Saturday, August 30, 2008

Baby Update!!!

The baby -

We finally have our official "Birth Date". My wife will be delivering the baby by way of a scheduled c-section on September 23, 2008 at Brandon Regional Hospital!! My Mother-In-Law will be coming in from Denver to help take care of the wife and kids during the time that I may have to work. Oh - and possibly to bond with her 8th (and maybe final) grandchild. ;-) Alex will be "on location" to make sure we get some nice footage of Mr. Myles to share with everyone. Please send a prayer up for his safe and healthy arrival. We cannot wait for the little guy to get here. We have the nursery all set up with his Classic Pooh decor. We wonder so often what he'll look like and what kind of personality he'll have. The wife is growing more and more tired everyday, she told me last Friday that she was officially tired of being pregnant. At 9 months, she's pretty uncomfortable. She's convinced the baby is trying to take out one of her vital organs with his kicks...maybe we have a little soccer player on our hands.

The shower -

The shower was a blast!!! The consensus was that this was the best baby shower ever!! We didn't know that we were so loved! Shannnon, Aymee, Jackie and Zoe really put a great event together. The location was awesome - the NoHo Bistro has such a relaxing environment and the food was really good. We had mini cheeseburgers on Hawaiian rolls, chicken strips, onion rings, sweet potato fries and our favorite - fried rice in mini Chinese take out containers. We also had a pickles and ice cream bar. There was an assortment of pickles and olives, and ice cream with all of the toppings. What a good idea! The featured drink of the night was "The Bubbly Baby Boy" which consisted of champagne with a splash of Curacao. The cake came from Chocolate Pi. They did a great job on it. It was in the shape of a crown and had the baby's monogram on it - tasty too!! The DJ was awesome! He played soft music throughout the night that allowed everyone to relax and enjoy themselves. The flower arrangements were simply beautiful! Botanica really outdid themselves with the beautiful blue and white centerpieces and arrangements. The way the shower was set up was simply breathtaking. We all know that "the girls" wouldn't do anything that wasn't in that category though. :-)

We received so many beautiful gifts. We did not open them at the shower which was disappointing for some and probably excellent for the men who were attending their first baby shower - like me. We actually liked not opening the gifts at that time because it gave us a chance to spend more time with our friends. It also gave our children an opportunity to be involved - my wife let them open all the gifts when we got home that night while she wrote everything down. It was like Christmas for them!

We had so much fun spending time with all of our friends. My wife's girlfriend surprised her by driving all the way down from Atlanta just to come to the shower! They got the chance to hang out for a couple of nights and that was really nice for her....she just wished they could have shared a bottle of wine. lol We once again, wanted to thank everyone for everything they have offered to us. We are so blessed to have a group of friends who are so selfless. Thank each of you for loving us and blessing us with your friendship.

Phillip and Tamika


Shannon, Phillip and Tamika



Mike, Jocelyn and Alex

Our gift table.

Shannon

Mini cheeseburgers...mmmmmmmmmmmm

A gift bag for Myles - proof that he'll be taking after his Daddy. :-)

Our guests enjoying themselves.

Mike and Judy

Phillip and Paul

Aymee and Paul

Shannon and Aymee

Our featured drink

Shannon, Andrea, Judy and Becky in the background

Our favors

Our favorite - the fried rice

Our Location

Our cake from Jackie for Mr. Myles Lloyd McDonald

Our monogrammed napkins - so adorable

Our beautiful arrangement

Our gift basket from Shannon, Aymee and Jackie - This had our favorite gift in it...the Wee Block - google it!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Shoot with Ross

This week I had the opportunity to shoot with Ross from Ross Oscar Knight Photography. Ross came in from Atlanta to shoot Lauren & Andrew's wedding with me at the Sand Pearl Resort. I had such a great time working with Ross on shooting the perfect images for Lauren & Andrew. They were a great couple!! It was very hot outside and they still stuck it out with me to get some awesome shots. Thank you guys a lot!!












Thursday, July 10, 2008

Baby Update

Well, we're getting closer. My wife is now in her 3rd trimester!! It won't be long before we no longer get any rest whatsoever!! We can't wait for that part!! We wonder so often what he will look like. My wife says she knows he's going to have her nose...she says she can see it in the ultrasound (her nose is more pointy). We'll see.



The baby shower is coming! We are so excited about the baby shower! We really are looking forward to celebrating this great milestone with our wonderful friends. Our shower is being hosted by Shannon Wilson of Table 6 and Aymee Sutterby of Brides.com. They are working so hard on putting it together. I think this will be the baby shower of the century! So far, the shower is going to be at the NoHo Bistro in Tampa. The invitations were done by Not From a Box Inc. and they were so cool! Jackie Ross is getting our cake (as well as a truckload [literally] of baby items) from Chocolate Pi - the best cakes in town, and the flowers are coming from Ian at Botanica - their flowers are always amazing. Everyone has been so kind in dedicating their time, supplies and money for my family and I am more gracious than words can express. We are not only being blessed with a new baby, but we are also blessed to have such great friends!! It really means a lot to us.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Rebecca & Mike

I had the pleasure of shooting some images for Rebecca & Mike from Limelight Photography today. They're a fun couple...we had a great time painting the town red. Rebecca's dress was from The Dressing Room , thanks Judy.









Jennifer & Michael

Here are some pictures from the wedding I shot this weekend. Jennifer and Mike are awesome. They gave me a lot of time to work with them (gotta love it) and we had a great time doing it. The wedding took place at Ybor City Museum and the reception was at the Don Vicente Historic Inn, Paula at A-List Events was just that A-List, she did a great job. The beautiful flowers are from Flowers By Jenny.













Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Father's Day Dance - A Queen in the Making

On Father's Day, I had the opportunity to escort my beautiful daughter to the Father/Daughter Dance. My wife bought her a new dress and got her all ready to go with me. I was proud to be with her. We both weren't sure of what to expect before we went. She was VERY nervous and she thought that going to a dance with her Dad was just plain weird. Turns out, we danced the evening away. We even had a slow dance to Luther Vandross' song "Dance with My Father." The DJ made everyone do this, there were no exceptions. I bet if there were, there would have been quite a few Dad's sitting out on this one seeing as to how teenagers are way too cool to do such a thing as dance with their Dad. :-) I can't wait to take her again next year. We're going to definitely make a tradition out of it. We both had such a great time!

I took this pledge and made this promise to my daughter:

Daddy's Promise

I make this pledge to you because I love you!

I promise to always support you, no matter the conditions.

I promise to keep you safe no matter the danger; yet let you grow and live your life.

I promise to be your rock and give you encouragement in times of need.

I promise to always respect you and live as an example of what a good man should be.

I promise to share my knowledge, my mistakes, and my lessons so you gain wisdom from my life.

I promise, whenever I can, to make your road smoother.

I promise to answer when you call, be there when you need me and even when you think you don’t!

I promise to show you how important you are to me!

I promise that I will always be in your life and be the best father I can be!

(And most of all) I promise A Lifetime of Love!!!!!!!

Love,

Daddy

(signed) Phillip Lloyd