Overdue.

Awhile back, I made a promise to a little monkey.  Something about the glories of blogging fame and the like.

It is a post that is long overdue.

So here it is :)

Isn’t he cute?  I’m a sucker for those soft and chubby cheeks, big smile, and furrowed brow + pout lip combo.  The downside to this is that supposedly he’s grown over the past year, and therefore is, well, older now.

Hmm.

I’m not sure how I feel about that one.

The Little Monkey has a Not-So-Little Dog Friend. Otherwise known as Rylee.

It hardly seems fair to have only gotten three days in which to soak up all this six-month old sweetness.  We made the most of it though…

In other words, I stalked him with my camera in hand.  I’m nothing if not a camera-stalker-auntie.

Which I fully intend on doing again later this summer :)

As it just so happens, my long-distance friend is a camera toting mama too!  Check out her brand new blog here and tell her Kelsea sent you!  (Because she has no clue that I’m posting this … hehehe.)

Have a great weekend everyone!

~ Kelsea

Hidden Treasure.

From my family to yours …..

We hope you had a wonderful Easter, and found all you were looking for :)

{Linking up to The Simple Things once again …. my mothering heart just loves this tiny moment too much not to.}

p.s. As a side note, you may be interested in knowing that the fam and I did indulge in a little egg dying over the weekend, as per the goal that was set in Friday’s posting.  Nothing that will cause dear Martha to turn green with envy … but we think they’re beautiful just the same :)

{vintage egg}

{not-so-vintage eggs}

So.  Who’s up for egg salad?

Bookworm. {book of the week}

Jade has gone M-I-A.

Yes, it’s true.  My beautiful, sweet, innocent little girl is now Madly Into Allthetimereading.

Fortunately, her reading skills surpass my ability to create clever acronyms.

Today, she is not sitting on our front porch.  Today, she is with Kirsten and Marta, on their new American adventure.

There is no distracting her.

Reflecting on how I too read these very same books myself when I was a child, I really can’t blame her.  (Just be careful with the pages dear.  What you hold in your hands now is practically vintage.)

So it probably comes as no surprise that the American Girl series, specifically our favorite Kirsten, is the Fun on Friday book-of-the-week selection.  Er, well, books.  Lots and lots and lots of books ….

Something tells me that Jade is not going to be available for awhile ;o)

Happy Reading!

– 04.17.2011 –

p.s. I’ve decided to link up with Simple As That’s simple things Sunday again!  (Did you see that she selected the last post to be showcased on her blog? SO cool!  Thanks for reading!  xo, Kelsea

Ponderings.

There have been a lot of thoughts tumbling about in my head lately, many of which concern this blog, and which direction I want to take it in.  So I’ve poured myself into researching what a good blog ought to be, and I have found:  1) a good professional blog is not a personal blog and 2) a good professional blog is stronger if it includes posts of a personal nature.

If you’re frowning at that line, you’re not alone.  This is some seriously heavy stuff.

So I’ve taken a step back from it, to give myself pause and review.  It’s amazing how a little distance can give you the right (or at least your own) perspective.  And that is exactly the “ah ha!” moment that I had — this blog is my own.  It is my own to enjoy, my own to design, and my own to make it the best blog that it can possibly be in order to share with my incredibly wonderful readers a little  reprieve and enjoyment during our busy days.  When I asked myself what I want this blog to be I came to these realizations:

Above all else, this blog is about photography. My passion, my work, yes, but even more importantly, your photos.  In my eyes, a blog goes beyond business.  These are images of lives that you may or may not know, but feel a connection to simply because they too are living the same wonderment of life as you are.  The twinkle in a child’s eye, the shyness in their smile, the exuberance in their laughter, a quiet moment in the arms of their mother, the sweetness of a newborn … tiny moments experienced by all, but are still uniquely their own.  It is a treasure that we all share together here.

Family time together. How many of us have longed for the simpler days?  Our lives are becoming incredibly busy, and family time, which has no looming and imminent deadline staring us in the eye, can easily be pushed off until tomorrow.  It is for this reason that I would like to keep the Fun on Friday series alive (and hopefully well.)  The idea of families coming together to check out the book of the week, craft of the week, or whatever “together” project that has caught my eye just warms my heart.  It is my wish to not only provide a source of fun and inspiration, but to also keep myself focused on that same goal as well.  Because as unbelievable as it might seem to me now, there is a looming deadline on time with family — children grow and grow and eventually grow up.  Deadline.  And as much as I love photography, as much as I cherish every client I work with and every image that crosses this desk, I don’t want that deadline sneaking up on me.  I too want to stay focused.

Me. My life, the people that are in it, the funny things they say, they crazy outfits they insist on wearing.  I want this to be more than just another photography blog with the disillusion of perfection on the computer screen — I want there to be life behind the lens.  Spilled milk, scraped knees, and toys in the living room that I’m just starting to write off as being part of the decor.  Because to me, without life there cannot be photography.  To me, they are one and the same, and it is my desire to have this blog incorporate that.

You. The readers.  Your thoughts.  Your reactions.  The memory that a certain image reminds you of.  Whether you’re local or from halfway across the globe, I would love to hear it.

So thank you.  Thank you for being patient and for giving me the time I need to think.  To plan.  To prepare.  Thank you for coming back here to share this adventure with me post after post after post.  You rock.  There will be a new blog.  There will be a new name, a new layout, new colors.  But it will still be the same me.  Except maybe perhaps a more certain one :)  It is my fervent dream that you will continue to join me during this journey — I truly love having you here, and hearing your feedback.  Cheers to a fresh beginning!

xoxo, Kelsea

My youngest and his Elephant, enjoying (at last!) some spring weather.

A Day For The Girls.

Birthdays have a magic that is all their own.  They have a way of putting a twinkle in your eye and a spring into your step, because this is a special day that belongs to you.

A day to be with friends.

A day for laughter to be shared.

A day to feel like a princess.

Jade was thrilled to have a few friends over to celebrate, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how full of joy she and her friends are when together, just loving life to the fullest.

Giggling.

Playing.

Creating.

Using some gorgeous scrapbook paper, straws, and some twine, each girl enjoyed making their own princess lei to match their ever-so-sparkly tiara.  The details for this project can be found here, simple as that: friday craft day : spring leis.  A cautionary word of advice — make sure that your paper punch holes are smaller than the diameter of your straw pieces.  (We were SO close.)  Live and learn.  Oh well — the girls had fun, regardless :)

(For the record, I love love LOVE birthday event photography.  There are just smiles and happiness all around!

…and new friends to be made :)

Once the necklaces were finished, the little group raced upstairs to the costume box … and prepared a skit :)

Cue one very well dressed mother, driving her car with her youngsters and kitty in tow.

Suddenly, without warning, the two “babies” decide that they want — no, NEED Kentucky Fried Chicken!!   Please please please PLEASE?!?

Mom kindly says no.

I bet you can’t guess what happens next?

Mom totally caves, delivering her line of ‘Fine — but just this once’ with perfection.

I just had to laugh.

It would seem that the little darlings have completely caught on to the way things go down :p

Morgan included.

(Just as a side note … Jade remained in her “sad, KFC-craving baby” character for a solid 15 minutes post-theater production.  Now that is dedication to the art ;)

To save myself some time and sanity, I prepared a cute little display of simple daisy cupcakes, as an alternative to my traditional (over the top)  cake.

Jade loved it…

…and Morgan protested all through the singing of “Happy Birthday,” making it very clear that he didn’t approve of how much this event lacked a celebration of his birthday.

It can be so hard being two at times.

Dancing the “Monster Mash” helped a bit though …

…as did the hat…

…and the fact that he has such an amazing older sister :)

Now — time to plan the BIG party.  Happy Birthday Jade and Liam!

Books + Snakes

Remember this?

No Joke. « Kay’s Corner.

Well, there’s more.

Something along the lines of this ….

(fyi … I picked up some new templates recently…and miiiight have gone a little crazy with them today.  You’ll see.)

And this ….

….and a little bit of this.

It was a wonderfully fun way to spend an afternoon with the kids.

(But I’ll be ok if we leave the snakes at home next time ;)

Little Lady.

The cutest li’l lady you ever did see came to visit the other day.

One of those precious souls that is filled to the brim with personality and sweetness…

Who has that little twinkle in their eye…

So that when she smiled…I knew a piece of my heart was about to melt.

I was putty in her perfectly chubby little hands.

Since you only turn one once, we decided to do it right :)

Have you ever seen anything sweeter?

Neither have I :)

Daddy was even offered some of the loot.

Now that is love.

Being the brave northerners that we are, we decided to bundle up and step outside the studio….where we were greeted with considerably mild temps, but disappointingly icy conditions.

So that was a wrap :)

Thank you so much to darling K, and her parents for blessing me with this wonderful morning.  Her beautiful eyes and smile still warm my heart!

Brown-Eyed Girl

Meet Lyla.

Lyla, meet….everyone.  (Say “hi!”)

This little girl is something extra special to me.  Her mama and I go waaaaay back (not that far back — how old do you think we are? ;o) and when we received news that she was expecting their first child it was an incredibly joyous occasion.  The birth of her baby girl was only more exciting (and so was getting the chance to take photos for her;) and now, six months later, I am baffled by how much time could have gone by that quickly — for here she is now, sitting and smiling and looking oh-so-adorable in her pink little tutu.

This little one is so fun, so curious, and so very much wants to get a hold of my camera.

(Which she did come close to getting a few times ;o)

I have mentioned how adorable she is, right?

Not to mention that hat.  It’s perfect.

Of course I had to sneak in a few photos of the pretty mama as well …. I technically wasn’t supposed to take any, but I think she’ll forgive me :)

(I am forgiven, aren’t I Lyla?)

Hmm :)

Thank you so much baby Lyla, for bringing a smile to my day :)

(Love you!)

Little Man

In many ways, photographing children is full of trickery.  Silly jokes/faces/voices/songs/you name it — all with the grand scheme of breaking the ice and unearthing a child’s gorgeous smile.  There was no immediately fooling this little one though.  He definitely knew we were up to something, and he was determined to find out just what the something was.

He studied everything very carefully, with many looks over to his parents to verify that this was, in fact, an ok deal.  No doubt wondering what this big ol’ black thing was that I kept sticking in front of my face.  But wait — Peek a boo?  Hmm….well….maybe….

There he is!

Aren’t adoring parents simply wonderful?  You could just feel that first-born wonderment in the air :)

(Something tells me that he noticed it too :)

He looked beautiful in blue, as sweet little boys often do.

Then, nestled in daddy’s arms, he eventually grew sleepy.  (Which sweet little boys often do :)

Every detail so sweet and treasured…

As sweet parents often do.

Congratulations on a perfect little miracle :)

That’s My Plastic.

I happened upon this photo today…..

An oldie but a goodie, dug out from beneath the depths of my computer.  Ok, so that’s slightly dramatic perhaps — it’s a photo that was just taken at the tail end of this past summer.  Some of you faithful readers might recognize this photo from a post long ago though, and while this photo still has me chuckling as much as the day I snapped it, it’s also left me wondering:  Why the suspicious sidelong glance, as though someone were waiting in the shadows, ready to pounce on his plastic fisher price cuisine at any given moment?  Is this a by product of being the youngest of three?  Is nothing ever truly safe in the hands of my littlest red-headed boy?

That’s when I came across this photo, taken just days earlier, at his birthday party….

And laughed.

Isn’t everything always because of a girl? ;)