Kross will be 7 months old this Saturday. He's got two very visible and extremely "sharp" teeth. Yes, I know this first hand. OUCH! He's also sitting up on his own and has been for a while now. I need to put him on the floor more so he can try getting to the crawling part but we have so much tile in the house that it worries me he's going to bang himself up. I miss carpet in the Midwest. LOL!
I shot a couple quick photos - these photos - of him this week just to document his age. He is such a Ham, isn't it? I could sit around and snap shots of him all daggone day long. He's a hoot!
It's Thursday and I'm packing like a mad woman for our trip to Key West this weekend. I'm shooting a destination wedding in the Keys for a dear friend of mine this weekend. It's for a friend of mine that I've known since middle school. I'm only doing it because it's "her." Ha ha! I am not fond of weddings at all and have no desire to shoot weddings on a regular basis. I've turned many away to date. I just don't feel comfortable shooting someones most important day of their life up to that point. Not only that but a wedding is a weekend affair. It's major time away from your family on the weekends when you're a wedding photographer. Between the rehearsal dinners, wedding the next day, reception into the night, etc. -it just isn't my cup of tea. I'd much rather do a shoot that lasts 1-2 hours and then be back home with my family again. Much less time and wayyyyyyy less stress. LOL! So...my friend lucked out. She will be the only one to ever see me shoot a wedding. Let's pray I don't screw it up for her and her soon to be husband.
My in laws are flying into Naples tomorrow night and are driving down to Key West with us. We are making it a little family get-a-way. My mother in law and father in law will be there to watch the kiddo's for us anytime I'm working the wedding festivities and Brent is with me. Thankfully, my sweet friend Megan, has agreed to come along as well and be the 2nd shooter for me this time. I need as many eyes and cameras as I can get for this day. We've waited for Sherry to get married for a loooonnnggggg time. I want to ROCK her images out and make them unique and different for her special day. Megan has a lot of my same shooting styles. We make a great team! :)
So, we head out for Key West on Saturday (our first time ever there) and I plan to get some great images of not only the wedding but also of the sights - as a tourist - while in town. I'm excited to see the change in scenery and witness first hand what Duval Street is all about. Good times for me and my camera. :) I'll be sure to share plenty once we return. In the meantime, have a great 4th of July holiday and be safe. Much love, Angie
Here I am again...Mrs. blog slacker. I have things I could be blogging here and sessions that have yet to be blogged over on my photography blog too. I'm way behind. I guess that is what happens when you're having too much fun. Time gets away from you. :)
The above shot was a photo I took the other day of all three kiddo's. Needless to say...the shoot was a bust. Total bust. Kenidi wouldn't quit kissing Kross - which in turn ticked him off. Brennen was whining something about how on earth "was I going to photograph special needs child and a new baby all at the same time." I was sweating like a pig when all was said and done. I finally gave up and settled with this shot. Because this is our reality. This shot reveals our life. It's keepin' it real at its finest. LOL!
As you can see, Kenidi had a major meltdown at the end of the process so I of course just had to document it. I love this girl!
Speaking of her and meltdowns, I just had to document this one too. We went out boating on Father's day and we had Miss Drama Queen on board all day. One minute she was fine and the next minute she was a basket case. Did I mention that I love this girl???
Brennen spent some of his time fishing off the boat that afternoon. Here is a shot of him in action as well as one looking all grown up...
Kross loved every minute of the wind rushing thru his half bald head as we skimmed the surface of the ocean. Both him and Kenidi love to keep moving - to go fast. Neither of them are "stop and fish kinda' kids." LOL! That doesn't help Brennen much. :( At one point Kenidi through Kross's sun hat overboard. We tried to go back and get it but it sunk way too fast. Therefore, I had to drown his little white head in sunscreen. This is what the back of his hair looked like from my angle...
Loved it!
Kenidi celebrated her 8th birthday this weekend. She had a ball. Here she is sporting some of her new gifts...a doctors coat (she loves going to the doctor - doctwo as she calls it). Then she had on her new sunglasses and her rock star studded leather bracelet all while singing into her new microphone. She was such a hoot that I had to capture the moment. Four days later and she's still wearing the doctors coat around and hurting my ears all day long with the microphone. LOL!
That little pairing of photos really sums up Kenidi to a "T." I still can't believe she is eight already. Like Brent said today, she'll always be our little baby girl. :)
I got out with Brennen recently and took some shots of him in an urban grunge type setting. I look at him and can't get over how "teenager-ish" he is looking. Certain glances, certain facial expressions, etc. really give way to how much he is becoming a young man. Then again, like Kenidi, he'll always be my little boy. This photo proves it...
Here are some other shots from our morning together...
Annnndddddd...it wouldn't be a shoot with Brennen without one of these shots that follow my words "Just one more Brennen - I promise just one more..."
Yeap, that is a photographers kid for ya...fo' sho'!
Speaking of Brennen...congrats to him for making the honor roll again for the 4th straight time this year. He worked so hard and nailed his grades every nine weeks. We couldn't be more proud of him. He pulled off another honor roll at the end of this semester like a pro. Guess all of our threatening him paid off. (no xbox, no computer, no phone, etc.) We are such mean parents. :) Way to go B-Ster. We love you rock star!!!
Last but not least, I had to share this shot of Kross experiencing birthday cake & ice cream for the first time ever on Kenidi's birthday. He fell in love. I laughed until I cried. I couldn't feed him fast enough. He was squealing at me like a stuck pig - wanting more, more, more. It was hysterical!
For now, I'm signing off. We are re-decorating Kenidi's room this week in a mustard & gray color scheme so I'm headed in to finish that project up. We booted Audrey Hepburn & the whole Tiffany & Co. theme out. It was time for a change. I love the new look thus far. Here is a sneak peek...
It's Tuesday, June 7th and I'm waiting on the kids to get home from school. They both half days today with only two days of school remaining in the year (those being half days as well). I know Brennen is excited to be done for the summer. He has exams all this week so he is working extra hard to end the year with a bang. We were invited to his awards banquet the other night where he took home extra honors for being 1 of 7 top scoring students for language arts in the 6th grade. I still have no idea where that boy gets his smarts from. It didn't come from Brent or myself. LOL! We are extremely proud of him for his hard work and continued drive this year. Pulling straight A's is something I NEVER did as a kid - even in elementary school. LOL!
I took Kenidi out for a photo shoot last week. WOW! What a site that was. If someone could have video taped that escapade, we could have surely landed a reality TV show instantly. Brent told me to take her to an open field to do the shoot because that way when she ran from me, she could run and not risk getting hurt. So...I thought that was a grand idea. We went to a new field that had beautiful white flowers blooming up all around her. I got her up at 6:30am in order to get to the field in time for the gorgeous morning light shortly after sunrise that day. In a nutshell, the field was wet which proved challenging as she attempted to sit down every few minutes in dirty mud patches. Considering the fact that she was wearing this cream dress in part of the shoot, that would not have been a good look. She continued to keep running, and running, and running. I tried desperately to keep up with her and lock my cameras focus on her eyes in order to assure a sharp and crisp image. However, because she wouldn't stand still, I got very few. That girl was like the energizer bunny. I was out of breath five minutes after we began. I told my Mom that I felt like the Top Gun guys - chasing a mig - trying to lock focus on her. But with each step she took, I felt like I kept hearing "Negative Ghost rider - the flight pattern is full." LOL! It was craziness. I won't even begin to try and describe the act that it took to get her BACK to the car once she ran thru the said field - to the far opposite side of that field. I ended up having to carry her back to the car - all the way back to the car - thru a muddy, bumpy, wet field. My back was broke and I was a sweaty mess by the time we reached the truck. Keep in mind that we live in South Florida so it was like 900 degrees by that point. HA! Can anyone say "nightmare?"
One thing is for sure...I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I risked my out of shape body chasing her thru that field. It had been so long since I was able to photograph her because she just won't stand still for me anymore. I wanted to get some shots of her before we cut her hair back off again too. It's time for the angled bob again. Long and stringy just doesn't work well for Kenidi. It's always hanging in her face, has no shape, no style, etc. She ROCKS the angled bob so we are taking her back in this week for a new "do." She is growing up and getting so big - so very quick. All of our kiddo's are. Kross turned 6 months old this past week. Where did the time go? Brennen is a big 7th grader now. He'll be in high school before we know it. Insert sad face here. :(
I'm off to tend to the chaos that ensues as school ends each year. Speaking of the energizer bunny, she just came in off the bus. Kross's last few days of freedom are slowly slipping away this week. Hee hee! He has no idea what he's in for all summer long. I'm looking forward to long hot days, tired nights, and sand in shoes that prove a summer day was well spent. We have a trip to Key West coming up at the beginning of July and will also be traveling back home to Indy for three weeks come mid July thru August. Good times ahead!
Hoping all of you are enjoying your summer thus far. Until the next post...Angie
