stuff! 
• Jake's t-shirt is from an etsy store called Bowdacious Baby!  It turned out just perfect!
• The cupcake party favors boxes on the right, cupcake toppers and water bottle labels were party cupcake mix party favors.  Check out their shop on etsy here.  Michelle is awesome to work with!
• Photo banner and high chair banner was made from the Etsy shop, Any Good Ideas.  She did an awesome job! 

Happy 1st Birthday! | Julie Marie Portraits

My baby boy is 1 today, and I can hardly write this post because my eyes are filling up with tears.  Is it normal to be this emotional on my little guy's 1st birthday? My friend, Jess, said yes it is...she was the same with hers, so i feel better now after I told her I had been crying every night for the past week thinking about him turning 1!

I just can't believe that 365 days have went by so quickly.  I remember my dad always saying when I was younger that time goes by faster the older we get....well, he is so true about that.  However, I would like to slow it down just a little bit if I could!

April 1st, 2010..... a day I will never forget!  Jake was born at 2:45 AM, and he was absolutely perfect.  My love for him was immediate.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him and kept thinking I can't believe he's mine.

And fast forward to today.  I still can't believe he's mine.  I sneak into his nursery usually a couple of nights each week and pick him up out of his crib just to rock him, and I can't help but think that I'm just the luckiest person in the world to have him.  He has truly blessed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined.  He's just simply the best!   And my favorite thing to say to him each night before bed....."I love you through and through...yesterday, today and tomorrow, too"!  Happy 1st Birthday, Jake Martin! 

The Jake Ottoman | Julie Marie Portraits | Delaware Children's Photographer

I wanted to show you something that I have been working on.  I'm calling it The Jake Ottoman.  It's a photo ottoman that i made for Jakey's playroom.  I am by no means a seamstress, and I sure wish I would have let my mom teach me how to sew while growing up at home...but to be honest, since she could sew, I just let her do everything, and I paid no attention.  

Anyway, I wanted to show you what I came up with!  

 By the way....I have more red ribbon to attach to the left curtain that I made, but I have yet to do it.  They had ran out of ribbon at the store, and I just picked some up...but I have yet to attach it to the left panel!

Hope you enjoy!  We are having fun pointing out who is on the ottoman.  Jake especially likes looking at Dexter on it!

Everybody's Sick

Everybody's been sick in our household.....hence the quiet blog.
Stay tuned....more to come!

Ready for Summer?

We are!  Jake's been cooped up inside for about a week now...fever followed by a rash which I've been told is contagious until it's gone.....so we'll put our sunglasses on and look out the window and wish summer would get here soon!


and oops....i just realized i forgot to take the little sticky sticker off of the sunglasses

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! | Julie Marie Portraits

Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas!  We are having a great time hanging out with family!

Jakey hanging out with his cousins!

He Met Santa | Julie Marie Portraits

He wasn't exactly thrilled, but there were no tears!

 And check out his super cute hat that I got from Heartsmiles!  People are always asking what to dress their kiddos in for their session!  Well, I LOVE, LOVE hats, and I came across this store on etsy, and had to have this hat!  Any type of hat like this always looks great for pix! Plus...lots of layers on kiddos make for some fun pix, too!  You'll have to check out Heartsmiles on etsy....so many cute, cute things!! 

And One Last Happy Thanksgiving | Julie Marie Portraits

This year I am soooooo thankful for my baby boy!  I can't imagine life without him.   He is just the best thing that has ever happened to us!  He hasn't been feeling the greatest the past few days nor has he been sleeping...more like crying all night, but that's ok....he's allowed to do that!  So, this picture is as good as it gets....not too many smiles, but we had to show off the Thanksgiving bib from Nana since we won't be seeing them for turkey day! (notice he's now crawling too...yikes!)

We are out of town for a few days....I will be returning emails once I return!  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Somebody is 7 months old today! | Julie Marie Portraits

and he is quite a busy little guy these days!

Happy October | Julie Marie Portraits

I can't believe it's October already! Wow..time is sure flying by! My little guy was 6 months on Friday, which makes me kind of sad b/c he's growing up way too quickly, my husband had a birthday yesterday, and we took Jakers to his first pumpkin patch!



I continue to be a bad blogger, but I can assure you I've just been busy editing, holding sessions and playing with my little guy. Up next...a beautiful wedding, a gorgeous little girl that you've seen before and lots of families.

BTW my new blog picture template is from Kristi of Kristi Young Design....she's so talented! Thanks, Kristi! :)

Jakey Jake! | Julie Marie Portraits

has two teeth...oh, how I love teethy grins!



oh how I love the chunky thighs & chubby feets, too!

Labor Day Weekend | Julie Marie Portraits

Hope everybody is having a fabulous Labor Day Weekend! We were suppose to be in Florida (just hubby & me), but we changed our vacation plans due to the hurricane. Flying out of Philly can be a nightmare, and with the hurricane coming, we thought we might be stuck at the airport all day.....however, the hurricane ended up being very mild along the Delaware coast. So, we got to spend the weekend with my in-laws and Jake's Nanny & Saba! Yesterday, we took them to Annapolis and had the best time...beautiful weather, lots of shopping and great company! Enjoy what's left of the holiday weekend!
And yes....Jakers was quite spoiled with Nanny & Saba here! He didn't spend much time in the stroller.
and this is what we'll be doing the remainder of the holiday weekend....just relaxin'

HAPPY MONDAY|JULIE MARIE PORTRAITS

Jakers is 4 months old today!

I am back to blogging.....I have a lot to catch up on, so be prepared! Lots of family sessions and a couple of weddings!
But....to start things off, my Jakers is 4 months old today! I just can't believe how fast the 1st four months have flown by. I wish I could just slow down the clock just a bit! :( So, to celebrate, here are some pix of his 1st four months...(some are iphone photos and some you have already seen on the blog).

Happy 4th! Julie Marie Portraits

Hope everybody has a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!

(Jaker's also wanted to show off his 4th of July socks!)

Happy 1st Father's Day! Julie Marie Portraits

Happy First Father's Day to my hubby!
Happy Father's day to:
- my dad/Jake's Papa
- my father-in-law, Ari/Jake's Saba
- my father-in-law, Marty/Jake's Gramps
- my brother-in-law, Brad/Jake's Uncle Brad
- my brother-in-law, Brian/Jake's Uncle Brian
- my grandpa, Doyl/Jake's great grandpa
- and all the father's out there!