This Bud's For You!

"This Bud's For You!" was the motto for Delia's gorgeous bridal shower!  She's marrying Bud for those of you who don't know her personally, hence the slogan!  The details were amazing, the food was on point, Delia looked ravishing and her many faces during present time were priceless!  

Details & Food...what can is say, they were perfect for Delia!  Everything from a Mexican wedding banner to incorporate her time spent volunteering in Mexico to a magnetic board of pictures with friends and family to personalized banners saying "This Bud's For Her" and "Delia Rocks My Socks" to scrumptious deserts and tasty sangria I hear were perfect!

So many friends and family showed up to shower Delia with their love and support!  I think it's unanimous that we all LOVE Delia and Bud together and have been waiting for this day they announced they were engaged!!!  They are pretty much the sweetest, funniest, most genuine couple I know and I love them dearly!! 

Delia was adorable during present time!  Being the center of attention is not her thing, so I made sure to document all of precious facial expressions!  You are so very welcome Diz! xoxo!

We like to prank Delia as much as possible!  She has the best face! :)

Mother of the Bride gifts are always my favorite because their is a sentimental value attached to them!  Leslie is giving her baby girl to Bud and the traditional white nighty is a symbol of that!  I remember and treasure the one I received from my mother almost 6 years ago.

And of course we had to make her a hat from all the present bows so that she can carry it down the aisle for her rehearsal!  These are my favorite pictures!!  

We LOVE you Delia!!!!!  Thanks to these amazing ladies, Delia had a wonderful shower!  With being out of state I wasn't the most helpful, but I am certainly happy to have been able to help document her day!  

To top the shower off, Bud made an appearance with some gorgeous flowers and a sweet card for his bride to be!!!  He's a keeper! All the ladies were impressed!

Can't wait for your big day in November!!!! 

Much love.

National Dog Day! We Love our Pooch!

If you follow me on instagram (@SarahNolanPhoto) you probably have realized that our adorable pup has her own hashtag #lirapuppy because she debuts on there at ton and is pretty much the most adorable, sweet, neurotic, and precious puppy in the whole world!  We love her so so so much!

This summer has been filled with allergy issues.  First the vet thought she had the Tidewater Itch which is basically bug bites in the Tidewater area that were really impacting small dogs.  She sits so low to the ground, was super itchy and had lots of the symptoms, so we treated them with antibiotics,  an allergy medication, and a bland diet.  Well, three weeks later everything came back.  Round two.  I spoke with the vet and he indicated that it could also be a food allergy, so our little princess has been on home cooked meals since July and she seems to be doing much better.  We have narrowed it down to gluten and possibly dairy.  I need to be really diligent about only giving her one of those for a week or two.  She has an egg and protein and little bit of rice for breakfast, snacks on our lunch with us, and gets her own dinner plate.  Yes, she is eating well, probably better than most humans.  It's a little nutty, but we want her itching to stop and her stomach antibodies to be healthy, so we've adapted and she hasn't complained.  She's our little princess!

In honor of National Dog Day, I took her outside for some pictures and in true Lira fashion, she wouldn't look at the camera no matter what tricks I pulled on her.  She's a stubborn one.

Here are some things Lira has taught us:

1. Love unconditionally, with every part of your being and if the people you are loving, aren't loving you back, just continue to paw their face!
2. Get excited when family comes home!  Kiss them, jump on them, hug them, lick them!
3. Don't be insecure, belly rubs and full body rubs are the best!  Enjoy them!
4. Puppy eyes really do work.
5. Naps are pretty much amazing especially when you are preggers!
6. Be loyal to the ones that love you and be hesitant around strangers.
7. If you are hungry, EAT!
8. Puppy dreams are adorable!!
9. Walks are SOOOO much fun! And they are good for you! 
10. If you get a bad haircut, it will grown back & let the wind blow your hair!

Why do we love our dog so much?! Because she's the sweetest little puppy who loves her mama and her papa and her J-man so very much! She may look insanely sad at times, but if you know her, you know she's playing us like crazy because she is beyond spoiled with 2 long walks a day, homemade meals, 4 beds, tons of full body rubs, and lots of snuggles.  She sure has us wrapped around her little puppy paw and we are A-ok with that!

Much love.

17 months & we have a positive

Back in November of 2013, Ryan and I went to Jamaica thinking it would be our last trip without kiddos, well it was, but that's only because we didn't plan one the next year, silly us.  We wrote in our Christmas letter that we were officially trying for a baby and believe me, I was bombarded by my aunts that Christmas!  We were excited, but looking back on that letter, I really wish we would never have said anything because it took a lot longer than expected.  After a year of trying and having fun of course, we decided to look into infertility.  Ryan was totally fine and I had a fibroid that was discovered during an internal ultrasound.  The doctors wanted to make sure it wasn't blocking anything, so I had an Saline Induced Sonogram (SIS) performed.  They basically put a teaspoon of saline into my uterus to make sure that the fibroid wasn't protruding into it at all and preventing implantation.  I actually cried as I watched it happen on the ultrasound screen. Every ultrasound throughout this process I cried.  There's something about ultrasounds and the possibility of seeing a little baby growing inside of you that makes me tear up.  It turned out that we are both completely healthy which was s huge relief, but also scary because the doctors basically told us that the next step was for me to take clomid, be given a trigger shot to ovulate and to have timed intercourse.  If you know me, you know I am a very natural person.  I don't take meds for really anything and I like it that way, so I freaked out.  

I picked up the prescription, never used it, and God blessed us with a positive pregnancy test that month! When I missed my period, I waited two days to take the test because I was  so scared to have a negative.  When it was positive and then positive again, I ran out to tell Ryan, but he was pulling away on his way to work.  Ahh!!!  I couldn't wait to tell him, but I knew I couldn't tell him over the phone or a text message.  It had to be in person, so I had to keep this little secret to myself all day long.

I actually had a newborn session that morning, went to it, loved on that little baby boy, and didn't say a word.  I got home, put a little package together of a onesie and the positive pregnancy tests, and then I waited.  Ryan came home and was really worked up about something; I can't really remember because I wasn't listening. Yes darling, I normally remember everything, but I simply didn't care at that moment because I had the best surprise ever for you and I knew whatever you were complaining about didn't matter as much as the news I had to tell you.  Once Ryan was done venting, I told him I had a present for him.  He looked at me funny, opened it, looked at me with a huge smile on his face, picked me up and spun me around!  It was heavenly!  I just remember crying and smiling and hugging and Ryan touching my belly!  **This is August 28th 2016

Ryan thinks that the extreme lack of stress from quitting my corporate job for real in March is what did the trick and I can't really blame him.  I think that coupled with the SIS, having more time for family, friends, working out, reading, etc. did the trick!  We definitely had our ups and downs during the 17 months both emotionally and physically, and I definitely tracked everything for a couple months, got discouraged and stopped tracking everything for a couple of months, read lots of books and blogs, cried, got frustrated and the list goes on.  We had discussed the possibility of never having children together and knew we would be ok because we love our life together and we could embrace that life and love together.  Taking the stress of "we need to have a child together" out of the equation was huge for us.  I know that in the grand scheme, we had it easy compared to a lot of couples and I am truly grateful for that. I pray for everyone facing infertility and challenging pregnancies.  

In early May, before extended family and the social world knew a thing, Ryan and I took a trip to The Players Tournament  in St. Augustine, Florida!  It was a wonderful golf trip and I felt pretty good the entire time aside from the 9 hour drive and the random nausea and constipation.  Seeing Tiger and Rory and DJ and all the guys up close and in person was absolutely amazing!  We walked an average of 8 miles per day and made sure to stay super hydrated!  It was a really really nice babymoon that wasn't originally planned as one.

We kept it our little secret, for the most part, until our 7w1d ultrasound on May 20th where we heard our little baby's heartbeat for the first time and saw our peanut wiggling around!  I cried all over again!  It was heavenly!

Our precious baby's first gifts were from Gramma and PopPop, my parents, and they are super cute! I cannot wait to cuddle and read to our bundle of joy this January!  That blanket is so soft and will definitely be used a lot!

Much love.

It's been a long time since I blogged...

I know it's been quite some time...err...19 months since I last wrote a blog post, but I am back and I am excited about it!  My little family has had a ton of changes over the past year, mostly for the better too!  Back in November 2014 I resigned from my full-time corporate position and went part time until March 2015 to pursue my passion as a photographer and to be less stressed and have more time with my family and to myself.  Then on April 28th 2015, we found out we were expecting our first baby together!!  More to come on that, I promise!  In July, Jared came back with us!  He is 13 and headed into the 8th grade!  Pretty insane if you ask me.  August brought a move from a 3 bedroom 2 bath house to a gorgeous 4 bedroom, 2 bath house in a wonderful neighborhood to accommodate our growing family.

If you are new to the blog, this is me!  I'm a photographer with a big smile and tiny eyes, a wife to a navy man and a golf lover, a stepmama to a witty teenage boy, pregnant with a bouncing baby boy, and a puppy mama to an adorable, fluffy Lira puppy!!  

My goal for this new phase on my blog is to write about my personal life updates, my husband's amazing cooking, the challenges and joys of raising a teenager and a baby, my pregnancy journey, DIYs, running my own business, and if I can twist his arm, I want my husband to post a bit now and then.  He is a phenomenal writer and I absolutely love to read life through his eyes! 

If there is anything you would like me to write about, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments below!  

Much love.