Claire was about three weeks old in this picture, so technically it’s not very old. But it makes me laugh, so I had to share.

HOLLA!

I just had to come share this snapshot of Macy trying on my lipstick. (Taken with my p&s camera.) She actually did a pretty good job applying it! I don’t wear lipstick very often, so I usually come out looking pretty similarly. Ha ha!

1. This morning’s breakfast conversation:
Macy: I have a problem.
Daddy: What’s your problem?
Macy: It’s a secret.
Daddy: It’s a secret? What’s your secret?
Macy: It’s a mystery.
Daddy: Oh, a mystery?
Macy: It’s a mystery. The car said bye-bye in Chinese.

Huh? Must be some sort of secret-spy code speak. I half expected ten tiny ninjas to come bursting through my ceiling.

2. Claire is at the stage where she rolls onto her tummy and can’t get back. Eleventy-thousand times a day. And night. The joy.

3. Have I mentioned Claire has a bit of a temper? She gets this little pouty lip, then scrunches up her little face and just lets loose. Her face turns red, the tears start flowing, and she is LOUD! Kind of makes me wonder what we’re in for when she hits the true tantrum age!

4. While Claire can roll from back to tummy, but not yet tummy to back, I think she is *this close* to sitting up! So many milestones at once! Her hair is also turning blonder and getting longer, which is funny for us, since Macy didn’t grow any hair until she was almost two!

5. We held Potty Training Boot Camp at our house this weekend, and I think it was a raging success! We started Saturday morning with a ceremonial trashing of all the diapers and pull-ups, and we had a celebration that night with balloons, party hats and brownies! There have been a few accidents, of course, but she has stayed dry ALL NIGHT for THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW!! WAHOOOOOO!! I think she has been ready for a while now…we just needed a few days in a row where Mike and I actually had time off together where we had nothing planned!

6. Speaking of time off and no plans, I also thought this past weekend would be a great one to UNPLUG. I first saw the idea on Jodie’s blog, and thought this past weekend would be perfect to give it a try! Of course you know what they say about good intentions! I think I have gotten so used to GO GO GO all the time that it takes some practice to slow down. So while I did spend a LOT of time just playing with my girls and hanging with my hubby, I did work on some editing, answered a ton of emails, and updated the website . I did stay away from Facebook, Twitter and my Google Reader, which is an amazing feat!

7. Speaking of Google Reader…how do you stay up to date with your favorite blogs? (Such as mine. Right?) My preference is Google Reader, where I can get my daily sustenance. I subscribe to photography blogs, family bogs, design blogs, and so on. Love it!

8. The photography business is going fantastically well, and I just can’t thank my clients enough! It has been such a blessing in my life and I’m so excited to see where we go from here!

9. Like I mentioned above, I made a few updates to the website. Check it out and leave a comment here to let me know what you think!

10. Today is the last day of my 4-day weekend. I just. don’t. want. it. to. end. Back to reality tomorrow!

11. Bonus pictures of my two little loves!

1. Macy, Claire and I went home to visit my parents this past weekend. I almost spit out my yogurt Saturday morning when Macy exclaimed, “We’re going to see Nana and her friend! His name is PopPop!” God, that kid cracks me up.

2. Isn’t it funny that I’m 35 29 and still refer to my parents’ house as home? Mike and I have been married for 5 years, living in this house for 3 years and have 2 kids. I guess wherever Mom and Dad are will always feel like home, even if they move again. Which they should. Move, that is. To Raleigh. (That, my friends, is the art of the subtle hint.)

3. So while I was at “home” this weekend, I was thrust into sorting through five boxes of old, old crap junk memorabilia that had been collecting dust in the attic for years. We’re talking stuffed animals that were my mother’s! Cabbage Patch kids! Old softball trophies. And middle school yearbooks. Oh. My. God. Were they ever funny! The clothes, the hair. Oh, the hair. Remember The Poof?

4. I had scratched out my picture in both my 8th and 9th grade yearbooks. At first I laughed at how self-conscious teenagers are, how silly I was to think so little of myself. And about how much more confident I feel as a 35 29-year old woman now. But now as a mother, as I look at my young daughters, I feel a sadness. They too will have to endure those awful, awkward years of teendom. The braces, the breakouts, the feeling that you don’t quite belong. My heart hurts for them. God help me when they are actually out of diapers.

5. Speaking of diapers. I am holding Potty Training Bootcamp at my house beginning August 1st. We will start off with a Diaper and Pull-up Throwing Away Ceremony, and then commence with three straight days of Elmo Potty Seats, Big Girl Underwear, Princess Prizes and Lots of Paper Towels. And if we are lucky, the short one and I will emerge victorious on August 3rd.

6. I am so determined to be a better blogger that I am writing this on Monday. Yes, I know, I’m a dork and quite possibly an Overachiever Wannabe. But in my defense, I have a photo session tomorrow morning with a 9 month old, then a lunchtime seminar, then another photo session with a 3 month old, plus two client orders to deliver. So I figured if I started early on my Tuesday post that I might actually have a Tuesday post. Plus, this keeps me from doing things that I actually ought to be doing right now. I will one day teach this in my class, Master Procrastination. (Psst. Don’t wait for that one…ha ha, get it?)

7. OH! Speaking of “get it!” I could not, did not remember using the saying “Get it!” in middle school. Yet it was written all over the pages…and was so helpfully defined by the yearbook staff as kind of slang-of-the-moment. “Get it: Sure, okay.” WTF? If anyone I went to middle school with remembers this saying, PLEASE tell me what the heck we were talking about?!

8. When I went to middle school, it was called junior high. Whatever happened to junior high? Why is it called middle school now? And who decides this kind of stuff? It might be nice to meet someone who can call shots like that. Must be a pretty powerful kind of job. Hmm.

9. This is the most random, rambling Ten on Tuesday post EVER. Just sayin’.

10. I used to write. A lot. I even took a writing correspondence course when I was in middle school. (Go ahead and say it, I know you want to!) But I enjoyed it, and I’m thinking of picking it up again. And lucky you, my blog reader(s) (there is more than one of you out there, right? Right? Anyone….anyone….? Hi mom!) get to sit back and laugh! Won’t that be FUN!?

And in the spirit of 8th grade…TTFN! KIT! Smooches!

Friends and clients often ask me how to take better pictures of their children on an everyday basis, so I thought I’d do a blog post for everyone. Keep in mind these few simple tips to improve the photos you are capturing of your children!

1. Get low! Getting down on a child’s level is key. Squat down, sit on the floor, lay in the grass. The difference will be more photos of her beautiful face versus the top of his head.

2. Keep it simple! Avoid distracting backgrounds to let his star shine brightest. Bright colors or a busy background really draw the eye of the viewer away from your subject.

3. Go natural! Posing is fine, but if you’re like me, you get nothing but “say cheese!” fake smiles. Hang back and capture your child in action…running through the sprinklers, concentrating on a puzzle, giggling with her sister.

4. Be prepared! Carry your camera in your purse or diaper bag to capture the unexpected, picture-worthy moments when you’re out and about.

5. Take it easy! Picture-taking can be stressless if you stress less. So you didn’t get the perfect shot you had envisioned? Just try again tomorrow. You don’t want your child to associate the camera with feeling pressured. If it’s not fun for him,, it won’t be fun for anyone!

And a bonus tip: Hand the camera off to someone and step into the frame too! Your child doesn’t care if you are having a bad hair day or if you need to lose 20 pounds. Just get in the picture!

And just a few fun ones of my big girl Claire, since a post isn’t a post without a picture!

My family and I went to beautiful Edenton, NC this weekend for an annual family get-together. My little cousin Johnny (I have to stop calling him my little cousin - he’s not so little anymore!) and I slipped away to take some quick snaps for his mom. Karen, I hope you like these! I’m excited to show you the rest!

Back off, ladies. He’s under-age!

I know I haven’t been keeping up with sharing my own little bits lately. I went back to work about 3 weeks ago, and we’re still trying to find our new groove. Even though Claire really is an easy baby, it’s just harder logistically to get everything done!

So, Claire is smiling and laughing all the time now, and is just a delight. And Macy’s imagination grows more and more every day - she is now making up her own songs and singing them to us. So adorable! I really need to video her more often than I do. I just never want to forget her at this age…even with the drama of being two, it’s so much fun!

Happy baby!

Okay, I know I just said she smiles and laughs all the time…but two of my favorites from May are her more serious look.

Texans may have bluebonnets, but here in Carolina, we’ve got…umm…dandelions?

We went to VA to celebrate PopPop’s birthday, and Macy got to play with her cousin. I just love her expressions in this little series!

I can’t believe it’s the first of June already! I’ve got 4 newborns to photograph this month, as well as a few other client sessions that I’m looking forward to; a family reunion; my 35th birthday (what?!?); and many fun summer days in our backyard on the brand new swingset!

On a client note: June is totally booked, but I’ve got some open spots in July and August. Email me: christy@christyjohnson.com!

1. This will be a photo-less post. Sorry! I’ve been so busy I haven’t had much time to actually take any pictures. Sad, isn’t it?

2. I go back to work in less than a week. Before today, I was feeling confident that I CAN do it all. Today? My stomach is starting to knot up. :/

3. Does anyone have any good crockpot recipes to share? It’s one of the strategies I’m putting into place to help manage my time and still feed my family something other than Happy Meals.

4. I’m still about 20 lbs over what I weighed when I got pregnant with Claire. And I need to start fitting into my work clothes next week?! So I started doing the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. It’s totally kicking my butt, but I think it’s working! I haven’t lost any weight yet, but I can feel my strength and endurance building. The best part is that it’s only a 20 minute workout, so I can exercise in the morning and get on with my day. I’m going to try really hard to stick with it when I go back to work.

5. Mike has started doing the 30 Day Shred DVD too…and amazingly I might be in better shape than he is! He’ll probably lose more weight faster than me…boys have it so easy.

6. Claire will be 11 weeks old on Friday. That’s almost three months. It’s just unbelievable how fast time flies!

7. I’m really excited to show you some of the new products I will start offering this summer. I’ve got one thing in, but I can’t post about it until after Mother’s Day!

8. I don’t grocery shop anymore. You might find it lazy, you might think it’s a waste of money. But I order my groceries online through Lowe’s Foods Personal Shopper Service and set up a time window to pick them up. It saves me a lot of hassle and stress in trying to get through the store with 2 kids…it saves me time because I can do place my order online while I’m watching tv or editing photos…and it does save me money because I’m still able to compare prices BUT I don’t buy all of the random crap that ended up in my shopping cart while wandering the aisles! It’ll work out pretty well when I go back to work too, as the store is right on my way home from work.

9. Now I just need to get better at meal planning. Any tips? I really hate cooking, but I need to learn to embrace it.

10. One year. That’s my timeframe for going full time with my photography business. Wish me luck and send your friends my way!

Happy Anniversary to my dear, dear husband as we celebrate 5 years of marriage today. I remember when we first got married, we said we’d plan a big trip for our fifth anniversary. Ha! Luckily Grandma and Grandpa are taking the 2.5 year old AND the 2.5 month old for a night so we can at least have some alone time…to sleep!

In honor of flashback Friday, here are some pictures from our wedding. (Images by A Moment Like This.)

Happy anniversary, honey! I can’t wait to see what the next five years bring. I love you!