This and That

Tate Boy 10 mos 1 day

2012-02-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

Hi Tatey. Can I take a few pictures of you?

Sure, Cheeeeeeeeeese.....

Oh that's great buddy. How about a close up?

Cheeeeeeeese ....

Great! OK, you can relax now.

Oh, phew.

So, what have you been up to lately? Still trying to eat everything and anything?

Ha! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

Well, it sure seems like you put a lot of things in your mouth.

Who me?

Yes you.

That lens you've got there looks really tasty...

No Tatey!

Oh mama, just hold me. Pwease?

Majaica

2012-01-14T13:23:00.001-08:00

After the wonderful, but somewhat exhausting holiday season, Shane and I slipped off to Jamaica or as Marlie calls it, Majaica. We were celebrating our 10th anniversary. Its really not until August, but who wants to go anywhere hot in August? Jamaica in January sounded much better. As always 99% of our pictures make it look like Shane went on a vacation by himself or no one was there at all. I kinda hate asking people to take our picture.

There was lots of laying on the beach, lots of reading, lots of Shane trying to convince me to snorkel, some hammock swinging, a little too much wind, just enough rum punch, and 5 days of alone time. It was really nice.

Don't get me wrong, we missed our kids. But it was really nice to walk around on warm sand for a while instead of cheerio bits. I wrote our names in the sand because I knew it would embarrass Shane...and it did.

Happy 9 1/2 years Shane. I still really like you.

thank you 2011

2012-01-02T21:04:00.000-08:00

This year was full of great things. Tate boy was born, Marlie got even cuter. I took 6 months off of shooting for maternity leave and it was good to step back, concentrate on my kiddos, and refocus on my photography skills. I started back shooting this fall and loved being back behind my camera. However, along with baby #2 came less time to blog. I'm not upset about it, its just the way it is. I had so many great sessions this year that I just didn't get around to blogging. The following shots are some of my favorite shots from the "unblogged" shoots with my dear clients. Thank you all for a great year!

Last year at this time I announced that I was cutting back on work quite a bit. I am still not shooting as frequently as I used to, but I am opening up one additional date a month this year. Check out the schedule page on my website to check for open dates. Spring dates are already booking up so email me if you are interested!

Joy to you

2011-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season is definitely a fun time of year around here. One of my favorite days of the whole year is the day we get our tree and decorate the house. This year Marlie is at such a fun age for the season. She is giddy with excitement about anything Christmas related. She screams with joy any time we see even the smallest display of lights. Tate boy doesn't know what is going on, but it is fun having his little squishy body to snuggle by the tree and his badly head to rub this year.

I wish you all joy this season. Screaming, giddy joy. And that includes myself. I can't help but wonder that if I really understood the gift we are celebrating if I too wouldn't be bursting with child like joy. I think I've posted this quote in years past, but I love it so I'm doing it again. It really sums up what I believe about Christmas...

This is Christmas, the real meaning of it.
God loving, searching, giving Himself - to us.
Man's needing, receiving, giving himself - to God.
Redemption's glorious exchange of gifts!
Without which we cannot live;
Without which we cannot give to those we love
anything of lasting value.
This is the meaning of Christmas -
the wonder and the glory of it.

- Ruth Bell Graham

Have a Merry Christmas!

Tate boy 8 mos 7 days

2011-12-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

My little man. I couldn't pick just one picture for this month because I wanted to remember all of the funny little faces that you make.

Having you around makes this Christmas season even more fun. You aren't crawling yet but you love to roll over and pull off the tree skirt.

You've been giving out lots of slobbery kisses lately and it is adorable.

Happy first Christmas Tate boy. Love, Momma

Amy & Mark get married

2011-11-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago Amy & Mark got married in a tiny little chapel with their families in Columbia, Missouri and celebrated afterward at a big party with friends and more family. Before you get your panties in a bunch about how I said I'm not doing wedding photography anymore, Amy is one of my nearest and dearest friends and so, of course, I jumped at the chance to be her photographer!

Isn't she the cutest bride you have ever seen?

And she married this tall handsome guy...

It was a gorgeous day to get married and everything about the wedding was perfectly Amy and Mark. Click here to see an slideshow of the day or scroll down to see a few more of my favorite shots. Love you guys, Congratulations!

cyber Monday - free shipping

2011-11-27T21:11:00.001-08:00

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful! Our holiday and weekend was wonderful mixed with horrible. Family, food, and relaxing with a dash of fever and stomach flu thrown in. Ah well, you take the good with the bad.

Today is cyber Monday and we are running a deal on name collages. If you purchase 2 or more then you will get free shipping! That's a $20 savings at least people. Name collages make great gifts. Head on over to the "shop" page of my website (erinduggin.com) and order today. Enter the coupon code holiday2011 to get the discount. Badabing badaboom your holiday shopping is done.

Tate boy - 7 mos 2 days Marlie - 4.5 yrs

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

Oh Tate boy, you are getting so big. You are still so baldy. I love to rub your peach fuzz head against my face. This week you have caught your first bad cold. There have been lots of boogers and not much sleeping, but somehow you still keep grinning at me with that wide smile and scrunchy nose.

Miss Marlie, this is you on your first day of school this year. Looking at you in this picture makes me tear up a bit. Look how grown up you are! You amaze me every day with the funny things you say and the new things you are learning. You are a great big sister to Tate. No one can make him smile like you.

Love you both - Momma

John and Lindsey + Caroline

2011-11-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

One of the things I really love about my job is watching the lives of my clients unfold. A few years ago John contacted me about coming along with him and secretly documenting his proposal to Lindsey. It was so fun watching her reaction when he got down on one knee and capturing such an important moment for them in photos. A year or so later I had the pleasure of being their wedding photographer.

I was excited to hear from John and Lindsey this year that they were expecting their first child and honored that I would get to do their maternity and newborn photos.

Caroline surprised everyone by making her entrance a few weeks early. Good thing we that maternity session in when we did! What a beautiful family...

Congratulations you guys! She is beautiful!

Jen & Steve + their three cute kids

2011-10-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Last week I got to spend some time with my friends Jen and Steve and their three cute kids. They booked this shoot with me a looong time ago and the day had finally come.

Their youngest, Nathan, is the cutest little butter bean you ever saw. He had the whole family cracking up.

I love these two moments I was fortunate enough to catch...

Such sweet little faces...

Jen suggested I get some balloons for the kids. So...I did. I got 36" ones. They were so fun! We started with 4 and ended up with two. That's the thing about balloons, you can't do somersaults with them :).

Thanks for a fun afternoon guys!

Amy & Mark

2011-10-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

One of my closest friends Amy is getting married next month to her love, Mark. I met up with them in Columbia last weekend for an engagement shoot.

Are they cute or what? This is what happens when you ask fun people to harness their inner model for a "sultry look". Love it.

Mark has an awesome truck that was his Grandpa's. We took it out for a little spin.

Love this one...

And then we enjoyed the last few minutes of the sun and played in a field for a bit.

Can't wait for your wedding guys!

Tate Boy - 6 mos 6 days

2011-10-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tate Boy, I can't believe you are six months old already. Its all going a little too fast for me. I thought sure you would have lots of dark hair and hazel eyes and here you are with those baby blues and peach fuzz. I love it. You got your first tooth last week. You are so sweet and gentle. You have been trying out your voice a lot lately and so far you sound just like Prince when you scream. Its hard to remember what life was like before you were around. We love having you in our family.

I'm back...with Beth and family

2011-10-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Its October already. The weather is beautiful, the leaves are changing, and I am back shooting after taking 6 months maternity leave. Who better to start back up with than my friend Beth and her always adorable fam?

Lily is always on the run. She kept running up to me and holding her arms out so I would pick her up. Its hard to resist that little face...

Oh Westie, you always make my heart melt. I remember when you were a wee nugget.

I snapped a few of Beth and Kurt at the end of our shoot. Look at those smiles, you would never know that both kids were screeching in the stroller.

Love you guys.

I am all booked up with shoots through November, but if you want to brave the winter weather for a shoot (sledding pics?!) or want to book ahead for spring then shoot me an email... info@erinduggin.com

beach withdrawals

2011-09-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

We spent last week at the beach. Just the four of us. The long drive there was rough, but once we got there it was wonderful. Marlie loved the beach. She was the perfect age for playing in the ocean and the sand.

Tate boy was a little dream boat. He took long naps (I did too), and let us cart him around wherever we went with a smile.

We read books. We put the kids to bed early and ate dinner together on the balcony. We played scrabble. On our last night we went out to the beach for our own little photo shoot. Which is kind of funny because it pretty much means we got dressed up and hoped someone nice would walk by and take our picture. And a nice man did.

And then I took some of my favorite people.

My heart skipped a beat when I snapped this one...

Such a nice vaca. And Now I'm having beach withdrawals. Thank you Terry and Mary for another amazing week at your place!

shopping with Beth

2011-09-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, then you've heard me talk about my friend Beth. Well, a few months ago Beth and her sweet family moved about 30 minutes away. This might not seem like a big deal, but it is. We've lived no more than 10 minutes from each other for the last 6 years. We've raised our kids together, we work together, our lives are intertwined. They still are, but we talk on the phone more than see each other these days. We are praying that it is temporary and making time to hang out whenever we can.

Each Thursday night Beth heads east, I head west, and we meet at a "mom and pop" little grocery store to do our weekly shopping together. We shop in peace with no squirmy kiddos, we get $10 off our $50 purchase, we get our groceries for the week, we get to see each other. Its a win win.

The store is quaint and quirky and I love it. We started shopping here when we both wanted to try and shop for food that was grown or made locally. They have all kinds of things that you can't get at other stores. Like this butter that makes anything I bake taste little better...

And the cheese, don't even get me started...

They also have some funny props around like this guy...

Is it me or does it seem like he might be about to squeeze the crap out of that kitten rather than pet it?

Beth is really good at getting her grocery bill right at $50, I am not so good at it. Although this particular day she was a little bit under and had to buy two huge bags of tortilla chips :). I think she might have a fiesta this week.

We get our shopping done as quickly as we can and then we meet down the road at the Quick Trip gas station where we get ourselves slurpees.

We sit in one of our minivans, drink our slurpees, and catch up on each other's lives. I'm pretty sure that the people who work at QT think that we are secret lovers, who also love slurpees, who rendezvous on Thursday nights. But we're just friends that like to take some time out to talk. Cuz that's what good friends do.

A few years ago I never would have thought that one day, a fun night out would consist of grocery shopping or minivan sittin. But it does, and I love it.

Tate boy - 4.75 mos

2011-08-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hello. I'm almost 5 mos old. My sister calls me "baldy head boy". My ears glow when my mom puts me in front of the window to feed me. I don't really want anything to do with this rice cereal junk. That's all for now. Catch ya later.

U2 2011

2011-08-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Mid July some of our great friends came in town for the U2 concert. About 2 years ago we saw U2 in Chicago with some of the same friends and I was so mad at myself for not bringing my camera because we ended up getting crazy close to the stage. Well, this time I grabbed my camera, put on my 50mm lens and prayed we would get close again...and boy did we.

Its a good thing, because I don't know if I'll ever be able to do general admission again. First of all, most of the girls had to stay behind until the last minute because we are all breastfeeding so we sat around pumping; not quite the pre-party of our younger days. Secondly, I had to wear a back support brace due to the mess my abs are after having a 9lb 6oz baby. Thirdly, I had to wear running shoes and socks with shorts (leaving me looking like an American tourist) to further help my back. Lastly, we all piled in our new minivan to get to the concert. This is all proof that we are in fact, getting old.

The concert was, of course, amazing. It was worth all the standing and sweating (it was about 100 degrees outside). There is only one thing that disappointed me, and this is where I confess a secret life long dream. Sometimes U2 sings "Mysterious Ways" at their concerts, and when they do Bono pulls a girl up on stage to dance with him. I have secretly always wanted to be that girl. I mean...it would be amazing. At this summer's concert they sang the song and we were right by the stage and Bono even walked right by us in the beginning. My heart was beating so fast as he got closer to us...I thought that my dream might come true. But also I was panicking, because people...I had a back brace on and those socks and tennis shoes with shorts! So embarrassing, and more likely that I would move in awkward ways, not mysterious ways. I may as well have had pleated mom jeans on up to my neck. So, in the end, it was better he didn't choose me. In fact he didn't choose anyone for some reason.

So, maybe I will have to stand in general admission again. Someday Bono...someday. And next time I'll try and dress a little more mysteriously.

9 years

2011-08-10T20:09:00.001-07:00

I knew Shane Duggin in high school. I always thought he was cute. He had these huge green eyes and it seemed like he could see through me. We were friends who's circles of friends overlapped at times. When he asked me how I was doing it seemed like he actually wanted to know what the answer was. He seemed wise beyond his years even then. We ended up at the same college and our friendship grew. At times I thought we might end up together, other times I was sure I wouldn't be so lucky. After 3 years we finally started dating. I freaked out and broke up with him. I was scared I guess. He waited patiently for me to come around and I did. He asked me to marry him on a mountain peak and I couldn't believe how blessed I was. Nine years ago tonight we were dancing our first dance. And then we bought two houses, survived law school, and had two cute kids. Time flies. I still can't believe how blessed I am.

photo by the always brilliant Jen Seris

Shane got me this awesome bus roll for Christmas (cuz I told him to) designed by Kal Barteski. If you don't know about Kal check out her blog, she is amazing. It pretty much sums up how I feel about our life together. Happy Anniversary Shane. Love you forever.

a trip to the mountains

2011-08-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

We spent what felt like FOREVER packing up the car and kiddos and headed to our favorite state, Colorado. It was a stinkin long car trip, but when we got there we were welcomed by some of our favorite people. Our friends Bill and Peggie recently fulfilled a dream of theirs and retired to an amazing house in the mountains. I tried to get them to let me do a photo shoot of them while I was there but they just wouldn't do it. Stinkers. I did get this one though...

Love those two. I hope Shane and I are brave enough and in love enough to embark on such an adventure when we retire. So cool.

Marlie was in awe of their antique swing set in the front yard. Now that is what I call a view! She was so inspired that she learned to pump while we were there.

What a sweet girl...

Tate was a pretty perfect little traveler and just went with the flow. Its a little soon to tell, but I think he'll be a mountain man.

Our friends the Days were there too. You may remember them from this post.

Liddy and Marlie were little buddies...

Chad and Shane rode in a benefit bike ride for Children's Hospital in Denver. More specifically for the Children's Hospital Metabolic Clinic. Two of Chad and Sarah's girls live with an incredibly rare metabolic disorder. The clinic and the amazing staff are a large part of their lives. We've watched them make their way through this journey with their girls so I couldn't think of a better ride for Shane to be a part of or a better friend to do it with.

Chad had the girl's names written on his arm for inspiration to keep going...

And it worked. I was amazed at how far they rode. Huge hills, high altitude. Amazing, and all for the kids.

If you want to donate to the metabolic clinic you can click here to donate even though the ride is already completed.

Such a fun trip. Traveling with two kids is exhausting, I think I'm still recovering. But, it was worth it just to be with these folks. I miss the cool mornings and evenings, a warm cup of tea on the porch, the smell of an afternoon rain storm, the huge mountain peaks, but most of all I miss our friends. Love you guys!

baby Finley

2011-07-13T20:00:00.001-07:00

My brother and his wife added another baby the family late last month. Miss Finley is one tiny sweet lady. They came over a few weeks ago for her newborn shoot. Yes, I am still on maternity leave, but family is family. Plus when it's my brother I can do the shoot without cleaning the house or changing out of my jammies :).

Also when its family they trust you when you say you are going to stick their naked tiny baby in a box...

I love this shot of all four of them. Just look at my nephew Charlie's little face. Don't you want to eat his cheeks? I do. Even though he pooped in my bathtub tonight. Really, he did. But I love him anyway.

Welcome to the family Finley! You can poop in my tub whenever you want.

DIY baby bow tie from men's necktie

2011-07-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

This Sunday Tate is being baptized (or as Marlie calls is baptamatized) at our church. We are having family over to our house for a little brunch afterward to celebrate. So you'd think that today I would be cleaning and getting ready for company, but instead I decided to make a bow tie for Tate's outfit because I'm just sort of nuts like that. His outfit needed a little something. I read some blogs on making a baby bow tie from fabric, but I wanted it to be real tie fabric. So I got a tie on clearance at JCPenneys and just kind of hoped I could figure it out. I thought I would be cutting big pieces of fabric out and ironing and sewing, but as I looked at it I realized maybe the easiest thing to do would be to use the skinny tail end of the tie. I took some pictures as I went in case it did turn out cute so I could show you how to do it. So, here we go...

1) Buy a men's tie you like. Please refrain from buying a psychedelic one or one with cartoon characters on it because well...they are ugly.

2) Cut a strip from the skinny side of the tie about 8 inches long.

3) Fold the piece in half with the back side (the side with the seam) facing out. Dust off the old sewing machine and sew together the two edges to create a loop.

4) Turn the loop right side out so the sewed seam is now on the inside.

5) Cute a small strip a few inches long from the back of the neck tie.

6) Turn the small strip inside out and sew the edges together. Then turn the fabric right side out. This isn't easy, use a pencil or scissors to help you turn it right side out. Then hand sew the loop in the middle to make the bow tie. Make sure it is tight enough.

7) Measure your little man's neck to see how much elastic to use. Then slide the elastic through the small loop and sew the edges together.

8) And finally, put it on your little man.

Doesn't Tate look dashing in his new bow tie? He did get a little cocky though. I peed my pants a little bit when I edited the pics and found this shot...

"Heelllloooo there. Yes, I'm kind of a big deal. I have many leather bound books."

Anyways, that's how you can make a baby bow tie from a regular necktie. Here are some similar tutorials for other ways to do it Here and HERE.

O.K., now I really do have to go clean. Have a good weekend!

Tate boy - 2 mos 11 days

2011-06-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Tate boy.

Hi Mamma.

How's it going? What are you up to these days?

Oh, pretty good. I've just been sleeping and snuggling and cooing.

You've been smiling a lot too. Why won't you smile for me when I get out my camera?

It makes me nervous. I'll give you a little smirk.

What about that big sister of yours? Are you guys getting along?

Yeah, she makes me smile. She can squeeze a little hard so I have to watch out. Oh, here she comes now!

You guys are the cutest kids I ever had.

Thanks Mamma.

1 month + 4 days

2011-05-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tate turned one month old on Friday. Its only fitting that I am few days late on this post cuz you know...I have a one month old so I'm late for everything. Some random thoughts about this past month...

Tate is a pretty darn good sleeper. It was rough the first week or so but now he only wakes up once during the night. That is pretty amazing and I'm so thankful.

Dividing my attention between Marlie and Tate has been really challenging. I knew it would be, but that doesn't make it any easier. Its kind of heart breaking to watch Marlie adjust to the new normal. Its also really hard to keep my cool when she is too rough with Tate. I'm trying to breathe deep and be patient with her.

However, Marlie can be really cute with her new baby bro. When he cries she sings "Jesus Loves Me"...very loudly...to calm him down. Its really cute and also kind of maddening.

Baby car seats are even heavier than I remember. I hate the way it digs in to my leg when I carry it.

I love Tate's legs. They are really soft and his knees are wrinkly.

Breastfeeding consumes so much time. So...much...time.

My husband is amazing.

Friends and family have been making us dinner a few times a week. I cannot explain how helpful it has been. I cringe when I think about cooking dinners again.

I love my mom. She is such a good listener and encourager.

I'm trying to live out my goal for the year to take it one day at a time. Some days I am successful.

My body is starting to feel pretty healed up. However it doesn't look that way. Very few clothes fit and I look 6 mos pregnant. I know its early, but its hard not to let it get to me.

I don't know if its the hormones or what, but throughout the day I flip flop from thinking "Oh my gosh I can't do this." and "Oh my gosh this is so wonderful."

Today I saw a glimpse of the sweet relationship Marlie and Tate are going to have as he grows. They snuggled together as Marlie talked and he listened and watched. And then she wrapped him up like a burrito, head and all, and we had to have a little talk about that but whatever...it was cute while it lasted :).

Tate Hill

2011-04-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tate likes to snuggle. He nuzzles his head up under my chin. He loves to eat. He gained over a pound in one week. He is a really sweet, easy going baby. He has a fussy time at night sometimes and cries and cries. Sometimes I cry too. His cheeks are so squishy. His skin is really soft. His hair feels like velvet and I like to feel his head wrinkles.

Of course I've been taking photos of him when I get the chance. Here are my favorites from the past week...

And this one will promptly be put on a large canvas...

Marlie is such a loving big sister. She smothers Tate slightly. We are working on it :). I love these shots from the hospital...

I'm trying my hardest to soak in every moment and to enjoy these early days of Tate's life. I know it will all go too fast even though that is hard to remember during those late night feedings.

Marlie is 4!

2011-04-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of the sweet comments! We are settling in at home. Trying to find our new groove. Getting to know little Tate. More on the new guy later though. Today is Miss Marlie's 4th b-day. I cannot even believe it! A few weeks ago we went out to take her 4 year photos. It was a short photo shoot since I was huge and slightly immobile, but I love the few shots we did get.

And my favorites, that were totally unplanned...

And a little look over the last 4 years...

Happy 4th b-day Monkey Pants! Love you to pieces!

hello Tate

2011-04-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

Tate Hill Duggin was born on Wednesday night at 11:06. He is a big boy, 9lbs 6oz and 21 inches long, but still seems tiny just like I thought he would. He has big sweet cheeks and we are in love, of course.

We were all set to welcome him on Thursday morning at a scheduled c-section, so imagine our surprise when my water broke Wednesday night while we were getting Marlie ready for bed. I still had a c-section, just with a little more excitement :).

We are snuggling and soaking up every newborn minute. Welcome to the world little Tate!

dear baby boy

2011-04-05T15:33:00.001-07:00

Dear baby boy,

We are all anxiously awaiting your arrival. Its really hard to believe that you are all snug inside me now and very soon will be out here where I can hold you. My belly is very big. They tell me you are a big boy but I bet you will still seem so tiny.

That is your dad in the background there. He is working from home today because he is super great and takes care of me. Your starting to wear out my legs a bit so he wanted to be here to help today. You are going to love him just as much as I do.

And just wait till you meet your big sister. She is wonderful. She might squeeze you a little too hard at times but you'll get used to it I guess. She asked me the other day if you two could have bunk beds someday. You have a while to think about it, but I think it would be pretty cute.

Can I tell you a secret? I'm a little nervous. Its been almost 4 years since I was a mom to a newborn. I don't know if it is quite like riding a bike. I guess we will find out. I think you will be pretty patient with me.

I wonder what you will look like. I can't wait to see your face.

I love this little family and I can't wait for you to become part of it. See you very soon. Love, Mama

baby boy's room

2011-04-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly working on baby boy's room over the last few months and it is finally finished. I LOVE the way it turned out. I wasn't sure if it was all going to come together, but it is just what I wanted. I wanted a clean, modern room with bright colors. The first thing we did was take an old dresser we bought from craigslist and turn it in to a snazzy bright changing table....

I got the crib at Ikea this fall. The bumper was made for Marlie's crib and I got the crib sheet at Target. I LOVE the crib sheet, it pulls everything together...

On the biggest wall I painted some black frames after seeing this wallpaper. Honestly I wanted to do the whole wall, but I just didn't have it in me. I like the pattern I ended up with though. I put some favorite photos up and had Marlie draw some things for the frames.

I also painted a few canvases for the room, two of which are on the frame wall. I wanted to do some simple colorful drawings that represent our neighborhood...

The third canvas hangs over the bookshelf which is also from Ikea. The lamp is from Target, the baskets are from Home Goods, the vintage red trunk used to be Shane's. And the bike print is from these ladies on etsy.

I loved using a few of Shane's old toys in the room. I've been holding on to these baseball guys for a while in case we had a boy someday. The cute owl pillow is from this etsy shop.

There you have it, and just in time. Today my leg decided that this baby is just too dang heavy to carry around anymore and sort of gave up on me. Seriously...I was home alone and had to crawl up our stairs. It was sort of funny only not. So, here I lay. I'm hoping that a good night's rest will do the trick but something tells me I am going to be gimping around until this little man comes. I can't wait to meet him!

you gotta get this

2011-03-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

Remember Russ who designed those amazing Christmas cards? Well, he is also a very talented musician. We are blessed to have him as our worship leader at church and blessed to call he, his wife Katie + their little man Eliot friends.

Russ just came out with a new worship EP available for download. Not only is it just really dang good music, but it supports their family in their latest journey; adopting a little baby boy this spring. So..go go go! Click here to hear it and download it.

Hymns & Spiritual Songs is a worship EP comprised of 3 original tracks and 2 hymns by Fundamental Elements front-man and City Church director of worship arts, Russ Mohr. Russ collaborated with band-mate and close friend Luke DeJaynes, who engineered and mixed the project. All instruments were performed by Russ and Luke. Recorded at the Groove Kitchen in Greenville, IL.

This EP was recorded as a fund-raising effort to help the Mohr family offset the expenses of adopting a baby boy in Spring, 2011. It is our hope and prayer that the music recorded on this album is a blessing to you and your family, just as your purchase of this record has been a blessing to ours.

Thanks so much for supporting our endeavor and our art. Enjoy!

the daddy daughter dance

2011-03-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

He saw an advertisement about the daddy daughter dance and decided without prompting to take her. He asked and she said yes. They both got dressed up in their dancing outfits. She wanted to wear her Cinderella dress, but we compromised on a different one. He bought her neon pink and green flowers for their date and she loved them. He bought me some non-neon flowers and I loved them.

I snapped a few photos before they left. Having her leg up like that was her idea and it worries me a bit, but its funny.

She also insisted on getting a picture of them practicing a dip. Too cute.

Shane sent me a text later that said "Marlie just came out of her shell on the dance floor when Party in the USA came on." That's my girl. She has some moves.

I stayed home and read a book in the bathtub. It was so nice. I love those two.

Dear Marlie

2011-03-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Marlie,

Today I saw our rain boots lined up next each other and I teared up a little. I know that I am a little emotional these days, but it just got me thinking about me and you.

I am really excited about your little brother who is coming so soon. But I must admit Monkey Pants, that I am a little sad that the days of just me and you are coming to an end.

With Daddy at school and work over the last 4 years, we've spent a whole lot of time together, just the two of us. And I've loved it. You are my little side kick. My favorite munchkin. My sweet girl.

I know you will be a great big sister. I know we will have some hard days getting used to this big change. I also know we will work it out and be just fine.

Thanks for scratching my itchy belly and letting me sleep a little longer in the mornings. Also, thank you for not liking peanut butter so I can keep all of my Girl Scout Cookies to myself. Thanks for everything. I love you to pieces. - Mommy

Lily Bean is 1

2011-02-27T20:10:00.000-08:00

My friend Beth makes some really stinkin cute kids. If you've been reading my blog for a while then you know that Mr. Nug is adorable. I haven't posted as many pics of his little sister Lily. What can I say? The second born always gets the short end of the stick. Well, she turned one recently and came over for a little photo shoot.

Oh that little face!

And of course we had to celebrate with some cake.

Happy b-day Lily. You are one adorable little lady!

favorite drawing

2011-02-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

I think this is my favorite picture Marlie has ever drawn. It makes me giggle. She tells me it is her uncle Brett. His nose is actually not big at all and he is pretty smiley in real life.

wrapping up work

2011-02-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

Five or so months ago I wrote out a list in my office of all the work related projects that had to be completed before the baby arrived. I'm a visual person you know. I had to have something to look at...things to cross off. It was a long list folks. I wasn't sure it would really all get done. But one by one I've crossed things off and all be darned if I'm not almost totally finished with some time to spare...or sleep.

I've had my last photo shoots before my maternity leave with a few adorable little girls. Here are some of my favorite shots...

Tiny miss Anneka....

Little miss Lauren...

Sweet little Lucy...

Not only do I feel pretty good about getting work accomplished, but this past weekend two of my besties came over and spent the day helping me get the baby's room ready. Clothes are folded and put away and there is even a crib to put this child in. Hallelujah! Pictures coming soon after I finish some decorating.

They even spoiled me with some frozen meals for these last few weeks, some awesome jammies for the hospital, and took me out to my favorite restaurant for dinner. Thanks Amy and Beth! Seriously, what would I do without you?

To top it all off, it has been amazingly warm here this week. The ice is finally melting and Marlie and I have been on two walks in two days. I know it will probably get cold again before it stays warm, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. I bought a bunch of red tulips yesterday just because it means spring is so close! Tomorrow...a visit to the zoo perhaps?

snowy days

2011-02-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Oh my word. This winter has been full of snow...and ice...and a wintery mix. Sometimes its nice being stuck inside. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I look out the window and see all of the snow. I have thoughts of pajama pants, pancakes, hot chocolate, and naps. But then I remember that I have a 3 1/2 year old who is entertained with those things for approximately 5 minutes. So, we've had to be pretty creative with our time around here lately...

cookie making...

Lots of book time...

Bath time in the middle of the day...

Turning a big box in to a an ice cream store. Marlie named it "Coldies".

And of course lots of playdough, more "Pretty Pretty Princess" than I can handle, and we're gonna need some new puzzles since Marlie can do all of ours with her eyes closed by now.

They are predicting a little more snow this week and I'm just praying they are wrong. Spring, you can't come soon enough.

baby Clara

2011-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

I've been working with Molly and her family for the last few years. Last week I got to meet the newest addition to the family, baby Clara.

She is oh so tiny and cute.

Congratulations guys! She is adorable!

just the two of us

2011-01-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

We got away for a long weekend. Just the two of us. One last just the two of us trip before baby boy comes along.

We slept in. We saw a movie. We walked and talked. We held hands. I read a book cover to cover. It was a great way to start off the new year.

I am now past the cute little baby bump stage and on to the look out here comes a big pregnant lady stage. Don't believe me? Here is proof.

I am large and people keep telling me so. That I look like I am due any day now even though I'm not due until early April. Oh well. I'm growing a person, what can I say? It didn't really matter to me this weekend because this guy always makes me feel beautiful. I like him.

A HUGE thanks to Terry and Mary for lending us the condo. It was once again phenomenal! And thanks to all of you who left comments on my last post. I really appreciate all of the encouragement!

welcome 2011

2011-01-03T15:56:00.000-08:00

There will be some big changes in my work world and personal world this year. This post has been floating around in my head for months and I'm still not sure it will come out quite right, so bear with me here...

THE BASIC INFO...

After lots of praying, thinking and getting advice from wise friends I have decided not to completely stop doing photography, but I am going to scale back quite drastically. I have a few shoots booked for this month. I'm going to spend February and March wrapping up pending projects and getting ready for this baby. Then, with the exception of second shooting a bit this summer, I am going to take 6 months maternity leave. Starting this fall I'll only be booking two shoots a month. When they are full, they are full. My hope is that this will allow me to give each shoot more attention and that each shoot will feel like a fun creative break for me. Trust me, this should lead to great photos for you.

Also, I won't be booking any weddings this year. Wedding photography might be something I eventually start doing again, but for now I won't be taking any contracts. On that note I do highly recommend Jen Seris for wedding photography. Jen has been second shooting with me for about 3 years as well as doing some weddings on her own. She's been slowly growing her business and just recently launched her new website and blog. She. Is. Awesome. We spent New Year's Eve shooting a wedding together. That's right, she gave up spending New Years with her new hubby to shoot with me. She's dedicated. She's fabulous. Check her out. I'll be second shooting for her whenever I can and I'm pretty excited about that.

THE LONG WINDED EXPLANATION...

The question I get asked most frequently these days besides, "How are you feeling?" is "What are you going to do about work after baby #2 is born." It's a good question. A question that I have asked myself repeatedly over the last year or so knowing that we wanted more kiddos.

Though I don't talk about it here on this blog very often, balancing motherhood and my business is very challenging. It's not just dividing my time that I find so hard, but dividing my attention and heart. I've tried different ways over the last few years to strike a better balance so that it wasn't so challenging. Some things have helped, but the conclusion I have come to over the last 6 months or so is that no matter how you slice it, being a stay-at-home mom is a full time job. Period.

I know that there are moms out there that do both and do it well. And while I've tried to convince myself otherwise many times, I am not one of those moms. It has taken me a long time to be able to say this, but that is OK. Some people thrive on being super busy and love it and somehow manage to find a way to do it. I'm not one of those people, and that is OK.

Some time this summer during a work related melt down Shane finally said to me, "Babe, its come to a point where you either need to work less or be OK with Marlie being in daycare." And he was right. Please hear me when I say that I am in no way saying that daycare is not the right choice for some families. I am no one to judge what each family chooses in that area and by no means is this post meant to heap some ugly mommy guilt on anyone. Heck, my mom worked when I was little and I think I turned out just fine. However, I knew that for us it wasn't what I wanted at this point.

We sat and talked for a bit. I told Shane that when I thought of dropping off Marlie somewhere to be taken care of my heart physically hurt. But what I needed him to understand was that the thought of giving up my photography business, or at least severely scaling back, hurt almost just as bad. Not as much, but almost. That may sound horrible from the outside, but it's the truth. It has taken 6 years of learning, growing, investing and changing to get my business where it is today. And I've poured my heart in to every hour I spent working on it. It has been very hard to think about giving it up.

But God has been working on me. I'm at a place now where I feel ready to scale back as much as I am. I'm ready for this change. Ready to read books some nights instead of editing every night. Ready to be able to focus on being a mom a little more. Ready for each shoot to feel like a fun and creative outlet.

A friend recently asked me if I worry about losing clients. The reality is with less shoots available I will. There are days, moments, when that bothers me. Moments when I think about all of the workshops and conferences I will probably miss. The new trends and gear I probably won't be able to keep up with. The fear that I will feel bored or feel like I've lost part of myself without all of my work to do. Like I've traded in my creative side for a pair of mom jeans. Or even worse, some Pajama Jeans. But when I start to worry about all of those things I feel God saying, "Just take care of your family; I'll take care of you." I'm trusting. I'm letting go. Which leads to my one goal in 2011...

Take it one day at a time.

So, here we go.

I finally updated my website with some more current work. Its been on my to do list literally for a year. So, check it out clients, you might be up there. My available fall dates are on the calendar page. Book ahead. Why not? If you made it to the end of this post...thanks for reading :).

Let's review

2011-01-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you blog readers! I have a post swimming around in my head about 2011, but I'm a little behind as usual and feel the need to review 2010 first. The goals I set for myself last year were...

1) Spiff up the studio.

2) Go on a big trip with Shane.

3) Find new album options for my clients.

4) Learn more about off camera lighting.

5) Paint at least one room in the house.

6) paint two paintings that have been swimming around in my head for months.

Goal #1 check! I keep meaning to post photos. I will some day. But it is spiffed and I love it.

Goal #2 check! Oh Mexico. It was so so nice.

Goal #3 check! I've been offering Artleather albums and Digilabs coffee table books.

Goal #4 check! I went to the One Light Workshop this summer. It was awesome. I learned so much and have been using off camera lighting in some of my shoots.

Goal #5 check! We painted our entryway and hallway as well as the walls going upstairs. Pictures wouldn't be fun, its very neutral but it looks nice.

Goal #6 boo. Those paintings are still swimming in my head. I just didn't make time to do it. Perhaps this year?

It was a good year. Shane was home with us instead of in school at night. Marlie grew like a weed. I scaled back on business a bit and it was a good change. I started growing baby #2 in my belly. Thanks 2010.

Tomorrow....2011 and some big changes around here.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was great. We saw lots of family and had our own little Christmas fun at home too...

Waffles with ice cream and strawberries, our Christmas morning tradition.

Playing a new game...

Opening presents of course. A quote from Marlie... "I just knew I was going to get the best Woody doll ever!"

Don't get me wrong, Christmas with a 3 year old is not without its rough moments. Not pictured are Marlie's epic meltdown on Christmas Eve. Holy. Moly. And also her biting Shane's nipple (through his shirt mind you) while he read to us about the birth of Jesus from the Bible. I mean...what in the?

But for the most part I must say it was nice. My favorite part was when Marlie was looking out the window at all the snow and said "Hey guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking?....Snow!" So we all got bundled up and headed out side.

It was a gorgeous white Christmas this year. A big fluffy snow that stuck to everything and was sparkly and beautiful.

We put Marlie to work shoveling the sidewalks...

and built the cutest, squattiest snowman you ever did see...

We even took the sled to the park. I think this is my favorite shot of the day...

I don't know about you but I always get kind of down when Christmas is over. Especially this year since I have finally been taken down by one of the many winter colds that have preyed upon our family this season. Blah. Today I'm resting, taking advantage of Shane's last day at home, and soaking in the last bits of the Christmas holiday. I have a wedding to shoot on Friday so I've got to kick this cold fast.

Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Merry Merry

2010-12-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas must be near because...my yummy pine tree candle is burning. Because...I'm getting excited and so are Marlie and Shane. Because...my aunt is in town which only happens once a year. Because... I am itching to spend some down time wrapping up all of the gifts. Because... I have six packages of cream cheese in my fridge (cheesecake and red velvet cake!). Because I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy like. I just love Christmas time. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

* Awesome Christmas card design by Russ Mohr at Art in Stereo.

Mike & Christina + Lucas

2010-12-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

On a warm fall day I met up with Mike and Christina for a maternity shoot. We were meeting for the first time. What a sweet couple and a beautiful mama.

When I saw her purple dress and cowboy boots I got pretty excited. Great fun choice for a photo shoot.

And then just before Thanksgiving I got to meet their new little man. Hello Lucas.

What a sweet little guy!

Congratulations guys! He is adorable.

Christmas cookies

2010-12-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Oh man. Winter hasn't even been around that long and its already trying its best to bring me down. Marlie had strep twice last month followed by Shane having some sort of horrible stomach virus and now Marlie has a nasty cold. Ug. Praise the Lord, I have been spared so far. I don't know what else I can do, we wash hands like crazy, we squirt hand sanitizer, I wipe the doorknobs and light switches with Lysol wipes. Its enough to make me want to never leave the house and bathe Marlie in Purell jell.

Poor Monkey Pants is as crusty as can be. Her lips are so chapped and her little nose is raw. I hate it. Our days are full of me trying to figure out what we can do next to keep her entertained and our spirits up. Today..Christmas cookies.

Marlie is really in to baking lately so she loved it. I love those little hands.

Just sprinkles and m&ms this time around. I know my limits and icing + snot would have put me over the edge today. She likes the sprinkles best anyway.

I don't think we'll be sharing these with anyone since I'm sure they are made of at least 2% boogers. But Marlie likes them. Now... what are we going to do tomorrow?

Molly and fam....baby two on the way

2010-12-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

I've been photographing Molly and her family since she was pregnant with little Keegan. I can't believe he is about to turn two already! We met up on a chilly fall morning to take some photos of the family of 3 before they become 4.

Keegan is such a sweet little guy. Love this one...

Have you ever seen a more perfectly round belly?

Thanks for another great shoot guys!

this one time I made a felt wreath

2010-11-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

Last year felt rosette wreaths were popping up all over the blogosphere. They are so cute and I've been wanting to try making one for a long time. My friend Emily made this adorable one for Valentine's Day.

I needed a new Christmas wreath so I decided to start a few weeks ago because I had been warned that this project is pretty time consuming. And its true, there are lots and lots of felt circles to draw and cut out....

I decided to make a crisp white one and then added some colorful felt balls. Just cuz...I don't know...tis the season for colorful balls I guess. I finally finished it today and I'm pretty happy with the results. Cute!

Click here for the design sponge tutorial that I used. Happy decorating!

Turkey Day thanks and a deal for you

2010-11-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I meant to blog about all the things I was thankful for, but I was too busy enjoying them to blog :). It was a chilly and wet day, we watched Shane play football with some friends, I baked pies, we saw both of our families. It started snowing big fluffy flakes out my mom's picture window as we sat eating our turkey as if to say "winter is here!". It was great. I really am so thankful.

Today is Black Friday and I am inside plugging away at work and hoping to avoid any sort of shopping. Some years I have it in me and this is not one of them. Have fun if you do venture out! If you choose to stay in and do some internet shopping then I have a deal for you ...

Today or tomorrow if you purchase 2 or more name collages then you get free shipping. That's $10 off each sign! Just enter holiday2010 in the coupon code box and the deal is yours. The code will be expired by Sunday, so get on over to the shop and cross some gifts off your list. Happy shopping!

its a...

2010-11-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Its just hard for me to picture a little guy around here I guess! Everything looks healthy. To quote the ultrasound tech "Oh, he has a beautiful aorta." That's great news!

Miss A - the family pop star

2010-11-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

My niece's birthday was last month and instead of getting her another toy or craft kit or something I told her I would take her out for a pop-star photo shoot. She is the family pop-star after all, and has been in to getting her picture taken lately so I thought it would be fun. And it was so fun!

I cannot believe this is the same kid that used to scream and wiggle and do anything to get away from my camera.

Move over Miley. This shot was totally her idea. She is reaching out to her fans in the front row if you can't tell...

Happy b-day sweet miss A. You are such a hoot!

melted

2010-11-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

Potty training is different for every kid, every house, every family. I know for some people its not a big deal. In our house its been a bit of a dramatic, fit pitching, tear inducing, monster of a deal. Pee pee in the potty, Monkey Pants mastered that months ago. Poopy is another story. This summer I bought her a little craft kit and it has been sitting by the potty with the understanding that as soon as she pooped in there we would bust that baby open and craft away.

Yesterday was that big day. We danced around, clapped, cheered, went out for ice-cream and excitedly opened her little craft kit together. She painted and glued and giggled and asked me to paint with her.

Last night we were chatting nose to nose in her bed, one last snuggle of the day. Suddenly she got this huge smile on her face and said...

"Mommy, thanks for my heart box."

I started to explain to her that she really earned it and I was so proud, but before I could finish she interuppted...

"I know, I know mommy, but thank you so much for painting it with me."

And then I melted.

the Munson fam

2010-11-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

I met with my friends Scott and Sarah and their little girl Charlie, that you've probably seen on this blog more than once, for a shoot recently. They are still adorable...

But this time Sarah's parents and whole family came along too. The weather was perfect and the trees were at their peak color.

Gotta love a family that can kick off the heels and climb a tree. Mom's idea, and they happily obliged.

Have you ever seen three prettier sisters?

Its a good thing that we put James in some of the family photos...

because these two got engaged this past weekend. Congrats Emily and James!

What a fun shoot. Thanks guys!

Art in Stereo...the coolest Christmas cards

2010-11-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my friend/fellow photographer Bailey Mohr did a family shoot for us. A few of my favs...

And you know this one is getting blown up big. Sometimes you just need someone else to get a good shot of your kid and did she ever...

Part of the reason that I wanted a family shoot done this fall was because after seeing my friend Russ's Christmas card options I really wanted to get some this year. Check them out...

What are you waiting for? Go here for the deets and get your order in!

hello Friday

2010-10-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Its Friday again. My day to plug through work and do a few things around the house. Fridays are never quite long enough it seems, but much needed. I'm feeling a little more than ragged around the edges today. It has been a long few months of working really hard and struggling to keep up. One day at a time, one step in front of the other. But, things are looking up around here...

A. I am 17 weeks along and finally feeling much better. Holy moly that was a long 17 weeks. The nausea is gone for the most part and I have a little bit more energy.

B. I am on the down slope of my huge mountain of editing. Hang with me dear clients, I am working as fast as I can!

C. And this is the big one... On Monday I am treating myself to something I have been wanting to do for years. A cleaning service is coming to shape up our dirty house! I've been opting for sleeping and editing during nap time and night time around here instead of scrubbing and sweeping so it is much needed. I can not wait.

And of course this weekend is Halloween which means candy. I like candy. Especially of the chocolate and peanut butter persuasion so Monkey Pants better hide the Reeses. We are headed out of town for the first part of our weekend for some time with family. A weenie roast is on the schedule and that always means a good time. Plus I get to have some qt with this little puddin pop and that makes me happy...

That's my nephew Charlie. He came over a few weeks ago for a little fall shoot. I just love him.

Its hard to believe that this time next year I will have one about the same size. I must say, one of the perks of having a spring baby is that they are perfectly round as a pumpkin just in time for fall. Happy Halloween!

fall mini shoot day

2010-10-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

This fall with having three weddings to shoot in two months I knew I was going to be really busy and not able to do very many full individual shoots. So, when people contacted me about fall shoots I encouraged them to sign up for my fall mini shoot day. The 8 slots were filled pretty quickly and I didn't even have to advertise it. Pretty smart eh? Especially since this fall ended up being full of preggo nausea and exhaustion.

The weather was beautiful, the trees were beautiful and each family was fun to work with. A few of my favorite shots...

Thanks to everyone who came out. And to Beth for helping all day!

Katie + Chris

2010-10-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Katie and Chris were married on a warm fall day in Trenton, Illinois. This wedding was so fun to shoot. Lots of fun people and great details.

We started the day with the girls getting ready of course. Katie was such a beautiful bride

These two had been waiting for this day for about two years. It was obvious they were both pretty excited it was finally here.

Such a cute couple

Kudos to my second shooter Jen for getting this awesome shot at the reception!

Click here to see more of Katie and Chris's wedding. Congrats you two!

Art Underground - Amy Woods

2010-10-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to tell you what you should do this Saturday night. Art Underground is an awesome organization that some peeps I know started. They support local artists by holding gallery openings for them. AU provides the place, the food, encouragement, and then just lets the artists do their thing... no strings attached. Amazing. And they were just voted the "best nomadic art show" by the River Front Times. You can read more about that here.

This Saturday is the AU quarterly show. I'm particularly excited about this show because my friend Amy Woods will be showing her work. Amy is an incredible watercolor artist who has painted her way all around the country before landing here in St. Louis. I'm glad she landed here because I like seeing her smiling face around.

And of course I love seeing her work. A few of my favs...

Here is what Art Underground has to say about Amy...

"Amy is a self taught artist currently living in St. Louis, Missouri, but not after a winding path stretching from Youngstown, OH to Virginia Beach, far down to San Antonio, and then west for a long hiatus in Los Angeles before finding herself back in the mid-west where it all began. Her style is unapologetically traditional, but with a nuanced hint at abstraction that is continually fresh and clearly influenced by her diverse travels. Her work has adorned the covers of novels, the set of Gilmore Girls, and everywhere in between."

That's right people... Gilmore Girls. What else do you need to know? I may or may not have been a huge GG fan, so I kind of got giddy when I learned that piece of Amy's story. Oh be quiet, ya'll know you loved Lorelai.

I've heard the other artist showing, John L White and Jeremiah Clark are pretty awesome as well so mark it on your calendar. See you there!

Madeline + Brian

2010-09-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

When Jen and I arrived at Madeline's parents to take her "getting ready" photos we gasped at all of the great details. The house...amazing. The dress...gorgeous.

The bride...beautiful.

Madeline and Brian didn't get married at the courthouse, but we stopped by after the ceremony for some pics since they are both lawyers.

And then we went to a few other spots along the way.

The reception details were so sweet...

and so were Madeline and Brian. Click here to see a slide show of their big day.

Congratulations you two!

Yuma, Colorado

2010-09-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Some of our closest friends, Chad and Sarah, live in Colorado with their three sweet girls. They're the kind of friends that feel like home. The kind that you always feel good being yourself around. You know, those sorts of friends.

While they used to live near the mountains, this year they made a big move to the plains of Colorado. They moved back to Chad's home town of Yuma where he is running for sheriff. We are pretty darn proud of him and loved seeing these signs all along the road as we drove in to town...

Chad and Shane tend to immediately start acting like 14 year old boys when they get around each other. Its oddly adorable.

It was a great weekend to be in Yuma. It was Old Threshers Days and Chad and Sarah's new house happens to be right next to the fair grounds. There was all kinds of small town wonderfulness...

and sunsets like this right out their front door...

Lots of porch sittin, tea drinkin, talking and relaxing. And of course we had to do a photo shoot. Here are two of my favorites. My beautiful best friend with her big brown eyes...

And the whole fam on Chad's family farm...

Click here to see a lot more of their shoot. The music is "Free" by the Zac Brown Band. Even though Sarah suggested "Club Can't Handle Me" by Flo Rida. Just didn't seem to fit :).

first dance class

2010-09-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready for a wedding tomorrow, but I had to briefly check in because today was Marlie's first dance class...

I simply could not handle the cuteness.

Have a good weekend!

Sarah + Len

2010-09-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Len were married over Labor Day weekend here in St. Louis. Sarah was a gorgeous bride, and Len a handsome groom. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather.

Aren't they cute together?

Click here to see more photos from their big day. Much thanks to the marvelous Emily Southerland for second shooting for me!

hello again

2010-09-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hello again. I have been opting for sleeping instead of blogging as of late. I'm just pretty wiped out by the end of the day. Things I've been up to...

- shooting (a wedding here, a senior there) sneak peeks coming soon!

- napping when I can

- wrangling monkey pants

- trying not to barf

- belly dancing (its not cute at 10 weeks pregnant)

- seeing old friends (It was so fun girls!)

Yesterday was miss Monkey's first day back to preschool. Lets compare last year to this year...

I cannot believe how much she has changed this year. Gone are those chubby cheeks and legs, and little sausage fingers. I miss them. By the way that pose she is striking was totally her idea. She is quite the diva these days. Complete with her bear "Princess" and that ugly purple dog purse which contains and even uglier rat type stuffed dog. Oh she is so funny. This is an awesome age. She is much more of a little helper and sidekick than ever before. I love it.

Today I am wrapping up some work and packing. We decided to ya know...just take off to Colorado for a few days. Its just how we roll. We are nuts. But there are some people there we love a lot, so here we go!

One more thing. What's cuter than Mr. Nug, Monkey Pants, and Lily Bean all sitting together?

Nothing! Have a great weekend!

Jen got hitched and Marlie was the flower girl

2010-08-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

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

remembering Bridget

2010-08-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

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!

ouch

2010-07-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the first weekend in as long as I can remember that we didn't have much going on. No plans Friday night, no plans Saturday night. Just what we needed.

I had a newborn shoot on Saturday morning. Fun client, sweet little baby girl. As I was helping them out to their car I felt a pain in my lower back. A familiar pain. It was the final piece of a puzzle. I had been feeling a few other weird things over the last week and all of a sudden I knew...kidney stone.

I told Shane that I thought I had a kidney stone but that the pain wasn't horrible and I wanted to wait it out and see if I could manage at home. I sent him off on a bike ride, put Marlie down for a nap and got ready for Nikki to come over and pick up her wedding proofs and CD. I knew she was probably already on her way and thought I could probably still meet. By the time she got here I was in a lot of pain, sweaty and nauseous. I felt so bad that I had to tell her what was going on and cut our meeting short.

Ten minutes later I was pacing around the house like a woman in labor, trying to breathe through the pain. My mom and step dad were on their way over, one to stay with Marlie and one take me to the ER. I have never been in so much pain in my life. I had a kidney stone when I was pregnant with Marlie. I remember it being horrible, but not like this. The 20 minute car ride felt like an eternity and I spent it rolling around and writhing in pain trying to find any position that would relieve some pain. Nothing helped. The pain was so intense that I spent my time in the ER waiting room in the bathroom, revisiting what I had for lunch.

The ER staff was awesome. They got me in a bed quickly and immediately got some pain meds going. I had a cat scan and x-ray and the both confirmed that I did have a kidney stone. The rest of the night is a blur. Lots of pain meds. In and out of sleep.

In the morning the Urologist came in and said that I could either wait it out and try to pass it on my own or they could go in and get it. At this point surgery sounded just fine to me. The knocked me out, took it out, and by 8:00 last night I was back home in bed.

Today has been a bit of a roller coaster. Mostly, I think because I was trying to be tough and not take the pain meds that were prescribed. I don't do well on those things. But, my kidney is still very swollen and painful. If you are the praying type please pray that it would heal on its own soon or they may have to go back in there and put in a stint.

Oye. Not exactly the relaxing weekend I had in mind. So, here I sit. A little groggy, but on the mend. I think a little Bachelorette will help, don't you?

one light workshop

2010-07-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

The day after we got back from our vacation was my b-day. I woke up to Monkey Pants and Shane waiting for me with a big box. Before I opened it Marlie proudly announced "Its a mixerchine!" ... and it was. I have been wanting one of these for a few years so I was pretty excited.

After that Jen and I headed out for the One Light Workshop with Zack Arias. I'd heard great things about Zack and his teaching so when I heard last year that he was coming to St. Louis I signed up right away.

I guess this won't mean much unless you know some things about photography, but we learned a ton about off camera flash. Its something I've been wanting to learn about for a long time so I was pretty excited. If you are a photographer, I highly recommend Zack's workshop. It was intense, 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. the next morning, but it was worth it. Everything I had heard was true. He is a really great teacher, very down to earth, transparent, and has a great sense of humor.

Maybe most importantly, he knows what is talking about. I admire his minimalist approach to photography. In the world of photography people tend to make it all about the equipment. People have told me on more that one occasion "Well, I could be a photographer too if I had a good camera like yours." Um...ouch. When Zack opened up the workshop with this quote, I knew I was in the right place...

"The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don't know what to do with it." - Edward Weston

I really don't want to be on a endless squirrel cage chase. I want to know my equipment, to know my craft.

I also watched this video that Zack created and could really identify. Again probably not really interesting if you aren't a photographer, but it really spoke to me.

I learned a lot at the workshop. Phrases and tips and hints from that day are still swimming around in my head. I'm looking forward to playing around with the lighting equipment more and putting what I've learned to work. I'm learning to be patient with myself. Perhaps my favorite thing Zack said all day was.."Try to remember that anything that grows slowly is usually pretty awesome." I'm trying to remember.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day...

It was so nice

2010-07-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm back from a much needed break. We saw good friends in Kansas City for the 4th and then headed to Wisconsin for a week. Life slowed down...

Marlie drove the boat.

We hung out with Gunnie and Papa.

The three of us went on a camping adventure in Michigan.

We watched the sunset near our camp site.

We discovered what pasties are, and they weren't doughnut holes with double sided tape like we guessed.

Marlie made lots of funny faces and poses for pictures.

She also caught her first fish.

Shane grew a mustache and took me on a date.

We rode our bikes in to town.. a lot.

Marlie had a blast with her cousins.

It was so nice.

Now its back to reality. I am still digging my way out of emails and phone calls so bare with me if you are waiting for me to get back with you. Thanks for your patience!

parting shots

2010-07-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Its July. What happened? The summer seems to be flying by. June was a really full month. It was my busiest month, business wise, for the year. So, I won't be around for a bit. I'm taking some time off to recoup, relax, and remember what its like to watch a movie without editing photos at the same time.

Before I go I will leave you with a few parting shots. There were lost of adorable boys around to photograph this month.

Jakob turned one and wore this adorable hat...

My friend Betsy had a baby boy and named him Taylor. Did I mention he weighed 10 lbs 8 oz at birth? Yes, that's what I said. I tried to put him in my new blue bucket and he got stuck. Good thing Betsy is a friend of mine :).

Little Henry came over for his first photos. He was really tiny and did not get stuck in my new blue bucket...

Catch ya on the flip side!

farm day sneak peek

2010-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sneak peek slideshow is up! Click here to check it out!

mini shoot day at the farm

2010-06-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

- 1 beautiful farm
- 8 hours
- 97 degree heat
- 8 awesome families
- 1 amazing assistant
- 22 bottles of water
- 6 memory cards full of shots

Well, I am toasted to a crisp, but it was a very successful mini shoot day at the farm on Saturday. Thanks again to everyone who came out for a shoot and especially to the owners who made it possible! I've only had time to sort through the first two shoots, but here are a few faves at first glance. Stay tuned for a sneak peek slide show in the next few day!

nikki + tim

2010-06-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Nikki and Tim were married at the Cathedral Basilica here in St. Louis. Nikki was beyond beautiful...

and it was obvious that these two are head over heels for eachother. Click here to see more of their big day.

Congratulations you two! It was a wonderful wedding!

McKinley turns 1

2010-06-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I met up with my friends Lauren and Kevin, and their little munchkin McKinley.

I did her newborn shoot and I can't believe that was a year ago!

People, this little girl is really hard not to squeeze. She is round and smiley and has a giggle like a cartoon character...seriously, you'd have to hear it to understand.

And this little family is very fun to photograph. So photogenic!

It was HOT outside so we headed back to the studio for a little birthday cake.

Most babies are fairly timid during their cake smash, Miss McKinley however decided to dive right in...face first. Hilarious!

Thanks Kevin and Lauren! And happy b-day McKinley!

baby Nora

2010-06-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I did a maternity session with Maggie and Ryan, and a few weeks back I got to meet their little Nora.

She is so adorable, and they are smitten.

Such a sweet little face.

Congratualations guys!

some great things...and one cute baby

2010-06-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

Just checking in to tell you about some fun things going on in this little family of ours.

First off, remember how we have been down to one car for a while and this has led to all kinds of fun things like Shane getting flipped over cars on his bike? Well, Shane's awesomely generous family has intervened and we are a two car family again thanks to great uncle Hank. I can't even believe it. So, no more bike rides to work. Amen to that.

Secondly, Shane got a lawyering jobby job! Its been a year since he graduated and passed the bar. He has been patiently waiting to see if an attorney position would open up for him at the financial firm he has been working at for the past 6 years and...it did. Sweet! There are lots of great things about him getting this job, but most of all I love to see him getting to use the degree he worked SO hard for.

Thirdly, miss Monkey Pants is now sort of, kind of, going potty. Oh I know we have a long road ahead of us, but people...there has been pee pee in the potty and that is a HUGE step in this house. I was so proud I cried. You know you are a mom if you are tearing up over pee in the potty.

I'm doing good too. I must say that June is kicking my butt. Take two weddings, add a mini shoot day, some other fun shoots and one Monkey Pants to wrangle, and call me exhausted. Its all great, just ya know...hard too. But July has some vacationing in store so that will be nice.

And now I leave you with some parting shots of Beth's little Lily bean. I snapped these the other day without Beth knowing. Hee Hee. I love doing that. All I had to do was hook Weston and Marlie up with some "Barbie and a Mermaid Tale" so Lily and I could have a little time together in the studio.

Oh my word she is really stinking cute.

She makes this adorbale face when she rubs her gums together. Like this...

I'm not sure, but so far it looks like she might be just as lumpy and rolly as her brother. And that is good news.

Allyson + Mike

2010-06-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

Allyson and Mike were married on Saturday at a beautiful church in the sweet little town of Edina, Missouri. Allyson was gorgeous. I've known her since she was in junior high and it was surreal, but wonderful to see her all grown up and get to document her big day.

Allyson's cute details made the wedding so original and fun, right down to the zebra printed high heels. And the flowers! Beautiful.

My trusty side kick Jen W. came to help shoot and another Jen came along for the ride too. Jen N., a college friend, came to see what wedding photography is all about. She brought these AWESOME chalkboard blurbs with her and we had some fun with them. Thank you to both Jens! We made a great team!

Click here to see some more images from Allyson and Mike's wedding. Congratulations you two! It was such a great day!

Pat and family

2010-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I met up with the sweetest family. Heather emailed me a while back wanting to set up a family shoot for her mom's retirement gift.

Pat just finished up her final year of teaching after 32 years in the classroom. And from what I hear she was a pretty incredible one.

Her kids kept making her laugh.

At the last minute I made Pat let me take a few of her by herself. What a cute lady. Look at those eyes!

I think she was rolling her eyes at her kids comments in this one, but I just love it..

Thanks guys! Congratulations on your retirement Pat, and thank you for all of your years of hard work in the classroom.

the graduates

2010-06-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I met these four lovely ladies at a nearby park...

They came straight from their graduation ceremony to meet me for a little session. Four great girls who became buddies in OT school at Washington University here in STL. Abby's (far left) family hired me as a gift to her.

I didn't even ask them to do this... they were just that cute...

The girls wanted to record their last night all together before they were headed off their separate ways for internships. I love these ones in the alley...

I made them do just a few in their robes...

Congratulations girls!

Isabella

2010-06-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last week tiny Isabella came over for her first photo shoot. Oh my goodness, what a tiny little lady.

Her parents are smitten.

I love this one. She slept for just long enough for a few sleeping shots...

At just over 6 lbs she fit in this basket just perfect.

Congratulations! She is so beautiful!

second shooting with Jen

2010-06-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I got to second shoot at a wedding for the first time. My friend/usual second shooter Jen shot a wedding just across the river in Illinois. Jen and I have worked together a ton, but this time our roles were switched up.

It was really fun being the second shooter. Shooting from different angles.

Catching the moments in between.

Getting to work with the guys when I'm usually with the girls.

With such a cute couple and fun wedding party my job was pretty easy! Thanks Julia and Nathan! And Jen, you were a great boss!

Graham and fam

2010-05-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

Last week on a very HOT day I had a session with a very cute family. I've had the pleasure of photographing Graham and watching him grow into a big one year old. This time he brought his mom and dad along.

We braved the heat and headed to the park near their home. Love this one...

And well...all of these...

But I think this one is my fav...

Such a cute family!

Its the little things

2010-05-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

This week has been a doozie so far. It started off on Monday morning with an ER visit. That wasn't a good sign. Marlie has croup. I knew that's what it was, but if your kid has ever had it then you know its pretty terrifying. She is on the mend finally, but its been a rough few days. Lots of coughing, not lots of sleeping.

So I've been breathing deeper, taking it one hour at a time, and celebrating the small things today. For instance, I love hydrangeas. I have always dreamed of having several big hydrangea bushes in my yard so that I could have vases of hydrangeas all over the house. We have four bushes, but for the last two summers they did not bloom. I figured I just had some bum bushes but continued to dream. Well in the last few weeks they have exploded with blooms. Today before a big storm hit Marlie and I went out and picked a bunch for vases....

Ahh love it. Just like I dreamed.

Later in the day during a huge storm this little guy took cover on my window sill...

I have mixed feelings about birds. This guy is cute, but they crap all over our windows in places I can't reach. I like them in art work, but those beeks and claws give me the willies.

I felt so bad for him and he was looking at me with those big bird eyes. I was honestly tempted to let him in, but then thought I might regret that when he was pecking my eyes out.

Other small things to celebrate...I took off when Shane got home for some alone time and took refuge in a fabric store to look at crafty things, I saw a huge double rainbow on the way back out to my car, and Shane stole my camera and snagged this shot of Marlie...

And my bed is so very very comfy. Its the little things :)

Beth and family

2010-05-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend Beth's family was in town and we took advantage of their time together with a little photo shoot. I love these ones of the girls...

Especially this one of little Lunden being all sassy..

We even convinced Beth's Dad to get in a few shots. I love this one...

What a cute family. Thanks guys!

The time we went camping

2010-05-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago Shane and I sat down to plan a little fun in to our calendars. If I'm not careful and don't plan ahead then all of a sudden my weekends are all filled with shoots and that leaves no time for family fun. I need family fun. I love family fun.

For this weekend we marked down "Take Marlie camping for the first time". And so we did. We went to a really cute little campground very near home. Ya know, just in case it was a disaster. I remembered reading Emily's post last year about how they liked Jellystone Park, so off we went.

I must say, its funny how things change when you become a parent. I was a backpacking guide in Colorado once upon a time, Shane loves to backpack and hike, but when it came down to it we went for the campground with nice bathrooms and a pool for this little trip. Although, in two summers in Colorado I never saw one snake and I ran in to one at Jellystone before we even got the tent up. I am terrified of snakes. Shane suddenly became a hardcore animal rights advocate and would not kill it for me. Whateva.

We had a good time. The pool was really really cold. So we did a little less swimming and a little more relaxing...

We played in the woods. Dug in the dirt. Marlie got a little droopy at the end of the day. Like this....

The smore's helped a little bit...

We thought she was just tired, or didn't like camping very much. It turns out she was getting sick. Poor thing woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and cough. It was touch and go there for a bit, but we made it through the night. For all of you St. Louisans, I do recommend Jellystone. It is a great place to go with kiddos. Just watch out for that snake that Shane let go.

hello again

2010-05-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've been trying take a little bit better care of myself lately. This means more sleep, which sadly means less blogging. Honestly I haven't had a lot to say anyway. I've been taking photos of some ridiculously lovely people so its no reflection on my clients, just feeling a little speechless for some reason. So, in no particular order and not necessarily related to each other here are a few of my favs from recent shoots...

Monkey Pants' new toys

2010-05-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Marlie spotted a super sweet Disney Princess scooter at Target. I told her that she could buy it with her pacis (pacifiers). I don't think I ever mentioned it, because maybe it was slightly embarrassing, but up until recently Marlie slept with anywhere from 3-6 pacis. She was an addict. Anyway, much to my surprise she went for it and gathered up all her brightly colored plastic best friends and handed them over to the Target lady in exchange for that scooter.

She is so cute when she rides it. I love watching her scoot along.

The day we got it she was telling Shane all about it and said "It has a special purse with a zipper on it on the front and you can put your wallets... your lipsticks... and your donuts in there." I almost wet my pants. It was a both hilarious and slightly troubling statement. Jamie Oliver would not be amused.

She is such a hoot.

While we are talking about Marlie's new toys let me show you the little project we took on for her b-day present. The grandparents all chipped in and got Miss Pants a playhouse for the backyard. I picked it out online. One of the customer reviews said that it was easy and fast to put together. I am convinced that this person was either.. a) on some hallucinogenic drug, or b) a liar liar pants on fire.

Here is the before...

Literally a month later and still without the chimmney...

She loves it though, so it was worth it. And it doubles as a tiny jail cell.

Just kiddin.

After last year's tiny kitchen debacle and this years playhouse it seems we are getting more and more complicated things to put together for her b-day. Next year we shall assemble a child sized helicopter made of toothpicks.

Saturday at the farm

2010-05-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

About a year ago a client of mine sent me an email after seeing this post about my barn search. She wanted me to know that her boyfriend's family happened to have a cool barn on their property not to far from St. Louis that I could use for a shoot if I wanted to some day. That sweet client was Erin, here with her adorable Lily...

So, I've been dreaming up this shoot for about a year. Thinking about an antique couch in a field, rustic barn wood, tall grasses, and this weekend it all came true.

I can't thank Erin and John, and John's adorable parents enough for making this shoot happen. Meet Charlie and Joan who still live on and take care of the farm. The sweetest couple ever. They have been married for 54 years and Charlie grew up on the farm himself. As we were walking over to these rose bushes he told me that they were over one hundred years old. Amazing.

Also a big thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday for a shoot! Click here to see a slide show of some of my favorite shots of the day. This shoot was only open to Erin and John's family and friends, and a few of mine too, but guess what?! I am headed out to the farm again in June and you should be there!

There are only 7 slots available so go.. email me quick and I'll see you at the farm!

Lauren and then Luke

2010-05-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Its been raining buckets here in St. Louis. While I've been enjoying watching the lightning and listening to the rain hit the windows, all this rain has been screwing up my photo shoot schedule and that is pretty frustrating. So, if I've had to reschedule your shoot please bear with me, unfortunately I can't control the weather.

However, even with all the storms I still got to shoot some cute little people this week. First Lauren came over...

Oh is she cute!

And then Luke came over on Friday...

Such a sweet little guy. Those eyes!

And he brought his adorable big sister along who reminds me a lot of my Monkey Pants.

Lets face it, they are both stinkin cute. Thanks guys!

Super Shane

2010-04-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all of the sweet comments and prayers for Shane. He has always been somewhat of a super hero in my eyes and it turns out it really is true for two reasons...

- Don't all super heros wear spandex?

- Only a super hero could get hit by a car and then go to work the next day.

Seriously. Its nothing short of a miracle. He is still gimping around a little bit, not ready to put his full weight on his bruised heel. The side he landed on is tender and puffy and bruised, but that is about it.

We spent our weekend doing fun things: making Shane rest, avoiding tornadoes in our area, Marlie's first trip to Build - a - Bear, a much needed date night, church, lunch with friends. We've been holding hands more than usual, remembering what is truly important. When your husband could have easily been killed, the weeds in the garden aren't so important anymore.

The only problem is Shane already thought he was some what invincible. Now he knows he can scale cars in a single bound and live to tell about it. Hmmm ...

The time Shane became the poster boy for helmet safety

2010-04-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Shane is a biker. Did I ever tell you that? He is a road biker. He loves biking. In fact on our first official date we stopped at a shop so that he could buy some bike shorts. And of course I teased him about wearing them. But I fell in love with him despite the spandex.

Here he is in a race a few summers back...

One thing Shane loves to do is to commute to work on his bike, even though it is about 15 miles each way. We have been a one car family for about two months since our old car finally bit the dust and so he has been biking to work even more than usual. It has always scared me. Its just too far, too often for something bad not to happen. He has always reassured me and laughed off my concerns, but in the morning I anxiously wait for a text telling me he has gotten there OK and in the evening Marlie and I wait to see him ride down our street.

This morning I got the call that I have been fearing the most...

me: Hello?
Shane: Babe, its me.
me: Shane are you OK?!
Shane: No, I've been hit.
me: By a car?!!
Shane: Yeah. I think I'm OK. I don't know. I got hit. The police are on the way.
me: WHERE ARE YOU?!
Shane: I'm at Adams and Lindeman. An ambulance is coming.
me: I'm leaving now. I love you.
Shane: I love you.

The 20 minute drive felt like an hour. I was so shaken up. Marlie was scared. I was scared. She wanted to bring band aids for him and I was terrified of what shape he might be in when we got there. I thought for a moment about losing him. It was horrible.

When we got there things had calmed down and I could see that Shane was probably OK. He was hurt but he was OK. The EMTs determined it was fine for me to drive him to the ER myself and so off we went. It wasn't until he recounted the whole accident to the nurse at the ER that I fully understood how blessed we were. It wasn't until then that I knew that he had flown across the car roof and landed on the other side.

He was poked and prodded. X-rays were taken. And amazingly nothing was broken. He has a bum foot and a lot of bruises and scrapes. He is going to be really sore for a while. And he gets to wear this awesomely attractive boot which I am convinced is actually made for the other foot...

His bike is another story. Its totaled. But he doesn't even really care.

We went home, breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the Lord for His mercy, rested up and managed to make it to a very important dinner tonight. Shane's grandma, Nan, turned 90 today. She is a very special lady and missing her b-day just wasn't an option.

This is what she looked like when Shane told her what happened. She was not so happy...

But then we cheered her up and had some cake...

What a day.

Marlie's 3 yr pics

2010-04-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend we packed up some cute clothes, cute shoes and one cute 3 year old for a photo shoot. Honestly, it didn't go how I had dreamed. Photographing Marlie is really challenging for me. There are several reasons, but mostly because it is just way too painful for her to look at the camera and smile for me because that would mean doing exactly what I ask you see. I just had to breathe deep and let go a bit and we got some great shots in the end.

I love this kid...

One of my new favorite dresses...

fav...

love this one too. She is always bouncing...

Marlie thanks you for all the b-day wishes and I thank you for all of the comment love!

Monkey Pants turns 3

2010-04-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today is my little lady's b-day. I cannot believe that she is 3. It blows my mind.

We had the fam over for her birthday party last Sunday. Last year I decorated how I wanted because I figured it was my last year to make the decision myself without Marlie's input. And boy was I was right. This year Marlie requested a princess party, Sleeping Beauty to be exact. So on Sunday I found myself crafting a cake that I would have previously never been caught dead making.

Please meet Aurora....

Isn't she lovely? Well, Marlie thought so anyway. Here she is admiring her. It was love at first site. And then she lovingly blew out her dress when we lit it on fire.

Shane asked if we were having a bachelor party or a birthday party since he thought she looked a little more like a lady jumping out of cake than a princess. Whatever.

She was pretty tasty...

Today was a have fun with Monkey Pants day instead of my normal Friday work day since I just couldn't bear the thought of not spending her b-day with her. We went to Purina Farms for the first time. It was a little rough at first when the activities included getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, Marlie rubbing sunscreen in her eye, and waiting in line for 20 minutes to milk a cow only to freak out when actually confronted with pulling on a teet. But then there was an awesome dog show and it salvaged our visit. I am not a dog person, but dogs flying through the air to the tune of C&C Music Factory, now that is cool.

My sunglasses helped with the sunscreen eye.

Marlie requested Steak N Shake for lunch and I aim to please. We sat and ate, and chatted and laughed. I watched her and thought about how blessed I am to have such a sweet little girl with such a spunky personality.

A pretty fun b-day I think. Marlie was all wound up at nap time so I laid down with her for a while. As she was falling asleep with her nose touching mine she whispered... "I love you mom. I love the dog show."

Happy Birthday Monkey Pants! I love you to pieces.

winner!

2010-04-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

I used random.org to pick a winner today and the winner is #7....

"1 week down and two to go for the little chicklets! Can't wait." -Erin

Congratulations Erin! Email me with what name you want for your collage.

Erin is a super fun and generous client that I am working on a secret project with. It shall be revealed soon. And yes it involves chicklets as in baby chickens. Hee Hee. I can't wait either!

Thanks for all of the comments on your favorite spring things to do. Mine would be eating dinner outside at a fun restaurant or in our little backyard. I love a good patio dinner.

Enjoy this spring day! Its back to editing photos for me, but I might just find a good patio to do it on.

name collages are back and ... a giveaway

2010-04-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Name collages have been on hold for a bit while Beth was busy making more little people and then adjusting to life with two nuggets instead of one. I'm happy to announce that she is back at work and we are taking orders again. Its wedding season and name collages make the perfect gift. So...head over to the shop page of my website and with a few clicks you will be on your way to having an awesome present to give.

And just because its nice and beautiful and warm outside and that makes me happy lets do a giveaway. Leave a comment here and you might just win a name collage for yourself or someone else if you're feeling generous. Tell me your favorite thing to do in spring in your comment and do it before 9:00 a.m. on Thursday to be entered. Good luck readers!

Kristy + Ryan

2010-04-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

Kristy and Ryan were married on Friday. It was a gorgeous day here in St. Louis. Perfect weather for a wedding.

We started the day with a private moment at Forest Park. Kristin was such a beautiful bride and you could tell by Ryan's reaction to seeing her for the first time that he was in awe of her. To see more from their day click here to see the slide show. Congratulations you two!