Double Senior Session

I had the opportunity to photograph two Senior boys the other day who are buddies, and we did their sessions at the same time. They seemed to have fun with it, and I don't think I have laughed that much at a session in a long time! One of the guys is going to be a firefighter, and he already works at a fire department, so we met there to do the first part of his session. My daughters were impressed that I got to take pictures of a real fireman! :) Here are Ryan & Josh:
The one above is a "Got Milk?" commercial. Josh, if you want, I can add the milk mustache to your upper lip! :)
Thanks guys for a fun morning, hope you enjoy your images!

Jessica

Family Session Preview

This session was the very last one I had in 2007, as a matter of fact, it was shot on New Year's Eve!
You never know how big family sessions like this are going to go, especially with 4 of them being little kids (including a newborn!) I think the photos turned out well, hopefully the family will too!

Thanks so much for the opportunity to photograph your family! I will get your online viewing set up asap, and I'll let you know as soon as I get your proof book!

My kids have been so silly today. I am going to start keeping quotes for them on here, mostly for myself, and for those others who know my kids and enjoy the silliness. (I know there are some of you out there! :)
Today Ava had a mysterious scrape/rash(I'm not sure which) on her backside, and I asked her what happened, and she told me some huge story about falling down, flying out all over and scraping it on the ceiling. Her daddy and I have asked her about it several times today, and she is still sticking to her story, that it "got hurt on the ceiling"! I'm not sure what she means! :)
Later, Ava was all cuddled up to me on the couch today giving me hugs and kisses and telling me she loves me, and all of a sudden she says, "I'm leaving you. I'm going to Bible College!" and it almost made me cry! She's just 2 and she's telling me she's going away to college! (I am interested to see if she does really go there someday in the far away future!)
Then tonight at dinner, Johnny choked on his drink, and we were all looking at him expecting him to have to spit it out, but he got control of it. Maddie Kate said, "I thought Daddy was gonna cough up a pinata!"

Jessica

Just finished up...

...some beautiful wedding photos and thought I would share some of my favorites (there are lots!). Here are Brett and Lindsey on their special day!
Isn't this the neatest car? I thought this was a great idea for photos, it belongs to the groom's grandfather. Love it!The ones below are some my assistant, Heather, took.
Thanks for allowing me to have a part in your big day! It was a fun wedding and so pretty! The church was beautiful, and I loved getting to go to the nearby park for the outdoor photos. They turned out so pretty!

We went for our 37 week Dr. appt today, (I will officially be 37 weeks on Thursday) and the dr. says everything is just fine, the heartbeat is perfect, I'm measuring right on track, and he thinks everything looks wonderful. Also, he said at this point the baby is considered full term, and they would do nothing to stop labor if it should decide to start. That's exciting!!

Expect lots of previews this week, as I am going to tackle things and try to get lots done before this sweet baby gets here! :)

Jessica

P.S. Last week the wonderful schoolhouse location was accidentally burned down! I was supposed to go get some of the wood to use in my studio someday (like those awesome blue-green doors, and some of the wallboards) but I am obviously too pregnant to do that myself, and Johnny was really sick last weekend. So we didn't get over there after Grandma warned us we needed to hurry up on it, and then Grandpa was burning some brush nearby and it accidentally caught the schoolhouse on fire too....so sadly, there is no more schoolhouse! I really hate it too, because that was a fabulous location... :( We'll have to be on the lookout for more great spots this next year!

Notification of time off for the BABY! :)

I know I haven't posted in a week, but I've been working on a wedding (those take much longer than session edits) plus I am exhausted!

**I wanted to tell everyone that after this week, I will not be doing any more sessions until March. I am going to take off starting next week (January 21st until March 1st). I am really tired, and it's just time for me to take some time off for this little baby! I will still be editing and putting in orders (for those of you waiting on proofs and wanting to place orders!) but no more sessions for awhile! (Unless you are wanting brand new baby newborn photos, that is something that really can't wait, I would be willing to talk to you about that! :) **

I am almost 36 weeks pregnant, as big as a barn, and completely worn out for at least half the day! I don't sleep well at night because I'm being kicked and I can't lay in one position for too long or I start hurting. I don't mean to be a big complainer, but man, am I tired of being so fat! :)
Here's the link for 36 weeks preggo, click HERE.
My friend Kylie had her baby 11 days early, and that makes me so anxious to meet my little guy! And 2 other friends had babies last week too, so wow, it weighs very heavy on my mind, even more so than it would be, I think! We are so excited!

Johnny has been sick with an upper respiratory/sinus infection all weekend, but today he finally started feeling better, so we went and bought paint for the baby's room. I was beginning to think we weren't going to get the nursery done until after he arrives! As soon as we came home with the paint, Johnny was ready to start, so we started dragging all Ava's stuff out of the room and he immediately started painting. We are doing one wall dark midnight blue, and the other 3 are a lighter blue. Johnny has several ideas for vintagy car things to put in the room, and the bedding is really cute. It's going to be different to have a little boy around here!
A little while ago I had Maddie Kate & Ava in the bathtub and they were fighting. Maddie Kate said "Ava, stop being such a whiny pants!" and Ava said, "I'm not wearing any pants!"
Hope your family makes you laugh as much as mine does! :)
Jessica

Late Christmas Pics!

I know this is awful, but here are some very late Christmas pictures! (I told you I was lazy during Christmas break! :) It's okay though, because Mylie's mommy said she didn't need them in time for Christmas, she just wanted to get some pics in the Christmas outfits. Looks like I got them done just in time too, we will be taking Mylie's 1 year photos on Thursday...so you'll get to see more of this pretty baby with the huge beautiful blue eyes!
This last one is Mylie telling us she is DONE getting her picture taken! Sorry Mom, I had to add it, because it was so cute and funny, and you can see her tiny little teeth! :)

Jessica

Family preview and preggo chicks

This little family was cute to work with! You never know how kids are going to do, but this little guy did a good job, (even though he is holding some of my Christmas tree ornaments in some of the pictures!) Here are the Waltons:

Thanks for the opportunity to shoot your family! I will get the proof book to you asap and hopefully have your online viewing set up by tomorrow.

Our family had a wonderful relaxing break, and I had several opportunities to spend time with friends. This picture is my cute friend Kylie and I, both pregnant with our 3rd children.
She is due 3 weeks before me this time. Last time she was about 2 months behind me! Our mom's were preggo with us at the same time, because I am 2 months older than she is!
Here we are again on New Year's Eve with our other preggo friend Holly. We all grew up together, and now we're pregnant together...again! :)
She is due a week after me! It's fun to have babies at the same time! Last time, Holly and I had our babies 16 hours apart, and were in the same hospital at the same time!
Here are all the our babies that are close to the same age:
Except for the one in orange (he's a year older), they are all born within 2 months in 2005. (And I guess they are all actually related somehow!)
I am 34 1/2 weeks pregnant, so our family doesn't have much longer to wait! We keep talking about how Ava only has a few weeks left of being the baby, and how grown up she will seem when he gets here. I'm sure it'll be wild, with her trying to "help" with the baby and everything! She still does insane stuff sometimes too, like the other day I thought she was watching tv, and she had been in the bathroom squeezing half a tube of Maddie Kate's pink princess toothpaste into the sink and sticking medicine bottles into it. Today she went to potty by herself and when she came out, I went to check that she had done it right, and about half a roll of toilet paper had been unrolled and stuck into the potty. She is SO different from her sister! I don't remember Maddie Kate ever doing any crazy stuff like that! So it will be interesting managing her and the new baby!

Jessica

Rend Lake Cheerleaders! & nesting :)

I have been very lazy over Christmas Break...sorry to those of you waiting on previews! :) I needed to take some time off and spend time with my family! But I am getting back to it now that Maddie Kate is back in school, & Johnny is back to work.
I've also been trying to get some of my house cleaned out before the baby comes! There is SO much more to do! I have barely begun! Maddie Kate and Ava are going to share a room so the baby can have his own room. I have to downsize all their toys and stuff so it will all fit into one room, not to mention paint and decorate the nursery! We did order the baby's bedding earlier this week! His room is going to be done in vintage cars, which his Daddy is happy about! Johnny has all kinds of stuff we are going to decorate with! As soon as I get the bedding we'll decide what color to paint, but I'm thinking a dark dark blue, or maybe one wall dark blue and the others lighter blue, or maybe even stripes! I guess I really don't know yet! :)

I was so excited to be asked to take the pictures for the Rend Lake College Cheerleaders! I haven't ever done anything like that before, and it was fun, and I really like how they turned out! Here are a few of them:I love how this jumping picture turned out! It's usually impossible to find a spot where there is nothing behind the jumpers but sky! I had them stand on a hill and then edited out the ground below them. I LOVE it! This is what I hoped for with our family jumping picture, but that didn't go so well!

I am getting ready to send out a marketing postcard to several potential brides, and I thought I would post it...mainly so the brides who are featured on it can see it!

Sarah & Shon, Lisa & Bryan, Rachel & Nick, and Lindsey & Brett! (tiny preview for Lindsey of what is to come soon! :)

Jessica