Happy New Year!

Wow, my little business had its most fabulous year to date! It really is hard to imagine that just 4 short years ago I was just starting out. I am so proud and grateful to my clients for where I've ended up!

I hope for lots of new changes in 2010! Pricing structure will change and I will be accepting only a limited number of sessions per week. Things got a little carried away this year and I always felt overbooked. I am so excited to welcome this new baby, and my New Year's resolution is to enjoy him this year and not spend the first year of his life in front of my computer. Every parent knows just how fast that baby phase goes by and I can't wait to cherish every moment, even the sleepless nights. :)

I was hoping to put together some fancy slide show or collage of all of my work from 2009 but who am I kidding? I didn't even get a Christmas card out this year and I still have 15 weddings to blog! I thank you all for continuing to follow my work and read my blog.

Here's hoping for a fabulous 2010! Enjoy your time with your family, friends, and loved ones.

Laundry Monster | Etsy

Check out these ADORABLE burp cloths on Etsy. I just love when artists have a good eye for fabrics. Now the tough part is narrowing it down to just a few...

A little behind... *chuckle*

I found this on eBay to use for my own baby, but I couldn't resist using it at a recent newborn shoot. More of baby Adrian soon!

Kenley | Newborn Studio Session

Jamie and I have known each other for 10 years and met working at Ameriprise. We've been through a lot over the years, marriage, buying houses, and kids (me). Jamie recently welcomed her first child Kenley! I am so excited for her to be a mom.

Kenley was pretty serious during her first photo shoot but we managed to get a few smiles out of her.


Big sister Lucy came along and enjoyed a little nap between outfit changes.


Congratulations to the new family!

Katie | New Prague High School Senior

I love this girl. I had such a great session with Katie! She "warned" me as we started, saying that she was the least photogenic person and that she ruins every photo that she's ever in. The second I started shooting her I couldn't wait to show her the photos and how naturally GORGEOUS she is! She's one of those girls that has no idea how beautiful she is, not just outside, but inside as well.

Katie you are ridiculously beautiful! One of my favorites...



We headed out to a local farm that Katie is involved with. She is a regular horseback rider and introduced me to all of the resident animals. As I was shooting this series, I was getting nudged by the donkey!

I always feel the need to shoot a few "traditional" photos for the parents, but they're definitely not as fun or interesting as the fashion-inspired ones.
Thanks for working with me Katie, I had a great time!

Holiday crunch time

Sorry for the lack of photo posts lately, but I'm just trying to stay caught up and get some of my holiday shopping done just like everyone else. I've almost given up on trying to do a personal Christmas card this year, but who knows, miracles have been known to happen! If you normally get one from me and don't this year, now you know why!

Stay tuned for two different senior sessions with horses... oh yeah, then there's this guy:

Kicky Pants

I know there hasn't been much on this blog lately besides products but tis' the season for shopping and I came across these today and had to rave about them. I am so in love with Kicky Pants! Kicky Pants are made from 95% bamboo and have such a soft, luxurious feel to them. The photos are extremely cute but you really need to feel these to know what makes them so wonderful! It's almost like comparing 1,200 thread count sheets to 200. They're soft, thin, and silky and I love the colors. If you're interested in a little splurge, check them out here. I also found a small line at Von Maur.

You know it's been 6 years since I've been baby shopping so it's so exciting to see all of the new products and clothing lines that are out there! I especially love these coveralls with the little butt flap. I love that they're fitting and hate when babies drown in their clothes.

L-Bow Gloves and Mittens

I try to plug these every year, but it's only because I think they're such a great product. If you live in MN and have kids that love to play in the snow these are a MUST! Do your kids end up with frozen wrists because the sleeves of their jacket go up while they're digging in the snow? That always happened to my kids and then I discovered these awesome gloves! The sleeve of the glove pulls up over their jacket sleeve and keeps their poor little wrists warm and dry.

Best of all, they're invented by a Minnesota mom and made in MN so you'd be supporting a local business. Check them out! With the long MN winters, these will be the best investment in winter fun you can make!

I just had to order another pair for one of my boys after I discovered that we had lost one since last year. We had a snow day today so there was no school and the boys wanted to play out in the snow. Aidan had his L-Bow gloves on and Owen had on two pairs of gloves and some baby leggings that I had rigged to try to keep his wrists warm. He kept having to come back inside so that I could fix his gloves because snow kept getting in his sleeves. I was on the computer in a second ordering another pair of L-Bow gloves!

Gap kid

Are you sick of seeing this little face yet?

Schedule announcement

It's a busy time of year for everyone, especially photographers! I just wanted to remind my clients to please wrap up any 2009 orders by the end of the year, this includes senior wallet orders, CD orders, and online gallery print orders. I hope to have everything wrapped up by mid-January so I can focus on getting ready for baby! I don't know what the future of my pregnancy will hold, if I will go into labor early or be put on bed rest so I'd like to take the necessary precautions so that I have a clean slate. Please take this as a "heads up" and that if orders don't get placed in time, I may not get to them until March or April.

I look forward to some time off and also to work on my business plans for 2010. New pricing, an updated website, and possibly a new blog are all in the near future. I'm so excited!

Free nursing cover!

For you nursing moms- go to uddercovers.com and receive a free nursing cover. Enter the promo code "planning" and you will receive $32 off your order, you only pay $8.95 for shipping. You can use the code more than once - you just have to open a new browser/window to do so.

Code is courtesy of PlanningFamily.com

Olivia's Favorite Things

I can't really call these my favorite things because I don't actually own them but I get a zillion catalogs in the mail and wanted to post a few things that caught my eye.

Williams Sonoma:

Oreo cookie cake pans- oh my goodness I need to have these! A giant Oreo cookie cake!
Hot chocolate set- mmmmm....
Bed, Bath, and Beyond:

There's nothing like a nice, relaxing bath. This looks so comfy!
I don't have a teakettle but love this Paula Deen one!
Amazon.com:

Love this show.
I've heard good things about this cookbook. I'd love to get back to more cooking from scratch once my schedule settles down.
Of course I've been in baby mode these days. I love this Buddha belly maternity tee!
I never really made my own baby food with the boys but came across this system on Williams Sonoma.

Thinkgeek.com:

Not a paper cup. An environmentally friendly ceramic coffee mug that looks just like a paper cup.

Mini shopping cart desk organizer- cute!

Feel free to share your great holiday finds!

Aidan | at his own request

I've created a monster. I'll be the first to admit to it. Aidan, my 5 year old, is very much into his clothing and actually has a good eye for it! One of our favorite past times is online window shopping. When I get all of my children's clothing catalogs in the mail, he loves to look through them with me and points out what he likes and even goes as far as to tell me which pants he would wear with what shirt. He's conditioned to know that buying special clothes means taking pictures and he's more than willing!

Well, this wasn't a special outfit by any means. He was poking around in his closet last night and found these brown shoes I had bought for a shoot last year. He remembered that he wore them for pictures and to Joan and Mike's wedding in Chicago. Then he found the brown sweater and pants, and added the hat he's been wearing for the past month. He had the outfit all set aside last night and said he was going to put it on first thing in the morning!

Sure enough, my other son got up for school and Aidan got dressed into his outfit, including the shoes. For the rest of the morning and afternoon, he begged me to go outside and take pictures. Not just in our yard though, at an antique store 20 miles away! I had a doctor's appointment and he came with and wore his outfit. My doctor complimented him on it which was just added fuel to the fire! By 2 pm, I gave in. I mean, how could I say no to my son WANTING to do photos, right?
I'm sure glad I gave in. This photo made it all worthwhile.

Brothers and Sisters | a rant

Today, while with one of my boys I was asked by a stranger if I was having a boy or girl. When I replied "a boy" and told her that it would be my third boy she nonchalantly said, "Awww, too bad, I bet you wanted a girl, huh?"

Too bad? I was so offended by this! I have had this discussion with my best friend who has 3 boys of her own. What makes people think that a perfect family includes children of both genders? Every child is a miracle all on its own, ask anyone who has ever miscarried (myself included) or desperately wants a child and can't conceive.

I am SO excited to meet this little boy that God has chosen to bless me with. My three boys will have a wonderful bond of brotherhood and our family will continue to grow in love.

I had to post these of a recent family I got to work with. Three beautiful girls! How blessed they are!

Bennett | 5 Month Old Studio Shoot

5-9 month babies are one of my absolute favorite subjects to photograph! They're sitting up but can't crawl away, they are smiling, and they have soft flawless skin (and sometimes cute little chub rolls!). If you were to invest in only one set of baby photos I would have to say this is the perfect age. I should have just told Bennett's mom to drop him off for the day because I could have photographed him all day long!

Typically, I don't like a lot of bulky clothing on babies this age, but this was such a cute outfit!


Isn't he sweet?! I can't believe I get to have another one of these soon! :)



Ha- if you look closely in the ornament you can see me and my big belly shooting him.