2. The commenting feature on this blog was quite wacky for a long time. It is now fixed. Don’t be afraid to leave some feedback. I love blog love!

3. Do I have any Project Lifers out there? If I do, check out Paislee Press. I am kind of obsessed with everything she does. Remarkably, I’m sticking with Project Life for the most part. Aidan loves looking back at the pages and everything we’ve done through the year. I hope I can keep it up through the rest of the year.

4. My baby (the big one) starts kindergarten in 4 months. 4. Freaking. Months. How is this possible? Those of you with tiny babies, hold on to those moments as long as you can. They are gone so quickly. Without videos and pictures, I’d barely remember Aidan as a baby at all. Now he’s 4 feet tall, 55 pounds, smart as a whip. He tells me all the time, ” I’ll always be your baby,” when I tell him to stop growing. And what is with school starting so early? I believe school in our district starts August 15 or somewhere around there. That just seems insane to me.

5. I’m super excited about a personal project I’m embarking on. Medium format! I just bought a Mamiya camera, and I can’t wait to photograph my boys with film. I was raised on film and the darkroom in journalism school at Mizzou, but that was all 35mm. Medium format is an entirely different ballgame, and I’m super excited. I’m just waiting for a lens to arrive…I may eventually bring it to engagement sessions just for fun, but I have no plans of incorporating it into weddings at this time…Unless I have any specific requests.

6. Aidan has always been a sports guy. Like, crazy sports guy. But he recently started outdoor soccer (he’s done indoor skills lessons before but never had actual games), and he is in love. This child lives and breathes soccer. His coach had to pull him out of practice last week because none of the other kids were participating. Basically, it was just Aidan running up and down the field. The coach told him to take a break so he could rest. He came by me to grab a drink, and he immediately popped up and began cheering his teammates on. Then he was running after the ball when it went out of bounds. He can’t stand not being a part of the action. It’s been so thrilling to watch him love something so much. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this with any other activity he’s ever done. Guess I’m officially a soccer mom.

7. My family is kind of addicted to The Cup. Please don’t ask me to do a session in the Central West End because I cannot control myself. It is heaven in your mouth. No lie. Don’t even try it if you’ve never had it. You will be obsessed for life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The peanut butter chocolate cupcake is the best.

8. If you’ve been unfortunate enough to catch of my old iPhone with it’s completely busted screen, have no fear! I finally broke down and bought a new iphone 4s. It’s quite marvelous. I think my family spent an entire evening having a conversation with Siri.

9. Does anybody watch the Voice? Sometimes I watch it when I’m editing after my boys have gone to bed. I love Juliet. Her voice is incredible.

10. My sweet baby boy, Liam, turned 1 just a couple of weeks ago. I’m a slacker mom and didn’t blog anything about it. We just had a small party combined with Easter ( I know – second child syndrome, right?!) . He ate his own chocolate cupcake, and he wasn’t quite as impressed as Aidan was with his cake at his first birthday. He also wasn’t nearly as messy with it, which was quite the relief. We had a BBQ and played outside, Liam unwrapped his presents and that was about it. It was a good day – though I still can’t believe he’s a year old. That was by far the quickest year of my life. YIKES.

He is SUCH a doll.

Then we went urban. I love this alley and this boy.

2. The tornado that hit Joplin this week has torn my heart out. I still can’t wrap my head around the destruction that the tornado did to that town. I have only stopped in Joplin a few times when traveling to and from Texas when I was stationed at Fort Hood during my Army days. Here’s some information I saw posted:

A team from Calvary Church will be heading to Joplin Thursday night. You can donate items to to send with them, such as bottled water, granola bars, diapers, wipes, adult/childrens clothing, shoes and toiletries. Please place items in bags and leave in the chapel before 11:00 a.m. Thursday. The church will be open until 10:00 p.m. tonight and tomorrow night. 3998 Mid Rivers Mall Dr, St. Peters, MO 63376. Per Beau Bekemeier(leading the team to Joplin) – The church they are working with in Joplin has asked for the following items specifically – laundry detergent, pain relievers, trash bags, non-perishable food, duct tape, tarp, hair products for African Americans, paper plates, large size women clothing, large size men’s underwear, peanut butter, denture products. You might also want to include ball caps, chapsticks and more.

I live out in O’Fallon and will be heading over there to make a donation. If anybody in the area wants to bring something by, I can take it out there for you. Just email me. Thank you!

3. I’ve lost about 10 pounds since starting Weight Watchers a short time ago. Go me! I also ran my first mile since having Liam – it’s a slow start but a start nevertheless.

4. Shock of the century: my husband wants our next vehicle to be a minivan. I can’t even wrap my head around this.

5. The preschool year is ending next week, and it’s hard to believe my little guy has finished his first year! He is “graduating” even though he has another year. I’m sure that is going to be adorable.

6. Right now I’m watching Restrepo with Dan. Incredible documentary. Check it out, and don’t forget about our guys + girls still in Iraq and Afghanistan…

7. I’m shooting 2 beautiful weddings this weekend! Really hoping this bad weather thing passes. Pretty please.

8.We’re trying to eat more locally grown foods, as much as we can anyway…I was excited to see this photo essay about some local farm-to-table restaurants. I’m making a plan to try some of them out. http://stlouis.metromix.com/restaurants/essay_photo_gallery/farm-to-table-restaurants/

9. Little man is 7 weeks old. So hard to believe. He is growing like a weed – even more quickly than his brother did at that age. Incredible.

10. How much crack do you have to be a storm chaser? Particularly those in the middle of the tornadoes? That is my random thought of the day. Those people are seriously out of their minds…We’re so paranoid about tornadoes now, we’ve given serious thought to sleeping in the basement tonight in case we don’t hear the sirens. Chasing them? Not this girl, for sure.

To cap off such an amazing year for me and my business, I wanted to throw in a little end-of-the-year contest. An “image of the year” contest. There are TWO ways to win. First, if you were a client of mine during 2010, you have the opportunity to win a beautiful, 16×20 mounted print! And if you’re not a client, that’s ok. You have the opportunity to win a $15 Starbucks (or Target if you’re not a coffee drinker) gift card just for voting in the contest. Votes are counted by actual comments, so you have to tell me WHY you are voting for the image. One little teeny, tiny stipulation is that you MUST be a fan on Facebook to win. Yes, I am totally bribing you. Click HERE to “like” my Facebook business page.

Here’s everything you need to know to enter:

- every session I shot during 2010 is represented here

- each individual can only leave one comment per image (it can just be that the picture is of your grandchild – that’s enough for me!)

- The corresponding number for each image is located ABOVE the photograph.

- the contest is open NOW and will last 2 weeks

- the winner of the print will have the most comments on an image from their session or wedding

- the winner of the gift card will be chosen at random from the comments linked to the winning image

- both winners will be announced on February 14, 2011

- you are allowed to comment on your own photograph(s)

- when leaving your comments, don’t forget to leave the category you are voting for as well as the image number!!!

And here are the images:

FAMILY SESSIONS

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

Engagement Shoots:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

WEDDINGS

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

Day After:

#1

#2

#3

I absolutely love the look on Liam’s face in this shot. My fave from the day.

Really beautiful light in their home.

S t r e t c h !!!!

She is SO alert!

The following 2 photographs were taken in their backyard. It’s amazing! Of course it should be, Casey’s hubby owns a landscaping business.

I should pay them to do sessions with my clients in their backyard. It’s just that pretty.

I don’t think their dog was too thrilled about the photo session.

Milk coma.

Fun in a tutu.

And I’ll leave you with one sweet sleepy shot.

Thanks Carolyn + Matt – I’m really looking forward to your Columbia wedding in July!!!

Loved this moment. It was RIGHT after the ceremony. I made them hide while everyone got set up for bubbles.

We had some really rockin’ light…

When it became obvious the girls weren’t having much fun, we decided it was time to PLAY!

Such a sweet smile…

I hope they look at this image when they’re older and love it. They’re just too cute.

Flying!!!

My favorite of the day…