Steve Boots Photography

Videos of Jackson Before His Second Birthday

2011-11-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

All these are videos of Jackson from before his second birthday, which already seems like a long time ago. To me, in each of these videos he seems so small because he's grown so much in the last couple months and because now he is talking so much more and has so many more things memorized than the little things he was doing on these videos. I will post more as I get time.

Some Long Overdue Pictures of Jackson - Part 1

2011-11-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

I normally try to fix all the pictures and add some effeects like balck and white and things like that, but because we have been so busy lately, I did not have time to do that with any of these. These pictures are so long overdue that I just wanted to get them up. I apologize for taking so long. The pictures in part one are from July - September 2011. The pictures in part two will be from October and November so far.

He loves getting a drink of whatever Mommy and Daddy are drinking.

He has always loved water, so we gave him his first swimming pool - my concrete mixing bucket - but he loved it.

We had our first campout together...

Right in the front yard

Jackson's indoor playground

We decided to splurge and really go all out on a new swimming pool for him. He was outgrowing the other one. :-)

He loves reading books and having books read to him. It's amazing how much he retains. A lot of the books he has he can almost read back to us because he's memorized setences on the pages.

And every once in a while, usually on Friday night, we let him watch his video of Thomas the Train. He could sit there for hours if we let him.

This is what he does every time he gets his face washed. He tries to lick the wash cloth.

We went on a church activity to the Flying Squirrels baseball game. He is everybody's kid. He gets passed from one person to the next getting spoiled and eating all the food he wants.

He loved the fireworks, but we came prepared!

Chillin'

He curls up on the chair in his room to listen to music. It's amazing the number of songs he can sing all the way through - and it's not just the normal "kid songs." He loves to sing, and he's showing early promise of having a pretty decent perception of tunes.

We had a hurricane in August that knocked down a huge oak tree in our yard. It landed in the only place it could have and did absolutely no damage except to our wire fence and a couple posts. We were without power for about two days, though.

Here's a view of the tree from the back yard

Watching some football together on Saturday night. I love how he crosses his feet. He does it all the time.

Sadly, we finally had to get rid of our goats. They figured how to jump every single part of the fence so we had to let them go. Let's just say the "sadly" part at the beginning didn't apply to Becka. We got a replacement though, which I'll show you in part two. Here they are eating Doritoes a couple days before we took them away.

Jackson turns two

Then it was time to open the presents.

The card and present from Grandma Boots - a "Catch the Pirate" cd, as he calls it

The trucks he got from Mommy and Daddy for his birthday, He is really into truck, cars, and trailers.

Anything can be a road

Addicted to Thomas the Train on another Friday night.

He got a bike from Grandmommy and Granddaddy. He learned quick how to slide that thing around corners. He acts like he owns the place.

Stopping in for a drive-in cd. He comes in and listens to some of his favorite songs when they come on.

The chief videographer

My Little Preacher

2011-04-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is the first photo of Jackson starting his ministry as a preacher. That is what we are praying that God will raise him up to be. Of course, God may have other plans for him, but we can still hope that God will use him in a mighty way. And if not a preacher, then at least a bus worker!

Pictures of Jackson

2011-03-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken so long to get more pictures up here. If I had the luxury of lots of time I would love to put pictures on here every day, but unfortunately, like most of you, I don't. You know how it is. Time just gets away from me because I get busy and the next thing you know, it's been six years since I've put any pictures up. We are staying very busy here working at the church and that has taken a lot of the time. I haven't neglected taking pictures, and neither has Becka, but it takes a lot more time to fix them and put them on the blog. But here they are anyway. This is a compilation of probably three or four months worth of pictures and with Jackson changing every day, there is a wide variety. He's a good kid and the pictures prove his good nature.

At a basketball game

Helping clean the gym floor. He loves to push around anything that moves - vacuum cleaner, wagon, boxes, he's not particular.

He wasn't feeling very good this day so he was kinda in a daze. Notice his train next to him. He loves trains, buses, and tractors the most right now, but he'll certainly play with anything with wheels.

A messy lunch. He's been eating regular food since about 9 months. He's ahead of the curve on just about everything.

Relaxing after breakfast

We have a lot of fun together

He figured out a new trick - he could hold his cup in his teeth and drink with no hands. Now he drinks out of a straw or just about anything.

He rolls around in his sleep like a log on a hill. This is just one of the many comfortable positions he found himself in.

He loves hotel rooms because he can play with just about everything. He turned the table upside down and was walking back and forth through it. I told him to smile.

Annie made him this blanket and he loves it.

This is the face you get when you tell him to give you a smile.

He woke up after a nap in the car with some crazy hair.

He and everyone else loves his tie. We dress him up for church every week because you ought to give God your best no matter what age you are.

This one just cracks us up. He really loves reading and can sit in his room for an hour at a time looking at books, but he has to pick one up to look at every time he goes to get his diaper changed. Size doesn't matter.

Another one of his favorite things is pulling the shoes out of the closet and putting on shoes. He's always walking around with a pair of somebody's. Here he managed to get into my EMT boots.

I told you he loved tractors. He takes one to bed with him every night and sleeps with it. In fact, now he takes two to bed every night. I think it's great alternative to a teddy bear.

Relaxing on Saturday afternoon after visiting on the bus route. There's his blanket.

A couple night's ago he just started walking back and forth across the kitchen with his hands behind his back. So we took a picture.

More books

And balls. That's another one of the favorites. Dim...Dim...those are the words we hear every time we go near the gym.

He's got some eyelashes that a lot of women would kill him for.

This is one of my favorites of Becka and Jackson together.

Playing in the closet. He always takes my shoe trees and puts them in all the different shoes.

He enjoys a good round on the piano too. Believe it or not, he plunks out notes. He doesn't bang like most kids like to do.

Another pair of my shoes.

This is the same as the header picture that I messed with in Photoshop.

I thought this was pretty neat. Becka is almost black and white and Jackson is in color

Another one of his classics with only the reds showing. All the rest is in black and white.

John and Tamyra Schenck Kiel Wedding pictures

2011-03-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

These are just a few of the pictures I took for Tamyra's wedding in January. That was the first wedding I shot, and I don't plan to make a hobby out of it. It is very hectic. Probably the only weddings I will do are the ones here at church. I enjoy it, but it sure puts a lot of pressure on me. You really only get one chance to make it count and if you miss "the shot" it could be devastating for everyone. I think I took over a thousand pictures that day, but here are some of the best ones I suppose. Some of these are multiples of the same picture, but I just like the way they looked so I'll put them on here.

The Eagle Has Landed

2010-11-08T20:51:00.001-08:00

I was driving back home after taking the kids home on the bus route on Sunday when I looked up in a tree near my house and this is what I saw. This eagle looked like he was posing for me. He turned his head in so many directions before he finally thought I was too close and flew away.

Here are Some of the Highly Requested Pictures (Now leave me alone - just kidding)

2010-11-02T18:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures that I took with my good camera about a month and a half ago right around the time of Jackson's first birthday. Unfortunately they are all in the same clothes, just in 10,000 different poses. Enjoy.

This is just a smattering of pictures over the last couple of months. They were all taken on our point-and-shoot camera and most of them are not "fixed." Forgive me if they do not look professional. :-)

On the couch watching football together.

Jackson's favorite place to be - outside

On the back deck next to one of the wood piles

Cutting wood with Daddy

With cousins Cassie and Haley

Jackson got into a kick pushing a chair around the house

He loves to hear and watch me play the guitar

Besides being outside, this is one of his pther favorite places - the tub.

This is a very famous tree in Virginia because of who is associated with it. Robert E. Lee did a lot of correspondence while staying in the adjacent house during the Civil War.

You get an idea of how big it is. This is one half.

And this is the other.

He loves to play the piano and hear the piano played. He loves music, and I think it has a lot to do with all the music we used to play where he could hear it before he was born.

Playing with the set of blocks I made for him before he was born.

Like I said, he loves being outside. We were washing the car one day and he got to playing in the mud. He loved it!

Jackson Turns One - Already!

2010-09-18T20:23:00.001-07:00

Well, this is the end result of the cake ceremony, but let me show you how we made it to this point.

He was pretty tired because he barely took a nap. I think he was so excited about the party that he didn't even know he was gonna have. But this is how the party started.

Still obviously pumped.

He's been learning not to touch most things in the house. He was waiting for permission.

Didn't take him long to dig in once he got permission...And a taste of the frosting.

And this is when mommy said he had enough.

Time to open presents. He was more into the wrapping like kids usually are. He did stop to look at his presents for a second or two before he played with the wrapping.

His cousins were there for all the action.

A laughing dog...that got him pretty excited.

Granddaddy and cousin Micah.

Grandmama.

And after all the partying Momma and Jackson are both worn out and ready for bed.

It's Been A Crazy, Hectic, Busy, Way-too-fast Summer

2010-08-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Its been a very very busy summer and, unfortunately, the blog has been one of the things that suffered. I am going to try to post most of the pictures I took this summer in the next couple of weeks. I thought that videos would cover a lot of that ground. Jackson is walking now and he is a ball of energy, but extremely happy and ready to smile, as always. He's a great kid and I love being a dad. We have a couple goats that he loves to play with. I'm not sure the goats would say the same for him.

Vacation to Pigeon Forge

2010-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

We went on a vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee this past week. My wife's parents, brothers, and sister and their families all rented a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom house in the mountains for 5 days. It was a lot of fun. There was a small pool available for anyone staying in the houses to use. We were a little disappointed at first by how small it was, but it proved to be a blessing because nobody else came up there all week. So we had the pool to oursleves. Jackson got his first taste of the water, and w couldn't keep him out. He absolutely loved it. Here are a few pictures. I plan to put some more on as I get the time. Hopefully soon.

First attempt at sunbathing I suppose. He actually doesn't look too happy because he is already more than satisfied with his tan and he wanted to get back in.

I like this one of us.

This is a video of Jackson swimming for the first time. We discovered an accident at the end!!!

This is a video of Uncle Jason feeding Jackson some of his leftover whip cream. He was only teasing to show what he does when he is anticipating more food.

A day or two after we got home, Jackson finally put everything together with the whole crawiling thing he has been working on. This is literally one of his first times crawling more than a foot or two. I'm sorry it is sideways. I held the camera upright to get a bigger view without realizing it couldn't be turned back. Warning: Support your head with your hand or you may end up with a crick in your neck before it's over.

They were finally old enough to come home, so we finally got our two adopted kids - both girls!

2010-05-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

But first let me show you a couple of pictures we took in Indiana before we got the girls. I took these myself with a remote. You can probably see it in my hand if you look close enough. We really didn't get very good pictures for two reasons. #1 was the wind, and #2 was the fact that there was nobody else there to get Jackson's attention toward the camera. These were among the very few where he was actually looking slightly in the right direction. It was actually quite frustrating, but we made it work.

I thought the next two shots were great. They were just candid shots that I took as I was trying to get the camera set up in the right place for our family picture. They look so relaxed and natural together. They're both just absolutely beautiful!

These are some pictures I took of Jackson with my little point-and-shoot camera. He was in a really good mood (as usual).

Grandma Boots gave him the overalls while we were up in Indiana.

His Favorite pose

This is the original version of the picture on the header.

Here are "the Girls," as Becka likes to call them.

They are two-month old pygmy goats, so they are "kids," and they are both females. They won't get very big. They really have warmed up to me in just the last two days that I have had them. They jump on me and beg to be petted, just like dogs.

This is Clara Belle. (Becka picked that name).

This is Snickerdoodle. (My idea).

You should hear them yell when they see us. They sound like a babies crying.

Here are a few pictures from our trip up to Indiana for the Preaching Conference.

Jackson loved riding the luggage cart at all the hotels we stopped at.

Grandma and Jackson

This is what you do when you are bored while you are driving. You take pictures of yourself while you are driving.

She only looks calm in the picture!

This look means, "I've been in this stupid car way too long!"

The next few pictures are Jackson's idea of travelling.

He was much better than I thought he was gonna be. In all honesty, as much as we are in the car running here and there for church and visitation, etc., he is a really good kid. Always a smile even when he is dead tired, and only cries when he's starving. God gave us a wondeful blessing in this little boy. He acts much more mature than his short little 7 and half month life.

Jackson is growing up too fast

2010-04-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

If you look close you can see that he is starting to get his second tooth in. I don't know if you can see it or not by these pictures because there is always a tongue or a pool of slobber in the way. He always smiles when you try to look at them though because he likes to show them off.

This may give you an idea of the size of this kid.

He is adding new things to his list of firsts all the time. We got a bike seat for him and he absolutely loves it. We ride over at the state park some, but that is pretty bumpy and rough. We had a day off for spring break so we went to a bike trail that they are in the process of building from Richmond to Williamsburg (about 60 miles I guess) that they have finished about half of. It's paved and very nice so we went and rode there. We rode about 15 miles and he couldn't stop laughing and smiling. He loves being outdoors - he's his father's son. The honest reason he is not smiling in these pictures is because every time we stopped he started to fuss a little because he wanted to keep going.

He's added something else to his list of firsts. He helped me mow the grass the other day. And, as you can tell by the next picture, it was old hat to him. I realized he could do two things at once. He can mow the grass and suck his thumb at the same time.

This is THE Cutest Baby

2010-03-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Even his feet make the whole thing cute. He has the greatest feet position. Maybe I'm making up terms because I'm biased. I will gladly admit it.

How can you resist that look?

He was done being cute and he made it clear.

He's is finally getting long enough and flexible enough to to eat his feet. I think he took offense when I told him the other day that he was too fat to even stick his feet in his mouth. Now he does it without thinking.

Ever since he learned how to roll over he doesn't stay off his stomache. He found his stomache and he found his thumb and it makes for a good night's sleep.

Jackson in Action

2010-02-25T15:20:00.000-08:00

Becka got a video of Jackson

And he is finally starting to turn over. It took him a minute or two on this video, but here he is.

God's Mercy in Action

2010-02-25T15:09:00.001-08:00

I had a really close call this week. I was up in the attic of the auditorium changing light bulbs, and I fell through the ceiling. There is a small catwalk, but if you notice in the second picture, for 2 or 3 studs worth of space, there is no catwalk. I always just walk across on the 4 pieces of conduit that are attached in its place. I was being extra careful because Pastor Brothers was in there and I definitely didn't want to fall through. I usually go up there in the dark and just follow the outline of the lights because I have been up there so many times. This time I actually stopped and turned one of the lights upside down to light the whole attic. The first step I took was onto the conduit and they gave way under my feet. I was holding on to the beam above me, but everything happened so fast that I had no clue what happened until I found myslef straddling that little piece of gray pvc pipe you see next to the conduit. That was the only thing between me and the 25 foot drop from the ceiling onto the chairs in the choir loft. The drywall came crashing down along with a snowstorm of blown-in insulation. Pastor Brothers came up there expecting to find me on the ground and was thankful to see both of my legs dangling through the ceiling. God was definitely watching out for me. Pastor Brothers said in church on Sunday that the four or five guardian angels that God has assigned to me were and are always working overtime.

This is a close-up of the hole.

He is Growing

2010-02-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

This is what the most gorgeous woman in the world, the best mother, and an even better wife looks like. She doesn't get near as much attention as she deserves on this blog because she is always doing things where the camera is not, or she is taking the pictures of us. So here she is, front and center. She is the one who does all the work with Jackson - hard to believe that skinny little girl can have a baby that's as big as Jackson is. It is so obvious that God brought us together and I love her with all of my heart.

I wonder if he is going to have any skin left on his fingers when he is finally done chewing them. No, wait, he has plenty to spare.

This is one of his favorite poses

Some of these at the top are as close as I've gotten to a baby portrait of him because I haven't been able to take him to where all my camera equipment is set up. You can tell the difference between the pictures taken with my little camera and my professional camera, though.

He sits up by himself, but he can't always stay that way. But its fine with him as long as he can suck his hands.

He has two bouncy seats and all that jumping has really made his legs strong. He is so strong and resiliant and big that it really makes it hard for me to rememeber that he is only 5 months old. He acts so much older, and it's impossible to make him cry when we play.

This is a funny story. Somebody gave us this bouncy seat that they had used for their kids and it hadn't been used in a while. The spring inside the little green thing (at the top of the picture) that makes it bounce was really squeaky and not moving up and down like it should. I felt the bottom of it and it seemed solid so I sprayed some DW40 in there. It not only made the spring smoother, but I don't think his head will be squeaking any time soon either. We came back after a couple minutes of watching him bounce, and he smelled very much like DW40. It had dripped all over his head!

This is probably the reaction you'll have, too. This is his reaction after he read this story.

Uncle Jason can always get him to smile, too.

We have fun together. Can't wait til he gets big enough to hike and camp and play sports with.

Aunt Jessica. Jackson's reaction is the same one that everyone has when they see her coming and when they see half the things she does.

For some reason the thing stopped letting me put pictures on the last blog so I had to start another one and finish putting the pictures on that way. Maybe it's trying to give me a hint about too many pictures, but that's why it's slpit up into two parts anyway.

He Is Growing (Part 2)

2010-02-13T12:10:00.001-08:00

He smiles all the time, but he isn't always happy.

Satisfying a craving

This is the face of utter disappointment

We've had so much snow that we had a couple of snow days. So I got to hang around the house. It was nice - for a while.

First time eating real food - it's rice cereal - I feel the same

I wish I had more time to write things under each picture, but by the time I get done editing everything and going through all the pictures, it has taken so long already that I have to go.

Pictures of Jackson - Finally!

2010-01-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

I realize I haven't put up any pictures for a while so I figured I'd make up for it and put on a thousand pictures. So here they are.

He is so strong. Everything I read says that babies should maybe be holding their heads up by three months and sometimes it may even take four. He has been holding his head up since two months. He is not cuddly either. He cannot lay down. He has to be looking around at everything even when he is so tired he can't keep his eyes open.

His classic sleeping position. When he is really out, his hands are, too.

I got him laughing but I had the red eye reduction on so he had his eyes closed by the time it got to taking the picture, but it was so cute. I guess the red eye worked.

I don't know where he came up with the facial expression from!

Beautiful mother and baby!

This was his first Christmas and he has the shirt to prove it

My family came in this week so they got to spend some time with them. Jackson loves being around guys over women. He loved everyone, but Rick could get him to laugh so easily. Jackson couldn't take his eyes off of him.

We really have to get a picture of all of us together on my professional camera. We get so busy, but soon we will. This one will have to do in the meantime.

With Granddaddy.

With Dad on Christmas

Rick makes me look short anymore.

Annie and Jackson

All of us together

Looks like Jackson is trying to hide something.

Annie and Sarah both wanted to hold Jackson for the picture so I caught them in action.

Becka and her wonderful father

Jackson with his Grandmama and Great-grandmother

We dedicated Jackson to the Lord on December 6!

The picture quality is not very good, but it really showed the color of his eyes.

He is such a happy baby and only cries when we know somehting is wrong with him. Otherwise he just sits and looks around. I love holding him and playing with him. He is the biggest blessing of our married life.

He found his thumb and he cannot live without it.

He is such a chunk. When we weighed him at 3 months, he was 15 1/2 pounds. That's twice his birth weight!

This is Jackson enjoying his first Christmas present

He jumps around like crazy in this thing. It makes noise every he moves so it gets a little annoying, but he enjoys it so I do, too.

The new wood stove

2010-01-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

So Cute

2009-12-01T15:37:00.001-08:00

I had a chance to put this picture up so I had to do it. He was at Grandmama's house and she has magnetic hands whenever he is around. She is the one holding him in this picture.

Good News and Bad

2009-11-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

There is a good bit of good news so I'll give you the bad news first and instead of beating around the bush I'll come right out with it - I didn't finish my marathon. I went to the doctor on the Monday before because of some pretty bad pain in my ankle, and because I was getting sick and throwing up on all of my long runs over 10 miles regardless of what I ate. He said my ankle problem was an inflamed ligament and gave me a Cortizone shot and my sickness problem was a sinus infection that was draining into my stomach and causing me to trow up. He gave me some medicine that was supposed to take care of all of that. Needless to say, it didn't. I was 5 and a hlf minutes under a 3 hour pace at mile12, and that's where everything started to fall apart. I got sick and my ankle really started to hurt bad. At 13.1 I was at 1:28:00, still under pace, but barely. By mile 17, I was not going to make 3 hours and I was in a lot of pain. My dad was at mile 17 and with his advice I made the decision to drop out. I have already done 3 marathons so my goal was not to finish, it was to get under 3 hours. When that was not possible I figured I would save my ankle from severe injury, figure out what was wrong with it, and run another marathon. There is always another race, I can't grow another ankle. I have my sights set on a marathon in Nashville on April 24.

The good news is that the next day, Sunday night, I was ordained into the ministry. It was an exciting night and my parents and most ofmy family was able to be there.

The other good news is that Jackson is in perfect health. We had our two month check-up yesterday and it went great. He weighs 13 13, almost twice what he did when we came home from the hospital. The doctor did say that for his height his weight is exactly where it should be. Thank God for good health. Jackson is getting cuter by the day, too.

I promised pictures of him laughing and smiling because he was starting to do it more and more. It seems that if he is not eating or sleeping he is smiling. He does it nonstop and its so easy to make him smile. He is so much fun to be around. We enjoy him so much.

This one cracks me up. It's like he's holding his stomach from laughing so hard

He always has huge yawns

Loungin'

He's been trying to suck his thumb for a while now and he finally got it figured out

He Is Really Getting Cute

2009-11-10T16:33:00.000-08:00

His smile really is starting to light up the room. He smiles so much now because he is actually figuring out how to do it. He is a great baby and we have so much fun with him. I've been calling him "cue ball" lately because that is exactly what he looks like with all that hair gone. I've been tempted to carve an "8" on the back of his head where he does have a little bit of hair. Imagine how stylish that would be.

My parents and most of my brothers and sisters are coming sown this week to see my brother Erick and I run the Richmond Marathon on Saturday - we want to get under 3 hours, which is a 6:52 pace for 26.2 miles. They are going to stay through Sunday night because I am being ordained into the ministry on Sunday evening.

He's got that great crooked smile!

It's getting easier and easier to get him to smile

Caught him awake one night just after I put him to bed. He was wide eyed because it was kinda dark in the room.

He is really a good baby. He doesn't cry a whole lot - except when he's hungry - which I guess is a whole lot.

Ask Becka!

That's the distressed look because life really is so hard at his age.
You just don't understand.

He's Looking More Like a Human Every Day!

2009-10-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

He really is cute - he hasn't learned how to be (really) bad yet!

The little tag on his shirt says it all. I've been calling him "Cue Ball" lately and you can probably tell why. He lost every little bit of hair that he did have. He is growing some very small hairs on his head and they are very very blonde. His eyes are gettting bluer every day, too. It's kinda hard to tell by the picture.

Wearing Daddy's hat

Jackson and Daddy

Jackson and Mommy - Amazingly, he isn't eating!

The faces he makes while he is sleeping are limitless.

I woke him up right after the camera went off.

Sleeping - it was amazing that I was able to catch him asleep (Yeah right!)

This is for my dad. He always used to do this to us when we were little so I figured at least he would get a kick out of it.

This is us! Not very flattering I know. It was pretty late one night and we were just sitting there and the camera was there so we took a picture.

Jackson is changing every day - for the better. He is looking more and more like a baby instead of a newborn. It's so hard to believe how big he is getting. I forgot just how fast they grow when they are that small. He is actually starting to respond by smiling and things like that now, too. I'm assuming that the next time I put some pictures on, they will have some of him smiling because he is doing it more and more.

Bigger and Fatter vs. Smaller and Skinnier

2009-10-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Jackson and Dad

Mom and Jackson in a rare not-eating moment

Asleep in his crib

"Playing" on the floor

Ready to go for a ride.

Ever since we saw the first ultrasound, he has always loved to sleep with that hand up by his face. He still sleeps like that all of the time.

If he's not eating, he is tired and sleeping usually

Just look at the fat rolls

Bigger and Fatter would be the accurate way to describe this little baby. He is growing so fast. He has grown a couple inches in length, but he has really grown in weight. We go back for the one-month doctor visit on Monday, and I hope they have extra large scales for this chunk. On the other hand, I'm losing all the weight he is gaining. My marathon training is starting to wind down as we get closer to the race, but I can't keep any meat on my bones. I have been 165 pounds since 10th grade and now I'm down to about 150. I feel like a bean pole. Some pictures from the 10 miler that I ran 10 weeks ago can be seen here. They are from the official photography service for the race.

Weeks 2 and 3 - I Know - Pathetic, right?

2009-10-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

I had another race this morning, so Jackson got to experience his first one. Of course, he slept most of the time, or in the case of the picture below, sucked his pacifier - we call it his plug (it always does the trick). I actually ran a pretty good race this morning. It was a ten miler that started and ended at the state capital in Richmond. The weather at start time was overcast, 65 degrees F, 93% humidity, wind South 3.5 mph (officially) but it really felt pretty good. Rather than bore you with details of the finish, Here is a link to the race results. I ended up with a time of 1:04:38. My goal was 1:05:00 so I was pretty pleased. I was 24th out of about 800 runners. Well under course to finish my 3 hour marathon in November.

This is Jackson at 6:30 in the morning. Count him present for the first race of his career.

The state capital in Richmond at the end of the race

This is my favorite thing to do on my lunch break.

The flash washed out a lot of the color of his face but i put this picture on so you can see how blue his eyes are becoming.

We brought him home form the hospital in this outfit and it will be the last time he wears it - and he was swiming in it when we brought him home. We just went for our two week checkup and the doctor said babies his age gain usually about 1/2 an ounce to an ounce a day. He gained 2 ounces a day and he was up to 8lbs 6oz. That was Thursday. No telling what he's up to now! Kid eats like a horse.

You can see how fat his cheeks are getting. I think its almost time to strap on a pair of running shoes and get him out there with me. I'll give a week or so to get adjusted to life in the big world - and then the training begins. :-)

He is very cute though.

A rare moment when I can capture Becka with Jackson. The only time she ever gets to hold him is when she's feeding him (which is about 23 hours a day), and I can't hardly take pictures then. This was actually right after she fed him. You can see his blonde hair pretty well here. And Becka's beautiful blue eyes!

"The plug" about to take effect. He really is a good baby, and only cries when he's hungry or dirty. He sleeps a lot, but when he is awake he just lays in his seat and looks around at everything.

It got a little cold one day so Becka HAD to try out his little snow suit.

Sitting with Daddy

Laying in his seat looking around at everybody.

Same

You learn ways to eat and take care of the baby at the same time - I think they call it multitasking?

I haven't actually been able to take any professional photos of him yet. I'm actually waiting until he really starts to look like a human being. Babies change so much in the first couple weeks that he may not even look like the same kid tomorrow. All the pictures I've been taking are on the camera my mom gave us for a baby gift. Very very handy. I just finished taking all the school pictures a couple of days ago so once I get all of them fixed it will be about the right time to take some professional pictures of him - oh, and us with him.

Jackson's First Week - The Most Photographed Baby Ever!!

2009-09-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Our Happy Family

Running at the track with Daddy - 5 days old

Daddy and Jackson

Daddy and Jackson again

Amazed by Grandpa Boots

His eyes are getting bluer by the day

Daddy heloping with feeding - a full-time job

Great Grandma and Grandpa

With Grandpa Boots after a run

Grandma Boots and Uncle Tom

His favorite place to sleep - right on Daddy's chest. Works every time!

Bilirubin light he had to wear to help with jaundice

Glowing like a blueberry

Big Hug!

Aunt Tracy - Becka's older sister

Aunt Katie - my youngest sister - 7 years old

I think the title says it all. Not only have I been taking all kinds of pictures, but so has Becka and my grandparents and and my mom, and everyone else who can manage to get in the door with a camera. I don't mind at all. I love potography, but the poor kid is probably gonna grow up with permanent flash spots in his eyes.

The Trip Home - Finally

2009-09-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to go home

Getting ready to leave

Getting dressed to leave

Getting him dressed

Finally all of us

Boots Family

Family

Ready to Go

First taste of the pacifier

Hanging on for dear life - Looks like he's strapped into a roller coaster.

Jackson, Becka, and one of her nurses as we were leaving the hospital at 12:39

First minute at home

His little feet were so small compared to what I thought was a small set of clothes.

Grandaddy helps calm him down a little. He loves to suck on his fist.

Becka and Jackson

We got all checked out today around 12:30 and were finally able to take our baby home. He passed all of the routine tests and the doctors said he is in great health. That is such comforting news when we've spent the last 8 months or so praying that he would be born healthy and that there would be no complications with the pregnancy. Becka did so well, too. She is one tough girl! Here are some pictures of us putting his clothes on to take him home.

Thank You for Your Prayers and Support

2009-09-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

He really is a good baby. Hardly cries at all.

Daddy got the wonderful job of first diaper change. Something like riding a bicycle when you have 9 brothers and sisters younger than you.

You can never have enough pictures of you and your boy!

Still holding him and happy!

Holding Jackson for a few hours so Becka can get some rest

Proud Daddy

Very Happy

Loving Mother

Great Grandma Intagliata

Grandmama Brothers

Grandaddy Brothers

Uncle Jason Brothers - Mark this one in the record book - this may be the first time ever holding a baby!

Aunt Jessica Brothers

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have called and sent texts. I try to answer them all, but sometimes it gets so busy in the hospital here that I cannot. It makes it hard, too, that I really don't get service in the room. We both wanted to have Jackson in the room with us as much as possible instead of in the nursery so I have gotten to hold him for hours on end while Becka was and is trying to catch up on some very much needed sleep. I was glad to do it. There is nothing like having your own son.

Here are some more picures from later on in his first full day of life on earth.

Thank you again for your prayers and for your care for us. We really do appreciate it and we really thank you!

Happy Birthday to Jackson

2009-09-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Great Grandpa Intagliata

He is a very good baby - just looks around at everything when he's not sleeping

Just before a sneeze

Singing opera style at the top of his lungs - he didn't even need a microphone!

First thing Friday morning

This is Becka less than 10 minutes after birth - I look more like I've had a baby than she does.

First Photo after birth - 7:17 p.m.

We are so happy to announce that our first son (and child) was born September 17, 2009, at 7:15 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long.

We got to the hospital around 4:00 in the morning and it was a long long, day (and night before). He was finally born and the doctor told us that everything looks perfect. Becka is still very sore, but doing well. He has blonde hair, and although it is still pretty hard to tell, looks to me like he will have blue eyes. He's pretty cute if you ask me. He looked much different last night right after he was born than he does even this morning. I'm sorry for not putting the pictures up last night. Something was messing up with my computer. The nice thing is that I can put up pictures of him today, too. I think you will be able to tell the difference between the pictures from last night and this morning. His head looked like a football when he was first born because they had to use a little suction to help him come out, but it has already started to look normal and they say he will be prefectly normal in a couple days. I want to teach him to play sports, not use him for the ball, so that's a good thing!

39 Weeks and Counting

2009-09-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Disappointed and waiting!

Happy to be near the end!

We just had a doctor's appointment at Becka's week 39. We were a little disappointed that the baby hadn't come yet. We have thought from the beginning that the due date they gave Becka was a little longer than it should have been so we assumed she would have the baby a little sooner. Of course, everyone usually goes long on their pregnancy so we're probably in extra innings right now even though she is not due until this coming Friday, the 18th. Everyone and everything is ready, except the baby.

Patrick Henry Half Marathon

2009-09-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

The only good thing about my race

Chewing on a dry bagel after the race

Disappointed!

Almost to the finish line after I passed where Becka was standing

Coming toward Becka near the finish line

Pinning on my number before the race - It was still dark

Stretching before the race

I have been running a tremendous amount the past few months. I'm training for another marathon (26.2 miles). I've run 3 up to this point, but I want to break 3 hours. My best time was in my last marathon in 2005, which was 3:21:00 in Indianapolis. I'm about half way through actual marathon training now. I figured it out and since I started running heavily again in February (when the weather broke) I have run about 630 miles, and adding about 35 - 40 per week.

I just ran a half marathon in Hanover County where Patrick Henry lived for many years. Sad to say, I really didn't have a good race. I set out to get 1:25:00 and ended up with 1:33:55. Mile 5 was all uphill and I started the first four miles WAY too fast. I was runing around 6 minute miles. The hill killed me, even though I have been training heavily on hills out here, and I couldn't get my rhythm back for the rest of the race. I do have somewhat of an excuse. The humidity was 93%. It was awful. You can probably tell by the pictures, but I was absolutely soaked by the end of the race. This has happened several times in practice runs, by the way, but I was so soaking wet that by mile 10 my shoes sounded like I had just run through several foot-deep puddles. I was sloshing around in them - very uncomfortable. You can tell by the pictures that I was dying and that I wasn't happy with my performance.

I was very disappointed but I got back out there on Monday to hit it again, and today, one week later, I punished myself with a huge 1.6 mile hill at mile 8 on my 14.1 mile run this morning. I did a lot of hills, in fact. And, I felt much better because even after all of that, I was only 10 seconds per mile slower than my race pace last week. I am posting some pictures that Becka took last week, but I am also posting a link to the photography website that actually did race photos. You can click here to see them. I did get a technical race shirt out of the whole deal!

"The Baby could come any Day"

2009-09-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

That's what the doctor told us on the last visit, which was Friday. The pictures here show Becka at the doctor at 37 weeks. She was actually 38 weeks this Friday. We told the baby it would be good if he decided to be born on Tuesday. That would give us Labor Day to make sure we have everything in order. Hopefully he complies. Becka is doing very well, though. Except for the HUGE stomach, you would never even be able to tell she was pregnant.

More Than Just a Dream

2009-08-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new book that I think is very necessary. It is about dating/courtship. I have added a link to a completely new blog More Than Just a Dream here. A complete description of what I would like to accomplish, along with periodic blogs can be seen by clicking on the above link. I would love any stories or suggestions you have in regard to that.

36 Weeks and Counting

2009-08-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is Becka a couple of days ago at 36 weeks. The doctor gave us a due date of September 18, but I still think she will have it sooner than that! Hopefully!

Baby's Bedroom

2009-08-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Becka at 8 months

Becka at 8 months again

The changing table, crib, the book shelves (we have lots and lots and lots of book - these are only a small amount that would actually fit in here), and a whole pile of diapers under the bed.

The crib and Becka's chair

The crib, changing table, and chair

Another view of the crib, changing table, and book shelf. I painted the border using tape actually. I think it turned out pretty nice myself.

We recently finished getting all of the things into the baby's bedroom. There are still a lot of things on the floor and under the bed and things just because we have no other place to put them for now. You may also notice there is nothing on the walls. We do have a few pictures and I built a large shelf that will go over the changing table, but they have his name on them, and that is top secret for right now - We have to have something to suprise everyone with since we already know it is a boy. The walls are yellow and the border is blue. That was done so that when we have a girl, we can just paint over the blue and make the stripes pink. It has been a lot of work trying to get everything ready for him to come. We are excited, but if it's this much work getting ready for him, I can't imagine what it will be like after he is here - Actually, with 9 younger brothers and sisters I can. We are ready, and now we can say that Becka is due next month.

Cassie and Haley

2009-08-01T11:12:00.001-07:00

Haley

Cassie and Haley and their toys

Cassie and Haley

Cassie and Haley in a rare semi-serious moment

Cassie

Cassie, Granddaddy, and Haley

These are pictures I took of Cassie and Haley at Grandmama and Granddaddy's house the last time they came up for a visit. It is my "responsibility" to entertain all of the kids while the rest of the adults sit inside and talk. I decided to get a little creative and have them pose for some pictures instead of being used as a horse, a jungle gym, or a hide-and-go-seek partner. They seemed to have a good time (except when they thought they weren't getting equal time in front of the lens). For those who aren't already aware, Cassie and Haley are John and Tracey's (Becka's older sister) kids.

Shenandoah Meadows Camp

2009-08-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is a view of the hills from right near the auditorium.

Inside the guys cabin - there are 52 bunks.

Guys cabin (right) and the shower house - the nice thing was there was always hot water (somehow).

Girls cabin on the left. Dining Hall to the right - they made all of the food and it was really, really good. Three big meals a day, too!

Chalet where Becka stayed

View of the chalet from near the auditorium

View of the camp store and the swimming pool behind it from near the girls cabin

View of auditorium and mountains sticking through the clouds from near the girls cabin

View of auditoium and girls cabin. The guys cabin is behind the trees near the center of the picture.

The auditorium with the mountains in the clouds in the background

We took the teens again this year to Northwestern Virginia for our annual summer camp. Last year was the first year we did camp by ourselves (just our church). It is absolutely wonderful doing it that way. We have so much more control over situations and over what is preached, and the kids in our own youth group bond together. This camp is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains not too far off of the the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We heard some great preaching from Pastor Brothers, Bro. John Mark, and the main camp speaker, Tim Trieber (son of Jack Trieber out of North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College - Tim is the Youth Pastor there.) There were a lot of good decisions made, and we are already looking forward to next year.

Here are some pictures of the whole place. We got a quite a bit of rain so it stayed foggy most of the time, which made it hard for good pictures. It is hard to give you a 360 degree look at everything and its really hard to show you the magnitude of the whole place, but I tried. I stayed in the cabin with Charlie Schenck, Wes Smith and the guys. Becka "had" to stay in the chalet because staying in the cabin would have been tough on her in her condition (pregnant).

I am having trouble putting all of the pictures on so I will add them as they let me.

Nature Photos for Sale - Page 3

2009-07-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

Jamestown Sunset - #329

Minnesota Sunset - #328

Waterfall - #327

Walk on the Beach - #326

Golden Leaf - #325

Path in Lynchburg - #324

Stone Wall in Lynchburg - #323

Lynchburg Train Bridge - #322

Please be sure to go to the last blog for pricing and contact information. You may even need to click on "older blogs." The picture number and title may be found just below the picture you are interested in. Please be reminded that the 'copyright' logo will be removed at the time of purchase. Thank you for your interest.

Nature Photos for Sale - Page 2

2009-07-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Pavilion - #321

Flower in Lexington - #318

Flowers in Lexington - #317

American Flag Flower Pot - #316

Flower Pot - #315

Choosy Flower Pot - #314

Full Bloom Flower Pot - #313

Flower - #312

Barn of Lexington - #311

Farm of Lexington - #310

Nature Photos for Sale

2009-07-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Train Bridge - #309

Heron Moon - #308

Indiana Dunes - #307

King of the Roost - #306

Red Bridge - #305

Outhouse - #304

Misty Playground - #303

Lake Michigan Winter - #302

Cape Henry Lighthouse - #301

Country Church - #300

Contact and Pricing Information

2009-07-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting Steve Boots Photography. Photography is something that I love to do. I am sorry that I cannot accept credit cards as a method of payment at this time - hopefully in the future - but there are several ways that I can be contacted and that you may pay.

Most photos are available in 5 x 7, 8 x 10, and 11 x 14. If you would like an odd size, or if you would like a larger size, please just ask, and I will let you know if it is possible for that particular print. Also, each photograph is available with a mat or as a print only. Prices will be noted for each. The 'copyright' information on each photograph is only there to keep people from printing these pictures - they will be removed when you receive your picture.

Pricing is as follows:

5 x 7 with mat - $13.95

(2) 5 x 7 with mat - $25.00

5 x 7 print only - $10.95

(2) 5 x 7 print only - $20.00

8 x 10 with mat - $18.95

(2) 8 x 10 with mat - $35.00

8 x 10 print only - $16.95

(2) 8 x 10 print only - $33.00

11 x 14 - with mat - $23.95

(2) 11 x 14 with mat - $44.00

11 x 14 print only - $21.95

(2) 11 x 14 print only - $39.95

Shipping prices:

$0 - $24.99 - $5 shipping fee

$25.00 - $45.99 - $7 shipping fee

$46.00 and up - $9 shipping fee

Prints may be mixed and matched. If you would like (for example) 1- 8 x 10 and 1 - 5 x 7, let me know and I can give you a price.

To order, you may call (804) 307-9334, or you may send an email to http://www.steveboots.juno.com/. If you are sending an email, please include the print number and title, your name and phone number, and the size of the print you would like. I will return your email to complete the order. If you are calling, please have the same information ready.

You may pay either by check or money order.

Please allow 2 weeks for processing and delivery.

Pictures for viewing and purchasing will be available shortly. Thank you for your interest.

A few more pictures from last July 4th

2009-07-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

The lake by Grandma's house - I cannot remember the name!

Rick and Aunt Joann

Dad and Mom

Mike and Karen

Steve and Becka

Here are a few more pictures from last year. Make sure you look at some of the older blogpost pictures too!

My Family - minus 1

2009-06-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

I was able to go up to Indiana a couple of weeks ago for my brother's wedding. While I was there, I took a picture of my whole family - minus Jon who is in California and couldn't make it in for the wedding. I use this same technique on just about all of the pictures that you see me in, but I obviously cannot be standing behind the camera taking the picture and in front of it getting my picture taken - I have a wireless remote that works wonders in that area. I get Becka or whoever set up where the picture is going to be, and then I join her. The remote is so small that it is unnoticeable in my hand, and we don't have to try to put it on the self timer mode and try to run back into the picture - which is what I always used to do.

2009-06-11T16:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, these are the last ones for now - before this blog goes official. I thought I would put a few pictures of us up there. As you probably know, Becka is pregnant, and we are excited. She is due on September 18, but I think it will be sooner. The baseball she has been carrying around on the front of her little frame is getting bigger every day. In fact, I think it may be the size of a softball by now. We can feel the baby moving a lot! If you haven't heard, it is a boy - and don't tell Becka, but I am really excited. I think I would have been fine either way, but I am going to have my boy. Whatever comes out after this is fine with me. The doctor said he is really active. I think I'll put a pair of running shoes on him an hour or two after he is born and get him started early. We'll see how that works out.

This is my lovely wife

2009-05-30T11:10:00.000-07:00