New Blog!

Yay! A new blog! I admit, its kinda bittersweet leaving my little home at blogspot that I've had for the past few years, but now I'm off to bigger and better things! Change your bookmarks and your blog feeds...come on over to the new Amy Schuff Photography Blog!


Amy Schuff Photography Blog

Happy Birthday... & Week 35/52

My baby girl turned 1 today. I keep getting a lot of "has it been a year already!?" from friends, etc. I am the most surprised out of all of us. This year flew by and I'm not that happy about it! I admit I've been emotional, thinking about the past year and how she's my last baby and what it means for our family...and me as a mama. She's just about walking now, and pretty soon the days of a crawling baby will be gone. I wish I could go back to my young mother self, when Abby was first born, I would tell myself, "Enjoy these days! They grow up so fast!" Lily's been my indulged baby :) And I like it that way.

Remember last year at this time? I sure do :) When I posted this photo I never thought what would happen in the days that followed. I actually am pretty fond of those days that I was overdue with Lily. This by far is my favorite one that I took, it is still on my fridge :) I seriously considered resorting to this...but was a wimp. My husband was a huge inspiration during those days, especially for this one...he deflated his basketball just for me :) But finally, she decided it was time to make her appearance. It was true, she wouldn't stay in my tummy for forever, although at times I thought she would. She arrived in a quick 3 hours and 17 minutes (I remember exactly when I went into hard labor because it was during an episode of LOST!!) I'm happy that is behind me now, and all I have to look forward to is my baby girl...learning to walk...or to use a spoon...or to be able to eat her food without having to cut it up into tiny pieces. :)

My two birthday loves one year ago...



and now...



Week 35/52 on her birthday

Week 34/52

I've felt uninspired all week. We're dealing with whole family sickness here, as well as all the crap issues that come with buying a house!

Anyway, whenever I'm feeling uninspired when it comes to taking my week's photo, (and this can be a tip for you out there as well doing this challenge with me) I just think of something insanely mundane. This week, feeding a bottle. Lily turns a year old next Sunday, and she is in no way ready to be weaned from a bottle. I wonder how many feedings we've had together? It's just routine now, make a bottle, feed a bottle, repeat. But this kind of action I still want to document. I want to remember all the bottles and how little she was when she would drink from one. She'll grow to be like Mommy one day with her Coke a day habit. Right now the most unhealthy thing to touch her lips is the dirt she ate out of Grammy's potted plant last night :) So here we are...doing our thing.

Week 33/52

a bazillion loads of laundry to fold + mommy's deep hatred of folding laundry = lots of time outs for tickle fights

What to do...

...so the other morning, the family went and said goodbye one last time to Grandma. It wasn't as sad as I thought it would be, don't get me wrong, there were tears, but it really was a beautiful morning. It only rained a little bit, bringing out the worms onto the road. The kids were having a ball and it served as our entertainment while we waited. The kids were oblivious. How do you explain such a morning to a 5 & 3 a year old? I'm not sure how to explain it to a 27 year old...

So putting aside the great sadness of the morning, my family came together and did what we do best...we laughed together, chatted, talked about nothing really. We made jokes and doted on the baby, we stared at my sister who is wonderfully newly pregnant (and I'm so excited about it I could just burst!)

I debated whether to blog these photos, since they are all so personal to me and most of the world out there that views this blog won't understand at all what is happening in them, or even why they are personal (catching worms? personal?)...but my family will understand...and these are for them. Nothing special, but very special.

We all went out to lunch afterward at her favorite restaurant...she would have loved it.

So what to do now? What else?? Live life, love each other, laugh, tell jokes, catch worms (and follow with great amounts of hand sanitizer), don't sweat the small stuff (easier said than done) and trust that the God who made heaven and earth is All Powerful and All Knowing. He is taking care of our loved ones and we will see them again one day......





















This one's for mom!

wk 32/52

~ Bath time ~



*For anyone who is interested, this was shot with my d200 and new 28-75 2.8f lens with the black & white setting in camera, iso 1600 (dark bathroom!), 2.8f, 1/100. I really love the black & whites straight out of the camera. I ran a light defog on the photo and added some grain for a filmy look. It's amazing that I had to ADD grain, with an iso of 1600 there should be an absolute ton of grain, but I find that taking the photo in b&w really minimizes the grain.

*and with that....I am caught up!! I'm so enjoying taking these pictures each week. I just got that new lens so maybe I can take advantage of it this week and try something different. We'll see!

wk 31/52 & the snow

We visited the snow a couple weeks ago. Jeremy luurrves the snow, I in a few words *do not*. (I blame my Father because he took us to the beach and not the snow growing up...give me an ocean over a mountain Any Day!) But since I love my man, I'll bundle my babies up and walk around frozen ice for a few hours. :) This was the first time I had taken any photos in the snow. Any of you out there looking to me for guidance on taking pictures in the snow...please do not! Man it is difficult!

This photo SO my children...Abby the Helper, Lily the Joyful, Zach the Cranky. I love 'em all so much.


I know Lily is getting a ton of attention with my weekly photos, but she's pretty much the most cooperative lately! I know I need to get Zachy in some pictures. I'll work on that.

wk 30/52

I really love this photo :) There's saliva ALLL over the window!! I'll let her do pretty much anything for a photograph!

wk 29/52

wk 28/52

Week 28 was taken back during Christmas week. Wow I am so behind. I think some people would have given up by now, but really, I think this is a lot of fun. I still have about 3 more weeks to catch up on, and with 3 little ones I'm catching up slowly, but I will! My plan is to be caught up by Friday when I will post Week 32. Hmmm....can I do it in 2 days?

So anyway, I got lucky with this photo! I guess I wasn't paying attention and didn't take a scheduled photo of me & the kids that week. So I went searching...and found this one :) :) Can you find me and Abby?

And that is Lily's first ornament right in the middle there from Grandma...

Railroad Museum & wk 27/52

I'm catching up on the pictures that I had to put on hold when my computer crashed. We had a lot of fun over the holidays and we were able to spend some quality time with Jeremy's parents. We visited the train museum and no matter how many times we go there, it is still pretty fun :) I took my week 27 photo that day too.




He really loves playing with trains.

Betcha' didn't know I was taking a picture of you Grandma :)


Yeah, she dug the trains :)



The Fam'

Week 27

Something Lost...

...her babyhood...and her first tooth.

wk 26/52

Ok, I'm going to slowly catch up on my project 52 photos now that I have my computer back and can access my files. I'm pretty sure I was taking my photos, but we'll see! This one was about to be posted right as my computer died. So here's week 26, I thought since you've seen the bottom of my feet, you might as well see the tops. (...and I'm sure I've said it before, but don't you dare look at the laundry on my couch!!)

More from Disney...

...I just had to share some more from our trip last month! We had such a fun time. Abby was able to ride everything! She did NOT like Tower of Terror and I can't believe I let my baby ride it, but she survived :) Zach, what a sweetie, you should have seen his face when he was told he was a "big boy" and could ride Thunder Mountain. He grew 10 feet tall at that moment! He still talks about "Indiana Jones" although that was certainly not one he was able to go on. Lily...she was very mellow and just went with the flow. I remember when Abby was her age she screamed at all the kid rides and when we met any Disney character. Not Lily! She loved it all.

Munching on her french toast shaped like mickey ears :)








I love this photo. It is missing some of the family, but in the photo you can see my Mom holding Lily, my Dad behind her holding a sleepy Zach, Jeremy, my brother in law Chris right in front and my amazing sister Kendra's lower half right next to him :) She's got way more Disney flair than I do. This was my first year introduced to the joy that is "pin trading".

What a wonderful Christmas gift...

Born on Christmas, this sweet little 2 week old baby boy was such a dream. He was so tiny and curly! I truly enjoy newborn photography. It takes an extreme amount of patience and also a willingness to sweat a bit! (as we crank up the heat in the house for the baby in the buff!!) I had such a wonderful time, what a great session to start off 2009.

I will have many more photos to share from this session, but I wanted to share this one real quick.

All snugly in his cocoon.

So happy...

...that I have my computer back! Finally I can update this sorely neglected blog. I have so many photos to post, so the next few days will definitely a be a posting marathon. I've got to catch up on my Project 52 self photos, as well as I just shot my first session of 2009...an adorable 2 week old baby boy! I'm very excited for 2009. Some great changes are in store, personally, professionally...good stuff!!

Here's some shots of Lily, I think I was in a moody mood when I took these! Not my normal editing style, I'll blame it on the weather :) (Can you believe next month Lily turns 1?)