JET = 5 Months Old

It's hard to believe that my little JohnJohn is 5 months old.  He's getting so big, rolling over, and he has two teeth....and he has the best little personality ever!

3 Years Old Pix | Julie Marie Portraits

I can't hardly believe that my first baby turned 3 this past Monday.  It just amazes me as to how time flies the older I get!  Anyway, Jake got his haircut tonight. When we got home, he grabbed his mower, and I grabbed my camera.  I bribed him to smile at me with some chocolate kisses and told him to jump and run...of course he was more than willing to do that!   These have got to be some of my favorite pix ever of him.  They depict him to a T!  He is my strong-willed, independent, loving little wild man that doesn't sit still unless he's reading a book or playing on the ipad.  Oh, how I love him!!!

He Makes Me Smile | Julie Marie Portraits | Rockford Children's Photographer

JET - Two Months Old Today | Julie Marie Portraits

My how the time has flown....can hardly believe my sweet baby boy is 2 months old today!  And even better, he slept for a five hour stretch in the night!  What a great 2 month old gift for his mama! :)

Happy January | Julie Marie Portraits | Chicago Children's Photographer

Hope everybody is having a great January!  We are enjoying our downtime so much along with all of our visitors that have been here!    I really didn't have much to say except that I wanted to pop in to say hi and of course, post some pix of my boys!  To give you an update, big brother Jake is starting to acknowledge his brother somewhat.....i guess the good thing is that Jake does not want to be near his brother, so he's not bothering him at all!  However, I was able to get some funny pix of the two of them yesterday.  Also, yesterday Johnny was 4 weeks....my how the time is flying!

One of my favorite blogs did a picture like this below for every week of her daughter.  I, however, am going to do a monthly picture just to show how big he gets.

love, love, love this one...i'm not even sure what Jake is telling Johnny

and some fun pictures of my Jakers....2.5 years old and ornery as can be and so much fun!

Happy Birthday & Best Buds | Julie Marie Portraits | Chicago Children's Photographer

I just wanted to wish my dad a Happy, Happy Birthday tomorrow!  We wish we could be there to celebrate with him, but we were lucky enough to have some birthday cake with him this past Monday!  I can't even imagine what I'd do without him....he is the best dad without a doubt, and I owe him so much for all the help and work that he did for us this past week for our move (and my mom gets a shout out too for all the help)!  We love you dad, and hope you have the best birthday!!

If you can't tell, Jakey loves his Papa!  He's asked everyday this week if NanaPapa were coming to our new home when daddy got home from work, too!

And one more favorite from this week....Jakey and his best bud, Dexter!  Love those two!

28 Months Old & Oh, So Fun! | Julie Marie Portraits

My little guy is growing up too quickly!  Getting him to sit still for any amount of time is pretty much non-existent, but I was able to bribe him with a popsicle held above my head to get some quick photos of him!

Family Vacation | Marco Island, FL | Julie Marie Portraits

We had our annual trip to Marco Island, and we had the best time!  Jake especially loved the time he got to spend with his cousins!  It was nothing short of fun, sun and relaxation! 

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Jakey Jake!

Happy, Happy 2nd Birthday to my handsome little guy today! 

It's funny how I think about how sad I was last year at this time with him turning one, but this year, I absolutely LOVE this age.  I love that he can now have conversations with us, tell us he loves us, sings his abc's, counts to 10, talks about all of his cousins and grandparents, talks about his friends, loves on his doggy, Dexter, plays with his cars and plays ball ALL OF THE TIME, uses his manners (pease, thanky, cuse me), feeds his doggy every day, LOVES to read books, sings lots of songs and most of all, I love those little kisses that he gives us and his armless hugs.  He has truly brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined!  We love you, Jakey Jake!  Happy Birthday little guy!

And here's his two year pic....

and his month by month picture April 2011-March 2012

Weekend Visitors | Julie Marie Portraits | Rochester, NY Vacation Photographer

We're so excited to have some visitors in this weekend...

Happy Weekend! | Julie Marie Portraits | Rochester, NY Photographer

Pretty in Pink | Julie Marie Portraits | Rochester, NY Children's Photographer

Hope you all are having a great week!  I wanted to share some photos of my gorgeous niece from this past weekend!  Can you believe she's only 4?  And check out her outfit....I would so wear that dress!  (I probably wouldn't look too cute in the tights, huh! )  She is absolutely beautiful and so sweet!  

And I had to share one from our Pittsburgh trip...Jakey with his cousins!  He had the best time seeing them!

A Star Wars Birthday Party - Jack turns 6 | Julie Marie Portraits | Rochester, NY Photographer

My nephew turned six a little over a week ago, and I was so happy to be able to drive home and celebrate his birthday with him!  The last time I got to celebrate his birthday in person was when he was 2.....we then moved to Delaware.  I was a little sad on his birthday because I couldn't believe he was already 6....i clearly remember the day he was born, and my oh my how the time has flown by!

So, can you guess what this year's birthday party theme was?  You guessed it.....STAR WARS because my nephew is obsessed with it!  My sister told me she was going to have a little party for his birthday.....little as in 21 5 & 6 year olds, plus a couple younger kids and Jake.  I kept asking her what she was going to do because she knows how to plan a party, but she kept saying she wasn't sure.  Well, on the Tuesday before his party, my sister spent the evening texting me on different ideas for the party, and sure enough....she pulled off a spectacular 6th birthday party!  And to top if off....Jack said it was the BEST birthday ever!

 Check out those cookies.....so cool & such a hit!

 The most awesome Star Wars cake ever....made by Dakota's Custom Confections

 Look how happy Jack is!  

Not sure what my niece is doing here....?

• Star Wars Printable Masks from Bessiepooh's Birthday 
• Custom Star Wars DIY banner from Christyland by hand 
• Death Star Pinata from Out of this World Pinata 
• Star Wars Candy Lightsabers from extramoneyformommy 
• Star Wars Custom Cake from Dakota's Custom Confections (she's on facebook)
• Star Wars Cookies from Stephanie Bean 
• Handle Ice Cream Pops 
• Fun striped straws by kikkerland 
• Lightsabers made from swim noodles, silver and black duct tape
• Round saucer snow sleds purchased at Meijer and personalized with Sharpie Paint Pens purchased at Michael's Crafts
• Custom table skirt fabric  Sewn by my seamstress
• Photography by Julie Marie Portraits

Happy 2012! | Julie Marie Portraits | Rochester, NY Photographer

Happy New Year 2012, Everybody!  Hope you had a fabulous holiday season!  We got to spend Christmas in Ohio with my family, and we had the best time!  It was so nice to be home and just relax....and let all of my family chase Jake around while my hubby and I just sat and watched! :)

As all of you know, we moved to Rochester in October, and everybody kept talking about the horrible winters that Rochester gets...well, for some reason, we must have brought them some good luck because we've had a really mild December and January thus far.  In fact, on New Year's day, Josh, Jake, Dexter and I went for our first 2012 walk outside.  It felt a little weird to be walking outside in 40+ degree weather on January 1st and no snow!

Which now brings us to today.....another incredibly warm day for January!  And, well, you guessed it...that meant time for some new updated photos of my on-the-go-at-all-times 21 month old little Jakers!  I must say...he really is impossible to photograph right now, but M&M's do the trick to make him stop in his tracks!  I'm thinking we need to buy stock in M&M's because he now knows his colors because of them, they've helped him calm down from the temper tantrums that seem to occur quite often, and we're hoping they'll help him with potty training when that begins (very soon)!

Jakers @ 21 months with his shaggy hair and blabla doll.  And check out Jake sporting a bowtie!  New favorite shirt from Somebubby Chapman Apparel.

 I'm not sure what he's doing, but this look sort of cracks me up!

 And without M&M's - this is what photos look like....no cooperation at all, but oh so fun! :)  Have a great weekend!

Wishing You All.....

Happy Holidays!  I have some sessions to blog, but I thought I better wish you all Happy Holidays before 2012 gets here!

A Weekend Project?? | Julie Marie Portraits | Rochester, NY Photographer

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!  We spent Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh and had a great time visiting with family!

I wanted to share with you what was going on in our neighborhood.  I'll give you a little background on it...we live in the Park Avenue area of Rochester, and we absolutely love it!  It has beautiful old homes and lots of restaurants and shops that we're able to walk to.  It's a very quaint area.  I especially love that Jake and I can walk to get a coffee and cookie everyday at the coffee shop just down the street!   Anyway, our neighborhood had their 18th Annual Park Avenue Holiday Open House.   I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I took my time on venturing out to check it out.  I was amazed....there were so many people down here and all of the merchants were open for folks to stop in and shop, eat, and just mingle.  

So, because I wasn't sure what to expect, I went out with out a camera, but I did have my iPhone and was able to get a few pix.

I think my favorite thing was this newspaper wreath that was displayed in a store's front window.  How fabulous is this!  We were walking by, and I stopped to check out the beautiful (very full) wreath in the window and realized it was made out of newspaper.  

Doesn't it look great?  The other side is a dress made out of newspaper.

I tried to get up close to see how it was made....I'm thinking this could possibly be a weekend project to try?

And this was too funny.....we had just walked down the street and we saw Tigger & Big Bird walking down the side walk.  Jake was excited, scared and not sure what to think.  He wasn't into talking to Tigger at all, but he was somewhat excited to tell Big Bird hi & bye.  As you can see, Jake is squinting in the photo...that's because my iPhone flash is soooooo bright.  It's not the best picture, but I think Big Bird & Tigger look great!

Just a glimpse of the traffic lined up down the street looking for parking.  

Next year, I will be prepared as I know what to expect, and I will be out there earlier to do some shopping!

Have a great weekend!