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DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 31

August 2, 2016

Your friendly DFW newborn photographer here, closing out Week 31 of my Project 365. There is still about a month of summer left….yikes. We are just enjoying the long and sunny days, trying to make the most of pool season, but I’m also kind of excited that school will be starting back up so we can get into a more normal routine. I’m sure all parents are with me on that one.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 31

208/366: The boys made breakfast for dinner!

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

209/366: Loading into the car for Spanish camp. Someone always wakes up super early, yet despite this I would not classify him as a ‘morning person’. Giving me the attitude at 9am really paves the way for a pleasant day, doesn’t it?

210/366: Cover your ears.

211/366: Another day, another trip to Home Depot.

212/366: The many faces of a four year old. I had a cake smash session earlier in the day, and during clean up time my little guy asked to have his picture taken. So, I obliged and we got about four seconds of four year old, which is basically all the emotions.

213/366: A little Sunday morning sorting pie.

Want to see more? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Google+. Photography is my passion, and I love capturing my family’s story. I would love to be your family story-teller too! Email me for info on newborn or baby portraits in the Dallas/Ft Worth area! Thanks for following my journey.

Heather of H. Parker Photography is a Ft. Worth Newborn Photographer also specializing in baby photography in Fort Worth, Texas and surrounding areas including but not limited to Dallas, Trophy Club and Roanoke.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 30

July 25, 2016

As busy as Week 29 was for this DFW newborn photographer, I have to say that Week 30 was kind of a snooze. Sorry in advance for that, but I thought you deserved fair warning. It seems to always be feast or famine in our household—we’ve either got 1,000 things going on or it’s like crickets chirping.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 30

200/366: Crossing the Day 200 mark!! Nothing exciting to report, just this spaghetti monster sighting.

201/366: Holden likes to quiz me and make sure I know all my sight-words. We take turns, but he loves playing the little teacher (read: boss).

202/366: Doggie bath. I remember when Rufus was a pup and we bathed him every few days. Yeah, flash forward 10 years and now he’s lucky to get a bath once a season. #stinkydogs

203/366: I’m always trying to grow in my photography, so it was a treat to be able to enjoy a webinar on shooting in full sun. I even got to watch it uninterrupted while my son was at daycamp. Winning!

204/366: I guess someone is trying to get in the Olympic spirit? He decided to wear his good sportsmanship medal from soccer around the house all day.

205/366: Sir Shark hanging in the pool.

206/366: My resident seamster. Yeah, I don’t know the dude version of seamstress. My talented husband—he can fix almost anything that’s broken, including clothes.

207/366: It’s summer. We can watch TV in our swimsuits and have marker on our legs.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 29

July 18, 2016

Hello there!! It’s been a super busy, fun week for this DFW newborn photographer.

Most of y’all probably already know this, but my husband is a corporate pilot and has absolutely NO schedule. This has always been a tough thing to deal with as a family, particularly for me because I am so type-A and I want to know what’s going to happen in advance. Anyway, his current job is really about as good as things can get in the aviation world, and there are many times where he goes days without getting called in to work. We never know when the winds might change, so in general we’ve adopted the family motto to ‘make hay while the sun is shining.’ Thus, we deal with the uncertainty by cramming a lot into the days where he is home. Sometimes it’s boring activities—cleaning the house, yardwork, staining the pergola. Other times, we get to indulge in what is almost a mini ‘stay-cation.’ Last week was one of those weeks where it was one fun-filled day after another.

Here’s how things went down:

Monday – Free Slurpee Day, swim lessons, dinner with Pa-Pa at bbq restaurant.
Tuesday – Hawaiian Falls waterpark visit
Wednesday – visit to McDonalds playground, followed by swim lessons
Friday – fun with friends at the trampoline park in the AM; another playgroup with our GCSML buddies in the afternoon.
Saturday – morning soccer game followed by a trip to the movies with Aunt Coco, Uncle Chad, Pa-Pa to watch “Secret Life of Pets.”
Sunday – church and then had some friends over in the afternoon for swimming

It is overwhelming when I write it all out like that, but we had a lot of fun. The thing is, on Monday we really had no concrete plans for the week, and then my husband ended up being home so we kept adding to the fun each day. It was pretty neat, but I have a feeling this week will be more business as usual. It’s okay though, I think at this point we all need a little more routine in our lives.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 29

194/366: 7/11 day!! Are 7-11’s only in Texas? I’m not sure, but I don’t recall ever seeing any when I lived in Louisiana. Anyway, 7-11 is a special holiday celebrated in this family because it means you get a free Slurpee, and free things are really the Parkers favorite things.

195/366: A trip to the waterpark. The first summer where my boy can ride the big kid slides. He was sooo happy, and we stayed from morning until almost dinner time. Someone went down at 6:30 pm for bedtime, and stayed asleep all the way until 7am. That alone was worth the price of admission.

196/366: For the next few weeks, we have this weird time gap between when my son gets out of Spanish camp and when he starts his swim lessons. There is a 2 hour window, but it makes no sense to drive home because we would be going in the opposite direction of his swim lessons, only to turn right back around. Anyway, in an effort to save gas I thought we’d try to waste some time between camp and swimming, so I took the boy to a nearby McDonalds for a snack and some indoor play. McDonalds get a bad rap, and I have no commentary on the food situation, but the indoor playground was legit. Chic Fil A playgrounds can’t even hold a candle to that business. Mickey D’s for the win.

197/366: Definitely the slowest day of the week. A mostly calm, normal day ending with a bath and some ipad time for the little. I love looking at his wet, curly mop right after bath time. I can just smell his hair through the photo.

198/366: I know these pictures look like it’s the middle of the day, but all these photos were actually taken during bedtime routine. It’s the middle of summer, and our living room has an entire wall of western facing windows, so 7:30pm (bedtime) is when our home really lights up. Thankfully, my boy is used to it so we don’t have a problem, but it definitely seems weird to be putting on PJ’s when the sun is still wide awake.
I handed the camera to my hubs for a bit and he got some really sweet photos of Holden reading to me. I hardly ever get photos of me and my boy, so this warms my heart.

199/366: We welcomed a new plant into the house. Let’s see how many days this baby makes it.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 28

July 11, 2016

Summer keeps marching on. My boy is at Spanish camp this week, so I’m kind of exhilarated by the absolute quiet in the house. This DFW newborn photographer even treated herself to a hamburger, fries and Coke for lunch as a mini celebration. The ridiculous thing is that I went to the gym first, and now I’ve totally undone all my hard work (and more) with that indulgence.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so I’m looking forward to picking up my little guy this afternoon and hearing all about his adventures today.

These photos all express the beautifully simplicity of our every day lives. I am so blessed to have these moments, and hope to never take them for granted. I was so deeply saddened by the events in Dallas last week, as well as those in Baton Rouge (my husband’s home) and throughout the country. I have so many thoughts, as we all do, but this forum really isn’t the place for me to share them. All I will say is that I am so, so sad by the divisions in the country and I pray that love will right the wrongs sooner rather than later.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 28

188/366: Aunt Coco and newly minted Uncle Chad returned from their honeymoon in Mexico and brought some maracas home for Holden. I will remember this for when they have kids. I have a whole attic full of extremely noisy toys I am more than happy to pass down.

189/366: A little summer treat—made some homemade frozen yogurt. Super easy recipe, just called for Greek yogurt, frozen berries and a food processor. I think Holden is more into actual ice cream, but I was really impressed with this culinary accomplishment. PS- Has anyone tried that Halo ice cream? I keep hearing about it, but I think only Kroger stocks it and I don’t usually go to Kroger. Would love to hear if it’s worth making a special trip. Always looking for dessert alternatives that are low in sugar, because I have a major sweet tooth and kind of refuse to end my evening without some kind of tasty treat to end the day.

190/366: Always swimming. I warned y’all back in the winter that this would happen. Out by the pool pretty much every day.

191/366: A random storm came through in the afternoon. It was a pop up super cell and the wind knocked out our power for a good 4 hours. This is right after the power went down, when we were blissfully unaware of just how long the power was going to be out for and were still intrigued with a little ipad chill time and looking out the windows at the raindrops.

192/366: Right foot, left foot.

193/366: My enthusiastic mail checker.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 27

July 5, 2016

Another week of the intense summertime circus at this DFW newborn photographer’s house. Seriously, the month of June was CRAZY busy—I had my sister’s bridal shower, bachelorette party and wedding; visits from my mom and her husband, brother and sister in law, as well as some other family friends; summer soccer games; Vacation Bible School; pool parties and more.

Today is really the first day where I feel like I can take a breath. Next week my little one will be attending a Spanish immersion preschool camp, so I’m kind of looking forward to a few daytime hours of quiet around this joint. Is it September yet??

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 27

181/366: Summer days are so, so long! I am that parent that makes my kid go to bed at 7:30pm sharp (okay, unless it’s a holiday, or family gathering, etc. I do have a soul you know). If the little one does a good job getting his PJ’s on and teeth cleaned then he gets his daily dose of iPad. It looks a little silly to me that he’s going through is bedtime routine and the house is completely lit up inside, but that’s the summer solstice for you.

182/366: Mirror, mirror on the wall.

183/366: Tidying the house in preparation for visitors. The little engineer at work, dissecting my vacuum. Thankfully, he knows how to put it back together for me! Now, if only I could get him that interested in actually using the vacuum.

184/366: My brother and sister in law came for a visit over the 4th of July weekend! Here is my son with his aunt and uncle as we visited my husband’s airplane based in Ft. Worth.

185/366: A friendly 4th of July bike race with Uncle Adam.

186/366: Happy Birthday ‘merica! A few sparkler pictures, really horrible quality! I brought my backup camera outside as I really didn’t feel like having to divide my attention between protecting my ‘big girl camera’ and watching my son experience the moment. Kind of regretting that now, but it is what it is.

187/366: He’s starting to turn the lens around.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 26

June 29, 2016

Last week was an important week in the life of this DFW newborn photographer, because last Saturday was my little sister’s wedding!! I so wish I had more photos to share from that special date, but I was a bridesmaid and decided to focus on living in the moment rather than photographing it. Plus, my sister chose an amazing wedding photographer—shout out to Simple Moments Photography—and I can’t wait to see the images from that big night.

Truthfully, the week got off to a rough start. I was unloading the dishwasher and dropped a large ceramic bowl, which actually punctured my hand and sliced up the juncture between my thumb and palm horrifically. I was home alone with my son at the time, struggling to get him ready for his first day at Vacation Bible School, so I cleaned out the wound as best I could and then did a shoddy gauze job to get through the morning. I was debating whether to go see a doctor about stitches, and never did. It was in such a painful spot, and I was really freaking about having an unsightly bandage on my hand for wedding pictures, but in the end my cut healed uber quickly, so there was nothing to worry about. Apparently when you cut yourself with something super sharp like ceramic, it heals more quickly. So, fun fact.

The other bad part of the week was that I pulled my back out Thursday morning. I did the same thing about a year ago this time while applying sunscreen, so I am not new to the whole back sprain game. I was doubled over like Quasimodo with only hours before I had to pick up family from the airport and begin a lot of wedding festivities. I desperately booked a chiropractor appointment and then a massage. I made it through the rehearsal dinner on Friday a little doped up on muscle relaxers, but my back was doing much better by the actual wedding ceremony. I am still in some pain and don’t have full range of motion at all, but I think that’s probably because I over-did it dancing and wearing heels on Saturday. We have another round of company coming to visit for the 4^th of July holiday, so I am trying my best to heal, but I think it will just take time. Old people problems y’all.

Anyway, in spite of that rocky start I was super excited to witness my sister get married and to officially have her new hubby, Chad, become part of our dysfunctional family. Everything went great, she was a beautiful bride and the night was spectacular.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 26

173/366: My boy working on his reading lesson for the day. We started doing this thing called, “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” a couple months ago. My son is only 4, so I really didn’t have the expectation that he would read this early, but I felt like I needed something guided to help get him on the right path. Well, this book has proven me wrong. We are on Lesson 60-something and this little dude can officially read. He is reading stories with paragraphs, not just lame sight words like ‘cat’ and ‘bat’. I am beyond impressed with this little program, and considering all I had to invest in was the book and about 20-30 minutes a day, I’m giving it an A+. So, if anyone out there is looking for a good way to start teaching your preschooler to read, I can’t say enough positive things about this workbook. Disclaimer—I would be lying if I said that some days this book doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out, but overall the success we’ve had and the pride my son has in his accomplishments makes it well worth the effort.

174/366: My hand boo boo. Do you know how difficult it is to take a photo of your own injured hand? I basically only had the ability to use my one arm all week, and I think that’s what contributed to me pulling my back out. I think I overused the one side of my body and strained the muscles in my back. Anyway, a look at my whack gauze job.

175/366: Playtime in my son’s ‘office’. Yes, he calls his playroom an office, and it melts my heart.

176/366: Dog days of summer means that my Rufus spends a lot of time on the cool tile.

177/366: Wedding day!!!! Sorry for all the lousy phone pictures, but, like I said, I wanted to live in the moment and leave the photography job up to the photographer. Sadly, I don’t have one of me and the bride together, which is a huge bummer because I really wanted to show off how spectacular she looked all dolled up. I know the real photographer got plenty, so I will definitely point y’all in the right direction once she puts up a preview.
Oh- did I mention that my lil’ man was the ring-bearer? Isn’t he handsome?? He made a fast friend in the flower girl as well, and those two had the moves on the dance floor!!

178/366: My bridesmaid bouquet cheering up the kitchen table.

179/366: We had to drop off my mom and her husband at the airport. I knew my little guy would be in tears after that, so my husband and I tried to cheer him up with a visit to the splash park.

180/366: There was a lot of delicious, yet carb-loaded food consumed over the weekend, so I was excited to get back in the kitchen and have something a little healthier for dinner. Love this southwestern inspired salad with homemade chipotle ranch dressing and grilled shrimp. It looked so pretty, but then my husband tossed the salad before I got my photo taken. So, now you’re just looking at what appears to be a generic salad in a bowl…but I promise this dish is delish.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 25

June 20, 2016

Welcome back my friends! This DFW newborn photographer has been in summer mode with the nicer weather—hooray!! There has been a lot of swimming and a lot of sweating, but so much better than the Noah’s ark situation earlier.
This past week was super busy—we had friends visit from out of town; lunch with my grandma, Father’s Day celebration, a dentist appointment, a splash park visit with friends and a date night for the adults. So, it was fun and busy. This week my boy is at Vacation Bible School, so I am kind of reveling in the 2 and a half hours of alone time I have today. Catching up on work, emails and watching some background Netflix. It’s kind of amazing.
Ok, on to Week 25.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 25

166/366: Helping hands. My Mr. Fix-It and his little boy working on a project together.

167/366: Lest from these photos you think it’s all rainbows and unicorns over here, I snagged this gem of my son moping and throwing a fit.

168/366: All we do is swim, swim, swim.

169/366: It as our turn to make snack bags for soccer, so I put Holden to the task. He was super precise about everything, just like his daddy.
Sidenote: As I started editing this week’s photos, I noticed that my son is wearing the same Paw Patrol shirt three times. I promise I took these photos on different days, but I guess he was just in a Paw Patrol shirt-wearing mood last week. Oh wait, that’s every week. #battlenotworthfighting #youcantwinthemall

170/366: Date night! We usually go with the tried-and-true movie/dinner combo, but this time we switched things up…just a teensy, tiny bit. Instead of opting for a new release, we visited the historic Palace Theater in Grapevine and watched the original Ghostbusters. Seriously, I’ve seen that movie at least 50 times and it never stops making me laugh. #icollectsporesmoldandfungus

171/366: Father’s Day! So, like 99 out of 100 days my son wakes up at the crack of dawn and jumps into my bed. Since it was Father’s Day, I decided to set my alarm extra early and get Holden up before my husband woke up too. That way, we would have time to make a special breakfast together and let Charlie sleep in. Well…turns out both boys decided it was a good day to sleep in, and I ended up making the Father’s Day Feast solo. Magically, the boys woke up in time to consume the waffles.

172/366: We’re a few weeks into this summer vacation now, and there is only so much swimming I can do in one day. So, things are getting creative around here. Enter shaving cream party. This lasted for 5 minutes, but now my counters smell so manly.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 24

June 15, 2016

Summer is in full force for this DFW newborn photographer and family. We finally had a break from rain, although it sadly returned for the weekend. The weather forecasters are promising that this is the last of the rain we will see for a while, and I’m cool with that.

With the unspeakable tragedy that occurred Orlando over the weekend, I would be remiss not to say that I am so thankful for each and every moment I spend with my loved ones. I am reminded how precious it is that I am able to document our lives, because nothing is ever a guarantee.

I typically shy away from politics, religion and all the other opinion stuff in this forum. I am not hiding my feelings, but I feel like technology allows humans to easily misconstrue information and, in many cases, offers more division than reconciliation. With that said, I didn’t want to just post all the happy things that happened last week without an acknowledgment of the Orlando nightclub massacre because the truth is that not everything is all happy. My heart is heavy for the victims, families and friends. All people are created in God’s image. Period. End of story for me and my understanding of God. Hatred and divisiveness are all a part of this world’s story. I am just thankful to know that this is not the end of the story.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 24

159/366: Not the best photo, but I only had my phone with me. This was definitely the most important thing that happened on this day, so that’s why even though the photo is horrible it is getting chosen as my daily picture. This is my son posing with two of the characters from Paw Patrol. If you don’t have a kid between two and seven, then maybe you don’t know about Paw Patrol, but it’s a cartoon and the characters are basically like celebrities to preschoolers. We had to wait in line to have 1 second with these characters, and it was so worth it to Holden.

160/366: Waiting to go swimming is tough. Now that we’ve cracked the seal on swimming, my son begs to be in the pool starting at 7:30am.

161/366: A trip to the pool store. While Daddy bought the pool chemicals we checked out the fun pool toys.

162/366: Any restaurant that offers a cookie as big as your head is a winner.

163/366: My sister came over and we all planned to get in the pool, but a random thunderstorm popped up and just sat over the house for hours. So instead of a pool day it ended up being a laundry and movie kind of day.

164/366: Another washout of a weekend. Everyone was in a grumpy mood after being stuck inside for the weekend, so we tried to cheer up with a trip to Dairy Queen.

165/366: Summer reading. Apparently my son is into history because he checked out this “Goofy Visits the USSR” book that has probably been sitting on the shelf since the early 90s. I love reading stuff like this, it’s a window back in time.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 23

June 7, 2016

This DFW newborn photographer would just like to title this week “that time we almost built an ark.” It was the first full week of summer break for my son, so I had high hopes that we could welcome summer with open arms—swimming, going to the splash pad, hanging at the park, etc. Yeah…not so much. First, I came down with a cold. Plus, we had the Biblical deluge to deal with outside, and also my husband was gone for work 5 days in a row meaning I had the joy of being the sole cruise ship director for the majority of the week. The thing is, there is only so much you can Play-Doh and paint inside before your kid starts to turn on you. It was bad…real bad…and I’m sooooo thankful the sun is out and we can resume regularly scheduled summer programming.

Want to see how bad things got– let’s review with a look at Week 23 of my Project 365.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 23

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

153/366: Hey, I made an effort. It was the beginning of the week, and despite the frog strangler conditions outside and my stuffy nose, I schlepped us over to an indoor playground. Gold medal mom.

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

154/366: Captains log – Day 8 of rain. Losing my mind. Everyone is losing their mind. It’s time to go outside, rain or shine.

155/366: Apparently, after being forced to play indoors for the millionth day in a row, my son had worked his way through his 1,000 toys and decided to play with nail clippers and some dental floss instead. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

156/366: Finally, some respite from the rain. If there was only one day last week for it not to rain, this was a good one for Mother Nature to pick. My sister had her bachelorette party so I left the munchkin at home with Paw-paw and got to go to downtown Ft. Worth for a little girl time.

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

157/366: More sunshine!! Celebrating with a swim in the pool, burgers for dinner and an after meal Popsicle.

158/366: Snack time is serious business y’all.

Heather of H. Parker Photography is a DFW Newborn Photographer also specializing in baby photography in Fort Worth, Texas and surrounding areas including but not limited to Dallas, Trophy Club and Roanoke.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Week 22

June 1, 2016

Hey y’all! Last week was the final week of school for my little guy, so for the next 13 weeks this DFW newborn photographer will be engaged in mommy/son bonding time all.the.time. I love that little munchkin, but I remember that by the end of last summer he was begging to go back to school…and the feeling was mutual.

Plus, all this rain…ugh. It’s feeling like a repeat of the deluge from last spring, and I’m all like—what’s going on?? This is Texas, the land of sunshine and 100 degree days in summer. I know I will likely be a grumpster by the end of August about the heat, but as we close out May I am yearning for a summery day.

Here’s a look into last week.

DFW Newborn Photographer | Project 365 | Week 22

144/366: My lil’ Bailey Boo soaking up her last few days sans Holden. Once that boy returns, she will spend a lot more time on alert.

145/366: We weren’t brave enough to attend the Buccee’s opening the day before, but the lure of cheap gas couldn’t keep us away for long. For my out of state readers, Buccee’s is a Texas-sized gas station/convenience store. They have around 100 gas pumps and the convenience store sells your obvious gas station staples like chips and candy bars—but goes so far beyond that with homemade fudge, jams, jellies, bbq sandwiches, fresh fruits and veggies, pies, baked goods, a huge plethora of trail mixes. I allowed Holden to choose a snack, and from the amazing array of options he walked away with….Cheeto’s.

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

146/366: My boy is four now and this was his first “official” haircut. Up until now I had always snipped the crazy ends myself. However, this time I asked his babysitter—a lovely young lady who is also part of a cosmetology program in her high school—to trim his hair. We walked over to her house after school and 10 minutes later Holden walked away with a fresh ‘do. Truthfully I was a little nervous to turn over my babe’s locks to someone, but she did a great job and now his hair isn’t fuzzy at all and is nice and even. 1st haircut for the win!

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

147/366: Last day of preschool for the year. I try my best to save Holden’s outfit from the 1st day so he can wear it again in last day photos. Such a fun way to see his growth over the past year. Next year Pre-K!!

148/366: End of School year program. My mom and her husband were in town for the weekend, so they got to attend his program as well. This lil boy was super happy! Crazy story—a storm rolled through the morning of the program and our power was out for the entire morning. This meant the whole clan of us had to prep for the program in darkness. Good times.

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

149/366: Here I am in front of the lens at my sister’s bridal shower. Can you tell we are related?

150/366: A slippin’ and a slidin’. Y’all—slip and slides always look so darn fun when you’re a kid, but those things never work. This is a PSA to never buy a slip n’ slide. Thankfully this was an Aldi slide so like $5 down the toilet. Holden had a blast making other people push him down the slope, so I guess it was super fun for him and a good arm workout for everyone else.

151/366: My little man was pretty upset after Gigi and Grandpa Devin left for the airport. There were lots of tears. An early bath and some ipad time in the bed with Bailey dog helped smooth out his mood.

DFW newborn photographer | H. Parker Photography | www.HParkerPhotography.com

152/366: Another rainy day. Here’s hoping some summer sunshine is in the near future.