portrait of my boys: Belly Sketcher.

*Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to see how you can enter to win your own custom  watercolor painting!*

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I was so honored when Ines from Belly Sketcher contacted me and offered to paint a portrait of my boys! I am so in love with her colorful and whimsical style.  Ines is a former architect who has turned her focus to her true passion: painting. She paints expecting mothers, families and children and is located in Portugal but is working on expanding her business abroad!

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To have a painting of my little boys at this stage of our lives is a gift that I will absolutely treasure forever. I'm amazed at how well she captured my babies; Asher's crazy cowlick in the front and Roman's little round cheeks. This painting feels like a window into my heart, two little boys surrounded by lovely, swirly colors, sharing love with each other and with me everyday.

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I am currently hosting a giveaway on my Instagram featuring some of my favorite companies that I've had the chance to work with through blogging and Ines has generously offered to giveaway a custom watercolor portrait to the winner! Be sure to check out the giveaway: here for a chance to win a treasure like this for yourself!

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Happy Monday, friends!

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( Check out the Belly Sketcher Instgram feed @bellysketcher to see other wonderful artwork! )

*my favorite things: GIVEAWAY!*

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Hello, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday! 

I'm here to share my "favorite things giveaway" that just went live on my Instagram today 

and I hope that you all check it out @bygillianclaire to enter!

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I'm so thankful for the wonderful people that I've had a chance to meet and work with this year through photography/blogging + Instagram! I'm excited to end this year by partnering with 4 of my favorite brands to give one of my followers the chance to win an awesome prize from each!
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Here is what you will receive if you are the lucky winner:
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Custom Watercolor Painting by Ines Pargana of Belly Sketcher

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You guys,  I am completely in love with this painting that Ines did for me. 

I adore her style and she somehow managed to capture Roman and Asher perfectly. I will definitely be doing a post about her company, Belly Sketcher soon. Don't miss out this chance to win your own custom maternity or family portrait! 

This painting will definitely be a lifetime treasure for me!

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Choice of Kid's Tee Shirt from KidTeez
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We have loved working as Brand Reps for KidTeez over this past year. Their site is just filled with adorable shirts to choose from. You can check out a post I did featuring KidTeez a while back: here.
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Framed Instagram Print from Pictli
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Pictli is an awesome app that delivers framed Instagram photos to your door! I loved having the chance to try out Pictli over the summer and have two of my favorite photos framed! I am horrible at actually printing and displaying any photos in my home and this made it so quick and easy!
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Digital Download Print from Fox and Arrows Co.
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Dena is one of my favorite bloggers at Live Love Simple and she has recently opened up a print shop called Fox and Arrows Co. Dena is so talented at everything she does and of course all of her prints are just absolutely lovely. Be sure to check out her new Etsy shop!

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Information on how to enter can be found on my Instagram post: here.

Have a great Monday!

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FabKids // november picks!

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I'm finally getting up my pictures from our November FabKids picks! Time is going by super fast and I can't believe that we are half way through December already, eek! As usual, I'm super happy with the adorable outfits we picked this month. Asher was over the moon about this t-rex shirt; he loves dinosaurs and the football tee was perfect for my little sports obsessed 8 year old. 

( Yes, I said 8 year old, can you even believe it!? )

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The boys each received a pair of high top sneakers with their outfits this month and oh my goodness, I just can't even, they are too cute for words. Be sure to check out FabKids, a subscription clothing company for kids, for yourself.
Use my link to get 20% off your first outfit! 

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Happy Tuesday!
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*Ie received these clothes in exchange for my work as a FabKids Brand Ambassador. 
All opinions are of course, my own! 
Thanks for reading along; I truly appreciate it!*

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Stem Cell Banking with LifeBankUSA.

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I'm here with my sponsor, the cord blood bank LifebankUSA today to talk a little bit about their advanced biobanking options for pregnant parents! The science and possibilities behind cord blood banking today is amazing and I'm happy to share a few facts with you all about LifebankUSA and what they offer today!

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++ LifebankUSA offers first class advanced biobanking services which banks stem cells using both cord blood banking and placental tissue banking. These stem cells are collected at birth to later be available to treat disease in both the child and family members.

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++ Ongoing medical research shows that stem cells from umbilical cord blood have been used to treat over 80 different diseases!

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++ Placental blood banking is a service that is currently only offered through LifebankUSA!

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++ By preserving stem cells from both the placenta and umbilical cord at birth, it increases the number of life saving stem cells that are stored which also increases the possibilities to use them later on.

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++ LifebankUSA offers different payment plans to offset the cost of stem cell banking for you and your family; be sure to check out your options!

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Of course, stem cell banking is ultimately a personal choice for you and your family. I ended up not choosing to bank my children's stem cells due to financial reasons and my hope to delay cutting the umbilical cord immediately following birth but it is something I'd be interested in looking into again in the future. Have you or someone you know taken advantage of cord blood banking? I'd love to hear your opinions and stories below!

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( can't even handle this photo of baby asher! )

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*I was compensated for this post. All word and opinions expressed are my own.

 Thanks for supporting my family by reading along. I truly appreciate your love!*

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portraits of papaw.

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we traveled to ohio in september for my grandpa's 80th surprise birthday party. we had no intentions on going back to ohio for a while, but when i heard about papaw's party that my family was planning it just kept festering inside me that i needed to be there. this man means so much to me; i can't even begin to put it into words.

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we celebrated at "sligo" which is a very special place to our family. my grandmother grew up on this farm and later my grandparents built a house there where we would all gather and spend time together. as a kid i spent a lot of time at sligo; picking berries with my grandma, playing with my friend next store, having birthday party slumber parties, and the most story book thanksgivings you could ever imagine. i have so many memories there and i probably haven't been back in about 10 years since my grandparents sold the land to the family that lived next door to our farm who became close family friends.

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there are just so many things i could say about my grandpa, about this place, about this trip. i'm so glad that i went. i had to be there for him, for my family, for me and also for my dad. i knew that my dad would love that i made it and i felt close to him with my presence. my papaw is truly the glue that holds my family together. he is a strong and gentle man. he has always been the sweet grandpa to give us hugs and call me, "gillian claire". he was also there for my dad in the best of ways until the very end and he was there for me in the hardest moments of my life just over a year ago. when i couldn't bear to make decisions and process the pain, my grandpa was there for me, as usual. steady and calm as ever. telling me that hard things happen in life but that we have to make those difficult choices and keep waking up and going. i'm so glad that i got these special portraits that preserve a piece of this wonderful man that i'm lucky to call "papaw" forever. <3

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summer park days.

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i was so not ready to let this summer go. it's hard for me each year to face winter because the season just feels dark and stuffy and lonely to me. looking at these pictures from the end of july, i realize how much has changed since then and those hot sticky days with firey pink sunsets do feel pretty far away now. fall has been okay and i've embraced it pretty well i think. i do like fall because it isn't as miserably hot. the air is fresh and cool and you can still go outside everyday. this past summer the boys and i went through a little phase of driving down the street for a walk and to play at the playground during the sunset. these pictures are from one of those nights. i have so many photos from those quiet, slow summer nights that i'm going to have to share quickly before that feeling of  summer completely fades away.

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happy monday, friends!

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do you read pictures as poems?

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i haven't posted in a bit. but i have been taking pictures like crazy and here are a few i have to share with you today: portraits of ash, pieces of my beautiful, lovely, wonderful and wild-hearted little boy.
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do you read your pictures as poems? because i do. i read each one like a story, not necessarily one with a beginning and an end. more like notes scribbled out on scrap paper, thoughts swirling around a beautiful instant captured and frozen in time. the poem here is all about a little wisp of a boy. a boy who is fiery and fierce, but who, when he pauses, can tell stories with his eyes. this poem is about the pieces of the people who came before this little life that the camera captures in his face.

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 in this picture i see a boy who is trying to please his mother by letting her take his photograph. but when i look closer i see the pain of how i've tried to please others in my life as well. i see my hopes and wishes for this special soul, expecting that he will meet pain and struggle in life and of course knowing that he already has. stay strong my son, keep making people happy but also take those moments to close your eyes and find what makes you shine.

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