all you need is love :)

The Lessig's are some of my most fun clients.  While they stress out about keeping babies hat's on and keeping little boys in check, I get to watch them live and love and laugh as a family.  It's HARD work keeping two little people under three in check, and clean, and no bumps and bruises AND happy all at the same time.  But Rory and Mary rock it everytime!  And it's fun for me to get to see their kids grow up this way!  The last time I saw Maddie, she was a teeny tiny peanut and now she can sit up on her own and oh, how she loves to smile now!  And Tre is SO turning into a little man and all boy at that!  Loves to run, ride his scooter and is one of the most social little people...totally fine talking to the old people at the end of our shoot!  Thanks again, Rory and Mary for a fun morning!

our super cool location today! :)

even though he's not smiling one of my favorites of the day :)

seriously a sweet, sweet little lady! :)

got him smiling...I win. :)

the wedding - part 2

here's more of the wedding party from my brother and lindsey's wedding earlier this month!  SUPER fun day for me!

the girls :)

the guys :)

one of my favorites of the day :)

my favorite one of the guys :)

more to come! :)

things that I am thankful for

This last thanksgiving was probably one of my most favorite so far.  Family.  Food.  Football.  Friends.  and mostly just living life together.  Matt and I were talking the other day on why we are so blessed.  And the conclusion was we just simply don't know why we are blessed...but God has chosen to bless us in large ways...and I am thankful.

My family.  
My husband is my best friend...literally.  I know a lot of couples where this is just not so...and I am entirely thankful for him.  He is everything and nothing like me and constantly challenges me to be more of who God intended me to be.  He makes me laugh the hardest, love the deepest and live the fullest...and I just love him!
My kids.  Ah, my kids.  They are my joy!  Micah and Maddie bring the color into my life and I am truly thankful for them.
My extended family.  My mom and I were just sitting and talking the other day about how well our family gets along and it seems to get better every year...I know it's rare to have some of your closest friends be a part of your immediate family!

My "other" family.
Our church is simply our "other" family...our "knit through Jesus" family...and I LOVE them.  These are the people that share the same journey that Matt and I are on.  These are the people who bleed the same stuff that Matt and I do.  These are the people who have voluntarily signed up to be our family even though they are not blood family...and I love them.  I love worshipping with them.  I love learning new truth's about our God with them.  I love celebrating, laughing, crying, and living with them.  I just love them!

All the other wonderful blessings.  our house.  our cars.  our comfortable life.  kreatid.  jobs.  getting to do what you love.  our health...so many things to be thankful for on this 100th post of mine. 

Thanks for sharing this journey with me!
Here are some of the pic's from my kids shoot...enjoy! :)

I love that they love each other for real :)

a lot of you have asked where I got this A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. tutu and my super talented girlfriend Lisa @ http://www.lilyatthewell.etsy.com/ make and sells them...this one was custom and she did a fabulous job - thanks Lisa!

I love this boy that brings me joy and the fact that he tolerates me. :)

no more pictures mommy! :)

drumroll...we have a winner! :)

wow!  a lot of unique guesses! 

"maddie is eating cheetos."
"deary spaniel bassett I love you so much."
"dear aspen illinois bakery. I love you so much."
"i love micah driesbach so."
"maddie is Christopher."
"driesbach, I love you so much."

plus, more...I suppose this contest was more for my amusement than yours? :)

but the winner is Kathe Pearman who guessed correctly!
the first one was:
"maddie is trying to sleep."
and the second one was:
"dear special blankey, I love you so much."

she wins the grand prize of a mini-headshot photo shoot complete with an 8x10!

congratulations, kathe and great guesses everyone!

green grass + baby smiles

ricc and holly are good friends of matt + me so it was a total privelage to shoot them this weekend...and it probably was my fastest + easiest shoot to date...mostly because of noah's amazing ability to smile ALL the time!  his little face totally lights up everytime ricc or holly talk to him!  and as long as we kept him off the grass he was super easy to photograph!  grass + noah = not happy :)  but, mom + dad = total sunshine!

rest

"...and what was said to the rose to make it unfold?  was said to me here in my chest...so be quiet now and rest..."

so be quiet now.  and rest.

kreatid's first contest!

I deeply love my daughter Maddie.  And I genuinely like her too.  :)  This weekend my son has been sick so we've had a lot of "rest" and "quiet time" and "homework time".  Maddie is learning to read and write in school right now...so a lot of phonetic learning.  These two signs cracked me up in cleaning up after her this weekend.  She is simply adorable and I LOVE the way her mind thinks...it's like you can hear the cogs in her head sometimes. :)

So, that leads me to the contest.  If you can correctly decipher BOTH Maddie signs (Luci cannot guess or tell anyone b/c I already told her what they were ;P) then I will take your headshot (or you can regift it to someone for the holidays) + include an 8x10 for free...it's not a full shoot, but it's still fun! (if you live too far away from Gilbert, AZ I will fulfil your winnings the next time I see you!).

So get your competitive juices flowing and get guessing!

Good luck!

the wedding - part 1

one the absolute highlights of my year this year was getting to photograph my younger brother's wedding to his beautiful new wife.  God is simply SO good to my brother and it was incredibly special for me to be a part of his day this way.  to top it off I got to shoot the wedding with my amazing younger sister who God has blessed with an incredible eye for detail and capturing the not in-your-face moments...super amazing to have her their for the day!

I just love her. :)

here's a glimpse at the beginning of the day...they opted for seeing each other before the wedding and it was such a beautiful pure moment to capture and be able to take our time!  enjoy!

the first look moment...

one of betsy's amazing shots of the day...simply beautiful.

another betsy shot...love the details! :)

more to come soon! :)

faces of my family

I got to have a quick shoot with my older sister and her beautiful family this weekend!  It is always so enjoyable for me to be able to spend time with my neices + nephews but so many memories of them as babies and toddlers seem to flood my mind when I hang out with them...to see them as young adults and big kids is super fun for me!  I love them and here's a glimpse of their fun photo shoot!

program design

I got to design the invitations + programs for my brothers wedding this last weekend.  I got some of the artwork from a cool company online called House of 3.  Here are the first and last pages and my favorite pages from the inside. :)

josh + lindsey sneak peek :)

oh, there's more to come... :)