Monday, October 8, 2012

Hey...How have you been??

So...my apologies to the awesome friends and family that check back often and wonder...has she fallen off the face of the earth?  Is she done blogging?  What is going on with Shelley!

I'm here.  Blogging sadly took the backseat to my hectic crazy summer since JUNE...OMG.  JUNE.  I can't even tell you how crazy it is to me that 4 months have gone by, but then again I don't sleep so it is amazing I know what day it is, as opposed to month, a fact that I have truly been working on.  MORE sleep....but my amazing photography clients/friends, as all of you have quickly become, keeps me up at night.  So...let's do a brief RECAP...which I know is completely unfair to the fabulous shoots I did all summer but I fear there is no better alternative.

In June I captured a sweet 6 month old {C}.  His parents are awesome and drove all the way from Chicago to come to see me!  They brought with them some sentimental items, including the pocket watch Mommy gave to Daddy on their wedding day.  We secured him in a suitcase and proudly showcased him and how little he is, and the true sweetness of babies and the long growth ahead of him to fill his Daddy's shoes.  He is a VERY handsome boy...and has eyelashes that go on and on...

June -A baby on board session with {2} sweet parents...who said they didn't know what they were having.....hmmm I now know what they have for sure...and my guess was right on!!  Which NEVER happens for me by the way...so if you don't know and I take your maternity pictures...guess the opposite.  I'm going to keep you guessing on what they have until I get to the newborn recap!

June -A very Brady {last name not really Brady} Wedding!  -PS you wonder have I been busy??
A very sweet story of two people falling in love, and bringing together 3 kids each to complete their family and make it 8!  The bridesmaids and groomsmen were their children and my eyes were wet behind the lens (don't worry the pictures still turned out!!).  It was a gorgeous ceremony on a boat in Grand Geneva, and a rocking good time...ha ha...  I think it is fantastic to see two people get a second chance at love and top it off with creating a nice big family!





June -Nope not done with June just yet!!  Sweet little {D} This little heartbreaker was such a ham!  His mommy brought this unbelievable orange vintage chair straight from his nursery!  I could hardly believe my good fortune...a cute little boy and new prop to come along with him...{insert happy sigh here}.  

And this my friends concludes June...from a client/friend perspective.

Now as for my family & our adventures for June...Morgan and I had a special trip to the nail salon and received our first mommy/daughter pedi.  I fear this may have been a little early...and will end up costing daddy and I a boatload down the road but it was a blast!  Her toes were of course BLUE, it is by far her favorite color right now. {still today even}.  I know you would think pink because I dress her in it all the time.....which she is cool with unless I'm doing her nails...they must be BLUE.





A hot hot day at Bender Park beach as a family was a HUGE highlight this summer.  Sydney laying on the beach had us in stitches, and neither girl could be torn away from all that sand.  I was jealous I didn't have a chair like the girls to sit in the water...it looked so comfy!!  We shared a picnic lunch and brought at least 2 pails of sand home with us {1 in Sydney's suit alone I'm sure}.


Mommy brought home a new prop in June...a baby bed...and my baby loved it!!  She climbed all over it and now I'm positive it is very safe for newborns as it held not only Sydney but the 2 girls together...and Sydney and her baby.  Doesn't she just look like a sweety...she is...most of the time!

Still JUNE...we celebrated our cousin Casey's 2nd birthday.  Morgan always has her eyes on the prize at birthday parties...you say CAKE...and my girl can't get in line fast enough! Syd was all smiles for Great Grandma Marion {mind you she could only be contained for 5 minutes at a time}.



JUNE -Father's Day...you can see what I was going for here...but let me just tell you...all kids like to cooperate for everyone other than their parents holding the camera.  It was no different on my end.  No trick, or bribe or promises could get 1. both girls to look at me.  2. Sydney to hold a D {she would throw it to the ground and stomp on it} 3. Either of them to stay in one place for more than a second.
I can tell you that these kinds of projects make me, like any other mom, want to cry.  I have the idea, I have the props set, I love my girls, I love that they are so cute....and then BAM...God smacks you and says...hey...appreciate what you have...have fun with them...and stop trying to make them do stuff....just shoot them how they are...he probably doesn't say shoot ;).

I might...just might be leaving a piece of June out.  Its midnight...I have gone through the archives...and have to apologize if I missed something but it was really fun looking back through JUNE.  Now...hopefully tomorrow night I can add JULY!!  And hope I have some readers who enjoy this kind of stuff :).

Shelley Status:  Working for the "man" keeps our bills paid, so I'm still doing it, full time, and have been creating some really awesome stuff and learning more each day.  Work. life.balance is what I hear on repeat, and it is starting to really sit in my mind, as I have been making sure to plan and block out weekends for my family and my hubby and let me tell you...I think all of our hearts sing when we are together...I might imagine it from time to time...or just pretend...but at the end of the night I have a huge grin on my face from our family chaos.  John and I talk, {I talk a lot} and then we talk some more and often times our conversations go to the girls, and how awesome they are, what we liked best about them that day, what new words Sydney says...or repeats from Morgan, what new things Morgan has learned to do...and always what great sisters they are....so yeah..my heart sings.

Its not all sunshine and blue skies every day...but we have two little rainbows that call Mommy & Daddy each morning and for that I'm very grateful.

Have a great day!...if it is only...Monday for 3 more minutes.  eek.

-Shelley

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Kristin & Ryan 6.1.2012

Wedding Bells!  I could gush on and on about this wedding...beautiful bride, a wonderful groom, and fantastic party.  I started my journey with this awesome couple many many moons ago, I can't believe there wedding has already came and gone and I got to capture it.  These two are so very sweet together, it is fitting that they were engaged at Disney World, they have quite the fairy tale! Always laughing and full of life they kept me from putting my camera down all day long.  So in love, as every engaged couple should be they lit up the room.  (Which was fabulously decorated down to every detail by Kristin!)

I'm a jumble of ramblings tonight so please forgive me....but I should have also started with the fantastic location...Veteran's Terrace was awesome and we prayed the rain would stay away for the day and were ever grateful that our wish was granted and Kristin was able to have her dream outdoor wedding!

Another ramble: My assistant for the day...Lisa..aka my bff....rocked it and caught some awesome shots too!  Shooting together was a ton of fun and I was so thankful to have her there...keeping me on point (she's a little more focused than me..) and on top of our shotlist, keeping things organized, and putting in some great shot suggestions!

The scene was gorgeous, bride fantastic, guests and family very very fun (including my fellow day job peeps) and you will not believe the topper for the night time festivities...Ryan busting out his dance moves to I'm Sexy and I know it.  I will never forget the shock of Ryan entering the empty dance floor and getting the crowd going with Kristin laughing and smiling in the background.  Who knew he could bust a move like a fly girl?  (Yup showing my age...JLO was a fly girl for those of you too young to remember)

Ok...I hope you guys have a wonderful happy marriage and I can't wait to capture your future adventures :).

Best of Luck!

-Shelley











Sunday, July 8, 2012

My Beach Babes

June has been such a whirlwind!  Wedding June 1st & 16th (still processing) a visit from our cousin Rigo Digo from Denver, Casey Case's 2nd Birthday, plenty of shoots which are going to come out SOON and hot hot weather...so my hubby and I made sure we took our sweet beach babes to the beach.

We had so much fun playing in the sand (I'm pretty sure we brought home enough to fill our sandbox...in Sydney's pants) and running in the water, hanging out on our chairs, and napping as well...for a second.  This was such a great day.  I love the four of us doing little adventures and just laughing together.  I'm not in any of these shots but next time I promise!  John even offered to grab the camera and put it on me but chasing the little one we are lucky we captured what we did!  There was no time for posing...well maybe Miss Morgan did a little ;).

(P.S. Lenny did not come to the beach but I feel like I need to talk about him for a minute...mostly because he is pushing my hands off the keyboard right now and talking to me for some attention)  Lenny has  just recently been granted permission to roam our home free both during the day and night, I'm pleased to say he has left all toys alone and seems much more content...and tired at the end of the day!  He's enormous and starts his beginner training this Tuesday!

Ok...here are some of my favorite take aways from the day....









Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Precious Baby A

This beautiful little baby first appeared on my blog about 6 months ago, decked out for Christmas like the little blessing she is, she even smiled for me as a newborn...and now...that sunshine personality has only grown with her!  She was so happy, and sat up so great for her pictures, a perfect little model already.  So sweet to see her play with her mommy's pearls, her mommy's high heels....I can only think how sweet will it be 16 years from now to capture her in the same pearls & fitting into her mom's heels?  There will be so much love, laughter, and giggles for this girl.  She is surrounded with a loving mom & dad and big brother, all of who circle her and you can tell by how easily that smile comes to her face how much love she feels.

Hope you guys enjoy your sneak peek and I'm loving watching your family grow....Miss Christina calls it "Miss Shelley Time" and I can't tell you how much that makes my heart smile :).  I feel like a session is more like a play date!  See you guys more this summer!!










Tuesday, May 22, 2012

She's our Sunshine She's Super Fun She's ONE!

Wow how fast a year flies by, I feel like with Morgan we watched every milestone so close that time stood still from time to time, with Sydney it has been a whirlwind.  She was trying rice cereal, sitting up, crawling faster than I thought possible, and now she's tottering all around the house..oh yeah and she's one year's old.

Sydney's first birthday party took some planning, and of course I went crazy with a theme, I can't help it...and I thought Sunshine is the best description for Sydney.  She lights up our lives and hearing her and her big sister giggle in the truck on our way to work each morning is by far the best way to start every morning.  She's a tiny little thing with a lot of spirit, she loves Lenny, even when he knocks her over, or licks all the food off her face before we can stop him, she even encourages his naughty table manners by feeding him on a regular basis.  The house is crazy, we are busier than ever, but in all the chaos is a ton of laughter and love.

On the love side...Miss Sydney had a house full at her birthday party.  Mother nature didn't agree with me and decided it should rain, correct that thunder, lightening and down pour the day of her outdoor picnic SUNSHINE birthday party.  I'm not going to lie, I was pretty frantic...picturing 17 kids under the age of 7 running around in mud, trying to fit over 35 adults under a shelter also didn't sound like a great plan.  In a last ditch effort to save the party I called the park and the Park Manager (who has advised not to advertise this so...keep it on the downlow..I'm blogging it) came to my rescue and let me host the party in an indoor location at Whitnall park.  Probably one of the coolest spots we could have had the party!!  It was perfect. The kids had a blast, everyone stayed dry, and the sun even came out for cake time and we were able to have it outside.  Best of all, Sydney was all smiles and had so much fun, surrounded by family & friends that love her so much.

I loved capturing her smile, and as much as the party as I could!