I Heart Faces: Feet

I absolutely love baby feet. So small, so fresh and wrinkly. I could look at them all day!

There are tons of awesome entries, so make sure you check them out here!

I Heart Faces: Autumn Splendor

I. Love. Fall. Might go as far as my favorite time of year. I also love this family. They have been through a lot this year since their oldest son (he is 3) got very sick and, to make a long story short, had to get a heart transplant. During all of the battles that came with that, like a few strokes and a very long hospital stay, poor mom was pregnant. Thankfully, they made it home a few days before labor started and this little special man joined their amazingly strong family! Big brother is still learning how to do everything again but is still full of joy! Amazing "backdrop", amazing weather, amazing family full of joy, love and strength!

To peek at the other entries, head on over to I Heart Faces.

I Heart Faces: Black

We took a trip to the apple orchard on the last weekend they were open. The kids had a blast, but my youngest son's favorite thing to do was go through this tunnel. He had so much fun and looked so cute doing it! To check out the other awesome entries for this weeks theme, click here.

I Heart Faces(let them be little)

Life has gone a little wild for my family these past few months and time management has not been my strongest trait. This has made me unable to enter any photos into I Heart Faces challenges. I really do enjoy them and will sneak a peek at the winners of each week, just have struggled finding time on my end. With that being said, as soon as I saw this weeks theme, I had the perfect photo in mind. It is one I happened to catch of my "baby" during our short family session we did a couple of weeks ago. Every piece of it just screams him. The face, his outstretched arms, the dirt on his thumbs. This is my littlest man. The sweetest 2 year old I know. I love watching him explore and be little.
If you have the time, please check out the other wonderful entries over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces(white)

I love this photograph! To see some amazing entries in the white catergory, head over to I Heart Faces and check them out!

Cael is turning 2!

I can not believe my baby is almost 2. It makes me happy and sad all in the same breath. I love watching him learn and grow. His vocabulary has exploded. He now has to point and label everything he sees. He is such a little goofball. I do, however, miss the baby he no longer is. He comes for sneak attack hugs, but not a lot of snuggling anymore. He is just on the move and one of the big boys. We are having a "little man mustache bash" for his party this year so I had to take some photos that fit the theme. He only gave me about 10 minutes of his time, but what I got was cute. We may try again today, if the time and light allows for it. At least I have these now though. Check out how much my little man has grown!

I Heart Faces(props)

I have been shying away from using a lot of props lately, but had to for my son's 2nd birthday photos. We had to have something special for his invites that went along with his theme. I only had about 10 minutes, but these turned out so well. He is such a little cutie. Here is my doll. To check out some of the other creative uses of props this week, head on over to I Heart Faces and check them out!

iheartfaces (a touch of whimsy)

My middle son loves everything about Superheros. It only made sense for him to get a ton of dress up clothes for his birthday this month. After he opened all of his gifts, this is how I found him! I never thought that I would be lucky enough to have Batman, Superman, Robin, Thor, Spider man, Iron Man and Wolverine in my house from time to time! What a lucky lady I am.

There are some awesome entries this week. Head on over to I Heart Faces and check them out!

I heart faces(boys)

When I read the theme for this week, I instantly knew which photo I wanted to use. This has always been one of my favorites! True brotherly love.

There are some amazing entries this week. Make sure you click on the link and check them out!

I heart faces (from a distance)

I have been forcing myself to back up these days. I tend to like the up close and personal kind of portraits, but know that environment can tell such a story. Like in this photo for instance. This is my favorite tattoo artist surrounded by some of his artwork. He is absolutely amazing! Check out Tatu Royale and I Heart Faces.

I heart faces (best face of May)

I had the pleasure of witnessing my friends welcome their new little man into the world a couple of days ago. It is such a beautiful, crazy, awe-inspiring, scary, emotion filled experience and I have a few pictures that captured that raw emotion. This is one of my favorites faces of not only May, but of this year. Head on over to I Heart Faces to see some of the other amazing entries!

I Heart Faces (Motherhood)

Motherhood is hard work right from the beginning. Women keep their bodies in the best health as possible while pregnant to keep their baby as safe as possible while growing and developing. 9 months of giving up food that gives you heartburn, caffeine, and anything else your baby decides is not acceptable. This all while beating up your insides (which is quite fantastic in the beginning, before they get too strong). Then comes labor. Ohhhh labor. Not really a fun time at all. It is painful and long with some embarrassing moments thrown in. But...in the end, it is all worth it. When your baby is handed to you for the first time, all of that "work" flies right out the window. All that matters now is that precious life you hold in your arms. Watching them grow and change into little beings is by far the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Being a mom will always be hard at times, but there is so much reward in it, the struggles make the joys that much more awesome!

This is my entry for this weeks I Heart Faces. I had the privilege of photographing my good friends birth. This was one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed. Going through labor and experiencing a birth are two totally different things. Because of this day, I have so much more respect for this friend. She is a CHAMP! So strong, so empowering, so MOM! This was one of the most intense times of the days. Resting in between the final pushes and I have never seen her look more beautiful.

New photos!

I was in desperate need of updating my nieces pictures since it had been close to a year since we did the last set and they have grown a ton since then! So, when they were here for Easter, we did a mini session and got some great shots. Updated my kiddo's photos as well. We still need photos on our wall so that may be my Mother's Day gift :-) I will also be posting some pictures soon of my new nephew. Charlie is coming on Wed. Can't wait to meet him :-) Now onto photos....

Caidan is growing so fast! I can not believe he is at the end of 2nd grade! Life really needs to slow down! He is super energetic, soft hearted and extremely giving. Also, our entertainer, always dancing and singing!

Camden is our little stinker. He is a curious little guy who thinks he is in charge. Thankfully he is also a sweetheart. It balances things out a bit. This is the first set of pictures I have taken where he was not making his goofy cheesy smile where he closes his eyes!!

Cael is our laid back, easy going little man. He is happy 95% of the time, loves to sleep, smile and play. He has grown up way too fast as well. He won't be 2 until the end of August and yet he speaks in short sentences already. I already miss my "baby."

This is my oldest Niece, Anais. I stayed with my sister after she was born and spent a lot of time with her within her first year of life. I recently found a pile of photos from that time and am amazed at how grown up she is becoming. Everytime I see her, she is closer to my height and more gorgeous than the time before! Good luck with that Kirsten :-) teehee

Soso is almost a kindergartner which is crazy to me. She is so sweet and goofy! She also loved being in front of the camera, although running around with my boy's was quite tempting as well. When she was born, I also moved into my sisters for a month or two to help out. It was so nice to get to know them so young and help out where I could. I also has started dating my now husband when she was itty bitty. It was great being in the Cities, getting to know two new loves of my life :-)

This is Greta, soon to be big sister of Charlie. She is so smart and her curls are ridiculous! When she smiles, her eyes just shine! She is such a sweet little girl, she is going to make a GREAT big sister this Wed!!

I heart faces (pets)

This week's theme is Pets. Boy do we ever have a dog that is perfect for it! He loves to be goofy and loves the attention of my camera :-) Check him out! This is Otis!

I heart faces

So, I missed a few weeks. Life went a little crazy for us, but we are getting back on track now. It has been EXTREMELY windy in these parts lately, so this entry was not easy to figure out! At a recent session, I was able to capture this little cutie. She as such a trooper! Head on over to I heart faces and check out the other entries!

I am a bad blogger :-(

Welcome to my catch up post! Sad thing is, this does not include our amazing Easter adventure from yesterday...that deserves it's own post with TONS of pictures. Unfortunately, they have not made it off of my camera yet. To get close to being caught up with our most recent events, we need to rewind a couple of weeks. It will start with a birthday party and end with a baby shower.

We had the pleasure of helping one of my favorite families celebrate a 50th bday party. I am so glad we were able to attend. Lots of good conversation and food! The kiddos had a blast as well! Some of their best friends (along with mine) were all there enjoying the company and good weather.

That night, we finally received the email we had been waiting for. Our swingset was in!!! The next week or so was spent assembling it. We had some helpers here and there which was a HUGE help! This thing came in two giant boxes that were filled with lumber and hardware. NOTHING pre-assembled.


It is done now with only a few pieces that need to be replaced due to cracks. Thankfully, we can get them at no charge :-) The kids all love it! So glad we decided to put one in our yard.

On nice days, you can find us outside. The kiddos love being out there with so much to do! No one gets bored between the swingset, the playhouse, the trampoline and the sandbox!

The other thing we are loving is our basketball hoop. The guys love to play around while the kids are playing together. The kiddos try to play some as well, but the men are the ones that use it the most!

Talking about the men, we had a co-ed baby shower for an AMAZING family!! I love these guys. They are some of the nicest people I know and am so glad I got to be part of planning the shower for their new baby coming sometime in May. Baby Bubby will be well loved by his/her gorgeous mommy, talented daddy, and wild big brother!

After the shower, we were showered with hail!! I have never seen anything like this before. The entire yard was covered in up to golf ball sized hail of varying shapes! After a few minutes of non-stop hail, the skies opened back up and the sun shone through yet again. The kids loved playing in it (in their dresses, shorts and t-shirts mind you). That is Minnesota for you :-)

Not sure.

My brother died on Tuesday and I don't know how to feel about it. I mourned that relationship and his presence in my life so long ago, actually at two different moments about 4 years a part. I have been struggling with just how much to share with those in my life since this is a situation that is so close to me and yet so far away. There are so many people that help me through so much and I feel like I need them now as well. I miss my dad like crazy and there is not a day that passes without a million thoughts of him. I had also thought about Eric everyday but in a much different way. I thought about how to keep my family safe and protected. I thought about how to keep him from knowing about my wonderful husband and children just to keep them from the hurt that he had put me through. I really can not find the words to describe where my mind and emotions are right now. It is everywhere and no where all at once. I have decided to attend his funeral and am hoping for some sort of closure to some of what I have still been struggling with since my dad's death over 13 years ago. But how do you mourn a life that you had not really acknowledged in so long. One that gives you a strange sense of relief and yet not. I am hoping to walk away from the funeral tomorrow with a sense of closure. A true end to everything that has happened.

I Heart Faces-Sun Flare

The theme this week is sun flare. This is from our honeymoon in Arizona. My hubby was climbing a big rock and the sun hit him just right! I'm laying back down now since I'm feeling quite under the weather. Enjoy this and all of the other entries over at here.

I Heart Faces- Fav face of Feb.

This week at I Heart Faces, there is no real theme. It is reader's choice week. The only rules are to post a picture that has not been used before on the site and to have been taken within the month of Feb.

I love all of my boy's equally (obviously), but this is by far one of my fav. captures of Cael. He looks like a mad eskimo :-) Too cute.

the 4th little C...

Not a day goes by that I don't think about the little princess we lost at 18 weeks along in my pregnancy. Our 4th little C. We don't talk about her a lot to other people, but she is a constant in our home. We look through her things; pictures, foot and hand prints, her teddy bear, the little rings we were given by the hospital....every little reminder we have of her. I can't help but wonder what she would be like today. She would have just turned 2 in January (her due date was the 21st). I was looking around online today and found a blog about a family that just lost their little angel. She was 4 months old. Now, we have lost two pregnancies. I had to deliver our little Caitlin and leave the hospital empty handed. But I don't pretend to know what that family is going though. What I do know is how we were, and continue to be, affected by our loss. My heart goes out to all families that have lost a child. It has got to be one of the hardest things in life!

While on this site, they had listed two songs. They are so fitting for the loss of a child. It is everything Matt and I talk about when Caitlin enters our mind. Wondering who she would be, what she would be doing, talking about all of the things we are missing, wishing things were different. They are both country songs which really are not our favorite, but the lyrics are perfect. We love our three boys and would never trade them for anything. We do, however, miss our little girl more than anyone will ever know. Missing you today and everyday, Caitlin.

18 months and some extras :-)

It was time for Cael's 18 month session and I decided to move my studio into the new dining room for a few days. The window light is fantastic! Cael did very well and his brothers decided that they needed a turn in front of my camera. This NEVER happens without me bribing them. I of course said okay and got a few great new pictures of my growing boys!

Seriously...how adorable is he?

His mad eskimo shot...lol.

The one on the left is my new favorite!

A very rare occasion. All three looking at me with a nice smile!

He is getting so big :-( Still a cutie and full of energy!

The first is his cheese and the second is what happens right after.

He is getting so much better at letting me take pictures. These are the nicest faces I have caught for awhile now.

And I could not leave my Mr. Otis out. He was not too willing to just lay there. He kept inching towards me. He really wanted some attention :-)