Amore Studios - Our Amazing Blog

Zoe Bear Elizabeth Valiant turns 1 !!!!!!!!!!

Well how oh how can it be that my beautiful little girl has turned 1? Zoe Elizabeth Valiant was born last November 19, 2007, at 5:36pm in the evening and wow has she changed in the last year!  Zoe "Bear" as we like to call her is such an important part of our lives as we knew she would be that I cannot imagine life without her.  The last year as they say has been a roller coaster of fun . .excitement . . .exhaustion . . I could go on and on.  It's all the cliches you read about and all worth it as everyone who has kids told me it would be.  I do have to say that we have been blessed with a very happy and easy baby most of the time . . many people tell me she is not like other kids . .but she will always be my perfect little Zoe in my eyes.

On Sunday, we had her first b-day party with close friends and family and it was so much fun.  We of course had to get her cupcakes from the fabulous and always good Mimi with Splendid Cupcake (can I just say that her Lemoncello cupcakes are the best I have ever had hands down - they are addictive).  She made us a special large cupcake with purple frosting for Zoe that she quite enjoyed getting into.  Bryan spent quite a bit of time taking beautiful photos of her cupcakes and got the idea to put one of them in a red bowl from our good friend and great photographer Mearle Gates of White Veil Studios.

I think some of my favorite photos from the day are the close-ups of Zoe and I as she is getting messy and I LOVE the one of her pointing at the camera .. so much attitude already.  After her messy cupcake eating experience, i had to change her in her second outfit which was this incredibly cute pink tutu and top.  Yes her hair was a bit messy, but she looked too cute opening her gifts in it and loved one gift she got that will help her to walk which she is not quite close to yet, but hey she did just master crawling really well!

So below, please enjoy some of our favorite photos of Zoe throughout the last year and then even more from her b-day, can't believe it's already gone . .it goes too fast!   We had to play the song Start Wearing Purple by Gogel Bordello as it is her favorite song (hence her purple frosting).

Melody

 

Zoe - the Pumpkin Patch Girl

Well we have returned from our fabulous San Diego Trip, how did it go so quickly?  Not only did we shoot an awesome wedding, but we also got to take Zoe on so many firsts . . .DIsney, the San Diego Zoo and her first plane rides which she did so well on.  I can't wait to share all those photos with you in a few weeks.

For now, I want to share some adorable photos we took of Zoe on my b-day two weeks back at a local pumpkin patch.  As you can see Bryan had to bring some "edge" to her adorable orange outfit with cool black converse shoes she did not like having put on her feet.  Once they were on it was ok, but that was a challenge.  Enjoy!

Melody

P.S. Come back tomorrow and we are going to be blogging the awesome wedding Bryan did in Cabo!

Zoe . . at the Beach!

Well we are really trying to be better bloggers . .so look it's only been a day and we are going to share more photos with you! We thought it would be fitting as Bryan had just down an engagement shoot at the beach, to show you the first photos we've taken of Zoe at the beach. The first photo below is the same location he shot with the engagement photo and I love it! Zoe was in a very serious mood that day and didn't want to smile. So when I am sitting down in the bluff with her, Bryan is telling me to lift her in the air to get her to smile. Ok . . she is not so light and after about 10 times, it was like enough! We thought it would be fun to have her hold a sand dollar . .shell, etc . .but she just wanted to put it in her mouth. I adore the last series where Zoe is grabbing for the camera. I am working on launching Zoe's very own blog/website next week . .just in time for 6 month birthday . .wow how can she already be 6 months old?

Melody

P.S. As she is about to hit the 6 month mark, I think those big beautiful blue eyes are here to stay!

Zoe - My Fashionista

ello all,

Ok, so it was not our intention to take almost a full month to blog again!  We have been getting ready for our busy busy spring and season that is about to begin.  Bryan is on his way back from Akumal, Mexico as I am typing this where he shot a destination wedding!!!  So look for those amazing pics later this week.  I was actually quite worried about his flights as he was flying American and they have been canceling flights daily until today.  Thankfully he was no 737's not MD-80's and had no cancellations.  I was able to call him a few days and he told me it was "hotter than the sun" . . ha. 

Anyhow, let's move on to the adorable Zoe pictures below.  I had to sneak some more in before he arrived home.  Since we had such gorgeous weather yesterday - pushing 70 degrees and sunny, I had to take her out for a shoot.  It was the first one I did on my own (however my mom helped and took the pic of us as well - thanks!) and I had to get her in some of her adorable easter outfits before she grew out of them.  My oh my is she getting so big.  A few of the outfits - the easter dress and the pink/white romper were gifts from her grandma Shirley and my cousin Brandy and the pink and white blanket we put on her bumbo seat (the best thing for babies who cannot sit up another gift from Sheryle!) was given to us by a former bride & groom - Suzy & Jon - thanks to all!

Zoe did so well with the shoots, we took her to the Capitol Campus with the cherry trees, downtown Olympia near Capitol Lake and to the Tumwater Falls park.  I thought it was very "bryan" of me to find the teal wall to photograph her against to bring out her pretty blue eyes! Can't wait to photograph her in summer when she can sit up and I don't have to worry about her constantly falling over .. ha!  And shortly I will be launching a Zoe only blog for those who want to follow her as she grows up! 

Melody

P.S. Expect a lot of blogging soon . .as soon as Bryan returns we are so busy with portrait shoots, engagements, and weddings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe's New Hat

Welcome to our brand new blog - yeah!  We decided to switch to a new kind that would be clean and simple and show off our photos even more. And now our photos look smaller, but when you click on them, they get much larger - so the page loads much faster . . another yeah!  And this blog is much easier to leave a comment on our photos - so please do, we want you to!

Now on to the photos from our first post . . of course we had to blog Zoe.  It's been so beautiful here for the past week that we were finally able to go take her out on walks in her stroller.  As it is still winter, we had to put that adorable little hat on her and her "love" cashmere sweater on (and don't think I spent tons of cash on a cashmere sweater . . that's a gap smoking good online deal for you - Bryan says I am obsessed with clothes for Zoe . . no she is just a little doll and too cute to not dress well!).  She did quite well with both walks, but towards the end of yesterday's . . well she got a little pissy . . ha.  However, the photos we got were well worth it! The first one below is probably my favorite photo that we took of her, just so pretty with the lens flare and the "sunset look".  However, I also love that we captured her pretty little smile so well in the next to last photo on the blog and the one right above it . . well she looks like goofy with her expression and those ears.   And right after that photo, Bryan's reflection in her eye, tells you he really is in every photo he takes! I can't believe she is already 3 months old, she is growing up too fast! Enjoy. 

Melody

P.S. I know I know . . we have been blog slackers, but look for a lot in the next few weeks.  We have some trips to blog, and a very cool Valentine themed wedding. Also, we photographed a wedding recently that we simply cannot wait to blog, however it was filmed by a NATIONAL TV SHOW and so we have to wait until it airs in April to share it with you!