St. Louis wedding photographer Nicole Welch

1. It’s been quite a while since I’ve done one of these, but I’m back at it. I enjoy writing them (most of the time!), so hopefully you guys enjoy reading them. If not, let me know!

2. The commenting feature on this blog was quite wacky for a long time. It is now fixed. Don’t be afraid to leave some feedback. I love blog love!

3. Do I have any Project Lifers out there? If I do, check out Paislee Press. I am kind of obsessed with everything she does. Remarkably, I’m sticking with Project Life for the most part. Aidan loves looking back at the pages and everything we’ve done through the year. I hope I can keep it up through the rest of the year.

4. My baby (the big one) starts kindergarten in 4 months. 4. Freaking. Months. How is this possible? Those of you with tiny babies, hold on to those moments as long as you can. They are gone so quickly. Without videos and pictures, I’d barely remember Aidan as a baby at all. Now he’s 4 feet tall, 55 pounds, smart as a whip. He tells me all the time, ” I’ll always be your baby,” when I tell him to stop growing. And what is with school starting so early? I believe school in our district starts August 15 or somewhere around there. That just seems insane to me.

5. I’m super excited about a personal project I’m embarking on. Medium format! I just bought a Mamiya camera, and I can’t wait to photograph my boys with film. I was raised on film and the darkroom in journalism school at Mizzou, but that was all 35mm. Medium format is an entirely different ballgame, and I’m super excited. I’m just waiting for a lens to arrive…I may eventually bring it to engagement sessions just for fun, but I have no plans of incorporating it into weddings at this time…Unless I have any specific requests.

6. Aidan has always been a sports guy. Like, crazy sports guy. But he recently started outdoor soccer (he’s done indoor skills lessons before but never had actual games), and he is in love. This child lives and breathes soccer. His coach had to pull him out of practice last week because none of the other kids were participating. Basically, it was just Aidan running up and down the field. The coach told him to take a break so he could rest. He came by me to grab a drink, and he immediately popped up and began cheering his teammates on. Then he was running after the ball when it went out of bounds. He can’t stand not being a part of the action. It’s been so thrilling to watch him love something so much. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this with any other activity he’s ever done. Guess I’m officially a soccer mom.

7. My family is kind of addicted to The Cup. Please don’t ask me to do a session in the Central West End because I cannot control myself. It is heaven in your mouth. No lie. Don’t even try it if you’ve never had it. You will be obsessed for life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The peanut butter chocolate cupcake is the best.

8. If you’ve been unfortunate enough to catch of my old iPhone with it’s completely busted screen, have no fear! I finally broke down and bought a new iphone 4s. It’s quite marvelous. I think my family spent an entire evening having a conversation with Siri.

9. Does anybody watch the Voice? Sometimes I watch it when I’m editing after my boys have gone to bed. I love Juliet. Her voice is incredible.

10. My sweet baby boy, Liam, turned 1 just a couple of weeks ago. I’m a slacker mom and didn’t blog anything about it. We just had a small party combined with Easter ( I know – second child syndrome, right?!) . He ate his own chocolate cupcake, and he wasn’t quite as impressed as Aidan was with his cake at his first birthday. He also wasn’t nearly as messy with it, which was quite the relief. We had a BBQ and played outside, Liam unwrapped his presents and that was about it. It was a good day – though I still can’t believe he’s a year old. That was by far the quickest year of my life. YIKES.