Little Miss Neve

Neve woke up bright and early to have her photos taken. She smiled the minute I walked thru the doors. It was a CHILLY Chicago morning, but Neve kept her smile through the chill.

An afternoon with the T girls

Being a full time mom, working full time, managing my personal life, AND making time for photography has really taken a toll on me. I needed a little break to get my nutty life back in order. Wow, I feel like I've been on break from photography for months now! I'm hoping this little break will get my creative juices running again!

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I spent a couple hours with the T girls back in November capturing the sisters play. Caitlyn OBVIOUSLY had no problem smiling for the camera. Maddie, on the other hand, was non-stop. I don't get to see them much - it was fun hanging out with the them!

Love is in the air: Jodyne & Joe

My good friend Jodyne met the love of her life and has been smiling since. I had the pleasure of photographing the love birds before their wedding day. They were a bit nervous when I first started shooting, but got comfortable quickly. The three of us chatted throughout the session and I'm glad I got to know Joe better.

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Congratulations Jodyne & Joe - can't wait until the big day!

An afternoon with Nathaniel

I spent a couple hours with Nathaniel and his parents on a warm Sunday afternoon. When I first arrived, he didn't know how to respond to me. He started with show-and-tell of his toys. As soon as he warmed up, he was ready for his photo shoot! Nathaniel has bright brown eyes, to-die-for dimples, and a smile that will melt your heart!

A sweet moment for Nathaniel and his mommy.
As we strolled the neighborhood, we found a pile of leaves for him to play in. He had a great time thowing it up in the air.
He got bored and moved on to the next big thing.

More fun with the speedlight

I'm still amazed with the quality of pictures I can take with my speedlight (I sound like a Nikon sales person!). I'm having so much fun with my speedlight - LOVE it!!!

Mummy's little monster

Have a frightfully spooky Halloween!!!

Quiet time

As much as I love playing with my son, I love when he goes down for a nap. It's my time to do "things" around the house . . . or take a quick power nap - tee hee. On this day, I decided to sneak into his room (with my new speedlight OF COURSE) to snap a few shots of him sleeping.

My new toy...

I am proud to announce that I am an owner of the Nikon SB800 speedlight!!! Wonder what it is?!? It's currently the most advanced flash in the Speedlight range! With this new toy, I'm able to bounce light off the ceiling to avoid the awful mullet shadow the regular flashes cause. Here's some pictures I captured in my dark dining room.

Birthday Celebration

This year is a milestone birthday for both Joe and I . . . the big THREE-O!!! Thank you all for coming out to celebrate our birthday. Joe and I are thankful to have NUTTY friends like you all!

This is my disclaimer before you view the pictures below . . . I wasn't the photographer! LOL
It's the birthday girl! Hey, this is my first picture on this blog! YAY, I finally made the cut! =)

It's the birthday boy. He's slap-happy from all the Coke he's been drinking.
Hey, more people drinking Coke!

Link to all pictures: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Acs3LRi5ZMmKG&notag=1

Lake Geneva

For Joe's birthday, he wanted to spend it with his family. We decided to take a road trip to Lake Geneva - it was an absolutely perfect weekend! After checking into our hotel and letting Cami play at the waterpark, we decided to head downtown for a walk. It was so warm for a midwest October evening! The sun was setting as we were strolling. We took a quick break from our stoll for Cami to enjoy his favoriate snack - Cheerios! Like the chocolate conversion?!? This was the first time I used this action for the affect. Like all kids, Cami LOVES the water. Daddy and Cami were getting a bit wet playing with the fountain. This picture was on the blury side, but thanks to photoshop, I was able to sharpen the image.

The next morning we headed to the beach where Cami played in the water AGAIN. We had such a good time in Lake Geneva...looking forward to another road trip here in the near future. Hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend Bunny!

hapPEE BIRFFday Bunny!!!

My big baby turned the big Three-O today. I've celebrated 13 birthdays with him - and looking forward to celebrating dozens more! Happy birthday Bunny! I LOVE YOU. . .always and forever!

Apple Picking

My family enjoyed a warm Sunday afternoon apple picking at Kuiper's Family Farm. If you haven't noticed, we hang out with Cecilia & Huan's family quite often since their kids are constantly on this blog.

Miss "Chinese Superstar" Chloe is patiently waiting for her turn on the hayride.
After Cami stops picking apples from the ground and realizes there are apples on the trees, he starts picking and throwing them on the ground to get the next one.
Everyone is enjoying the last warm days of summer.
My boys . . . strolling thru the orchards.

Pee Wee Gym

This is Little Man's first day in Pee Wee Gym. On his first day, he was instantly attached to this police car and did not want to share it with the other kids. He eventually ventured off to the mat where he found a fort to play in. Joe and I had a VERY hard time getting him to leave at the end of class.

Brookfield Zoo

"What do we do at the zoo? What do we do at the zoo-ze-zoo?"

Cami loves visiting the zoo on DVD with Barney, so Joe and I decided to take him to the real deal. He looked at the animals for a bit, but was more interested in running around. You can't see, but we're looking at the zebras!

After running away from his daddy, Joe finally catches up with him.

Looks like Cami is in trouble, but he's not! He's hanging out in the children's zoo area.

Rachel & Quang's Wedding

The day started off chilly, but warmed up just in time for Rachel & Quang's wedding ceremony. I've known these two love birds since high school....I still remember the conversation Rachel and I had debating whether or not she should ask Quang to our high school turn-about dance. LOL...the good ol' days!

Congratulations Rachel & Quang!!!


Ms. Thu and little lady Chloe took a quick break from bridal party duties to smile for me.

My baby was quite active during the ceremony. He wouldn't sit still in the church so his daddy took him outdoors to burn off some energy. He's rocking a new hair style.

Eyan's Baptism

This was sweet baby Eyan's big day. . . his baptism. He was completely silent as his parnets and godparents watched the father pour holy water onto his head.

Big sister Lainey was forced to stop playing with her cousins to take a family photo. What a beautiful family!






This is Eyan & Lainey's cousin....look at her beautiful eyes!

I have to admit, poor lighting is a photographer's worse enemy. And this church definitely had poorlighting!!! I borrowed the SB-800 speedlight to take these photos and still felt like they didn't turn out as great as I hoped. Good thing for Photoshop...that's my best friend in saving pictures.

A bright smile....

My poor baby started a fever yesterday and has been miserable since. As I was trying on my new hat today, he kept grabbing it away from me to try on himself. He giggled as he put it on. My baby's head is just a tad smaller than mine! I was happy to see a smile on his little face!

Rocking the House

WATCH OUT . . . here's the next musical sensation! Cami has his dad's love of music!