Well, this post is way overdue! Having a newborn, a three-year old, a larger house to take care of, a husband to entertain and love, AND a small photography business all at one time isn’t easy. The need to multitask seems to be at an all-time high and so many days pass by where I feel like I get nothing done! Thankfully, I’m able to take a self-proclaimed maternity leave from JFP and only do “light work” when absolutely necessary. I’ve really needed the extra time to take care of everything and actually think I might extend my maternity leave past March 1st. I purposely didn’t schedule any portrait sessions or weddings until at least the second part of March because I didn’t want to have deadlines during this leave. So maybe this post isn’t that overdue?? 😉

Ally’s third birthday was in December of last year, but really, it wasn’t that long ago (it was 2013 less than two months ago!). We celebrated with a big family party here at our new house and everything turned out wonderfully! We were somewhat threatened by snow and ice, but almost everyone was still able to visit. Ally loved her princess party and we loved having so many of our family members together in one space to share the party with her!

Such a pretty little princess!

Uncle Jason and Aunt Heather came up from VA!

Along with Brian’s parents, who also braved the winter weather from VA to MD!

Birthday Princess Ally with her Disney princess t-shirt and her “Cinderella cake”. 🙂 Funfetti cake is a favorite in our family, so I baked a box cake and decorated it with some princess toys and candles. Definitely a fan of homemade and DIY, especially when a real princess or Cinderella cake would have cost $50! Ally loved the cake…and that’s really what matters!

And my parents, grandparents and sister came from PA for the party! We certainly had a lot of states represented at the princess party. 🙂

Ally loved her cake, but she did not love everyone singing to her…

Check out my mom’s reaction in the background. I think she was more excited about the pink boots than Ally was! 🙂

Ally has worn these pink boots 90% of the days since her party. She absolutely loves them!

We had quite a crowd! So glad our new house can accommodate. 🙂

These two pictures of Ally playing with Great-Pap Fike are priceless. She really warms up to he and Great-Grandma Fike when we’re all together, and it’s so cute to watch…

Some rousing games of ping pong took place downstairs. The Fike boys are serious about this stuff!

Ally and Aunt Krista in serious conversation. 🙂

And Brian and Grandma Smith in serious conversation, too! 🙂

Ally and her new Sophia doll!

Ally and Brian can get pretty silly together… 🙂

Hopefully our next family gathering worthy of a blog post isn’t over two months overdue…but we’ll see. Maternity leave has been great…relaxing and refreshing! So I’m definitely going to continue to relax. I am anxious to jump back into “full swing” with JFP, though. I have ideas for 2014 and things that need to be researched and implemented. There’s lots of work to be done, but I’m confident it’ll get done when needed. Until then, I’ll be enjoying my family as much as possible! Have a happy week, y’all!