Jen got hitched and Marlie was the flower girl

On Saturday my friend Jen got married. Jen is usually my second shooter when I shoot weddings and it was pretty fun to see her be the bride! I wasn't the photographer, these awesome ladies were, so I got to be a guest for once. Very nice! I was, however, mother to the flower girl.

Here she is all dolled up and I must say...adorable. These few photos were taken during a brief calm moment before the ceremony.



Doesn't she look so sugary sweet? I mean she is, I love her, but here is the true story of her flowergirlness.

As soon as we arrived to the church Marlie decided that her legs no longer worked and would not...could not walk anywhere. She cried until we would pick her up.

She freaked out when I got her dressed. She cried when anyone looked at her in her little outfit. I handed her her flower ball to practice with and she immediately flung it on the floor. Awesome.

There are no pics of her walking down the aisle because I was too busy waving fruit snacks in one hand and silly bands in the other trying to bribe her to walk to me. Shane ended up holding her hand the whole way. Oh well.

The icing on the cake? When she tooted..loudly during the very quite prayer time.

Oh my word. That kid.

But she sure is cute...bruised legs and all.



I couldn't resist snapping a few of Jen and Chris of course.





Jen had so many fun details right down to her awesome shoes. Congrats you two! Love ya!

the deets

Thanks for all of the sweet comments! We are excited too. Sorry to leave you hangin like that but we were headed out of town for my sweet friend Jen's wedding. I'm back with some details for ya.

I'm due April 9th. That makes me a little over 8 weeks along.

I know that's kind of early to be sharing the news, but we've seen the heartbeat twice in the last two weeks so we are feeling pretty good about things.

Why so many ultrasounds so early? Well, remember that whole kidney stone thing? Horrendous pain, lots of meds, surgery? It turns out I was pregnant that whole time and didn't know.

We were planning this baby so as soon as I got the ER that day I told anyone who would listen that I might be pregnant. They did multiple tests (blood and urine) to double check and see if I was. All of the tests came back negative. I asked if it could be too early to tell and made sure they understood that we were trying. "Nope" they said, "You aren't pregnant. If you were we could tell."

So, imagine our surprise when after I finally healed up from the kidney stone debacle and had two positive pregnancy tests at home. It was more of a scared feeling than happy, realizing what all this little baby had been through.

However, things look just fine so far. My OB is of course aware of the situation and has taken care of us with extra tests and has reassured us that everything looks good.

So, there you have it. Number 2 is on the way! Marlie is pretty excited though I'm sure she doesn't really know what's coming. I'm feeling pretty cruddy but trying not to whine too much. I'm having a little bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that its not just going to be the three of us anymore. But, I remember having the same thought about the two of us before Monkey Pants came along. So, bring on the big stretchy waistbands!

Tomorrow I will tell you more about Jen's awesome wedding and the little stinker of a flower girl. I mean really, where were her parents?

A message from Monkey Pants

Yep, we're having a baby! Happy Friday!

remembering Bridget

My heart is heavy tonight. We just got back from a trip to say goodbye to our sweet friend Bridget. She passed away on Thursday after a tragic accident. We watched Bridget grow up from a sweet high school student in Kirksville, MO to a confident and talented pediatric nurse here in St. Louis. Bridget was Marlie's first babysitter. When I started back working she would come once a week and give me a much needed break. She was amazing with my little girl. Marlie never really got upset when I left, but she never wanted Bridget to go home. In fact one of Marlie's first words was "Bridget".

Not having a good photo of the two of them together to share with you is a painful reminder of how I forget to photograph the important day to day happenings in our life. But, I'll tell you about her.

Bridget had the biggest smile of anyone I know. Literally ear to ear. And she had awesome dimples. She loved to dance. She loved to help people. You could tell that she loved her job as a nurse. She was always chewing gum. Chewing gum and smiling. When it was time to change Marlie's diaper she would say "Let's change your butt." It always made me giggle. She always had her nails done. The last time I saw her her nails were bright aqua. Only she could pull that off. She had some magic touch with Marlie. There were days when I couldn't get her to nap anywhere and Bridget could get her to fall asleep on her chest in an instant. When we would talk and catch up she always told me about her family. You could tell that she loved them more than anything in the world.

I still can't quite believe you are gone Bridget. I feel incredibly blessed to have gotten to know you.

Nathan and family

When Shane and I bought our first house years ago we decided at the last minute to refinish the hard wood floors by ourselves. One night when we were covered head to toe in wood dust some of our new neighbors dropped in to say hello. I knew when we met Jen and Steve that we would be friends. At least I hoped anyway :).

About six years later we have moved away from that neighborhood, but still get to call them friends. We've watched each others families grow. They just expanded by one more and came over recently for a photo shoot.

Such a cute fam...



I love these...



I caught Addie and Daniel playing with Nathan's toes. So sweet.



And then it was time for Mr. Nathan's close up. What a cute little guy.







Congratulations guys!

baby Gia

A few months ago I had a maternity session with my friends Alicia and Corey. Love these guys. Love how excited they were about their first little one coming soon. Here are just a few of my favs. It was hard to choose.







And then came little Gia. Oh the cuteness.







Oh I love it when they smile!



Congratulations guys! She is so precious!

Abbey - senior

A few Fridays ago I met up with Abbey at her family's lake house for her senior session. Abbey is a really creative girl that had some great ideas for her session and that made me pretty excited to work with her.



She has such a great personality.





Abbey found all kinds of great spots around the lake.



And see that adorable headband? She made it. So creative.



There are so many shots I love from this session, it was hard to choose just a few.



But there is something about this one that I love...



We also spent some time taking some family shots. Such a fun family to work with!



Thanks guys! Thanks Abbey!

8 years

Thanks for the best 8 years of my life Shane. I wouldn't change a thing. Thanks for making me laugh, even when its telling me that the 7 year itch was really itchy. Thanks for taking care of me and Monkey Pants. Thanks for always doing the laundry. Thanks for going out in public with a stache just cuz I wanted you to. Thanks for everything. You are my favorite.

catching up

Wow, I am so far behind on blogging. Here is a little peak at some sessions I have had in between vacation and kidney stones and life...

Lauren came over for her 3 month shoot. Oh my word. This girl is so cute I can hardly stand it.



Then Dylan met me at the park for his 4 yr pics and brought his new shiny red fire engine. What a sweet boy.



Next our friends Mike and Beth came over with their little Lunden and the newest member of the family, Penelope. Boy these guys make cute kids.





And then my client Angie came over to introduce her new little girl, Lyla. LOVE her name and she was a perfect little subject.



I have more to share too! Next up... a really fun senior shoot.

such is life

Welp, after a week of ups and downs I think I can confidently say that kidney stone saga 2010 is over. Dude...I'm not gonna lie, it really stunk. 2 times we thought I was headed back in for a second surgery. 2 nights I could not sleep a wink due to pain med withdrawl. All from 1 stinkin little stone.

What is most frustrating to me is that I was just starting to feel pretty caught up on work, on life after the crazy busyness that was June, and then bam...kidney stone sucked a whole week away.

So, alas, I am behind again. I'm up to my eyeballs in shoots to edit. So, dear clients, they are coming soon. Promise. Thanks for your patience and all the sweet comments and emails.

I do have some fun pics from some great shoots I've done lately coming soon. Stay tuned!