Reese's First Santa Visit

I was so excited to take Reese to see Santa this year. I have to admit that I was a little worried because of the bad reaction he had to the characters at Disneyland a couple months ago (I think he traumatized Buzz Lightyear with his scream of terror). But regardless, I wanted him to meet Santa.

Sunday night was Josh's work Christmas party, and Santa made an appearance. There was no screaming, no crying, no running scared to momma! I was so proud of him. I am guessing watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse Saves Santa almost daily for the last month has helped.



Santa gave Reese a candy cane, which he thought was totally awesome. Until he tripped and it broke. Then he was devastated until I was able to get a piece of it into his mouth. Once he learned it was candy, he was even happier about the whole thing. My baby has a serious sweet tooth!

I hope you are all having a very Happy Holidays!

Guess, who's back..

I know it has been some time since I have posted any pictures of Reese. And the truth is I haven't taken any. Between me being in California for training, the few other gigs I took and just not having a good concept we have gone almost 9 months with out a photo shoot with my favorite model. *please note, adorableness is to follow. Gasping, awing, and maybe passing out possible. Continue at your own risk.......







If this doesn't scream I shouldn't be doing what I am doing I don't know what does.



This is one of my absolute favorites of the bunch.




I have to thank Kati for another brilliant concept. Of course Reese did great as well. I hope this is the first of a more consistent bunch of shoots. Also Kati will be creating a fabulous Christmas card soon, so keep you eyes out for that.

Slacker

Well it has been a while since I have posted anything at all. I haven't done any formal shoots of Reese since he turned 1. I need to change that up...

I was inspired by a cousins post(s) that she does about her little one. And thought it would be a good idea to take a little slice out of time and describe Reese as he is now.

So at 18 months,

Reese has moved on from cars to watch Toy Story. He also likes Mickey Mouse club house.

Each morning he wakes up around 7:00-7:30 and walks into our room to crawl in bed with us. He needs someone to get his chocolate milk.
He is not a morning person.

He has a lot of words he can say. "Milk" "Mamma" "Daddy" a bunch of animals and sounds for them. My favorite is Wolf, he throws his head back and howl. Its way cute.

He has started to climb on all kinds of stuff. He can climb onto the bar stool and then onto the island. Yikes is right.

He still enjoys coloring and stays mostly on paper items. (go washable crayons)

He wants to help us do what ever task we are doing, dinner, laundry, brushing teeth, flossing.

He gives great hugs now, we call them big squeezes, it just melts me when he does it.

When he is watching one of his shows you have to pause it to get him to pay attention to anything else. (kinda like his dad)

He can throw a ball pretty descent and started using his right hand a bit more lately.

I love him so much and excited to see him grow into an independent person. I also can't believe how big he is.

The Shields

I finally got little Lindsey in front of my camera for an official shoot. And since Jenni and Nate were there we got the whole family. As usual it was a pleasure to hang out with these guys. I was pretty happy with the results.




I think this one is my favorite overall family shot.




Did I mention her eyes? They are amazing.



Lyndsee is quite the diva, but it made for some good laughs.




Ahh how cute huh?

So I thought this was great session. And anytime we need to do it again, just call me.

We went "urban" for his 1 year shoot

We went a little country last month with his photos. This week we went to the city. He enjoyed it a ton. He was laughing moving around and of course even fell and bonked the noggin'. Each day he does stuff to amaze me, and I am so grateful to have him in my life. Now that he is walking and getting more independent, my patience is going to be tested, as well as my heart filling up with joy.


The chair Kati made for him. That woman's talent is truly endless! So I had the idea to take it to an alley way to do a shoot. I liked how it turned out.









Of the chair set up this was my favorite. The look is one we do see often and it shows how he really doesn't sit still for long.



I need to come up with something else creative for next month. All ideas are welcome :)

Happy 1st Birthday Reese

We had a wonderful party for the little guy, and of course Kati went all out to make his stuff special. Her talent seems endless to me. And not only were they pretty, they were delicious!



We, and by we I mean Kati, went for a Safari animal theme. All the designs and animals she created herself.




Here is Reese digging in. He ate the penguine. He loves blueberries and Kati made a blueberry layer in the giant cake.





And I had to throw in a couple of photos of the two best mothers in my life.

Sunday at the park

This last Sunday, Jessica and Andy invited to the park. It was a very nice day so we agreed. We were pleasantly surprised that they also invited Benjam and Chelsea as well as Ben and Thao. he So all the kids got to play together. It was a little windy but all in all a very nice day. Thank you Jess and Andy for initiating such a fun time. I think we can all agree it will be happening again.





Here Reese demonstrates the proper way of not getting your knees in the bark while crawling.



There was a play ground with two slides monkey bars and a climbing wall. Reese found me through the hole. He thought it was pretty funny. (so did we)








He is getting better with his balance every day. He has even taken steps on a couple of different occasions. He still likes holding your hands though.





Alyssa was quite mobile as well. The grass kind of threw her off at first. And at one point Reese ended up with the hat. He was reluctant to give it back, but he did.



Someone left behind chalk, so the kids did some drawing. And eating of said chalk.




Here is my babe soaking p the sun.




Would you believe it. Benjam snagged the camera and got a shot of me and the boy. I am glad he did.




It was only two hours, but we got in Frisbee, and a contest Benjam won. I should have guessed a physics major would figure out the best way to make a complete revolution on a kid toy. I really had fun and am looking forward to next time.

Little Ian Welker

Last night we went and took some photos of the little 5 day old Ian. He was a brave guy. Squirmed a bit but in the end we got the job done. And some great images I must say.





This one made us all laugh, he kinda looked Golem like.






This one is my current favorite. I love the scale and the look in his eyes.

Last night we went over to Wheeler Farm to do some outdoor photos of Reese. It wasn't a bad night if the wind wasn't blowing. He did have a lot of fun looking at the animals and just being outside I think. Although by the time we were done he was ready for bed. Thank you of course to the beautiful wife of mine, and Missy and Trudi for helping out.

What a Sunday!

As some of you may know I am seriously considering hiring out my photography services. This is mainly due to the fact I need some way to support my habit. The good stuff is kind of expensive and I want, I want, I need I need.

So, yesterday I lined up some willing parents, and some unwilling children to come over for pictures. It started at 9:30 with little miss Skye. It took her a little bit to warm up, but we got it done and she played with Reese for a while too.





Angie, a good friend and awesome potter, brought some pieces over to be documented. She was kind and patient enough to fill the down time between kids.

At 11:30 a gal I work with brought her very cute 2 month old over. He was awake, and mellow. We even went al'natural. No accidents even.




At 12:30 Anna brought their lovely daughter Mikaela over. She was a fun energetic little girl. Lesson one learned. (always have extra batteries) We have rechargeable for most things but not the CR123a batteries for one flash. The awesome wife ran and got me some and the shoot went on.

After she was done it was a quick lunch break and back to finishing up the pottery. I rapped up shooting around 3:30 and wanted to get right into editing. We did have dinner plans though so I had to hold back just a bit.


Just two of the amazing works of Angie. The girls got skills what can I say.





Dinner was another awesome event. We ate at my cousins Tim and Jenny with there kids and stayed till 10 talking and playing games. They have a truly wonderful house made excellent food. And even though we warned Reese about all the pretty girls being related to him, it couldn't be stopped. He did like Ryan too. Thanks again Smith's for your hospitality and overall good time. I think we should schedule sometime soon for the next one.


After we got home I put in some work on editing and got a few done that I've shared here. Now time to finish the rest.

I say mission success at this time.

-Josh