My Dangerous Job

Mhmmm. You read that right. Danger. It surrounds me.

No really.

As I sit here, I can hardly type because I have managed to sustain a neck injury (ok, so it's just a stiff neck...but I prefer to refer to it as a neck injury ok? ok.). The neck injury came from a combo of a newborn shoot and working on my computer too long. Oh yes - no it's true - we photographers have constant neck, back and wrist pain from the computer and the cameras.

I also have knee pain - not because of a long run or something healthy like that - but because I'm so short that my feet don't touch the ground when I sit at my desk...and, as I stated, I've spent too many hours in this little spot lately. Can you believe my feet don't touch?! I swear, in my "free" time I'm gonna design a chair for short people. ha ha ha ha.

Anyway, back to danger ... I'm also in danger at this particular moment of being attacked by an army of superheroes who have been ready to go to the pool for "like 18 hours". They're waiting on me to come up with something to write for this sneak peek.

So I've been sitting here...looking at my screen...trying to force my brain to work.

It won't.

I think that it might be dangerous to try to force it to work in this heat. Don't you think? Yes, I thought so.

So I have nothing profound to share with you this time. Just that this little girl was so much fun. She let us play with lots of hats, baskets, dresses...etc. See - here's another danger factor...I photograph these sweet little angels all the time and it almost makes me forget that I don't want another baby. {almost} 'Cause the truth is...if I had another baby...I'd only be adding to the army of superheroes who are threatening an attack at this moment.

I have to mention that this little girl just moved to Kansas. And she had ruby red slippers...oh goodness...you KNOW I had to play with THAT.

baby fat rolls! it doesn't get much sweeter than this.

would you check out those smushed lips?!

The Last Group

This fantastic family was my last official large group shoot. I now only do individual families with children 12 years old or younger.

Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. Because it's quite hard to focus on pediatric photography if I'm shooting large family groups. Large groups don't normally involve the majority being 12 or younger (although...if you have one that does ... give me a call... if the majority are 12 or younger I'll do it. I might need a vacation when it's done...but I'll do it) The second reason is the same reason I don't do weddings or seniors ...'cause it's just not my thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'll miss some of the large group things - like the photo you see in the post below. But I need to focus. And I have trouble with focus - so I gotta do this to force myself to focus.

Need a large group photo and don't know where to go? Feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email and I'll be glad to send you some local fab photogs who do these types of sessions.

So...here is my official, final, positively no more - large group finale. And what a family to spend this occasion with! It was hot and sticky and there were bugs and dirt...but they had fun with it. WE had fun with it. Thanks for visiting me "S" family!

Oh - and notice the Big Green Ugly has re-appeared from storage! I missed her...the Big Green...I'm looking forward to another season of "dates" with The Green!

right before the hilarious shot from the previous post where the Dad surprised me

{which is my fave group shot evvva}

Now - I just simply could NOT walk away from this session without doing a shot of this little guy. He just lost his first teeth! Lost both of 'em in one shot! There's something so important and huge about losing those first teeth. I mean - we just had to document it! Congrats "J" and welcome to the world of what I call "the toothless wonders"

Surprises

Good golly molly - I love it when someone surprises me on a shoot! This family was great - it was HOT last night and you would never have known it if you were watching us! (well, other than me wiping sweat off myself non-stop). At the end of the shoot...I told the "kids" to jump...intending for the parents to be standing still...kinda that contrast of nice calm parents and wild crazy kids idea. Well the Dad totally surprised me and oh my goodness...I love the result!

outta here ... for real

Ok...this time I really am outta here... for a few days. I will be in my un-plugged location.

Seriously - phones usually don't work, no tv, no computer. un.plugged.

everyone say it with me ... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

My shoulders just relaxed.

oh - wait - except that I'm not packed. and it's 3:45. and we're leaving at 9:00.

shoulders back up by my ears.

By the way ... for any creepers out there keeping track of when I'm leaving... these guys live in my yard. And they don't like you.

Ok - so on to a much cuter little guy. Happy Birthday baby "Z!"

he wasn't very interested in wearing his hat

he was less interested in wearing THIS hat ... and even less interested in the boots

THIS he was interested in

and now, my friends, I'm outta here!

Outta here ... almost

This will be quick - hard to believe - but I don't have a lot of words in me today.

I know, weird.

But I'm trying to get everything done that absolutely must be done before we leave {again}.

Yes, I said we're leaving again. But this time is vacation - not work. Ahhhh. Four days of non-computer bliss. My eyes will thank me. My back will thank me. My neck...well, no, my neck will not thank me because I will most likely cause some damage to it while doing something completely un-intelligent behind a boat. But most importantly, my kids will thank me. They haven't seen much of me lately, and for that I feel terrible. So off we're headed to one of my favorite un-plugged spots.

But not 'til I share these and one more little peek coming later tonight.

Welcome to the world sweet, smiley baby "C"

And, can I just say - oh my goodness the flower hat...the FLOWER HAT. luv. If I had a girl...she most certainly would have worn hats like this every single day.

the faces this girl made were hilarious - watch my facebook fan page for a series of her funny faces next week

this was her preferred position - a bit problematic for me

can YOU sleep with your toes up by your eye?

this is a handmade sweater (a kimono??) ... sewn for baby "C" by a friend in Japan.

Look for another shot of her in this at her 6 month session!

Sibling Love {Kansas City Children's Photographer}

As I sit here, processing these images, I am struck by irony.

These kiddos were so very kind to each other. There were lots of hugs and fun games going on at this session. Big kids helped little kids. Encouragement was plentiful. (so was the energy...these three were tough to catch).

So, you ask, where is the irony?

In the room next to my studio is a playroom. In this playroom my three children are currently pounding on each other. For those who haven't caught on...I have three boys. Lots of testosterone in this house. It's not that they don't love each other - it's just that they choose to do so in a much more aggressive manner. For instance, at the moment I hear the youngest screeching "hiiyahhhhhh" and then a bigger kid grunting. This, most likely, means that the baby just jumped with all his effort onto the big kid's back or stomach. He was, obviously, provoked to this point.

So maybe the lack of the one girl has an affect on the chosen method of shown affection? Wait ... no... that's not possible. I was the lone girl amongst my siblings and our chosen method of affection involved a lot of plotting, voting, vetoes, and old-fashioned western-like attacks.

Once, I discovered that if I hid just inside the bathroom door, my brother wouldn't see me as he went running full-force down the hall. I could then stick my arm out the door at precisely the right moment and clothesline him. Feeling bad for him? Don't. He payed me back by repeating this move on me...when his arm was in a cast. I swear I'm not the reason he had a cast (or was I?). Then there's the time that we may (or may not) have convinced our baby brother that he could fly if he jumped off the back of the couch. That ended well. Feeling bad for the my baby brother? No No...he was known to lock himself in closets with our food while a sitter was there. He was also known to hide on the roof or in the bushes by our front porch...just waiting for me to come home from a date. Then there's the fact that he was insanely strong for being the youngest - he chose to use his strength to win battles.

Oh there's so many more stories. Do you have one? Share your fave sibling "love" story in the comments! We could all use a good laugh!

By the way - my brothers are fine today. Whether I turned out fine is still in question. If the answer is that I am not normal...then clearly, I blame my brothers.

I bet these angels' Mom could produce a good story too ... in spite of their amazing behavior at our shoot!

we shot this session in a super cool 111 yr old town {that's a big deal in the midwest}

"Dear Lord, please save me from all these boys"

he wasn't as amused by being put into an old tub on the street as we were by doing it!

He's 1!

And the brick road he's standing on is 97 yrs old!