B, K, and J Jex

James and Amy

2012-01-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

I have known James since we were little kids. He is now a financial analyst at Britton and Koontz Bank in Natchez and his wife, Amy, is a respiratory therapist. They have been married since November of 2009, and when I found out they were expecting in March the first thought I had was how awesome a dad James is going to be. James and Amy both are such kind people. They are really going to be outstanding parents. They called recently to ask if I could take some pictures of them while Amy is in her third trimester. I had such a good time with the two of them the other afternoon. They are such a fun and sweet couple.Some images and their slideshow are below.

Allen and Michelle - Engaged

2012-01-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

Allen and Michelle met before Michelle graduated from medical school here in Jackson a few years ago. Allen has been a successful entrepreneur since he was a teenager and now owns a successful printing company in Jackson. I remember having lunch with Michelle after they had been dating for only a few months and hearing her gush over Allen. It came as no surprise when they were engaged to be married this past year. They are clearly crazy about each other. Thanks so much for asking me to take these pictures! I had such a great time hanging out with you two the other afternoon! Some pics and their slideshow from the afternoon are below:

Margie and Brian

2012-01-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

My sister Margaret and her husband Brian, or Big Country as he's known in his very cool band Country Fried, will have been married for five years in March. They currently live in New Orleans, LA in a double shotgun with their two adorable dogs Bubba and Frankie. They are also expecting their first baby in March. Over the holidays they asked if I would take some pictures to document this very exciting pre-baby point in their lives. I loved having the chance to take these photos for them. They're both so awesome and down to earth. Nothing about these two is contrived or forced. I love them both very very much and I CANNOT wait to meet my newest nephew! Their slideshow is below.

The Lincoln Family

2011-12-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

I had an absolute blast with the sweet Lincolns yesterday taking pics of their adorable family of three. Towards the end of snapping these pics their hilariously cute three year old, Drew, had me laughing so hard it was becoming difficult to keep my camera steady. It was hard to pick them, but in the slideshow below are some of my favorites from the afternoon.

Christmas Pics

2011-12-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

Since putting up our Christmas tree Julia Claire practically lives in the living room. I have had to redecorate the bottom three ft of the tree close to six times since thursday. She LOVES taking the (plastic) ornaments off to play with them. To her, it's a giant toy with lights. I have really enjoyed taking pics of her playing around the tree. It's a fun challenge to photograph Christmas lights and it's even more wonderful to look back at these and see how excited this sweet child is over Christmas this year.

I have also been attempting to snap a pic of her for our Christmas card. This has proven more of a challenge than Christmas lights. She is so busy and into everything all of the time that I feel like I'm usually taking pictures of her back as she's running in another direction.

Anyway, here are some from lately:

Holidays 2011

2011-11-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving complete with a trip to The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians (one of my favorite places as a kid)

What would a trip to the Indian Village be without rolling down the mounds?

We also strolled back to St. Catherine Creek behind the Village

Jules of course loved throwing rocks in the creek

Thanksgiving day at Monmouth

Christmas tree at the camera shop - Mommy trying out a new lens - Christmas trees are Jules' new favorite thing : )

Lots of painting on this very rainy very cold day

The Marshalls

2011-11-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

Recently my sweet friend Helen asked me if I wouldn't mind snapping some pictures of her adorable family. I was really excited about this. Her family of four is one of the sweetest and cutest groups I know. Julia Claire absolutely loves her precious two year old boy (almost three) Taylor, and their almost one year old Molly is a complete joy. I had a blast doing this for them.

Their slideshow is below:

Jules in Pics

2011-11-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

I have been trying hard to get Jules to look at camera....she won't. She's wayyy over the mom taking pics thing. What's even worse, when she does, the look on her face seems to be telling me to please get the stupid camera out of her face... I can't help it. It's so fun to take her pic...

Anyway...

2.5 Years Old

2011-11-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

We've had so much fun lately spending time with family and celebrating fall. It means so much to Kellen and me to have such an awesome extended family who show us so much unconditional love and support. We spent this past weekend in Madisonville, LA so all the boys could enjoy a fishing excursion with Grampy on Lake Ponchartrain. Almost every one of us was able to come (Kellen, Jules, Me, Aunt Margie, Uncle Brian, Uncle Buddy, Aunt Katie, Weeeah, Aunt Roo, Gram, and Grampy). We missed you, Whalens and Spi's!! We had a blast and watching how much they all care for and love Julia Claire as well as seeing how much Julia Claire loves and adores each of them is such a great feeling. Jules is still talking about her hilarious Uncle Buddy and the adorable Weeeeah with whom she is totally in love. Can't wait for a repeat over the holidays!!!!

At 2 and 1/2 years old Julia Claire is the most loving, hilarious, giggly, and adorable little girl.

Here are some recent pics:

On the playground

On the swing set in Natchez

Walking Sophie tandem with Dada

Walking Sophie solo!

Jules and Leah on Leah's 2nd birthday

The fairy/princess/ballerina on Halloween

Jules and her bestie Eden doing some stretches before hitting the neighborhood for some tricks and treats

The most adorable pumpkin I have ever seen

Playing on the bridge at the playground

Me Oh My

2011-11-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Our Website www.moonbirdart.com was plugged on one of my favorite blogs, Me Oh My! today!! Please head over and check it out. It's an entertaining and informative lifestyle blog written by a very creative and inspiring mama.

Hope all is well with everyone!! Happy thursday!!

9/11

2011-09-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

So thankful for my family today. Thinking of all those who lost loved ones today ten years ago.

Just Lately

2011-09-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

We've stayed busy since our last post... we somehow fell, hit our heads and came-to as homeowners, we have been lucky enough to spend some much needed time at the beach, and we have hit some major milestones in Julia Claire's life, namely a "big girl" change in sleeping arrangements, and with a solid cold-turkey approach we have been 100% "beemie" free for over two weeks... and I don't even want to think about the pull-ups we bought last night to really get going on this potty training thing. We also began the daunting task of applying to Jackson area preschools....YIKES!!! It seems like this is all happening at the same time. I don't know about Jules, but I'm worn slap out.

Here are a few recent pics:

Since our beach trip with Gram and Grampy in July where we discovered Jules' deep love for carousels we have tried to take her to one here in town (a gigantic furniture store?) as much as possible

Helping Dada put together her new bed

I think she really loves this new setup and has been sleeping through the night for the most part (thank gawwd)

Sweet Grampy spent a large amount of time pulling Jules around on the "carpet train" this last time at the beach : )

Playing on the beach with our cousin Leah!

STICKERS!!!

Hope everyone has had a great summer : )

Memphis and Such

2011-04-06T20:36:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Aunt Rachel got hitched in Memphis to her longtime squeeze, Spi! We had a great time with friends and family. Here are just a few pics from the weekend...

Blueberry breakfast with Auntie La!

Jules kept everyone in the wedding party in line...

My beautiful sis Margie : )

This is the morning after we got home...
Jules takes her early morning milk in the courtyard : )

Custom Pencil Sketches at www.moonbirdart.com

2011-03-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a little plugging on my blog for my very talented friend Sarah Smith. She's ridiculously modest, something I really love about her, so I've taken it upon myself to do some promoting for her, and for our website http://www.moonbirdart.com

Her custom pencil sketches are beyond words beautiful. She is able to add so much more depth and interest to a portrait than the photo used to create the sketch could ever begin to accomplish. They make such a unique gift. I have one of Julia Claire that I will cherish forever. I'm also looking forward to having one done of my house, if we're ever lucky enough to really be homeowners one day : )

Here's one she did this past year...

And this is one of her own adorable little girl, Eden Jane...

Her prices are as follows:

18x24 $363
14x17 $253
12x18 $268
11x14 $213
9x12 $168
8x10 $123
5x7 $90

If you would like one of these beautiful sketches of your own sweet baby, house, or even your pet check out her page at www.moonbirdart.com/sarah and click on the Inquire about Custom Work from Sarah to tell us a little more about what you're looking for.

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather!!
Happy Spring!!

Match Day

2011-03-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday Kellen matched in Jackson, thank goodness! It was a little bit nerve racking to say the least but we made it through and can continue our hunt for our first real house in Jackson... with even maybe a yard!...not really sure a yard is in our very small budget.. but maybe... : )

Here are some pics:

We had a great day celebrating with friends. Kellen is going to have an awesome internal medicine class this year. It's really going to be wonderful having such a great group of people staying in Jackson. We are both very excited about the next few years : )

And of course I had to include these pics of sweet Jules enjoying the flowers : )

Following Winston

2011-03-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone should check out my friend's new blog, Following Winston .

She is dedicating the blog to bringing you the latest on What's Up With the What Up. I'm already blown away by her latest post about a bar where they will blow dry/style your hair. I think I'm going to start a petition to get one opened in Jackson...yeah right, I love Jacksokn, but I'm not sure it's quite there yet. Maybe one day....

Winston, get to work on your next post because I'm already looking forward to what kind of mascara, lip balm, lotion, restaurant, etc. I'm gonna wanna try next!

http://followingwinston.blogspot.com/

Moonbird Art, LLC

2011-03-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

www.moonbirdart.com

So, for almost a year now I have been working on launching a website featuring my very talented sister Margaret Ayres. I can remember being little and feeling such amazement at the wonderfully funny and whimsical characters she was always doodling and sketching. As an adult she's won a plethora of awards for her rare capacity to create. For years she's been in New Orleans living on this awesome talent painting and creating for big productions such as HBO's hit show Treme, or one of mine and Julia Claire's favorites, Disney's Imagination Movers, building and painting for Jazz Fest, and even Wide Spread Panic. She's one of the most inspiring and beautiful people I've ever known and I'm so proud to be representing her on my new website.

I've also been lucky enough to talk some other incredibly talented people into joining me on this journey. KC Williams who was recently featured in Portico Magazine as one of Jackson, MS's five most up and coming artists, Wendy Eddleman who's fused glass creations are indescribably cool, and Sarah Smith who can create a pencil sketch with more depth and interest than any photograph could ever allow.

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with these great people and that they've allowed me to represent them on this website that is now finally ready to launch.

Please check us out. I hope you enjoy : )

www.moonbirdart.com

Picnicking At the Resevoir

2011-02-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

We went picnicking again yesterday with Uncle Aaron, Aunt Sarah, and beautiful baby Eden. The weather was gorgeous! And of course, I had to snap some pics of sweet Jules who was very busy the entire time picking and "sniff sniff" ing the "fuuulllowwwwww-ahhs", playing with sticks, and pine needles, and whatever else looked interesting to her very curious little self. Here are a few:

This is before church this morning. Thanks so much Gram for this sweet little dress : )

And I just really wanted to share these last two for fun. I took these during the ice storm this past January and liked how they ended up turning out. This is an old burned down house in Natchez across the street from Uptown Grocery. The icy trees nearby made the place look soooo creepy...

I thought this one was creepy too... this house was up just a little ways from the one above and it seemed to just be falling down.

Baking Cookies

2011-02-25T15:19:00.000-08:00

We've had a great day today that started at the Children's Museum with our sweet friends Helen and Tay Tay, lunch at one of our favorite spots, Bon Ami, a trip to the grocery store for some choc chip cookie ingredients, and then finally, a fun (and very messy) cookie baking adventure. It tuns out that Julia Claire is a very talented baker. She measured the flour out and then tasted it (for quality assurance I'm sure), taste tested lots of chocolate chips, and helped me stir and crack the eggs. The finished product is pretty tasty I might add. Here are a few pics...

Bows Or Bowties?

2011-02-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

This past Friday our Aunt Shannon and Uncle Zach asked me to take pictures at their party to reveal the gender of sweet "Baby J". It was an adorable set-up and there was lots of love and laughter all around as close family and friends gathered to share in such a special moment. This lucky baby is going to be tremendously loved and adored. Thanks so much Aunt Shay and Uncle Zeke for including us. We had such a good time and cannot wait to meet this adorable baby.

Lately...

2011-02-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

With the weather so nice we've really been trying to get outside as much as possible. I'm so thankful Spring is almost here!

Here she comes....

And there she goes!!

What's that over there!!??

Today at the park

Also at the park... Not sure what it is but we thought it was neat! (it looked like a bunch of painted water bottles cut to fan outward and stuck in a chain link fence) Belhaven Park is such a cool spot.

Julia Claire has always examined things of interest to her very carefully. The face she makes always makes me giggle a little... here she is checking out a pine needle

Sweetest little bug

Favorite New Game at the Coffee Shop

2011-02-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

Stack the Jelly!!

Jack in the Box

2011-01-29T19:35:00.000-08:00

Jules loves her Jack in the Box and has turned the crank and popped it open at least one hundred times. She even begins to flinch towards the end when she knows the cute teddy bear is about to jump out and "surprise" her.

This cracks me up every time I see it...

Trip to New Orleans

2011-01-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Kellen had an interview with Tulane's internal medicine program and Jules and I decided to tag along to keep Dada company.

The minute we arrived to the hotel Jules went straight for the phone. She loves pushing the buttons and picking up the receiver to say, "Heh-whoa?"

We read our favorite story before bed our first night in the hotel, "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb"

The next morning while Kellen interviewed Jules and I had breakfast with Aunt Margie at La Boulangerie

We then decided to stroll through the beautiful Audobon Park and look for some ducks to feed

With our bag of treats from La Boulangerie the ducks quickly found us

I'm not sure Jules was especially thrilled about these very large squaking birds so we decided to keep strolling

After a while, Margie and I realized that the beloved "Dunny" (Jules' stuffed Bunny) was no longer in the stroller with Jules... she is very attached to Dunny so i immediately started to freak. We backtracked a ways and this is what we came upon a couple hundred yards back

Whoever found Dunny very kindly propped him up on a tree so that maybe his people might have a better chance of finding him...Thank you to whoever did this : )

Afterwards we went by Margie's adorable house on Annunciation street where Aunt Margie told Jules of all the fantastic things about Mardi Gras in New Orleans

After a fun filled day with Margie we headed back to the quarter to meet up with Dada after his interview to go strolling through the quarter.

We of course ended up at Cafe Du Monde for some beignets and hot chocolate. On the stroll back we stopped and bought Julia Claire Dada's favorite new addition to her wardrobe

By the time we finally made it back to the hotel we were worn out : )

The next day we met up over at Margie's to hang out with Aunt Laura, Joe, Aunt Margie and Big Country (Uncle Brian)

and of course, Frankie

("Relax Frank, I just. Want. To pet you.")

Jules loves Frankie

Bubba is not pictured but Jules loves him very much too : )

After lunch at Butcher with everyone (which was really really good) we decided to head to the Aquarium where we met some fabulous fish. I thought this one was especially cool...

The Seahorses were very cool too

Unfortunately, Jules slept through most of it

But she finally woke up towards the end during the best part

She really loved it

I just love this little dimple

We really had an awesome weekend. Thanks very much Aunt Margie for showing us around and hanging out with us! : )

Wild Thing

2011-01-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

Camera Upgrade

2011-01-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

After using an Olympus e520 for the last three years I have recently upgraded. Photography has really become one of my favorite hobbies over the last few years, and to have Julia Claire as a subject makes it even more fun to take pictures. Hopefully I will get better at this as time goes by : )