Happy Monday! For those of you in Houston, I hope you survived the crazy storm that hit the state of Texas on Saturday. I had to postpone three family photo sessions due to the inclement weather, which is not ideal, but it may just have been a blessing in disguise, because I was able to catch up on editing, emails, house cleaning, ‘thank you’ cards, and DIY projects, like making one of Isla’s Halloween costumes.

Unfortunately, all of the rain caused Sasha’s boat to flood. It was stored at his parent’s beach house in Tiki Island (outside of Galveston), and it couldn’t handle all of the water. Sasha is very upset about it (he had planned on selling it soon) – hopefully we can salvage the engine before having to get it disposed of. 

Besides the intense weather, we had a fun (and quick!) week. I finally weaned Isla (I know think it was just me who couldn’t do it before – more to come on this later!), and she impressed us by learning one new word or animal sound a day. Our friends told us that all of a sudden, they’ll know a heap of words, but we didn’t fully understand this until now. She says: Duck, turkey, bear, bee, owl, bird, “nana” (banana), “nack” (snack), apple, cheese, “nigh-nigh” (night night), thank you, no way, no (all too often!), book, ball, baby, bubbles, “bankie” (blanket), binkie, one, “mo” (more), Belle, Dada, Tata, Deda, Baba, Mimi, Papa, Nana, Mama and Mummy. She will use sign language for: More, all done, one and where, but her favorite thing in the world is to make animal noises for: Sheep, horses, dogs, cats, monkeys, lions, fish, and elephants. The latter is definitely my favorite. If you don’t have the Peek-a-boo Barn app on the iPhone, get it!

Some other highlights of our week include:

• Photographing Veronika’s (Veronika’s Blushing) sweet new baby boy, Lincoln. I will be sharing my favorites this week! 
• Taking fashion blogger photos for Lauren Mills of Sunday Beach Blog, Elly Brown of Uptown with Elly Brown, Jessica of Feather Thread and Destiny of Truly Destiny. These four ladies are so gorgeous – I love photographing them!
• Taking family photos for my friend Esther’s friend, Rima, outside of the Menil Collection on Friday (prior to the downpour all weekend!). Their son, Saul, was too cute!
• Photographing two extremely attractive (and fit!) models at a Define shoot. I definitely went to the gym on Wednesday night! Ha.
• Taking newborn photos for my friend, Annemarie. Her daughter was born very prematurely, so she’s three months old, but really just a newborn! 
• Taking product photographs for Willow Crowns‘ winter collection – the bows, clips and headbands are seriously too cute. I am obsessed! The launch isn’t too far away.
• Going to Lifetime with Sasha (he is a member at 24 Hour Fitness) – I love when he uses my guest pass, and we get to be together!
• Taking swim class at Dad’s Club. Isla enjoys the Mommy and Me class so much and is so confident in the water. She’s a fish!
• Eating at two of our favorite spots: Ruggles Green and Garbanzos, and trying a salad bar restaurant that is less than a mile from our house – Sweet Tomatoes – that we’ve never gone to before!
• Getting visits from the grandparents (except my mom, who is in Colorado). Isla is lucky to have everyone so close!
• Going to a surprise birthday dinner for our friend Aaron at Benjys on Washington – the food there is incredible. It’s definitely one of my top three favorite restaurants in Houston. You must go and have to eat the Brussels sprouts!
• Making a cotton candy costume for a Halloween party this week, and then ordering another from Carter’s for Saturday. 
• Shopping the amazing 40% off Gap sale with code ‘BOO’ – I did a little damage, but I have a Gap card now, so there are future benefits!
• Finally buying two day Australian Open tickets for our visit in January. Sasha is very, very excited.
• Splashing around in the rain with Isla’s new pink Hunter Boots – I have some in grey (but wish they were pink!). She loves the rain!
• Finding fun skeleton flamingos for our yard – you can buy them here! 

Are you on Snapchat? If you are, then follow me @aileepetrovic, and I’ll follow back! I ‘snap’ most of my highlights, so you can see them real time.