Summer in our backyard

As many of you know, over the last year our family took pictures every four months (with the change of the seasons) in an apple orchard down in Provo.
But now that we live in Salt Lake, we decided to try to find a new place for pictures. Our grassy backyard, shadowed by a color-changing Maple tree seemed like the perfect place:

What do you think? Which is your favorite? I'm trying to decide the best fake-canvas-DIY from Pinterest to use and blow up a picture for above the tv....

Click to vote? Thanks!

Many things

This post is many random and unconnected things in one.

First ROOOOAD TRIP!!!
Travis, the boys, and I are going on last -minute road trip this weekend to San Diego.  I am pretty freaking excited, and not the least because the last time I went to California, I looked like this:

And also because, we have never traveled ANYWHERE with the boys, except to my parent's house in Montana and back, and that wasn't so much a vacation, as a necessity.
Are you in San Diego? Do you want to meet for lunch or something?
Do you have good suggestions of what I can do by myself there with two little boys? Travis will be off filming most of the time, and the boys and I will be PAR-TAY-ING.

Secondly, I decided on Orchard pics, and wanted to show them off. We're going to hang them in a line in clip frames over the bed like this:



And here are close-ups of my chosen pictures:

Thirdly, after all of your comments on my post "On Taking twins to the grocery store, park, or Costco," which were horrifying and hilarious, I remembered a conversation that I never posted about.
And you guys, it was weird.


Travis and I were at this hotel banquet/speeches/people in suits thing (I seriously don't know what it was!) and afterward there was this really loud jazz band, playing "Leave our hotel" type music.
My kids were really into it, and were running around, dancing and drumming on things. A caterer YELLS across the room to me, "TWINS?"
I nod and mouth yes, and then go back to ignoring her.
A few minutes later, I glance over to where she is standing, shouting to someone else and pointing at my kids. She yells to me, "I TOLD HIM THAT HE CAN HAVE ONE OF YOUR KIDS, SINCE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY."
Um. What?
Seriously, it is so loud, and we aren't friends and she is SHOUTING across the entire room about stealing my children. I obviously look confused, because she yells,
"THAT'S OKAY, RIGHT?" and then laughs like crazy.
I shake my head, and give her a tiny fake smile. I know you're joking. But seriously, don't take my kids.

Then she comes over to me, and still shouting, though not quite as loudly, says, "IT'S THE WORST WHEN ONE FINALLY FALLS ASLEEP AND THEN HIS BROTHER WAKES HIM UP, RIGHT?"
I nod, but don't look at her, or make eye contact. I am watching my kids to make sure they are not stolen.
"I HAVE TWINS, TOO!" she yells.
I give her a small smile.
"I MEAN, NOT REALLY. BUT MY KIDS WERE ONLY 15 MONTHS APART, SO IT'S PRACTICALLY THE SAME THING."
Say what, now?

Crazy, much? We left shortly after this, since I didn't want my kids to end up with someone else, and since she clearly wanted them and was insane.

Yikes.

Also, this weekend we went to the duck pond again, and my children were not dressed the same. They were running around screaming at ducks and I was chasing them both. I overheard a woman say to her boyfriend, "Oh, look! Twins!"
To which he responded, "They don't even look alike, you're just saying that because they're the same age."
First of all: They do look alike. They look pretty darn identical, especially to strangers.  You must have meant, they aren't DRESSED alike.
Second of all: Babies that clearly belong to the same woman and are the exact same age: ARE TWINS.
They could be entirely different colors, (Okay, that's possible. For reals.) they do not need to look alike, and they really, really don't need to be dressed alike.
They are still twins.

Oh, fourthly, ( I should have included this up with "We're going on a roadtrip!) does anyone know how to find parks and playgrounds along a route on Google Maps? I know how to find parks based on a zipcode, but I want them ALL, so we can stop and play on our way to CALIFORNIA!
Hurray!

I'm really excited.

Click to vote, please?

Choices, choices...

You guys, I'm completely obsessed with those orchard pictures and now that we have a whole year's worth,  I'm planning on printing them out as big 12x12 squares and hanging them above our bed.
I've spent hours this last week, pouring over all the pictures and trying to decide which one to print from each season.
I ask Travis (who does not care nearly as much as I do) "Should they all be sitting? Should they all be standing? Should it be a mix of sitting and standing? If it's a mix, should I have two sitting and two standing, or can I have one standing and three sitting? Do I want us to be looking at the camera and smiling in every single picture, or because there are so many, can I have some where we're doing different things? Like playing and jumping? Can you see the boys' faces enough in all of these?"
Seriously.
It's getting out of hand.
I think Travis would agree.

So it's voting time.
And your opinion may or may not be taken into account when I decide which ones to actually print, but here are the options that I think I love.  Thoughts?

Option 1: (all sitting)

Option 2: (All sitting, pt. 2)


Option 3: (All standing)


Option 4: (half-standing, half-sitting)


Option 5: (a healthy mix, pt 2)


Decisions, decisions....

A good decision is to click and vote for Baby Making! Thanks!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - a blossomy afternoon

I may be tempted to go take pictures in this orchard every three months for the rest of our lives, because seriously. Adorable.

I love them. Always. 

Who needs a photographer when you have a fancy camera on a tripod, and people making silly sounds to get your babies to laugh?

To see our family pictures in August, October, and January click {HERE}

Grey in green, Micah in blue.

Oh Grey, with his grouchy face, and Micah with his happy face.

I love those boys. DANG. They're cute.  

Also, I spent way too long mulling over the clothes I wanted my boys to wear, but I think I nailed it! Don't they look well-dressed and stylish? That's 'cause they are!

Click to vote? Thanks!

A sunny, snowy afternoon

For the last two months, every time there's been even a whisper of snow on the wind, I have quickly (and authoritatively) informed my husband that "the second there's snow on the ground, we are going to take pictures."
If he had meetings, they would be missed. He would go late to work. We would negotiate naptimes. WE WOULD TAKE SNOWY PICTURES IN THAT ORCHARD, SO HELP ME.
And we did.
Finally. 



Travis has been sick all week, and Sunday morning Micah threw up. But it had snowed on Saturday.  The snow had been cold and wet, and my family had been pathetic and tired, and I was at a baby shower, and so ultimately I decided that we would wait.
But Sunday morning the sun was shining, and Travis was feeling tired, but better.
The boys hadn't thrown up in a while, and were being generally cheerful... so I forced everyone into matching beanies and boots, and out the door for pictures.
We were in the orchard for less than a half an hour, at the worst time of day (lighting wise), and the photoshoot ended when Grey threw up a little on his jacket.
But I got what I wanted.
Hurrah!

(Okay, am I too selfish? Forcing my sick family to take pictures? Seeing this in writing makes it seem worse than it was.)

I present: The Pitcher Family Photos, Winter Edition!
(To see The Summer Edition click {here}, and the Fall Edition {here})

Oh yeah, so the boys were wearing our hats (we couldn't find theirs, where are they??) and so by this time, Grey's had almost come off his head - leaving him looking pretty freaking silly.
But I've decided that I don't mind.
That hat is a little bit of real life. If there had been a photographer there, instead of a tripod and my friend Charne doing jumping jacks to amuse my children, then that hat would be fixed.
But it's just our sick little family.
And so it seems okay.

Hope you guys are liking all the pictures, because there are more coming tomorrow!
And, of course, I edited these pictures with HoneyBee Actions, which you should probably buy.
If you feel like it.

And maybe I'm crazy, but I think that I look much older than 6 months ago, and so do my boys, of course.
But Travis pretty much looks exactly the same.

Fall Family Photos - stop action style

As promised, here is our most recent family photo video. Do you love it? Me too.



Now, you hold up your end of the promise. To vote for me.
You claim you promised no such thing?
Well, would you might voting anyway, please? Thanks!

Family Pictures: pt 2

Does this picture look familiar? We inadvertantly copied the picture on the header.

So I have a plan, which was secret (but not really, because I love to talk about my plans for this plan.... not confusing, right?)

Okay. So the plan: we're taking our family pictures in the same orchard during summer, fall, winter and spring. (so {here} are the pics from summer)

Since every three months I want to take family pictures anyway, we decided it would be fun to take them in the same place.

I love this, because we can do a lot of the same exact things and poses, but we can also do new things, as the boys learn to sit, stand, and run around on their own over the course of the year.

And the leaves, snow and blossoms show how time is passing.

Sigh. Such a lovely idea, am I right?

So here are some of my favorite pictures from yesterday in the orchard, and I'll have a little video up (like last time) by hopefully Monday. 

Hope your weekend is excellent!

This picture is my FAVORITE PICTURE. Perhaps ever.

≈

And click below to give us a vote, please and thank you!