WHAT: 15 minute mini-sessions in the Greater Austin Area
WHEN: March 21, April 11, and April 24 from 3:30pm to 5:30pm
WHERE: March 21 – Rustic, overgrown field in Round Rock • April 11 – Hopefully a field of bluebonnets (precise location TBA) • April 24 – Urban, downtown Austin
HOW MUCH: $35 for the session and 10% off of all prints and products ordered. Special discounted offers on digital collections and albums will be available, as well as exclusive new products not currently offered by Libby Ann Photography
THE FINE PRINT: Your 15 minute session will yield a gallery of 5-10 images, available within 2 weeks of your session • The mini-session only allows time for 2 people per time slot. If you have more than 2 people needing to be photographed, it is best for you to book back to back time slots • Promptness is a MUST since sessions are only 15 minutes long. If you are late to your session, an attempt will be made to fit you in, however I cannot guarantee that there will be time • Payment is due upon booking your session and your session time will not be reserved until payment is received • The session fee is non-refundable • Signatures on a portrait agreement and contract are required

Email me for more information and full pricing on prints, digital collections, and products. Spots are going very quickly, so if you’re interested, don’t wait!

1. It’s only Tuesday and I feel like enough has happened that it should be at least Thursday. A non-sleeping baby probably has just a tiny bit to do with that. I’ve been assured that this stage won’t last forever….today I’m not very hopeful that that is true.

2. Will gets dedicated at church this coming weekend…I’m really excited about it! We missed our first chance to get him dedicated when he was about a month old and I’m really glad that we’ll have the chance to do it now. For those that are wondering, we will not have Will baptized until he’s old enough to make that decision on his own. Instead, our church does baby dedications where Greg and I make a promise to raise Will in a way that honors and serves the Lord. It’ll be an exciting weekend!

3. I’m having a major guilt trip right now because not only did I fail to work out today, but I also ate a calorie-filled (and delicious) lunch today with my best friend, Jen. So not helpful for the cruise-body! I’m debating working out after I finish writing this. Sleep is currently winning in the internal struggle.

4. I realized a few days ago that I never posted my 10-month “Dear Will” letter. I’ll put that one up later this week along with the 11-month letter. Both are written – I just need to type them up! I really am amazed that I only have one more letter to write to him in his first year. Bittersweet

5. Seriously, Jake…Vienna?

6. Will has finally learned how to play with the ball popper properly. He used to throw a gigantic hissy fit if you even so much as thought about taking the balls away from him to put them back in the chute. I ended up putting it away until he got a little bit older and could appreciate it more. I took it out today and he loved it. He even figured out how to put the balls back in the chute on his own!

7. Speaking of toys, what are your favorite toys for 1-2 year olds? I’m trying to figure out what we want to buy Will for his birthday…we’re looking at a sand and water table, a Little Tykes Cozy Car, or some nice blocks. I also need to get lists together for family & friends…leave a comment with your favorite toys!

8. Are you a fan on Facebook yet? I’m getting much closer to 400 fans! I promise a very special giveaway is coming once I reach that mark!

9. Greg sent me an e-mail earlier this week telling me that he’s become a bit of a “photo snob.” (His words, not mine). I love that I’ve had a positive influence on him in that department and I love that he used that terminology to describe his dislike of big chain portrait places. Absolutely love it.

10. I have issues with business card designs. I can never settle on one I like and I go back and forth and agonize over it for days before I finally place an order. I sat in my office and messed around with different design and photo combinations for no less than two hours on Sunday afternoon and never ended up ordering anything. I finally went back to my first design, updated with new photos and it still took me at least an hour to finish! I ordered 300 of those suckers so I won’t have to go through this torture again for a few months!

11. Sorry this was a picture-less addition of ToT. See #1. Busy Libby means that my camera stays put in it’s bag. Tomorrow I will get it out and take at least one picture of my child…I will! (And I’ll work out too. I’m just dying to revisit plank jacks and all the other crazy things plank position exercises in Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred).

–FYI, I’ll probably write a short novel. Feel free to skip down to the pictures at the end –

I’ve known the Smiths for just about a year now. Donnie is our pastor at church and he came and visited us in the hospital the day after Will was born. Awesome, huh? It’s even more awesome if you know that Greg and I had never even met Donnie before! Let me back up a bit…the church Greg and I had been attending, a small plant church, had ended up closing at the end of November. We church shopped for a bit, but by February I was huge and pregnant and wanted nothing to do with trying out new churches every weekend. If you’ve never done that before, it’s completely exhausting. So we decided to pick up our search again after Will was born. Meanwhile, the church my parents had been attending hired a new pastor (Donnie) and my mom began raving about him. If you know my mom, you know that she’s a bit dramatic (sorry, mom, you are! ), but I could tell that there was something special about this new pastor-guy that she wouldn’t shut-up about. Fast forward to March 28th – I’m in the hospital and Will’s just been born and my mom tells me that Donnie is going to come visit us the next day. I though it was awesome and maybe a teensy bit weird that this pastor-guy that we’d never met before was going to come meet us for the first time in the hospital!

The next night (while I’m in bed and still haven’t really showered or brushed my hair or done anything but lay in bed because of my c-section – the picture of loveliness, I’m sure!), Donnie comes into our hospital room, oohs and awws over Will, talked with us like he’d known us for 15 years, and prayed the most sweet and sincere prayer over our new baby boy. The rest is pretty much history – we of course are attending The Fellowship Round Rock (amazing place, by the way, you should definitely check it out!) and we’ve become good friends with The Smiths.

We’ve been trying to get their session done for awhile now and it just hasn’t worked out. Of course tonight it is crazy windy outside and we only got about 30 minutes in before we called it quits and decided to try again next weekend…but I’m loving the images we got in those 30 minutes.

Donnie and Kristina, thanks so much for hanging out with me tonight and for being such awesome friends! Enjoy this little preview – I’m looking forward to the rest of our session!

This is one of my favorites!

Will is so into walking these days…with his trusty lion-walker, that is. He still hasn’t taken steps on his own, but I’m predicting that it will be any day now. He’s getting braver each day about letting go and standing on his own. Walking in the house tonight just wasn’t cutting it. We have a really long hallway, but it just wasn’t long enough. He’d walk/run down the hallway, run into our front door, turn around and wave his right hand and me and shout until I turned him around. Then he’d walk/run down the hallway, run into the ottoman, and repeat the whole shouting/waving process until I turned him around again. So I decided that it was time that Will and Mr. Lion meet the outdoors. He LOVED it and we walked up and down our street a few times before his little ‘ol legs tired out.

He’s got his own license plate, courtesy of CP

In other, non-walking news, Greg and I booked our cruise last night! We are SO excited! 149 days until we leave Which means I’ve got 149 days to lose the last bit of weight that I’m wanting to lose. Swimsuit = amazing motivation to get toned up! I give you full permission to ask me how it’s going every time you see me and help keep me on track!

Are you a fan on Facebook? Become one today – special giveaways coming once I reach 400 fans!

1. Hi, sorely neglected blog. I’m sorry I haven’t visited you lately…this last week has been busy and between the cleaning and the order deliveries and the editing, I haven’t visited here once. I’m sorry…I promise not to do that again!

2. Did you hear? We got SNOW today! Honest to goodness actual snow! Texas weather is about as crazy as it can get…It was 80* and sunny on Sunday and snowing today. I love every second of it though! Especially those 110* summer days. I can’t get enough of those.

3. Here’s your proof for #2.

4. More proof.

5. Even more proof…I have about 50 more of these, but I’ll stop now…even though he is the cutest darn thing that ever did live!

6. That cutest darn thing that ever did live is really damaging my sleep. He’s never been a great sleeper, but I’ve gotten used to 3-4 hour stretches of sleep. The past week though, man…he’s been up every couple hours again until we give in and bring him to our bed. I think he’s got another couple teeth coming in (those will be #5 and #6, if you’re paying attention), but I’m about to start drinking coffee to keep me awake and going during the day!

7. I’ve been doing some calculating, and I think I need an extra 4 hours every day to get everything accomplished. One of those hours would be dedicated to working out (see #8 for the reason why), one would be dedicated to one-on-one time with my hubby, one would be dedicated to cleaning our house, and the other would be dedicated to uninterrupted sleep. If only!

8. Greg and I are planning a cruise for the summer! I’m so, so, so excited…so excited that I’m hardly thinking about the fact that I’m going to be away from my baby for 7 days and 7 nights. Okay, well, that’s a lie. I’m thinking about it a LOT, but it’s overshadowed by the fact that I trust my parents with my life and I know that they will take better care of Will than I can and I know that Greg and I need that time to reconnect as a couple. We’re hoping that two of our best friends can come with us too…eeek! So exciting!

9. I’ve lost 3 pounds since I started getting tortured daily by Jillian! I really slacked off last week (I didn’t workout with her once), but I did run 16 miles (5, 5, and 6), so I guess it makes up for it. Although it puts off my trip to the mall to by new jeans by another week…which kind of sucks. But I’m still down 3 pounds and I’m super excited about that!

10. Space for spring sessions in 2010 is quickly filling up. I have one more session opening for March, one for April, and a few for May. I’ll be announcing Bluebonnet Mini-Sessions this week, so be on the lookout for those! If you’re interested in booking one of the open sessions for the spring, email me ASAP!

Will wanted to wish you a VERY Happy Valentine’s Day!

And his Mommy had to share one more because he’s just too darn cute

Give your loved ones a big hug today!

1. Have you heard the news? My office is now PURPLE! Bright purple, to be exact. And I absolutely adore it. I’d adore it even more if the built-ins were white…*hint hint*

2. Here’s my workspace. Wouldn’t it be pretty with a crisp, white desk and shelves? Greg says he likes the dark wood. I think he’s lying and he’s just not up for a repeat of our cabinet-painting extravaganza before we moved into our house. That’s okay…I’m working on him.

3. This picture (the other side of the office) is a better picture of the color. Everything on this wall is from Ikea…Man, I love that store!

4. Any LOST watchers out there? Greg and I had our worship pastor from church over tonight to watch it and it was a blast. I still am no closer to figuring out what is going on (I actually think I have MORE questions, if that’s even possible), but I’m loving it.

5. Are you a fan on Facebook? If not, you should become one…Rumor has it that once I reach 400 fans on Facebook, there might just be a fun giveaway on the blog! A little something for the in-town readers and a little something for the out-of-town readers. So pass the word along to friends, family – whoever!

6. Today I finally took the plunge and started actually planning for Will’s birthday. It’s a little over a month away (*gulp* I’m about to have a one-year-old) and I figured I’d better get on it instead of panicking that I haven’t done anything yet. So my friend, Shelby, and I went to Hobby Lobby. I got TONS of cute stuff for his car-themed party. I’m actually really excited now and am not dreading the fact that my baby is growing up so much anymore!

7. Speaking of my baby…he’s got three teeth now! Another one popped through on the bottom that I had no idea was even coming up. It wasn’t there on Sunday and then *poof* it appeared on Monday! We’re still waiting for those top two teeth to break through – they look *so* close and he still seems to be bothered by them. Hopefully they’ll break through soon so our home can be peaceful at night once again.

8. I have one opening in February  and two openings in March for sessions. I’m also going to be offering Bluebonnet mini-sessions this year, so be on the lookout for that announcement. Those are sure to go fast! I really hope all this rain we’ve been having will equal an awesome year for bluebonnets.

9. I am so not looking forward to the wintery-mix that we’re supposed to be getting on Thursday. High of 35*? That is WAY too cold for February, Texas. Come on! I will seriously take 102* over this nastiness any day of the year. I am not a winter person at all…snow is fun for vacation every once in awhile, but bitter cold in February is too much for me! I’m thanking the Heavens that I don’t live in the northeast right now. I might shrivel up and die with all that snow!

10. Do you have plans for April 17th? If not, you should go register to run in the Run for Life – Agape 5k. The Fellowship Round Rock is sponsoring it and it’s going to be an amazing day benefiting the Agape Pregnancy Resource Center in Round Rock. I’ll be taking photos of all the runners that day (I’m running the course on Friday so I can participate too!) and I’m super excited about it.

This amazing woman was my mentor teacher for my first half of student teaching. To say that she is a blessing to me is an understatement…she made my student teaching experience so wonderful; she made me feel like I was a real part of the 5th grade team and it was such an awesome experience! She’s expecting their second little blessing…though they’re waiting to find out the sex of the baby. I’m so not a patient person when it comes to things like that – I want to know now! But I think the idea of waiting is fun and I applaud them for their patience!

It was chilly and pretty overcast out, but I got some great images of this beautiful family that is about to be one person larger! Their first blessing, Ryan, was so sweet to me! He held my hand as we walked all over the park and made sure his panda bear was tucked safely in my camera bag for every shot. I think we *may* have as many pictures of the panda bear as we do of Ryan…just maybe

Natasha and Jeremy, it was so, so great to see you guys this weekend! I hope that little one stays put a little while longer, even though I’m itching to find out if it’s a girl or a boy! Enjoy your sneak peek!

Isn’t she beautiful? She has such a gorgeous, round belly!

This might be one of my new favorite family images…I love how they’re both looking at Ryan. Such a sweet moment!

Another new favorite…LOVE all the dandelion bits in this one. This is what childhood is all about!

There’s nothing better than a mama and her boy