Lisa Phillipson Photography » Atlanta Family and High School Senior Photography

Tag Archives: Christmas

Because I have been so busy and behind on session-shares, I am going to try to catch up and fit in many during my 12 Days of Blogging.

This family will have a wonderfully fun Christmas with their one year old boy.  He was learning how to stand on his own and walk at his One Year Session.  I’m wondering now if he can keep his hands off the Christmas Tree.  He is so smart and curious to learn everything around him.

He is such a cutie and I sure love the blonde curls on the back of his head.  As I was going he showed me how good he is at stacking blocks and his framed newborn picture.

Day 3 Christmas Idea:

I am seeing many many The Elf on the Shelf sightings on Facebook now.  Everyone seems to love their Elves so if you have wee little ones and don’t have your own yet I guess I will recommend it before we get any further into the Christmas Season.  Our Elf, Tom, had a rather tragic ending a few years ago and Santa doesn’t feel like our family can handle that responsibility.  Personally, I am glad to have one less thing added to our already full Holiday season.  If you are one of the few that don’t know how our Elf went back to the North Pole, you can read about it here on my old blog.  The infuriating thing is that Alex keeps insisting that the Elf will be coming back this year and I have to keep explaining how Santa isn’t going to allow it.  If you already have your own Elf and run out of creative ideas, check out my friend, Katherine.  She has a posting on some fun things you can try.

Merry Christmas!

posted in: Baby,Childhood

The word Advent is from the Latin “Adventus,” which means coming.

Preparing for the coming of Christ…

Day 2: We are on our way with our Advent Calendar!  Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas but like most people in America, we follow it in our home starting the first Calendar day of December leading up to Christmas.

You can search Advent Calendars online and find many different options.  It is especially fun with little children to open up a surprise every day until Christmas.  We were given the above Wooden Advent Calendar and every day we can open it up and unwrap a magnetic piece that fits onto our nativity scene.  It was a bigger negotiation for our kids when they were younger on who opens the box and who places it on the board each day.  I recommend also getting some of the cheaper paper ones you can find at stores like World Market so they can have one of their own.  My kids have never opened candy or small presents in their calendar but I know some people do.

We also have (had?) the LEGO City Advent Calendar and that is fun to put a little figure together every day.  I think I was able to get it back in the box for a second year missing a couple of pieces and then I just had to let it go.  We live in a sea of Legos and there was no way I could keep them from playing with the little figures or getting them mixed up with our regular pieces.  Luckily the prices have come down so you don’t have to feel bad if it is a one year calendar.  There are a lot more fun options now too.  The Star Wars Advent Box looks fun for children older than 6 years old.  It is not too late to get one especially if you have 2 children – do it every other day so they each get to open their own.

If you haven’t done one of these before, get the less expensive one from last year – your kids won’t care.

I think I want to get one of the last two for me Kate.  She misses out on a lot because the boys wreck stuff we have been there and done that with the boys.

The nativity one will still be our primary one because it is just easier to keep your head in the right place and a great visual to talk about the true meaning of Christmas.

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

posted in: Musings

It feels early to talk about Christmas to me (Uh, Happy Halloween?). However, if you want a beautiful custom gift with images of your family, you will want to order early to make sure it is back to you in plenty of time.  Let me know if you are interested in this and I can help you choose something beautiful.  This could be for previous sessions held with me or any that I have coming up in November.  Many of my cut-offs for Christmas are early but this one isn’t until November 26th.

Kortori Jewelry has beautiful silver pieces that are guaranteed not to yellow and my favorite is their antique copper drop down necklace that you can check out in the catalog below.  There are many styles and pieces to choose from that are appropriate for Mom, Dad, Grandma and even your children.

I also have gift certificates available through November if you want to gift someone and let them pick their own jewelry gift or even have a photo session after Christmas when life (hopefully) slows down.

Merry Christmas!

posted in: Products

I wanted to share a sample of what your family might wear for a photography session.  These particular outfits may not be your style, but you can take cues from the overall color theme.  The different layers of denim and blues are a great base and always timeless.  Throw in a few pops of a brighter color like the red above.  I must be partial to these colors as I did something similar for my own family a couple of years ago when my friend, Crystal, took our pictures.

We were all in Jeans (because that is what we live in and so US).  I had denim with different shades of browns and a few pops of red.  The green of summer is a nice backdrop and the red lets it still work well for Christmas Cards. This is a great way to go ahead and get your Christmas Card pictures taken care of as early as August and September.

Speaking of Christmas… I am debating on which day to cut off my Christmas deadline for Sessions.  I know it will be the first week of November.  So, if you would like to get a family session in this year now is the time to schedule it.  I have a set number of sessions I can take for children and families including High School Seniors.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!  We seem to have plenty of warm weather in Atlanta.  I have enjoyed a few cooler mornings over the past week — A LOT.

posted in: Family,What to Wear

We did it.  We made it to Double-Digits today.  It is a major milestone for Evan to reach 10 years old but I feel like it is a milestone for me too.

I’m so thankful that he still went along with going to see Santa this year.  He did, however, inform me that he does not want to wear the same shirt as his brother anymore.  I matched their outfits as long as I possibly could.  I was thrilled when I was able to point out two teenage boys in line to see Santa and they were both wearing the same shirt.  I don’t want to know what that situation was all about – I’m just glad to make a point that he isn’t too big after all!

Below is his list to Santa and as you can tell he is pretty into video games.  I refused to buy him any more Legos for birthday or Christmas after having cleaned them out of my living room last week but maybe Santa will have mercy on him.  I know that Santa was incredibly patient to go through each child’s list so carefully.  Kate only had one thing on her list and Alex had a 3 page written copy of the Target catalog.

10 years ago 9/11 had just happened, the world was a different place and I was starting my journey through parenthood.  My husband was trying to convince me to use digital photography as I clung to my real camera.  Ha-ha.  I’m so glad I took that step and enjoyed taking a picture every day of my new little one.  I remember laughing a lot his first year – lots of joy.

He continues to ask hard questions as he always has since he could talk.  My most un-favorite one is “What person has counted the highest?”   This morning on the way to school he asked me if he was really my firstborn child.  “What?” I asked.  He said “I’m just checking to make sure you weren’t hiding a big secret from me and there was someone else born first.”  Nope… I could never keep that big of a secret!

Happy Birthday, Evan!

posted in: Musings

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