Miss Karter Jo!

This is a really, really exciting post for me to share! In just four days, on Friday, January 22nd my sister Kylie is being induced... and my new little niece Karter Jo will be here!

Kylie and I did a few quick maternity shots of her last month, and we'll be doing more this week before she is induced. They turned out really neat, and I've got some more ideas for Kylie's last maternity session before Miss Karter Jo arrives!

Keep your eye on the blog for cute, squishy newborn baby photos, coming VERY soon! :)

Karter's first photo with her brother Rylee and cousin Brecken!

Such a proud big brother already. :)

They got very serious when we told them to listen and see if Karter was talking to them. :)

And since we had the backdrops out... we did a quick photo shoot with the naughty boys!

Jamie + Corey Engaged!

I had such a blast during this engagement session, not only because Corey and Jamie are a fun, cute couple... but because Jamie is one of my very best friends! Because I'm a bridesmaid I won't be able to shoot their wedding, but I wanted to take their engagement photos as an early wedding gift to them both. :) Jamie and I did a lot of wedding planning together, since we were engaged at the same time, and it was fun to have another bride-to-be to talk wedding details with!

Looking at all of the pretty fall colors in their engagement photos is making me miss warmer weather!

Corey and Jamie are huge Vikings fans, and so is their dog, Beau (check out his collar)! I love this shot of Beau looking at them while they sneak a kiss. :)

How amazing is this?! This is how Corey proposed to Jamie... they had a weekend planned in the cities to catch a couple Twins games (if you haven't guessed yet, they are both huge Twins fans too!), and Corey had someone at the front desk of their hotel bring them a "complimentary gift bag" up to their room after they checked in. Corey told Jamie to open it, and this shirt was inside! SUPER cute!

Loving the extra-yummy light here. :)

And probably my favorite shots of the day... Jamie's parents own King's Lanes bowling alley in Arlington, and we snuck in to take a few shots. The vintage feel these have works so perfect in the bowling alley!

Congratulations again Jamie and Corey, I cannot WAIT for your wedding day!

Kennedy, Mike and Julie | family photography

It's always fun to get together with my cousin-slash-best friend, Julie, and her family... and even MORE fun when I get to take their pictures, too! We got together on a chilly fall afternoon to get some new, updated family photos. We got some great ones of little Miss Kennedy too--she and my son, Brecken are the best of friends and love playing together!

Mr. Rotten (also known as Brecken!)

I've said it before... taking photos of your own kid is NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE. It's especially impossible if I'm taking them for a specific purpose, like oh say, Christmas cards. I'm not sure what exactly was happening on this snowy morning when I decided to take Brecken outside for some Christmas card shots, but believe it or not--he ACTUALLY cooperated! It only lasted about 10 minutes, but that was plenty of time to get lots of great shots of Mr. Rotten!

Such a ham...

And the reason I torture myself every year... our Christmas card! It turned out really awesome this year, despite all of the blood, sweat and tears I had to endure to make it happen.

(Okay, that is maybe exaggerating a little... BUT, the family session was pretty tough. Chelsey, my assistant, took them for us and I actually had to swap Brecken's head from another photo to make the one on the front of our card. Shh--don't tell anyone!)

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season!

Doria and Mike, 10.24.09

Mike and Doria had such a fun, beautiful fall wedding! Their wedding party had more children in it than any wedding I've photographed so far, and you would have never known--they were all so well-behaved! Doria and Mike chose a lot of great little details for their wedding day, including some very special ways to remember Doria's mom who passed away from breast cancer. It was a wonderful wedding, and I'm very thankful I was able to document the day for them!

The ring bearer's pillows were made from Doria's mom's wedding dress...

And Doria wore her mom's wedding ring on her wedding day.