Aidan's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Aidan's 3rd Birthday on Saturday with a bowling party at the local bowling alley. The snow storm had already started so it was a great day to be inside having fun. It was a very small party with just Andy's immediate family in New Prague. Aidan had a lot of fun and was begging me to open up his presents all day long. I just can't believe my "baby" is three already!

Monday was his actual birthday and we celebrated with some outside fun... snowball fights, a trip to the park, and some sledding!

I ordered bowling ball cupcakes and here's how they turned out. Not exactly how I envisioned, but they were pretty tasty!

Aidan loves to have big snowballs in his hands!

Ready, aim, fire!

I've really been enjoying my time off from work and spending tons of time with my kids.

Hospital- Day 2

My mom with all of her grandchildren:

More baby feet!

The new Weis family:

The boys LOVED to hold baby Sophia!

I love the expression on Aidan's face in this one:

Introducing... Sophia Clare Weis!

I just witnessed the most amazing thing today... the birth of my new niece Sophia! My sister's labor progressed very rapidly, so I barely made it to the hospital in time. I was told she was at 7 cm when I was on my way there and half and hour later I walked into her room and she was pushing! I got there at 4:05 and she was born at 4:23 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 inches long. She is the most beautiful thing ever and I am so touched that I got to be in the room. My sister and Jeff are both doing great and have that proud new parent glow.

Moments after she was delivered:

























Proud new dad held her hand while she was getting her tests done:




















All cleaned up after her first bath!























That is a smile!






















I will have more pics tomorrow of my boys meeting their new cousin for the first time!

Baby Sophia update...

1:30 pm UPDATE:

Jeff just called and said that my sister just had an epidural. She was at 3 cm an hour ago and her pain is really starting up with her contractions getting stronger. I am heading up after I pick Owen up from school at 3 pm. This will probably be my last update and I'm guessing she'll have the baby sometime this evening. HOW EXCITING! I'll post pics tonight.


10:00 am
So, no baby yesterday. She was sent home yesterday morning after unsuccessful dilation. She was told to come back at 5 pm to try again and spend the night. The latest update is as of this morning at 9 am, she was dilated to 1 cm so the doctor broke her water and started her on Pitocin.

She will hopefully be born today and the coolest part of that is- it's my sister's birthday TODAY! A Happy Birthday it is!

I'M ON VIDEO!

Remember when I shot that wedding with Heidi how I told you I was being videotaped for Bellagala promotions? Well the video is now live on their website. I don't have a huge role in it, but I'm there! ;)

Click here to see the video. Under the "Photo" tab on the left, click on "watch video- photography." I'm in the first video listed, titled "Photo- About."

Baby Sophia announcement!

My sister is checking into the hospital tomorrow evening to be induced. We're guessing sometime Tuesday she will be born, just a day shy of my sister's birthday. Of COURSE I will post pics! YAY! How exciting!

A little summer during winter

We had a great time this weekend during our little getaway. We got a hotel close to home, but you would have never guessed it because we actually felt like we were away somewhere on a trip. We all needed a break, especially the boys, after being cooped up in the house during the cold weather. I think we'll have to do this more often!

Dream Job

I never thought I'd be into commercial photography but I think my dream job would be to work with food stylists. OR better yet, bake the food, style it myself, and shoot it! I think I would specialize in pastries/sweets. That would be so fun! I would also love to work for any Martha Stewart magazine. I love the styling in her photos. Shooting all of that cute stuff would be so easy! Photographs have always inspired me. I'm the type to look through a cookbook, see a picture of a cute recipe and immediately want to bake it!










































































All photos taken from marthastewart.com

The Hoolihan Family

Brian, Claudette, and Brendon, 3 weeks old. I shot the Hoolihan family at their home in Brooklyn Park. Claudette is a friend of my sister. Their babies will be only weeks apart! They are glowing new parents and Claudette looks amazing for just having a baby three weeks ago! Brendon is so sweet and I even got to hold him for awhile while we gabbed. Baby fever! Here are a few of my favorites from the session.


I really like this family shot:


















The glowing new mom!

























My favorite shot of the day:



































Claudette wasn't happy with their wedding photographer and really wished she had gotten a ring shot but didn't, so she asked me to do it!

Kids being kids

I love capturing moments of kids being kids!




































Baking is something that I've always loved to do and love to share it with my kids. I hope that I am creating happy, comforting memories for them. Hangin' out in your pj's eating cookie dough... it doesn't get much better than that!




















Sneaking a little taste... the dough is the best part!


















Yes, these oatmeal scotchies tasted as good as they look!

Felicity

Did anyone ever watch this show? Besides my sister... ;) I was addicted back when it was on from 1998-2002. Now I am watching the entire series on DVD starting back with Season 1. It's really quite sad that I find myself spending all of my extra free time at night watching disc after disc. Anyway, I just made it through Season 1. What I loved about it was it was always Ben or Noel, Ben or Noel? Who will she choose?! And really, how can she decide? ;)

Another thing I wanted to add, which was actually photography related, was I love the black and white photography in the opening credits. I remember really liking it back then too, even before I was into photography. I couldn't find the exact photos that I really loved.

Bunny sessions are booked!

All of the bunny sessions for March 31st are booked. I am still getting a number of inquiries, so depending on how many more I get, I may add another day or half- day session. It would definitely be after Easter though, so I'm not sure if you'd still be interested after the fact.

If you're interested in being an alternate for the March 31st session let me know. In case of a cancellation you may still be able to get in.

Thanks everyone and I'm truly shocked at how fast these booked up!

Mamasource.com

Hi moms! I just posted an ad for my photography on mamasource.com. If you haven't heard about it before, it is a great (and free) resource to sign up for. It is all about local moms helping each other out.

If you would like to contribute a response to my ad sharing your personal rating and review of my business, I would really appreciate it!

Click here.

You may have to sign up to be able to post, but like I said, you'll be happy you signed up anyway!

Thanks!

February 3rd Wedding

I shot my second wedding of the year on Saturday with Heidi. It was so much fun! The bride's mother personally pulled me aside to tell me how great we were doing and how much fun we were. The clients and their families couldn't have been nicer and they rewarded us with a nice big tip! The bride was even brave enough (or crazy enough?!) to do pictures outside in her bare strapless gown! It was literally 20 below out! Bellagala actually sent along a videographer to capture Heidi and I in action to put together a production of how we work. I'd be curious to see that footage someday!

The ceremony was at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas and the reception was at the St. Paul Town and Country Club. The T&CC was a great venue- the lighting inside the reception was great- which is almost never the case. We were able to get some amazing reception photos.

Weddings really are so much fun. There is so much emotion involved and so many touching moments I am able to witness. Even though I hardly know most of the people there, there is a human connection. It's a treat to hear an amazing pastor who can bring you to tears or a best man or maid of honor speaking so highly of the bride and groom. The thing that always gets me is hearing a parent speak of how proud they are of their child. Now that I am a mother, I can't imagine the day that I will give away my son to start his new life and what I'd be feeling!

Okay, that's enough mushy stuff. I'm getting a lot of inquiries on the bunny shoot and I'm so excited!

Bunnies at Como Park!

I have spoken with my bunny contact and we are set for Saturday, March 31st at Como Park. This will be my first all day photo shoot of the year and I am now taking bookings! I extended the day to one more late afternoon session so there are 11 half-hour time slots available.

The rabbits are all show trained (to sit still), very tame, and excellent with children. Here are some photos from last year when I worked with the rabbits and my friend's son:

The session time slots are as follows:

9:30 am- booked

10:15 am- booked

11:00 am-booked

11:45 am-booked

12:30 pm- booked

1:15 pm- booked

2:00 pm- booked

2:45 pm- booked

3:30 pm- booked

4:15 pm- booked

4:45 pm- booked

The cost of the session is $100. This includes a disc of edited images, a professionally enhanced 5x7, and a Polaroid souvenir to take home. The focus of this shoot is mainly the children and rabbits so if you were hoping to get your family shots in for the year, I'd recommend scheduling at another time. BUT- this is a great opportunity to buy a really cute Easter outfit! ;)

Feel free to contact me with any questions and pray for nice weather! I'll update the time slots as they book up so you'll know what's available. I'm super excited for this! What could possibly be cuter than little kids and bunnies!