It’s in a gorgeous neighborhood, full of winding streets, nice people (I know, I stopped to talk to a couple of them), hardwood trees that will be stunning in the fall, and is surrounded by a golf course (I guess the neighborhood was so nice, they decided it might be a good place for golfing.

It has 2 stories, 4 bedrooms, 2.2 baths. A 3 car garage (that Vic’s truck will fit into – phew), and a 1/2 acre yard. With real grass. I’m sorry, but bermuda is pretty and all, but there’s nothing like running barefoot through a gorgeous lawn of fescue.

It has a full basement with sliding doors – 1/2 finished and (barely) enough unfinished for Vic’s workshop. It’ll do.

I don’t know how long we’ll be there. But for however long we call it home, it will be a fine place to call “home.”

I’ll have more pictures to share once it’s ours. We close on August 11th.

Since my business will be on hiatus for awhile, I thought I would use ye olde blog to keep family and friends (and anyone else along for the ride) updated on our big move to Erie.

First off, it turns out Vic wasn’t comfortable selecting a house all by his lonesome, so the kiddos and I flew up last week for a househunting trip. And may I just say right here: Thank GOD for iTouches, iPhones, and children who are old enough to be entertained by them for hours on end. May we all share in a Hallelujah?!?

As negotiations are underway, I won’t say more about the househunting, but hopefully I’ll have some news soon. If it doesn’t work out, I found a nice suites hotel that allows pets. And may I say right here: Thank GOD I’m not moving with a baby this time. Much, much easier.

We did have one nasty hitch during our trip: The lovely staff at the Hilton Garden Inn on Peach St. decided to empty the kids’ room (we had adjoining rooms) the day BEFORE we were leaving. Imagine their surprise to come back to find their clothes, toothbrushes, swimsuits, Ava’s rolling bag, and – most offensively – her stuffed horse Toby were missing. Umm….excuse me? That much stuff in the room and you don’t think to CHECK?? Unfortunately, the only thing that was found was Ava’s bag – now emptied of her Leapster Game system. Needless to say, that was NOT a good day.

As for Erie – LOVED it. The town where we plan to live – Millcreek – is glorious. Mind you, it isn’t November (so don’t hold me to my accolades), but the rolling hills, hardwood trees, gardens, farm markets, flowers, fescue grass, and SOFT SERVE stands so remind me of my hometown. It seriously was like going back. An added benefit is how nice everyone is. No offense to the folks in the North, but being from there myself – y’all know that sometimes “nice” isn’t a word used to describe us. But the Erie folks – everywhere we went we encountered nothing but friendly people – including the sweet older gentleman who sat next to us at WEGMANS and chatted us up for about an hour.

Wait – did somebody say WEGMANS?!?! Oh my goodness gracious – have you ever been in a Wegmans??? The kids and I walked in the door, and we all just stopped and went “Woooooooowwwwwww……” Seriously? The most gorgeous grocery store I’ve ever been in. Can’t wait to shop there all the time.

The highlight of our trip had to be taking the kids out to see Lake Erie via Presque Isle. You see, to my kids, a lake is something small and treed, and you can yell to the person on the other side. So the thought of living on Lake Erie didn’t thrill them so much. But when they got out of the car, crossed the berm and saw it in person? Shock doesn’t quite describe it. They then spent about an hour skipping rocks and begging to go back the next day.

More soon…and since no post is complete without a picture, here’s a quickie from my little Canon point-and-shoot of the kids playing at the lake.

I first started photographing their family when sweet Jack was a newborn. And now he’s a 3 year old big brother with an absolutely ADORABLE little sister who he loves so much – it was a treat to watch them interact with each other.

And enough blabber, on to the good stuff. I dare you not to smile…

Paula and I were oogling this image on-camera – doesn’t he look like a Crewcuts model? Such a handsome sweetheart.

LOVE this one…

Paula and Clay, thank you so much for sharing your family with me. I will miss you!

For the past 2 weeks, our life has been baseball – practice every night capped with a 5 game series. The Red team won the first two games…the Blue team won the 2nd two. Tonight is the final game, and sadly Dad was pulled away for work – but Ava and I will be there (in the horrible heat) cheering him on.

Here’s a little montage of Aidan pitching last night – his expressions crack me up. The boy takes this game SERIOUSLY. GO BLUE!!

Camera note: All of these were shot from my comfy chair on the sidelines, through the chainlink fence, using my 70-200 2.8 @ 3.5 or so on the Canon 5D.

And adorably sweet big brothers like Sam (Sam was looking for scooby doo in my camera when I took this shot – then decided that maybe scooby had escaped – hee!):

And hanging out with Jack & Sam’s parents, chatting about babies, boys, kids, and schools…

Then, when he predictably got tired near the end of the session, seeing Jack’s squeezable little baby cheek on his mama’s shoulder…remembering what it was like to snuggle my own monsters lovely children when they were this age…

Due to our crazy Spring weather, Payton’s mom Renee and I had to reschedule our session so many times…4 times? 5? But I always say that when it’s necessary to do so, Mother Nature owes us BIGTIME, and will pay off with a perfect morning. And indeed she did. Although it was hot, we had beautiful, glowing sunshine.

Renee and Keith – thank you for your patience with all of the reschedules, but I daresay it was worth it!

** For those who missed my earlier post, Lisa Russo Photography is relocating to the Erie, Pennsylvania area in the summer of 2010. We plan to begin booking newborn, baby, child and family photography sessions in the early fall. If you live in the Erie, Pennsylvania area and are expecting a baby later this year, please contact us asap to book your session. **

After 11 years in Atlanta (minus a crazy 6 months back and forth to Chicago that we won’t even talk about), it is with a heavy heart that I announce we are moving to Erie, Pennsylvania. My very amazing, talented, awesome and hardworking husband was offered an opportunity that our family simply could not refuse. Will I miss the South? Oh yes. I ADORE my clients here, the friends and ties we’ve made, our house, my studio…the sun(!) but if I linger too long on that sort of thing, my cup empties – and I’m the “cup half full!” of our family.

Erie will take us back North, and yes – we will be closer to family. About 5 hours or so…which, to us, is like being next door. If you didn’t know, we moved away from our families when Aidan was all of 5 months old, and have never lived close since. My kids think grandparents are people you see only when you get on a plane. The thought of being able to visit more frequently makes me very happy indeed. I just can’t think too much about moving into the lake effect snow belt. Aidan and Ava, bless their Southern hearts, are so excited about the snow (you can all laugh now, they honestly have NO idea – my kids think snow is something that falls in the morning and is gone by dinnertime).

Will I restart my business there? Absolutely! I LOVE what I do, and the thought of not having newborns and smiling faces to photograph just isn’t an option. My goal right now is to finish shooting June’s sessions, wrap things up and then focus on getting our family moved and settled. Since Aidan is entering middle school, I want him to start school on Day #1. Fortunately, I’ve already selected his school, so it’s just a matter of finding a home in the district. Once everyone is settled into school, I’ll get my Pennsylvania business set up.

To all of my clients, thank you from the bottom of my heart for selecting me as your photographer. I feel like I’ve watched so many of your families grow – from maternity, to 1st baby, to toddler, to 2nd baby…I will miss you terribly. And the fact that my business was essentially built on your referring me to friends – the highest honor indeed.

To my blog readers – thank you for coming along for the ride with me. I plan to document our adventures along with the sweet babies and children of Erie, Pennsylvania!

And, since any post is useless without an image, here is a sweetie from last week who will grace the blog in the next couple of days: