Look what I found!

The craziest time of day in my house is the hour before dinner. It's usually filled with everything that can make a parent pull their hair out. BUT...tonight, when I was cooking dinner and was enjoying the unusual peace filling my house. I noticed my "little shadow" was just a few feet away. She was quietly sitting and reading two books...literally retelling the story in her words to herself. My heart melted...

How did I ever get so lucky to be blessed with not one but TWO amazing daughters.

AND...I can say amazing daughters after this seriously goofball mommy of twin two year olds, who often worries if she'll survive these crazy times without losing her mind did the unthinkable!
I fed my brunette C a Heartgard chewy! Yes...you read that right! Don't ask! If you're a mommy and know this time to day...when serious CHOAS is running circles around you...then you'll probably understand.

Here's some advice...don't think you can multi-task by handing the dog his Heartgard chewy without looking and assuming it was THE DOG that took it. It wasn't until I noticed the chewy on the counter, half eaten, to only look and see my daughter blankly staring at me while eating what was obviously the chewy! Did she ever complain...NOPE! Not until my husband and I were finger sweeping her mouth and having her "swish and spit" in the kitchen sink. The weird part of this story is when I called poison control. They told me that the previous night a lady had ingested the SAME thing and that it was surprisingly not harmful but to only watch out for the standard symptoms. My question....

Did the lady have a bad mommy handing her the Heartgard chewy?

My daughters are amazing in that it's not me that survives them but them that survive ME! If you are looking to nominate a mother for "Mommy of the Year" award...I think this story might be nomination worthy!

Unconditional love!

{yes, this a long one...but please read}

Earlier today, I was touched by a blog that I faithfully read. The blog is by the uber, over the top and very REAL photographer Tara Whitney. I was so touched that I couldn't let another day go by without my blogging about an unconditional friendship with a girl whose life I've been blessed to be in for almost 15 years.

I'll give you a quick background here. Tara Whitney has a daughter who has a disability. Tara candidly shares the victories and battles that her family and daughter face every day with this challenge on her blog. Tara recently came across a program that is basically designed to celebrate, enhance, and educate about any and all disabilities.

Many of you already know that I began working with children diagnosed with Austism almost 15 years ago. My love for Autism and helping those affected by it began when I met a little kindergartener named L. Who actually also has a younger brother affected by Autism as well. I soon found myself a part of their lives and several children's lives by helping them learn and cope with their disability. Many of the children have grown and moved away. But here I am, 15 years later, and still friends with L and her family.

Not much has changed, other than L, and her brother K, are both a few inches taller than me and continue to leave me in awe of their victories with their disabilities. Because of L and K, I am a better person. A better person with two daughters that now get to learn and grow from their friendships with them.

Now I'm going to do my best to stay away from the tear jerker dime box I can stand on when it comes to my feelings. So basically...each day I'm with L, I continue to fight for others to see her for who she is and see past the shell that covers up the beauty inside her. The beauty that has entrusted me with her friendship, need for acceptance, love, vulnerability, and sad times. But, then I'm always reminded that L is selective. Learning that it isn't easy to gain her trust...trust to not be hurt. Like everyone else, she lives a guarded life.

Since the arrival of my daughters, we have spent three summers and several weekends with her. While I love being able to be a part of her life, I never thought different in having her be a part of my daughter's lives. AND, she has grown to be more than the occasional friend they see...she IS a part of their lives. And, although they are only 2 years old and don't see differences yet...I can already see them look and play with her with the purest form of unconditional love. The kind of love that won't fade with age and time. For that, I'm thankful we are a part of eachother's lives. It is the best gift I could ever ask to be given to my children.

This picture is the perfect description of their relationship. It's rare you won't find one on her hip, playing on her lap or begging to be played with or carried.

{excuse the bad picture quality...taken at super high ISO, in a pet store, with florescent lighting, no flash and just before I was threatened to have my camera taken away...seriously!}

Now for the words that prompted this post.... a short lyric of a song from The Miracle Project.

Who am I?

It's not what you see.

Gotta take a chance

to get to know the real me.

I am happy,

I am proud,

I am funny,

I am loud.

I want to scream those words louder than loud is...scream those words for my friend L.

My blonde baby!

My blonde has ALWAYS been a mommy's girl....since the day she was born. And my little baby is having the roughest time with her 2 year molars. I'm thinking she's working on building a record for the longest break threw. She NOW has two of the four and it took 6 months since first sight.

With these buggers, she hasn't really been the happiest...shocker I KNOW! Since she is rarely having a fun time in front of my camera, today I decided we should have a camera playdate. It was FABULOUS!

My blonde C has a very sweet spirit. She is full of imagination, compassion, and loves to nurture. So, you can understand how these molars have played a nasty role in these past weeks.

Nice view of her "current" fav kitty!

It cracks me up with how my brunette and I share similar features, yet my blonde and I are almost identical in personality. Meaning...she and I share the same high level of energy and short attention span. When I recall my mother's stories of me as a child, I see myself telling the same stories to her when she is older.

Her absolutely favorite activity is to play with Play-Doh! She makes babies, bottles, beds, kitties...do they actually resemble any of those listed, NO! But they are her creations and she tells me all about them. Here she was making worms...now that looks similar to a worm.

Pure sweetness!

I just love this little girl! I think I love her even more since she has the same name as my blonde! AND....word on the street is...I get to have some camera lovin' time with her brother.
Yippeeeee! I swear, whenever I see this brother and sister pair, my finger gets trigger happy. My finger just starts flicking in search of a camera...

Also, not all of the pictures upload nicely through this new process I'm figuring. Hopefully I'll soon get this new webresizing thing down! Grrrrr!

Here's a first!

I've been waiting for this first from my little brunette! Here it is!

Whenever I'm getting ready, she is right there at my ankles, watching me do my hair and makeup. She is my little girly girl...she tells me what hair style she wants (adamantly), picks out her clothes, pretends to style my hair, struggles with getting dirty, always wearing sunglasses, LOVES to have her nails polished and I've found her a few times pretending to put makeup on.

The other day I noticed my little shadow...her nickname... wasn't at my ankles. TOTALLY unusual! I headed to my bedroom to find her smiling big, while calming trying to put the mascara bottle back together. And what did this mom do...I smiled big, with pride! This mommy of two girls has one of a gazillion girly firsts. I then told her to hold still while I grabbed my camera. When I came back, she was all smiles and ready for a photoshoot! TOTAL crack up!

And from this nice close-up, it looks like she even tried putting mascara on her lips!

And this cute little t-shirt is soooo her personality! What a perfect shirt to wear on her day of a girly first. {note: pink fingernails!} Is she a future diva or what? Honestly, I'm terrified...I am the farthest thing from girly.

Loving this age!

I've been counting down the days to have this cutie in front of my camera. I isn't too often that I photograph children over 3...so imagine how over the top I was with ideas for this older cutie!


She is just STUNNING in the picture below! A typical expression for this girl is a sweet smile showing off her adorable dimple...so imagine how excited was when I captured her intense brown eyes. And love, I mean LOVE, the sun glow that worked itself into the picture.


Do you see it? A young Jennifer Aniston!


If you haven't noticed, several changes have happened...the first being...
my new website is complete and ready to view. The biggest change with the new website is the address...my website can now be found at tamiproffitt.com. While the old website address will continue to work by directing to the new address, please just note the change. Also, I've been working hard at displaying the pictures on my blog larger. While this blog post is a rough draft...I'll be working hard at figuring out the kinks.

Can't get much cuter!

Choosing an outfit for a portrait session....can be super fun and very simple. I couldn't have picked a better dress for this cutie. The colors are perfect for her. AND, she wore this dress for her 2nd birthday party. Colorful + personal = perfect outfit

And, of course I had to share a picture of her cute feetsies! Love the stamp!

I'm back!

This has been one super busy and relaxing summer for us. This past weekend, we made another trip up to the cooler weather...the White Mountains. I can't even begin to tell you how fabulous our time was. This trip, we never left the cabin. We filled our days with taking walks to look for bug and flowers. Playing in the forest. Ate and ate and ate on the front porch. Read magazines. Played and played. And spent the majority of the time smiling and giggling. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Here's a little sneak peak of the fun from our weeked.

My blonde C....blowing the dandelion seeds. We couldn't stop laughing at her face, it looked almost painful for her to blow.


Breakfast on the porch.
Meet my husband's parents. The girls were completely spoiled by their grandparents. All the way home, my blonde C kept saying "We'll go back to the mountains in a little bit!?" While alternating her cries, sometimes screams, for her Grammie and Papa. Her cries really broke out hearts. But, I'm sure we'll be back soon.

I'm quickly playing catch up to the rush of emails I've received since Friday. For those of you who have emailed, I'll be getting back to you shortly. Which by the way, the several emails I received were about booking for holiday portraits. To you emailers, GREAT thinking....I'm going to start booking next week and believe me, the dates are going to go super fast. So, if you're wondering about holiday sessions....I know, in July...let's look at the calendar. More details on that later.

A is for Adorable!

After a nice a little 1 trimester pregnancy leave, I couldn't think of a better way to get back in the groove than a 2 year session for one cute little girl.

When we both got out of our cars, I think we were both wondering if we were crazy but once we were in the shade...the heat wasn't too bad.

The session was planned to celebrate Miss A's 2nd birthday. Here is her debut... The sweet, peaceful, and pleasant Miss A.
When we scheduled this session, we were hoping (planning) to have some of the nice monsoon cool down from the clouds. When I saw that today was cloud free...I brought along a waterbottle to help cool things down when needed. Honestly, when I picked my favorites to narrow down for this blog post...it was scary. I had 20 pictures...ahhhhh! My head is spinning with "I love that one....I love that one...Ooooh, I LOVE that one!" Editing will be tough on this one! The teeny tiny pictures on my blog just don't do the portraits justice! Ahhh...they need to be larger!

It's starting!

I'm excited to finally share one of the changes I've been talking about since May. My new logo is complete and the new welcome to my blog is up. I'm beyond excited to finally share.

I also have to thank you for being super patience with my...changes, changes, changes! The first trimester of my pregnancy had me take permanent occupancy on my couch...with the occasional vacancy. I can say it was a lovely time!

But...to thank you all for hanging in there with me, I will be giving away a small gift. My thank you gift is the accordian album which can be viewed here. It's an 5x7 inch album that is simple, classic and adorable. The album holds 12 4x6 prints which has a small opening for a picture. The cover is a classic black leather and held in a satin lined, presentation box. It truly is my favorite...it's classic, timeless and holds precious memories. AND...the album has to hold the pictures from your recent session....which you will have a $50 credit to put toward (Christmas idea).

The gift all together....1 adorable, accordian album (valued $100)
$50 credit off a session fee
Total value....a wonderful $150 THANK YOU!

All that is needed is either....
1. leave a comment on this post telling me what you love about my new blog banner
(must include email address)
2. a little note to my email address, tamiproffitt{at}yahoo{dot}com, telling me what you love about my new blog banner.

I will put all the names in a hat to have my hubby draw...
Please have your "blog banner loving" sent in by tomorrow night (Thursday) at midnight. I'll send the winner an email by Friday at noon.

Just for goggles!

Now this just cracks me up! Can it get any cuter and funnier than a two year old wearing goggles?

My babies are getting sweeter and sweeter to eachother! It just makes me smile!

It's almost time!

There are going to be a few goofy things going on around here in the next few days. Big changes are getting ready to take place!

In about 24 hours, my website will be completely unavailable...for just a few days. If you need to reach me....my email address is tamiproffitt[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Until then....here is a little entertainment for your eye.

{brotherly love}

Going back a bit!

For this post, I decided to dig into my picture files to share a few pictures from a camping trip from May. Why? Well, my family and I just returned home from another camping trip. For some reason, the weather rarely cooperates with me...the weather and the postal service that is, story for another post. We had planned this trip a few weeks ago, when the weekend came so did the glorious and beautiful monsoon storms. While I really do love rain storms, they can sometimes dampen a wonderful weekend in the woods. The last camping trip we made was over Memorial weekend. The weekend where we had snow, sleet, rain, hail, and tons more snow. Although, the weather made things chilly and goopy, there was nothing but fun all around.

My brunette C. A favorite of camping...all the yummy food around the campground.

My wish: If I could have one wish, it would be to have both my girls enjoy being in front of the camera at the same time.
My reality: I'm lucky to get ONE to enjoy my big, black box.
My meaning: If I post more pictures of one over the other....the reason is that one was loving the big, black box in front of my face more than the other at that time.

Here is my gorgeous blonde C...It never failed, when the big, black box came out...she got sad. There are moments that they just want their mommy to enjoy them without multitasking by trying to capture the times at the same time. A reality check lesson.
This weekend...my hubby called me first thing Friday morning asking if I was ready for a wet and muddy weekend. And YES I WAS! As soon as he came home, we packed the camper, loaded the girls and soon found ourselves driving through heavy rain. Once we arrived, the clouds parted and the weather was glorious...except for one rainy afternoon. The only sad part of the weekend was not pulling the camera out of the camper...I was caught up in the nature walks, rides, hanging with friends, playing games, eating, and tons of chatting. Although I don't have pictures from our wonderful weekend, I have the memories that will always make me smile. The memories to remember when another camping trip is planned AND we're driving through nasty weather.

My current love list!

When I'm click clacking away at my computer...I'm often surrounded by my current loves that get me through my long hours! It's then that I look around and think, I soooo need a picture of what surrounds my computer. As of 14 weeks into my pregnancy, here is my current love list...in regards to my cravings that is!

1. Chex Mix (everything but the pretzels...bleh)
2. any type of fresh fruit from the store I LOVE ...Sprouts!
3. salami and Wheat Thins
4. Costco chocolate chip cookies....mmmmmm!
5. the occasional fruit roll up wrappers
6. carrots
AND drum role please....
7. two layer, chocolate cake with sprinkles! double mmmmm mmmmm! Now check that cake, it looks like the cake cracked from the pounds of sprinkles I loaded on it. Tee Hee Hee!
And by the way...I didn't just throw in the only two healthy snacks for my mother and mother in law! It's really the only healthy things I'm craving...I know...naughty slap on my hand! Bad Tami! And to redeem myself from the "probably shouldn't be so honest" info...not ALL of it is on my desk at one time....just 1-3! I CAN tell you that they are oh so yummy to my tummy!

And more!

I have officially re-entered the world of the "Camera Mom"! I have friends that are faithful about carrying their camera with them where ever they go, documenting every moment of their child's life. I was one of those moms once...and now I'm that mom again! And I'm loving every minute of it. I can't even begin to explain how hard it is for me to photograph without thinking about camera settings before each frame is shot. These days...I'm finding it easier to just shoot for fun. I'm loving it!


Today was a day of adventure! We met up with my sister in law, her baby, my niece "I", my mother, my girls aunt and a friend. Basically, almost enough people to fill our own movie theater. Needless to say, the adventure during the movie went pretty well. It was afterwards that was yucky. While the girls were playing in a grassy area...my blonde C was attacked my ants...the biting kind! Absolutely horrible experience...absolutely horrible! But, she's okay now!

Here's a little bit of sass from my niece!

Here is my only successful attempt in getting a picture of our three girls together! Which by the way...were all born within three days of each other! Crazy huh?!

And...an extra picture from the other day! Mmmmm-m- mmmm! Lu-u-uvvvve a good black and white!

At play!

When I'm in the middle of portrait session after portrait session...it's a sad truth that I kinda avoid picking up my camera off duty. Since I took a serious break this month for my business redesign A N D MY SANITY...my camera has found more time to fall back in love with my girlies!

So here we are...my girls and I at play!


When my blonde C isn't doing a copy cat of me in front of the camera...I get THE stare!

Loving them!

Here are my two girls... full of sweetness!

Where love is!

~~I'm going to start out this post warning you that it might be a bit long, but....TOTALLY worth reading! ~~

Believe it or not, I have been plugging away at this redesign process. The first step is to get this gorgeous new website finished. While I was going through some archives, I came across this picture and my heart skipped a beat. Skipped a beat at the memory of this sweet mother/son session. While his mother's face isn't in the picture, her presence is all over it. A presence of comfort, guidance, protection, and love.

I couldn't help but think back to a post I did on mothers and daughters...totally highlighting the relationship. Shortly after, I received a cute email from one of my sweetest, dearest and "bestest" friends, Miss T. The email was basically a sweet reminder of falling short in giving credit to the tender bond between a mother and her son.

Without getting too mushy on you, Miss T and I met about 6 or so years ago. While I was teaching, I was in desperate need of a new classroom assistant. When she came in to interview, I hired her on the spot without any formalities. I just knew she was a good fit.

She became a mother at a young age....while I won't tell her age, she wasn't in high school or middle school for that matter. But, none the less...she was young. And she was on her own and she did it all! All with a smile on her face, constant guidance and direction for her son, strength to conquer the unimaginable, and the endurance to never give up her goals. When I met her, her son was her world and she was working herself to the bone to be sure he had every opportunity. Often working more than two jobs. She was an example...and IS an example of a mother's love.

Here is the fantabulous Miss T!And here is her jaw dropping, gorgeous, future heartbreaker son...Mr. G. When I met him he was about a year and a half old. Watching her raise her son, she set a standard for me. And what's funny, is now she is getting me asking questions on what worked. If you met him, you'd think she did an outstanding job also. And an update on Miss T...her son is still her world but now there are 3 other boys in it. She is engaged to her "Prince Charming" who brought two more amazing sons.

Here we are years later and still friends....and one of my closest friends. I love you Miss T! And I'm sorry to all those mothers to sons out there...I couldn't even imagine the depth of your love for your son, or sons. Just witnessing this relationship, I should only be lucky to experience that level of love.