Cindy Mills Photography

I know I have not done a very good job lately of keeping the blog updated.  It’s been a busy few months.  I am getting caught up finally and had a few moments today to finally download some photos.  How sad that my personal photos have sat patiently waiting on the memory card until I had a few moments to finally get them off.

Anyway, here are some photos of the past few months that if I don’t share soon some of my family members are going to come hunt me down and…..well….I’d better just show the photos.

In no particular order:

A day at the park.

A good friend’s birthday party.  First pony ride.

The last day of ballet classes.  A “recital” of sorts.  Mia loved ballet so much!

Halloween.  Mia’s costume got quite the reaction.  She was a princess riding a pink, flying, unicorn.  Not my choice, but she loved it!

The next one was taken after it was completely dark with only the light from the street lamp.  Not too shabby Nikon!  Thanks!

We got to tour the fire station near our church.  Mia thought it was so cool!  I think Saylor thought it was pretty cool too.

Her “Highness” and her buddy “Supergirl” aka Mia’s good friend Emory.

The first day of gymnastics.  The outfit is not near as cute as her ballet outfit.  She likes it though and wears it around the house all the time.  I think she is going to like gymnastics even more than ballet.

And last but not least some pictures from just last week.  It was cold out and told Mia if she wanted to play in the backyard she would have to put on warm clothes.  This is the outfit she came up with.  Her princess dress, a sun hat, a jacket and her warm boots (although I don’t think you can see them in the pictures).  I don’t know how warm she was, but it made me laugh!

I love that smile!

Have a great weekend!

I have really been struggling recently with the balance between documenting my own life and the life of my family with documenting other people’s lives. I LOVE my job! Maybe, I love it too much because I’ve been so busy lately that I’m starting to feel a little uninspired. Especially when it comes to taking photos for myself. I use to be an avid scrapbooker and had a strong desire to document the little things in life. All the mundane, day to day, little moments that when all put together make a life. If you ever want to waste some time go back to the beginning of my blog and you’ll see what I mean. I had the time to document what Mia was having for breakfast on a Tuesday or when she got into the Ovaltine and ate it with spoon. Now, it just seems that all I have time to do is work. Don’t get me wrong, I truly LOVE what I do. I get giddy over bridal portraits and ecstatic over a great wedding reception capture. The struggle is…….how do I keep up the enthusiasm about photos that I take for myself?

So what am I doing about it? Even though I don’t really scrapbook anymore I have continued to religiously read the blog of Ali Edwards. She is so talented and I really love her style of design. Lots of simple graphic elements and just the right words. She is currently walking her readers through a great project and I decided that I needed to MAKE time to do it. It’s called “A week in the Life” and the assignment is to document a week in your life through photos and words. It’s a bit of a challenge to drag the big camera everywhere I go, but so far it is SO worth it. I realized just how worth it when I got this photo this morning on the way to Mia’s ballet class.

As for being inspired??? I’m feeling it!

Mia started her ballet lessons today.  She was BEYOND excited about it.  We grabbed a few quick photos before leaving the house (notice the car door is already open in the background).  She looked so cute in her little ballet outfit with her new haircut.  So grown up!

Check out that funny face.

When we got to class the teacher shooed the parents out into the hall and we were able to watch through the windows with blinds on them.  It wasn’t easy to get photos THROUGH the blinds.   I tried anyway.  Mia was a little bored with the stretching and kept getting up and looking out the window.  While the teacher taught the class first position Mia twirled in the corner.  While the teacher taught the class how to point their toes Mia pointed out to the teacher where her car was in the parking lot.  She leaped and made faces in the mirror while the other girls walked around on tiptoes.  But when they went to the ballet barre…….she loved it.  I guess in her mind NOW she was finally a ballerina.  It was really SO cute with all the little girls pointing their toes!

Mia and I had a girl’s salon day today. Not really, we just got our hair cut, but she acted SO grown up. She quietly “read” a magazine while I got my hair cut and then when it was her turn she crawled right up in the chair to get her hair washed. No crying or screaming or arguing! She was a big girl! She had enough hair cut off that she was able to donate to Locks of Love. I explained it to her, but I don’t think she quite grasped the concept. Mia’s new cut is SO cute. I can’t wait to see if she’ll let me try styling it so I can get some photos with the REAL camera.

We had a little excitement around here last night. Around 5:30 Mia was entertaining us with her dancing skills which tend to include a bit of gymnastics also. She attempted a handstand which turned into a side roll and came up crying. She did something to her arm and we still haven’t figured out what happened exactly. We think she landed on a My Little Pony. Anyway, she hurt her arm and by 8:30 it was still hurting enough that Saylor decided it was time for a trip to the Dr. I’m glad I didn’t have to make that decision. We went to Acute Kids Care and spent about an hour and a half freezing in the little exam room. Mia had an X-ray done on her arm and luckily it was NOT broken, just sprained so she still got a sling for it. She has to keep it on until Monday….then we start ballet on Tues. It should be a FUN weekend! She has complained about it still hurting this morning but still wants to go to playgroup. What a trooper!

Here are some photos of our little adventure. Taken with my iPhone (excuse the quality)

And her X-Rays……..

I’m not sure why but being able to see my child’s bones like this was a little emotional. It makes her look so tiny and fragile. I’m so thankful she is o.k.

My sister-in-law and her family visited this weekend. Mia and her cousins played and played and played until we were ALL exhausted. We don’t get to see them very often so it was a really fun weekend of catching up and playing (for the kids). Shellee and I discovered a new passion for Sprinkles cupcakes, the kids and Nana danced the tooty-ta (don’t ask) and the guys went to the shooting range. I think everyone had a wonderful weekend. I grabbed a few pictures of the kids together just before they had to say goodbye.

This one is getting printed BIG for Mia’s room.

My nephew….he just lost his first tooth!

I just had to share this one of Mia icing cupcakes on Saturday.  It was taken with my iphone.  She has been asking for weeks to make cupcakes.  She did about 1/2 herself and actually did a pretty good job.  She licked the knife several times so if you come over this week I wouldn’t suggest asking for a cupcake unless it doesn’t bother you that each one has a little bit of Mia in them.

We have been SO busy this month that it seems like VBS was just one more thing on the long list of things to get done. After looking through the photos of Mia I can see it was a very different experience for her than it was for me. She woke up each morning asking “is it time for CVS?” She loved it! This was her first year to participate in a group instead of being in the little kids nursery for VBS volunteers.

She had lots of “firsts.” First time to use a public restroom was the big one! Thanks to her teachers (my friends Ronna and Jill) she dealt with her fear of public potties. Another big first was climbing the rock climbing wall. She didn’t really climb far, just a couple of feet, but it was a major accomplishment for her to even give it a try. I was so proud of Mia for putting on the harness and actually going through with the attempt to climb. She has been a little bit of a chicken in the past when it comes to things requiring a bit of bravery. She was VERY brave in this case and I’m so proud.

Another first was jumping in the bounce house. I know that seems silly, but she has always been scared of the blower that keeps it inflated. This time she took her shoes off and was one of the first ones in. No Fear…..finally.

She even sang on stage at the closing program in front of a church FULL of people. She sang and did all the hand movements!

So now that VBS is checked off on the list we are on to a full summer of hanging out at the pool and fun with friends.

Mia=growing up……Check.

I haven’t posted in awhile and it is because we have been so busy around here. We are in full fledged summer mode. Mia has been taking swim lessons. Every morning at 9:00. It’s not as easy as you think to get both Mia AND myself ready and out the door by 8:40am. NOT as easy as you think!

Hi Mom!!!

We also had company this weekend. If you are a long time reader you may remember Ginger and sweet Joshua…..well Josh has a new little brother, Benjamin, and Ginger brought him to meet us. They are on their way to California. Her husband is in the Coast Guard. Let me tell you how impressed I am with Ginger’s ability to care for two kids on her own while her husband is on ship. She is amazing! Not only does she take care of them by herself for months at a time she TRAVELS with them. I was honored that she took a special trip to come visit us. It was great to visit and reconnect with a dear friend. Mia and Joshua had a great time also. Well, Mia wasn’t exactly a gracious hostess, but she tried her best.

We also had the time to do a quick mini-session with Ginger and her boys.

My favorite!

Today in our backyard……..

And Mia doing her favorite thing……..FLYING: