Father's Day & Such

It's getting late and this is a SUPER busy week...VBS at Ogletown and then a wedding to shoot on Saturday and then the twins first birthday party on Sunday! My oh my I am in deep but will just keep swimming :) I just want to share some of the sweetness from Matt's first father's day and from some fun in the pool today with the kiddos! You definitely need to check out Macy's little snaggletooth - it's so darn cute I had to make sure to get some pictures of it before it's little friend comes in next to it.

Mia Rose

My good friend Chantel had a baby a couple weeks ago and her sweet baby girl is Mia Rose. (I like her middle name, it's my middle name too :) Mia is so little and cute, it's hard to think that she will ever tell a lie or hit her brother...but we know these things will come in time! But for today, I just ate up her cuteness and I want to share some of that cuteness with all of you! Of course we had to squeeze in some shot with big brother Josh too!!

Confessional

I always think crazy things so I decided that I can be fo' real and share those crazy things about myself. I mean all of you 3 readers out there might get a chuckle. So here's a few confessions from today.

1. I like watching muscles work, not in a creepy way like checking people out, but just watching how the body works always amazes me! Especially with my kids, I like seeing them learning how to make their little bodies do what they want it to do.

2. I have a thing for Jeeps and almost always have...it fits that I married a boy with a big jacked up one :) He's just glad that he has two babies and still gets to keep the Jeep!

3. I like shallow tv sometimes & my DVR would totally rat me out.... think the Hills & Bachelorette.... I rip the show apart the whole time I watch it, but yet I am watching it

4. I give myself pep talks when I go running....everything from statistics on heart disease to "just run to the next corner"....

That's enough soul bearing for today, more confessions to come another day! Here's to getting to know each other internet friends!

Evolving Personal Style

I am currently in a place in life that I think a lot of women find themselves in. I have been a mommy for almost a year and was prego for nine months before that. These last 20 months have been a major style challenge to say the least! It is hard to try to stay stylish while pregnant, especially when you are ginormous with twins like I was. By the end of pregnancy I could only wear two pairs of shoes, both stretchy top flip flops because my feet and ankles were so swollen. Even once my sweet babies were born, all that baby weight did not leave with them unfortunately! This past year had been a lot of hard work on trying to get back to a healthy weight to maintain an active lifestyle. During all of these body changes I have had to have a mish-mosh of a wardrobe and I have found it a challenge. I don't think I ever realized how much I cared about how much I presented myself through clothing until I didn't really have a lot to choose from. I know, I know, some of you that know me might be thinking "it's not like she had anything special going on to begin with in the style department" but I like to think that I at least looked put together in my past life :) And yes, my husband and I refer to it now as "LBK" - "life before kids" - it's a term frequently used in our house.
So where does all this leave me now? I mostly have a closet full of things I wish I could fit into. I am slowly getting back into my LBK clothes that were bigger on me then, but pretty much I still feel like a frump or like I am wearing someone else's clothes. What is my point to all this chatter? Well I have been giving it thought and decided that my personal style has some evolving to do. I need to embrace my new life, body shape, and other such things about life as a mommy.

Being short on cash and time, shopping can be tough but if you know me at all...you know I can do things well on a tight budget. Part of letting your style evolve is allowing yourself to do things differently, challenge yourself to go to a new place to shop. I did this very thing today. I went against my instincts and strolled through the door of forever 21. I know, I know..."that store is for 12 year olds with no hips" but something that I said a lot in ministry is that "you can't keep doing something the same way and expect a different result." Low and behold today in forever 21 I found 3 totally different, fabulous and flattering tops for each less than $23. God also sent a wardrobe fairy god-mother in the form of my friend Dorothy to just so happen to be in the dressing room with her daughter when I got there :)

I need to try new things and not be afraid! This is a motto in my life with a lot of things right now. I have to say I have a new style inspiration too, it's Cortney Novogratz of Sixx Design and Bravo's 9 By Design show. She is a mother of 7, including 2 sets of twins, amen! She has fabulous personal style and a great eye for design. I might talk more about her in another post..I have gone on long enough. SOOOO who are your style inspirations? What life changes have spurred you on to make style changes? What are your best tips for updating your style?

And because everything is better with a picture, here's a little piece of my heart...and Macy is not worried about her style yet because being nakie is the cutest!

New Pricing Structure

Dear friends & clients,
I want to let you know that Emily Troutman Photography will be going through a pricing structure change. As many of you know, it's hard when starting up a small business. Borrowing from another photographer's quote "You go from being a photographer to also being a photographer AND a business owner, secretary, book keeper, accountant, marketing executive, etc." This is a wonderful but huge transition in my life that I have been working on, all while surviving the first year as a mommy of twins! So what I am saying is that as of July 1, 2010 we will have a new pricing structure and my official website will be launched. There's lots going on here at the Troutman house as always and by God's grace he is allowing me to pursue my dreams. Thank you to all of you who hire me and believe in me to capture your families lives!

**And I am still booking for summer lifestyle sessions on weekdays, weddings have me booked on weekends. Shoot me an email if you want to book now, emilytroutmanphoto@gmail.com**

With Love,
Emily

Allison and Nicholas, welcome to the world!

SO as many of you know, I have a set of boy/girl twins. It is almost their first birthday and I thought for sure that once I had twins, surely none of my other friends would have the same experience. I just thought that I had taken up the odds :) Turns out I was very wrong because my good friend Julie just had Allison and Nicholas last month! We have bonded over many things during our more than a decade friendship, including each others weddings and sharing air mattresses on many a mission trip :) Both being mommies to twins was not something we ever foresaw in our futures but now it's such a huge part of our identities. Julie, unlike me, was already a mommy to her sweet 3 year old Ella, so Allison and Nicholas joined their big sister Ella in the Bacon house! Here are some pics I got to grab this last week while I stopped by for a visit. Ella of course didn't mind letting me snap a few of just her & they ended up being some of my favs!

And shout out to my GREAT friend Lisa who watched my babies and her baby while I went to see Julie! Thanks Lisa, couldn't have done it without your help this week!

Alexis graduates!

I have another beautiful cousin who graduated college this last week! We did a short photo session a couple weeks ago, it had to be short due to the crazy weather we were experiencing. You know the sun is out one second and then it's pouring the next?! We made the most of it and got a few great shots. Lex was hoping to surprise her mom with this session so I had to wait to post them :) Enjoy!

Wedding Season is here, Congrats Holly & Tom!

I got to be a part of a beautiful wedding this past weekend at the Brandywine Country Club. The beautiful bride was Holly, she is a cousin of my friend Rob, which is how we got connected. And she met the groom Tom while she was at school at Drexel. I love being at weddings and being reminded of how life-long commitment begins, hearing the vows and seeing two people so in love is contagious! Holly had so many great ideas for her wedding, all centered on the colors of a peacock feather and accented with orange. She had this great vintage vibe going, which I loved to photograph. It was all fabulous and here are some of the photos to prove it :)

Happy 1st Birthday Kyle!

Meet my new friend Kyle, he's a sweet boy that's turning one today! I got the chance to capture some of his fun personality this week. He is definitely curious and wants to be everywhere. His mom Sara is a friend of mine from way back and we actually reconnected last year when we were in the same parenting class at the hospital. It was fun to take pictures of Kyle while hearing all about Sara's life these days, which includes Kyle of course :) And the crazy part is that this sweet family now lives in Amsterdam, far far away - but we made time for a photo session while Kyle was in town to celebrate his birthday with his American side of family. Happy Birthday Kyle!

Matt & Meghan

Where do I start?! Well I have known Matt since he showed up at UD & our paths crossed a lot with mutual friends and interests. He has remained a friend over the years and actually has been a great friend to my husband. This will also be our 3rd wedding together that he was in & I have photographed - his first being the groom of course :)
Meghan showed up a few years later while I was working at the BSM at UD and we became fast friends. To say we have a lot in common is an understatement, but I think what we enjoy most (other than Jesus and Starbucks) is a similar sense of humor. We like to laugh at the same ridiculous sorts of things that no one else thinks is funny - "how ya derrin'?" - "I don't know whatchu wan' me to tell ya".
Matt & Meghan's story is kind of funny...their worlds were intertwined but they didn't actually meet or get to know each other for a long time. When they finally started hanging out last summer it led to an engagement on New years :) I couldn't be happier for the both of them! They are one of those couples to me that just "makes sense," like why didn't we try to set them up sooner?! But we know why, God's timing is perfect!
So this is a special post to me for a lot of reasons...being around fresh and genuine love is a fabulous thing and even better when it's people you care about. This shoot made me so excited for their wedding day this July. And I am not lying when I say that I smiled, literally laughed out loud (but won't post those pics), cried and danced in front of my computer while editing these images. And because I can't blog all 127 of them...here's a handful to share with you!

And for any of you photogs out there who care, I shot this session with an 85mm 1.8...that thing is seriously like butta' and it's mixture with the yummy early evening light...mmmmmm
Ok so that's a lot from me today but I had a lot to say.

The Garrett Family

I had a busy weekend and thankfully just got to put the finishing touches on this family & child session from last week. Teegan just turned one so we had to get lots of shots to capture this sweet little girl at this stage in her life! It just goes so stinking fast :) Here are a handful of favs to share with you all but I truly had a hard time choosing!

Sneak Peek!

Here's a sneak peek of today's shoot! More later this week :)

Katelynne Joy Bell

Katelynn Joy Bell was born last week, a tiny little thing weighing in at 4lbs 14 ozs! She is happy and healthy though, just tiny :) She is the first born to Kristen & Nick, you might even remember their maternity shoot last month. This is definitely the fun part, being there for major chapters in peoples lives and being allowed to capture those moments for them! I LOVE getting to go to the hospital for a shoot within the first 24 hours (Yes prego friends, I am available for this service, just email me, emilytroutmanphoto@gmail.com).

SO here are a few favs, welcome to the world Katelynne Joy!

Yay for great neighbors!

These pics are from a shoot last week on a gorgeous afternoon with friends. Stephanie and George are actually our neighbors and it's great to also count them as friends. It's funny how small of a world we live in, George and I were actually neighbors as kids, our parents still live in the same neighborhood. And as fate would have it, we are once again neighbors :) I had a lot of fun with these two and their little Bischon, Belle. Belle is certainly the princess and she doesn't want you to forget it! So here's to Stephanie and George as they celebrate one year together with these pics!

Friday was cold...

So all of you who live in Delaware know what I am talking about. It was seriously 90 degrees last week..until Friday that is. Of course I had a photo shoot planned for the frigidness! Anyhow, we made the most of it, hiding behind the barn and trying to stay out of the wind. Thank goodness these are my good friends and we had a warm fire to run inside and warm up to when it was all over. Luke is just precious, already 6 months old and such a little stud. Here are just a few of the pics I found myself smiling at my computer over. Hopefully you too will see why I like them!

Thankfully the weather has warmed back up a little... more shoots scheduled for later this week!

Graduation! It's that time of year

SO it's the time of year that seniors in high school and college are thinking of the future! Graduation is right around the corner and they will be pushed out into the big scary world...ok that sounds dramatic. Well this past week I had a lot of fun photographing my "baby" cousin, Anastasia, who just so happens to be beautiful & lots of fun. This shoot had me reminiscing, thinking of the day she was born. It was literally the day after I turned 6, I still remember getting snuck in to the hospital by my uncle to see her for the first time. Ok now I really feel mushy, but time does pass quickly! I was so thankful to be asked to capture these memories for our family. We were also instructed by my aunt that although the cap & gown did not have to go on - they needed to be a meaningful part of the imagery. SO readers, tell me how you think we did with capturing the senior spirit without the cheese of the fake rose & goofy head tilt! (Leave me some comment love on this one :)

Our Family Portraits

Just wanted to share with you that we had our family portraits taken this past weekend by a photographer that I have loved and followed for a while, Rae Barnes. We met at the Tyler Arboretum and it certainly helped that it was a beautiful day with everything in bloom. We had so much fun at the shoot! Check out the sneak peek at her blog.

Happy Easter!

I had fun the other day taking some shots of the kids with a few Easter props, I figured why not - it's their first Easter! They also met the bunny at the mall while we were there on some errands & they loved it by the expressions on their faces!
I know that Easter is so much more about the risen Christ and the fact that he came to give us life. We did read the Easter story throughout the week with the children's Bible. They reached for the pages and looked at the pictures although the concepts are beyond them at this point. We pray though that Easter will come to mean something very special to them as well someday! Enjoy :)

New Pastime

Our kids turn nine months old this week! I know, I know, I say it with every month that passes but it's true, time is flying! Here's a look at their favorite new pastime where they have little ride on cars that they cruise around the house in. Of course they need a push to do that but they're good little riders! This afternoon we went to Grandma's because there's more cruisin' space :)

Longboarding

SO it's great that my husband has all sorts of fun interests, including longboarding. For those of you not familiar, these are long skateboards meant for cruising. We combined his love for longboarding and my love for photography and took a family outting to the reservoir in Newark this afternoon. I am currently taking an online photo workshop and this week's assignment was dealing with capturing motion. Longboarding is fun motion to capture! Thankfully the rain held off and we got in some fun! Matt's brother Bryan came along for the ride!