.Update.

So the last couple of months have been totally up in the air and all over the place for me. After finally going to the drs and speaking with them afew times i was refered and finally diagnosed as suffering from bipolar affective disorder. As scary as it sounds to have this label hanging over my head,i feel so much better for it..knowing that there is a reason why i have been feeling and acting the way i have.

After that i decided i need to focus on something positive to help me deal with things that are going on,so i decided to set up a website with the help of a great friend...we've only just started working on it so it might be alittle while til its actually up and running...but im so excited for when its actually live...check back for when things are up!!

Anyway...to cheer this up...heres a couple of photos of my niece & nephew from this month

.Spending time with the kids.

This weekend i had my brothers kids for the night and had such a good time. Its hard work for sure...2 kids under 2yrs of age but worth it.
On sunday morning me & Charlie decided to hang out in the good light...we played and had fun taking photos. My dinning room is south facing with big french doors so we get plenty of that great sunlight which it just happened to be on sunday.
I also managed to get some photos of Lola..with eye contact :)...its so hard to get her to look at me when i have the camera in my hands and when she does its always fleating..this weekend she was very co-operative though

Sitting in his bumbo...he really loves the bumbo which is good because he isnt sitting up yet. Hes only 5months old though so i dont blame him. He is pretty strong though so i dont think it'll be long til he is sitting up on his own.

Dont they both have just the most gorgeous eyes you've ever seen. They both have gloriously long eye lashes aswell...which they get from their dad...why do boys always have the best lashes?

She found my pedometer in the toy box...and then decided to use it as a phone!

.September.

September was a crazy and fun month. Lola & Charlie have been so much fun to spend time with...Lola is so sweet and gentle with Charlie,calling him the baby and giving him hugs & kisses...she doesnt seem at all jealous because shes too young to really understand. I cant get enough of Lola and her silly faces and Charlies awesome smile.

Lola is getting harder and harder to photograph now,she wants nothing to do with me and my camera but every now and then she gives me a look,just one and only briefly...but when im lucky enough to catch it on camera...its the best look in the world.

I love this photograph,not only for the look that shes giving me but everything that happened just before it. Rich & Lucy came over with the kids in the morning while i was in the shower,when i came downstairs i could hear my mum telling lucy about some pants she'd bought Lola for the start of potty training...but as soon as Lola heard me,she popped her head around the corner and came running straight to me. It felt so great having her run up to me for a hug and a kiss and then to get the sweetest look from her was the cherry on top
We were playing with cups & bowls of water at the sink when i took this

And the big guy...my oldest nephew Ty...who never wants his photo taken but very occasionally allows me to get a shot. Even if it isnt perfect...i love it all the same...

And a slice of daily life from the same day...Lola eating at the table like a big girl with a knife & folk...plastic of course :) Abit oof but so was i that day :)

A warm and sunny september day means playing in the backyard in the paddling pool and hanging out in nothing but a nappy and wellington boots...the girl has style

One of my mum from the day...she never lets anyone take her picture but she was feeling in the mood that day obviously. My fav photograph of her.

And,because no post is complete without a picture or 2 of the new man in my life...Charlie. I took him upstairs to get him ready for bed and Ty was already in my room so he lay down next to Charlie and allowed 1 photo of him and his little bro

And then some silly faces from him to end the day...

Woo...along post...i think im done with this one :)

.Big Sister.

While Lucy was in the hospital having Charlie we looked after Ty & Lola. I got loads of pictures of Lola while she was staying with us,it was the middle of the summer aswell so we spent loads of time outside.
Here are afew of my favs from the week spent at my house

In the bathtub...it was crazy funny trying to get this pic...i took my socks off,rolled my trousers up to my knees and balanced on the sides of the tub. She kept standing up wanting me to pick her up so i got a whole bunch of photos of her head before she eventually sat down and then gave me this look. Then she wanted to get out an stood up so i had to get into the tub,pick her up and then get out :)

Playing in a bowl of water in the backyard...she couldnt even wait for me to take her nappy off before she got in,infact...she still had her shirt on when she first got in but i managed to take it off while she was sat there.

It was so much fun spending the week with Lola...she really is just crazy as they come and so well behaved aswell. The house was so quiet when her and Ty left.

.Lola.

Ive been a bad blogger again...so much has been happening over the last couple of months but ive been picking up my camera as much as possible an taking photos of lola. As a result....i dedicate this whole post to the beautiful & wonderful Lola.

This was taken back in January...it was getting late in the evening an she'd just had her dinner. The lighting was crap but i couldnt pass up that adorable face of hers. She has some great expressions an this is her...im not looking at you face.

This month ive taken quite a few photos of her..after not picking up my camera for at least 2/3wks i decided i need to get back onto it and get some great photos that i could have printed big for everyone.
Ty & Lola stayed at the house for the night and i took the opportunity to snap a bunch of photos...i must of taken at least 50...to get only 5/6 good ones.

I love this one in color aswell....

Last one of our little session...

And before the end of the day...i managed to get a photo of Lola and her dad (my brother Richard)...she really is his twin...his mini me!

I had such fun over the day taking these photos of Lola..she is such a funny little girl and really a pleasure to spend time with. She pulls the funniest of faces and does the craziest of things.
Now all i need is for her big brother Ty to allow me to take some photos of him and then i can have some great ones of him to give to his mum & rich..not just photos of Lola.

Spent sometime with my niece Lola on friday and saturday..thought it would be fun to try and get some photos of her somewhere other than sat in her bouncy chair and a good excuse to continue that manual practice of mine.
I got a couple of good shots of her on the floor playing with her toys and attempting to crawl...(she didnt get far..she hasnt figured it out yet) but the shot i like the most came out rubbish. I was using my shitty kit lens and i swear to god it takes for ever to focus that one and even longer to change focus. Because she was moving around alot and im shit at manual focus my focus is off on what would of been the best shot..the focus is more on her top than her face and so it is not really usable. It sucks but i still like the shot so i went ahead and processed it anyway..im so disappointed though,i wish id nailed it because i didnt get a second chance.

I hate shooting in my livingroom because the light is so poor..despite having a big floor to celling window the same width as the room..there seems to be no light in there at all and the main light always gives that reddish glow.I was really suprised how well these came out today but i sat with my back to the window so Lola was facing the light and basically hoped for the best..the catch lights..if you can even call them that were rubbish but nevermind.

There is some happiness

Despite the tragedy in our lives at the moment..there is at least something to look forward to. The beautiful face of my niece Lola. Im so grateful that my grandad got to meet him and she brought some new joy into his life for the short time she has been alive. She loved to sit with him and be around him. The weekend before he died we took Lola to visit him and got the last pictures ever taken of him. Im so thankful for that!
Lola is so much like her dad,my brother..its amazing to look back at pictures of my brother when he was a baby and see such similarities between the 2 of them.
Quite often Lola and Ty come to stay at my parents house for the night at the weekend and i get to spend hours with them. Ty loves watching his films and last weekend we all watched Fantastic Four:Rise of the Silver Surfer. It was a good film..i never saw the first one though but still enjoyed it and Ty explain things about the film to me : )
I got to take a couple of photos of Lola,which is always fun. Especially with Lola..her expressions crack me up all the time and she is always happy and willing to give you a smile.

I editted in ACR using Marina's awesome underground settings again...i just cant get enough of her work and her settings are just out of this world..they really make you think outside the box when it comes to editting.