Lebanon Baloney

I have been having lots of adventures in parenting lately. Constantly saying things I never imagine I would and then all of a sudden I hear my mother come out of my mouth. It's kind of scary how that happens. I have even been using old sayings like, "hold your horses." There's just something funny about first, expecting an 18 month old to have patience, but even then using coloquilialisms like "hold your horses" to get your point across. I was reminiscing a bit about my poor mom and the crazy things I did as a kid and then a good "I told you so" story sprung to mind.

I was probably about 8 years old, if I had to guess, and we were off on a family day trip to Lancaster County, PA. I used to dread these trips of shopping and such but now I could only wish to get such a day of fun. Anyhow, we stopped off at one of the local places for lunch that had all the amish fare. After looking over the menu, I declared that I would have a Lebanon baloney sandwich for lunch. My mom tried to convince me that it wasn't regular baloney and I probably wouldn't like it. I wouldn't listen (imagine that, me being stubborn). Our family also had a strict "you order it, you eat it" policy so I should've thought this out a bit better but nevertheless, I ordered the Lebanon baloney. Of course when it came I thought it was gross, didn't want to eat it, and tried to get sympathy. There wasn't anything but "I told you so" coming from my parents' mouths and of course my brother was loving it too. Who knows what he ate for lunch but because he cleaned his plate, he was allowed to order dessert. I, of course, did not get to order dessert.

He got a beautiful ice cream sundae and proceeded to pretty much stare at me while eating it slowly licking off each bite from his spoon. It was like torture but apparently my brother was too full to finish the ice cream. As we were done our lunch and started making our way to the door, I told my mom that I forgot my coat at the table (which was true). So I ran back, got my coat and saw the unfinished portion of my brother's ice cream screaming my name. I got the spoon and started eating what was left of the delightful sundae! My mom wondered what was taking me so long and came to find me, as she approached me eating the ice cream the only thing she could do was laugh. To this day I don't remember if the coat "leave behind" was pre-meditated to get the ice cream but my family definitely doesn't let me live this story down. And really the lesson in all of it? You should definitely listen to your mother!

Snow Day!

We have been lucky this year to have a few nice snowfalls already, and yes I just said lucky. I love snow, always have! I lived in one of those houses that snow was always reason for celebration. Maybe it's because we had a slew of 4 x 4 vehicles and one even included a plow, so snow never stopped us from fun! My dad was usually big into taking us sledding or 4 wheeling or other snow adventures. Still makes me smile to think about it and definitely want to share that with my kids. Here's one of M & D's first ride on a sled (Mimi & Poppop got it for them for Christmas)!

And definitely don't judge me that Dean isn't wearing gloves, he HAS gloves, we had glove issues with him :) We were only about for 10 minutes so all his fingers are still in tact!

Confessions...

I haven't confessed a lot lately so it's time!

1. I watched the bachelor on Monday night, unclear if I will keep watching or not. Why is it so hard to resist? Maybe it's a lack of other new shows on in January but it's addicting like a bag of m & m's!

2. I got a new Dunkin' Donuts coupon book in the mail today and I was about as excited about that as I was about Christmas cards!

3. My Christmas decorations were starting to drive me insane so they went down in a whirlwind on New Years Day night.

4. I am not a fan of the play station 3 and the effect it has on my husband along with the game " call of duty - black ops" - ladies, you know what I am talking about? I think I could be on fire in the same room and he wouldn't notice if he was playing!

5. My babies are 18 months old already! We have been having so much fun together, I like them a lot better when they are not sick and grumpy day after day!

6. I am ridiculously excited to watch a new Grey's Anatomy tonight.

7. I ate out more than once today, Pizza hut for dinner totally hit the spot but I am sure it cancels out the salad I ate for lunch :)

8. I bought Reese puff cereal this week and considered hiding it from my husband (who also loves it). I tried to tell him he couldn't eat it for breakfast, it was strictly a purchase for late night snacks! That didn't really work considering I caught him eating it this morning - he said the "balanced" part of that breakfast was his bagel on the side!

9. I have been having a field day with holiday gift cards, todays steals and deals included cute stuff for the kids at Old Navy & Babies R Us - both having wicked sales. Dean got new chuck taylors in a super fun green for $5.16 and Macy got her own "boots with the fur" for $6.99 at Old Navy. Also scored some cute gear for them in sizes for next year! These pics are just on an ipod so don't judge quality...And yes they are modeling their new footwear with their pjs!

10. There's a clean basket of laundry I have now ignored & not folded for going on 48 hours now.

11. My phone died today and I had to make a visit to the verizon store, not my favorite place - I swear they make up things and speak another language!

12. My dog went to the groomer today and because was so handsome and clean smelling when he was done, he got to ride home in the front seat (like old times when he was the only "kid").

2010 Favorites of Families and Little Ones

I promised so I must deliver :) It can be really hard to look through a year's worth of work and pull out a batch of images. So again, I just chose some of the images that I have loved from this year - some happen to be client favorites and others have just become personal favs of mine. Makes me smile to think of how much some of these little ones have already grown since they have been in front of my camera! And if you are looking through this thinking "hey why didn't my beautiful family/child make this list" really it's only because I would run out of space. 

I am also looking for feedback on viewing images in the blog, I am trying just a simple watermark on this batch of images verses my custom banner - appreciate feedback. Is the watermark less distracting to the image than the banner? Just always working to make the best viewing experience for you the reader.

I am now booking 2011 sessions if you are interested, contact me, would love to work with you! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR friends!

Wedding Favorites, Part 2

Lets face it, most of us are all wrapped up (pun intended :) getting everything together for Christmas! It's Christmas Eve Eve - not much time left! So take a deep breath and check out some more of my wedding favorites from 2010. Again, these aren't necessarily perfect or even the clients favorites but they are my favorites, they mean something to me as the artist. I myself can even get wrapped up looking at these wedding photos and loving to the new, fresh, untarnished love of newlyweds! We all need to be reminded of that now and then! 

I think that this will be my final post this week so MERRY CHRISTMAS! Keep an eye out next week for the family and kids addition of the favorites!

Ashli & Bobby, October 2010

Holly and Tom, Brandywine Country Club, May 2010

(I usually don't include photos of guests but I just love this one.)

Devon & TC, June 2010

Lauren & Adam, July 2010

M & D see Santa!

Ok I feel a lot like Elf, I get giddy when I hear things like "Santa is coming!" Can't help it, my parents did a good job of getting us excited about Christmas when we were younger. Matt & I hope to do the same for our kids. We headed to the mall last night in the frigid air in hopes of getting to see the big man without a screaming fit... SUCCESS! Santa was busy feeding his reigndeer when we got there because it was indeed in the middle of dinnertime. Thankfully M & D made the wait like good little toddlers even with growling tummies :) We didn't get a smiling photo but there was no screaming and they genuinely liked Old St. Nick! They couldn't stop waving to him when we left! Enjoy friends :)

Some Wedding favorites of 2010 - Part 1

If you follow this blog at all, you know I adore wedding photography. I fell into it after college and fell in love. This year was a GREAT wedding for me! I got to photograph all over DE and PA with all fabulous brides with unique weddings. I had some dream moments as a photographer and I believe even some personal break throughs in my work. This is going to be an epic photo post so just enjoy. Some of these you have seen before and might be familiar while others will be new to your eyes. I pulled a lot of what are my favorites, not necessarily because they are perfect but because they are captured moments. They are moments I was able to watch unfold through my lens and capture, best part of my job! I had a hard time narrowing down, this is always a problem for me to edit myself so I did my best and will be doing this in two parts!

On a side note two things friends:

1. I have learned this year that my sort of "off center" aesthetic can sometimes get old - no one has ever said this to me but i learned it myself looking through my work this year. I never want to be stale or do the same thing over and over so the tilt to the left - although it will never vanish from how I see things I will be more careful not to have so many photos in a batch taken at the same angle. Thanks for noticing and being nice about it :) 

2. I am accepting weddings for 2011 - many of you have been wondering due to the baby. I will be able to book weddings through early April and should be back in business in late July/early August. Please feel free to contact me about your date even if you aren't sure! 

Look out later this week for the kid/family edition of my favorites from 2010!

Alan & Nicole, Cavaliers Country Club

Kristin & Nick, Bridal Shoot in Gibraltar Gardens

Matt & Meghan, Lewes Canal Park

2010 Personal Reflections

What a year 2010 has been, thought I should take a few moments to reflect. When New Year rang in, I had two cute chubby babies who still stayed wherever I left them. That is a huge contrast to the very active toddlers I have today!  My days are filled with hugs, cries, smiles, tears, poo diapers, messes, boo boos, laundry and all other kinds of things that come with toddler territory. Take today for instance; Dean woke up with poo exploding out the top of his diaper so his initiation to the day was a jump in the shower with daddy to get the poo off! Dean also has a case of of pink eye with goo leaking out his eye, and because of this, as any mother knows, that stuff spreads like wildfire so we are home bound. And that was only the first couple hours of my day :)

In 2010, we have been to the doctor what feels like a jillion times this year, complete with a few late night emergency room visits with things like croup, pneumonia, etc. I know that I technically became a mom in 2009 and those six months taught me tons but this year has been FULL of even more mommy lessons. Macy & Dean learned to walk this year, got big kid teeth, and all sorts of new developments. As the kids grow and change, I am forced to grow and change with them! I am excited and nervous as to what a third little Troutman will bring to our lives in summer 2011. I don’t know what I thought motherhood would be but I have to say it’s the biggest blessing and the biggest challenge I have ever been faced with.

 Another major part of my world is my photography, which has been great for me this year. It has been a huge growth year for me with continuing to develop my style, my skills and my business overall. I am thankful each bride and groom that trusted me with their wedding day and feel like I came away with some of my best work yet. I know I still have much to learn about running a business, it’s yet another part of my life that requires constant growth and change. I have also loved all the other photography projects I have been a part of this year with little ones, couples and families. Each time I get behind the camera to capture a nugget of someone’s life I get excited and remember why I love it so much! I was also able to do some professional workshops and events this year, which was a huge blessing and also allowed me to make some new photo friends. Meeting Jasmine Star was a definite highlight and getting a family photo session with Rae Barnes was also great for our family. I am definitely looking forward to what 2011 will bring for Emily Troutman Photography.

And last but not least, there’s the love of my life, my Matt. He puts up with my crazy and works his butt off to take care of us. We have been through many challenges together and learn through most of them. I think what I re-learn through each challenge is that I am glad he’s the one who I am facing them with.

*I wrote the above part of this post in the early afternoon. My day continued to take a turn for the interesting. I (thankfully) had started putting together a shepherd’s pie for dinner while the kids were still napping. When they woke up, Dean’s eye was about swollen shut with goop and it did not look good. Called the doc and got the last appointment of the day – you know how that goes. I had to be at the doc at 4:20 with Dean, meanwhile Matt had to eat dinner and be out the door by 5:30 for job # 2 and I knew I wouldn’t be back. Thankful for good friends who happen to be neighbors that came to the rescue on that one!  By the time we got Dean to the doc, he had a fever too. Thankfully (after waiting over an hour – hey it was the end of the day, what did I expect) we found out that it is just pink eye and he did have some wheezing in the lungs which means breathing treatments. I tell you all this to drive home the point that motherhood is a crazy adventure that rarely allows you to get bored or sit still! Also, if you seem me around any time soon and I look exhausted, you know why – this was just a random Wednesday in my life and you see all that it had!

And here's a cute video Matt took while he & macy had dinner :)

Christmas card confessions...

I confess, Christmas cards are hard for me now! Like I have shared before, taking pictures of my own kids is a near impossibility sometimes. They refuse to even look in my direction or if they do, it's certainly not at the same time. As a photographer, I feel like there's a lot of pressure for my Christmas card to be quality. I mean who would want me to take pics of their family or kids for Christmas if mine doesn't even look good?? That would be like being a hair stylist with hideous hair!

My husband I set out with our kids on one of those unseasonably warm days a couple weeks ago to attempt the Christmas card shoot. Kids were dressed cutely in their new gap outfits (thank you 30% off friends and family sale!), but don't you know they were not having it. Mostly it was the fact that we were in a beautiful park and all they wanted to do was run, play with the leaves and pick up sticks..not sit cutely in front of my camera. I literally wanted to pull my hair out....all that presssure and I was going to have an ugly Christmas card. Ok well I am a little dramatic, we eventually got a cute individual shot of each kid and one of them together where Dean was trying to escape the frame.I was so discouraged after the shoot that we even tried again later while decorating an outdoor tree at my in-laws. The kids did love the lights but they were still impossible to get good pictures of!

I will be mailing our cards this week so I won't reveal it yet but here are some outtakes for your enjoyment :) Happy Christmas Card making to the rest of you!!

This one made me laugh so hard, I actually thought about making this my card but the hubby refused. It's  pretty true to life these days :)

Probably not recommended to chew xmas lights but it was still cute :) And again, true to life! 

Here's some lights Daddy.. he was helping :)

This really sums Dean up well... a blur running with a smile and a weapon :)

Daddy was playing peek a boo on the other side of this wall.

Again, this is perfectly Dean :) Playing with a stick!

Hope you got a smile out of these, at the end of the day I do certainly laugh a lot!

More Mini Session fun!

While I await the appliance man's arrival, I am trying to be productive. We are getting new kitchen appliances today, they were supposed to come yesterday but you know how these things work. I am excited though, the 20 year old appliances that came with the house are tired & sad. I really can't wait to bake in a new oven and let me tell you, can't wait for a fridge that doesn't have wire racks. I mean, wire racks? Whoever invented that didn't think, everything tips and spills! Anyhow...sorry for the tangent :)

SO here are some more fun shots that came out of this fall's mini sessions! I got to shoot some of my regular clients and even meet some new ones in these sessions. The kids all seemed to have a blast roaming the pumpkins and apples for their sessions. And the last shot was of two friends who decided to do a BFF photo shoot, it was a super fun idea. When do friends get great pictures together?! 

 

Wedding Day, Ashli & Bobby

This was my last wedding of the season this year! I have known Ashli for a long time now and this girl can always make me laugh. Her wedding day was no exception, we had an absolute blast! We thankfully had a beautiful day, a little on the cloudy side but we made do! We were running out of daylight but here are some of my favorite shots from the day. 

The Fahrion Family

I met this great family through our previous church and we had a great time in a small group together. Of course I was excited when Tory asked me to do their family portraits! They are one of our great US Military families, I am definitely just so thankful for families that daily make the sacrifice to serve. I also am thankful for families like this that are an absolute blast to photograph! We had tons of fun doing this shoot! (I saved the super funny pics for the families eyes only, they might kill me if I shared them :)

Thanks for snorting Mr. Gross Man & Humbled

So this past week I had a cool experience. Remember when I met Jasmine Star and talked all about her and other cool people I met?? Well I should really start at the beginning of that day at WPPI. I had a terrible seat...I was sitting next to a middle aged man (no offense middle age men readers) but he had a constant throat clearing/snorting problem that had me utterly grossed out during the first presentation. I had to endure his issues for almost 2 hours and I couldn't wait to change seats! For the second session I made my way closer to the front of the room and settled in near a few friendly female faces, one of which was Rhonda Bowman. We started chatting & realized we were both from DE...if you are from DE you know how it goes from there, if you're not related you at least have some people in common :) Kentucky has got nothing on us! Haha, sorry KY friends. 

Anyhow, I digress. I learned lots of great things that day about photography and business but the most lasting gift I got that day was a new friendship with Rhonda. Read her version of the story on her blog - it's SO worth it & check out her photo work while you're there! She even got pulled out of the audience that day to get this portrait taken by Clay Blackmore! 

I am definitely thankful and humbled by how God chooses to work. So thanks Mr. Gross Snorting Man for forcing me to change seats so that I could meet Rhonda :)

Monday Confessions

1. First confession, it's been good to finally let everyone know the news about baby number 3! I just can't believe I am only a week away from being done my first trimester already!

2. Speaking of pregnancy, everyone is different but one thing remains - I crave cheeseburgers. I am vowing not to gain as much weight this time around (hey it's one, not two) and it's hard to hold off the need for the burgers! YUM! The hilarious thing is that when I am not pregnant, I only eat burgers very occasionally.

3. I totally ate a burger for lunch today :)

4. I really have the urge to bake pumpkin choc chip muffins today but I forgot that my oven might still be toxic from the plastic melting incident at Halloween. I am afraid we might need a new oven.. no joke.

5. I am SO HAPPY my kids are feeling better. They are much more fun when they are not sick!

6. Making clients happy makes me happy - heard from three happy clients this morning, great way to start a Monday :)

7. My best friend flies in from Texas today, looking forward to fun with her and her son!

8. I am reading the biography of Amy Carmichael as written by Elisabeth Elliot, it's called A Chance to Die. Amy was mainly a missionary to India for the majority of her adult life in the early 1900's, but she also had served in Japan early on. Her story is kicking my butt and challenging my own faith. Mostly I think about the things I worry/complain about on a daily basis and absolutely nothing compares. Amy was so much more concerned constantly with sharing Jesus and honoring God than she was with daily comforts. In fact, she rarely gave herself comforts of any kind - including the fact that she served in India for over 50 years with never even taking a furlough (vacation). Her main work was with children and freeing young girls from forced prostitution. When Amy was asked once what is the missonary life like, her response was "Missionary life is simply a chance to die." If you need a good encouragement or butt kick, read a biography of someone who did something extraordinary with their life and faith. Sometimes I wonder if my little mommy, mini-van world is making a difference and I pray that I would continue to be challenged to make a difference!

Amy & some Indian Children

Since the last confession was long I will leave you with - Happy Monday friends!

Beautiful Bridal Session

It was a dream session for me last week, sunny 74 degrees the week of Halloween, yummy late afternoon sun and one of the most gorgeous gardens I have ever seen! Oh, and did I mention a beautiful bride with her handsome groom? Well it's a fun story, Nick & Kristin are friends of ours. They actually got married last September on the seriously RAINIEST day ever! They weren't able to get hardly any outdoor shots and the ones they did get (although cute) had umbrellas! Needless to say, when Kristin chose getting married in September she was dreaming of that warm 74 degree sunshine day to say "i do." Since that didn't happen, she decided to do an anniversary shoot this year which turned out fabulous in my opinion. I love this idea for lots of reasons - 

1. She didn't get the type of wedding day pics she wanted so NOW she has them :)

2. We were in no hurry or rush like a wedding day, it was so relaxed and we had so much fun during this session. Our only care was not running out of daylight!

3. They have a full year of marriage to celebrate and they still look darn good in that tux & dress! 

Without further delay, here comes the eye candy! Kristin, so glad we fulfilled your wedding day wishes with this shoot!

Why we had to buy a mini van last night...

Never say never, or so I have learned. I learned that this saying is extremely applicable to most all of parenting. Like even right now I am letting my kids watch a portable DVD player with Baby Einstein as they sit strapped in their high chairs - hey, don't judge. I said I would never do that either and here we are :) Well we also never thought we would have twins but they blessings far outweigh the challenges! We also never thought that I would be writing this 10 weeks pregnant with baby number 3! Yes friends, I am expecting our third child on June 1st! It has come as a huge surprise to us to be expecting again while our twins are only 16 months old, but we are embracing God's plan for our family!

So also never say never to the mini van. I SWORE I would never drive one of these things and now it's really the only thing that will make sense for our family of 5. We will have 3 kids under the age of 2 who will all need car seats for some time so this makes the most sense. I felt all my last ounces of "cool" that I might have had left melting away last night as I signed the papers for our "new to us" Toyota Sienna. Hey - if you haven't heard though, it's really called a "Swagger Wagon!" I definitely can't complain though, it's super nice and has all the gadgets a young family could need. We are thankful for God's provision (it was literally an even trade with our Highlander and we walked away with an even smaller payment than previously!). My husband said to me "you aren't cool anymore, you're a mom"....haha thanks honey!

So there you have it, we've had a week of the sickies at our house and along with my prego self it has been good to stay in pajamas and snuggle until we all felt better. I am looking forward to see what it's like to just carry one baby at a time :) And yes, we did see a healthy strong heartbeat last week and confirmed it was only ONE!

Here are some pics, one of our new van and one of our new baby! Happy Friday!

Pebbles & BamBam wish you happy Monday!

Whew, we had a busy weekend which of course means that the kids are coming down with something at the same time! Hopefully it's just a cold with the change of seasons but you know how that goes. I had my last round of fall mini sessions, a halloween party, the ceremony to lay my grandfather's ashes to rest, and Halloween itself all over the weekend. We had a lot of fun as a family this past weekend as well. If you didn't catch this picture yet on facebook, here are M & D in their costumes :)

Mini Sessions aren't just for kiddos!

I know some of you out there might think that mini sessions might just be for kids or families. Not the case at all! Here are some nice examples of how couples (& their pets :) can take advantage of a great mini session as well! These are all personal friends of mine and I know what you are thinking "Emily, you have great looking friends" - I couldn't agree more! :) I also hope you see that I have friends with a great sense of humor, hence the pumpkin photo! 

Happy Saturday night!

confessions

I haven't done confessions in a while & I realize they are normally on friday or Monday but I feel it's time to confess...

1. I ate taco bell for lunch and it hit the spot! I always make fun of my husband for liking it but every once in a while I like it too :)

2. I found the funniest show yesterday on A & E called "billy the exterminator!" No joke! He's a redneck with a mullet from Louisiana but I had a great time watching him catch a rattle snake and try to coral some turkeys. Seriously... 

3. I TRIED to stay away from the real housewives but to no avail. I watched the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills & my jaw hit the floor a few times! I think it secretly does make me feel better that money truly can't buy your happiness or fix your chaos!

4. I have already been Christmas shopping here and there. Do you know it's just shy of 2 months away people?!

5. I have let my kids have their first lolly pops and they love them! 

6. I have been dreading making dinner lately. I am out of ideas & steam as to what to make. I hate grocery shopping with 2 kids also so it makes it even more challenging...I actually need to own food to cook :)

Six is not my usual number but that's all the confessions I have for today!
Happy Wednesday friends!

More Mini Sessions!

You might remember my little friend Christian from a year ago. His Aunt stole him for an afternoon so that we could do a photo session and surprise his mommy at Christmas. It was a great success! This year I got to have the whole family in front of my lens which was a special treat. Christian got a little brother, Chase, in the last year so we definitely needed to get some pictures of him too! I had tons of fun with this family at the Hagley sessions. Enjoy!