Happy Halloween!

Photos coming tomorrow of Monkey in her monkey suit. We had a trial run last night at our church party and the it is EVEN CUTER than I thought!

Today Monkey is hanging out with Gunnie and PaPa while I do some stuff. I began my day with OB appointment. Thats always fun. Happy Halloween to me. And now I'm off to lunch with some of my favorite people and that is a treat. Then its edit edit edit until my Monkey comes home. And I must try and stay out of the candy! I like candy. Have a great Halloween!

Jen's birds

My friend Jen Hahn is an amazing artist. You may have seen her graphic design work on my website. She does the birth announcements that I have on the site and in the next few weeks her HOLIDAY CARD designs will be up. I've seen them people and you are going to love them!

What some people don't know is that Jen is also an incredible painter. In the last few months she has been showing a new series of painting in several different venues. I missed her opening at the first show so I went another day by myself to see her work. When I saw the paintings I was floored. Not that I didn't think they would be good, but I fell in love. Some are sold already, but a few are still available.

Katybirds, $350

The Right Chickadee for Mr. Chris?, not for sale

Dinner at the Starlings', $500

Go On, We're Listening, not for sale because it is hanging proudly in the Duggin household.

These are all acrylic on canvas in various sizes. I love the colors, the lines, the idea. LOVE THEM. If you are interested in any of Jen's work shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will get you her contact info.

Target anyone?

Just a dilly dally day today. A dentist apointment, editing, playing, napping, more editing, cooking dinner for Shane who will actually be home tonight! And heck, maybe we'll even go to Target. Hope your day goes well!

let me see your tootsie roll

I can't believe Halloween is this Friday! October has gone by too fast and honestly I am not quite ready for November.

This year I had a hard time picking out Marlie's costume. Not that there aren't tons of cute ones to choose from out there, its just that anything pales in comparison to last year's.

I mean seriously. Don't you just want to unwrap her and take a bite? I found this on ebay last year. It was a tie between this one and a loaf of Wonder Bread by the same company. ADORABLE. If anyone wants to borrow it they are welcome to it.

This year when looking at costumes I couldn't ignore the fact that Marlie's nickname is Monkey Pants, so she will be a monkey this year. Maybe with some pants on top of her costume? Nah.

Remember this cute couple? Can you tell yet that this alley is one of my favorite places for photos?

John and Lindsey got engaged this summer and John had me hide and take photos of him popping the question. It was so fun to witness it all.

After the busyness of mini shoot day was over I got to spend some time with these two taking some engagement photos. They are such a fun couple. John might kill me for posting this one, but we go way back so I think he'll let it slide.


I can't wait to shoot their wedding!

This weekend was crazy and fun and tiring. Two trips to Starbucks, one attack dog, and two orders of curly fries later, Beth and I completed our mission. But I have a butt load of work to do before I can tell you about it. Patience my friends, patience. I must give a shout out to Beth's husband Kurt... Hollah! You see, Mista Nug had an ear infection while we were gone and he decided to go on a bottle strike. This meant one horrible night for Kurt because as we all know, he does not lactate. But, instead of freaking out and making us come home in the middle of the night, which is what I probably would have done, he hung in there and made sure we got our work done. Thanks man, your the best! And thank you to Beth for going on a road trip with me even though my CD player ate our CDS and she had to be away from her big chunky baby when he was not feeling good.

The weather was crazy on our trip, raining one second, sunny the next. Which made this beautiful thing happen...


Oh no, now you know what our trip was about. We hopped a train and rode the rails like vagabonds. Just kiddin.

he said yes

In the midst of mini shoot day I had a regular shoot with the cutest family. Angela heard about me through a friend and so she and her hubby brought their boys down to the park for a shoot. Oh my goodness. Talk about cute kids.

As a photographer you just never know how kids are going to react to having their picture taken. But, never have I had such cooperative little kiddos. Dylan here answered all of my requests with one sweet little word.

"Dylan, can you go give your brother a kiss?"
"Yes"
"Dylan, can you go give your mom a hug?"
"Yes"
"Dylan, can you do a cartwheel and then dance a jig while smiling at me?"
"Yes"

And his little brother Drew was so smiley and fun the whole time.

Such a fun shoot. Thanks Angela! The rest will be ready for you soon!

I won't be posting tomorrow or this weekend because early in the morn Beth and I are leaving on a top secret mission of sorts. Well, not top secret but secret. Well not really secret, we just aren't ready to reveal the reason yet. But we have things to do and places to go and while I wanted it to be all planned out and organized its just not. So, all I know for sure is there will be James Taylor playing in the car, two tired mamas on a fun trip and chai tea lattes to kick off the day. Hope you have a good weekend!

How do you make a kleenex dance?

Put a little boogie in it.

Monkety Schmants is a roller coaster these days. One minute she is lovin me. Givin me huge open mouth slobbery, and these days snotty, kisses. The next minute she is biting me she is so mad. Yesterday she bit me 4 times. Are you serious kid?! We've been over this. You bite and you get a spank. And then you cry and then mom cries. Sometimes because I'm sad and other times because it really hurts. Like yesterday when you chomped on my cheek. Your cheeks look tasty too, but I don't bite them.

So far she has only bit me and Shane, but I have a feeling that some day I will be that mom. The mom of the kid that just bit another kid on a play date. Oy. She is still getting over this horrible cold. So I guess I can blame that for some of the attitude. I keep thinking that its going away and still the boogers run.

There are two necessities as far as I am concerned for a child's cold. The first is this..

This stuff is great. Marlie is even getting used to it and doesn't mind a spray so much anymore. The second is THE BEST favorite ever BABY ITEM I have ever had. Let me introduce you to Nosefrida

Most people haven't heard about this when I tell them about it and also, most people get pretty grossed out when I explain it. Just click on the link to read about it folks. Its a snot sucker. Literally. Its not as gross as you think. Go ahead, make fun of me, but when your kid has a head full of junk and you can't help you'll be sorry! Seriously, check it out its awesome. It helps prevent ear infections too, which we need help with in this house.

What is not awesome is when you loose one part of it rendering it useless! Somehow I lost the tube part. I am so mad and poor Monkey is miserable so I am ordering a new one asap.

Alright, enough about mucus. I took a nap today while Marlie napped instead of working so now I must pay the piper. I think I use expressions the wrong way a lot. Anway, its time to get to work on some editing. Good night!

Anne with an E

Did you ever watch Anne of Green Gables? When I was growing up I must have watched those movies a hundred times. Anne with an E she would always say. Well here is another Anne. Anne and Wayne, a fun couple that I got to take photos of on mini shoot day. They are parents of my friend Allison and I loved doing this shoot.


They have been married for 30 years and it was really inspiring seeing them together. They laughed a lot. And it was obvious to me that they are still very much in love.



Thank you Anne and Wayne! It was my pleasure.

Maggie, you're up!

This is my friend Maggie and her cute family on mini shoot day.



Maggie is my super business lady friend who gives me advice and like owns power suits and stuff. Seriously she's an incredible business woman. She owns her own promotions company, Laughlin Promotions So if you need great products and want to work with a great company then check it out.

Tonight is kind of heavenly. Shane doesn't have class tonight and I sent him to go grocery shopping with Monkey Pants while I get some work done. She is bathed and in jammies and when they get home its straight to bed. He also brought dinner home so I wouldn't have to cook. Have I mentioned I love him? This probably doesn't seem like any big deal to most people, but I am home by myself with Marlie every night of the week so an evening off is huge for me. And Shane loves getting to spend time with her doing normal stuff like grocery shopping. Our family schedule is unorthodox yes, but we are a team and we get stuff done. When Marlie was sick on Friday and I had committed to doing a mural, guess who took a sick day to stay home with his daughter.

I have so much editing to do this week that I am kind of sick to my stomach, but I will get it done! Yes I will. Maybe if I just keep repeating that then it will happen? Ok, back to work!

just one night

Julie! Sorry I didn't get to this until now, but here is your sneak peek!




Julie was the winner of the mini shoot giveaway so she and her cute fam had a free mini shoot. Sweet deal if you ask me. Blake was less than excited about his photo shoot, but we managed to squeeze a few smiles out of him. Thanks Julie, it was so fun to finally meet your family!

Last week was nuts and this week looks equally as crazy but we did get away for a little break this weeekend. I painted a mural all day Friday and then shot a rehearsal dinner at night and when I got home I thought my feet might fall off. And then when I woke up on Saturday and my feet touched the floor I wanted to cry. Sometimes I choose stylish over comfortable when it comes to shoes because I just don't want to be that photographer lady in the orthopedic shoes and that is a really bad idea. Anyways we were headed to my family's cabin for the weekend and Shane and I had both planned on bringing work with us. His books, my computer. But at the last minute we agreed to forget that and give ourselves one night of freedom. And I'm so glad we did. We took a nap, we hiked, we wore jammies, we had a fire, we watched a movie, we were just the three of us together and it was nice.

mini sneak peak 1

Told ya I'd be back! My first mini shoot on Sunday was with this cute fam. Amy and Jeff are good friends of mine with two cute little girls. Her youngest, Jensen is a week younger than Marlie so we've bonded over sleepless nights and spit up and napless days over these last 18 months.

Love this one of Jensen and Jeff.



Amy and Jeff actually asked me to take one just of the two of them which I confess I so often forget. Its easy to get wrapped up in getting good photos of the kids and forget those shots. Thanks guys!

Julie, you guys are up next. Tomorrow perhaps? Maybe. I hope. I have a mural to paint all day and then a rehearsal dinner to shoot at night. Now, I have a bunch more work to do tonight so I must go. I'm not going to mention any names, but someone woke up at 4:30 this morning and my eyes keep trying to close. Goodnight!

sick little monkey

Sorry folks, no sneak peeks of mini shoot day yet. Maybe later tonight if I can get my act together. Here is Monkey Pants peeking at you though..

Poor Miss Pants is not feeling so hot these days. She woke up the other day with a cold. I took her to the park the other night and she didn't even want to play on the playground. She just sat on the curb, kicked her feet and watched the other kids play. Thats when I knew I had a pretty sick Monkey on my hands. Ug, its the beginning of cold season I guess.

Its getting dark so early these days. When we go to the park the sunset sparkles on the lake and its beautiful. I couldn't resist taking this photo. See the cute older couple on the park bench? I hope that will be Shane and me someday.

I spent last night wading through a table full of paper work and today is full of nose wiping and doctor's visits. I promise I'll do a bunch of editing tonight mini shoot clients and post some late tonight or tomorrow!

WARNING

If you cannot stand EXTREME CUTENESS then do not continue reading this post. If HUGE CHUBBY CHEEKS and big blue eyes cause you to GIGGLE uncontrollably then do not keep reading. On Saturday I had a photo shoot with Mista Nug and his mom and dad. If you don't know who Nug is then read this post and this post to catch up. Now I realize that he is my best friend's baby and he spends a lot of time over here making Marlie giggle, but come on, this kid is really stinkin cute!

In the studio we made him wear a bunch of different hats.


Beth's grandma knitted this getup. Too funny!

And we dressed him up like a Newsie and took him to the alley.



And we got some of the fam in the park. Isn't he Kurt's mini me?!



Oh Nug, you make me melt!