Fall Family Portraits

Instead of sending photos out this year via Christmas cards, I decided to let technology do it for me. In October, Mickey, Jacob and I had family portraits made by McCardell Photography. If you follow this blog or my website, you know I am a big fan of Renee and Jonathan's work and we were really excited to have them do the honors this year! Also, my sister's family joined us for some shots as well. You'll see Kristi, VERY pregnant (who at this posting is currently in the hospital in LABOR!!) and her husband, Mark and their 2 1/2 year old, Ava. Jacob and Ava had a blast getting to be themselves and we love our photos! Special thanks to McCardell Photography for (ONCE AGAIN!) phenomenal photos and for braving the cold with us to get these special memories! Hopefully my next post will be of "Baby New Year Maier"!!

Jacob at The Polar Express

This past weekend, Mickey, Jacob and I went to Bryson City, NC to the Great Smoky Mountain Railway to hop aboard The Polar Express. If you've ever seen the movie you know it's really great! If not, now's the perfect time of the year to rent it. Jacob enjoyed himself and loved seeing Santa and asking for "Star Wars stuff". And of course he received the sleigh bell at the end of his trip for "believing"! The big hit for Mickey and myself was the Train Museum with the model trains on display. One display was MASSIVE and as you can see in the following photos, some of the details are very realistic. There were power lines, waterfalls, trestles, a school, a make-believe car accident... on and on. It was really something to see. Jacob was looking forward to this for a long time and we're glad we could share in his Christmas joy!!

Kristi's Maternity Shots

Many of you know that my sister, Kristi, and her husband Mark, are expecting their 2nd child in less than a month and we are super excited that they are having a little boy. My niece, Ava, is undoubtedly ready for this new "playmate" as well. My favorite videographer in NC, Poetic Reality Productions, also offer awesome photography as well, and one of the owners, Babs, was kind enough to photograph my sister in all her full-fledged pregnant beauty! Click here to see Poetic's blog about the shoot, or you can also scroll down to see the photos here, as Poetic Reality Productions was kind enough to let me "borrow" some shots!