365 day 213 Kade is THREE!!!!! | Calgary children's photographer

My baby.... can NOT be three!!!

Kadence.... you are a force to be reckoned with. You have a huge heart. You love to comfort people when they are sad... are drawn to others you think need help... you love to share... and make jokes... and laugh.
You are also fiercely independent..... head strong... refuse to back down from a challenge..... cheap with your hugs and kisses..... and are constantly hungry.

As per usual you could honestly care less about you birthday. You spent most of the day hurt or crying even though your party isn't till Sunday. When we mentioned your bday... you said and then it's WOAWIE'S birthday and he will be FIVE!!! The only time you truly enjoyed it was when you got your carrot cake cupcake Gram made... you took it and sang 'Happy birthday to me' all by yourself, then ate it. SUPER CUTE.

I love you. And all your quirks. Even though some days I do not know how to let you out of the house wearing the clothes you picked out, the backwards underwear, the shorts under the pants.....or that it takes you 10 min to buckle yourself in your car seat which you insist on doing......or how you look at me completely defiantly when you do not want to listen to me at all even though you know it means TROUBLE...or how no matter how hard something is or how frustrated you get and the amount you scream you will NOT accept help....or that you wake up consistently between 5 and 6:30 am...... or that you always 'NEED SOMETHING' because you are always hungry...... or that you have to drink SOY milk instead of regular......in spite of your infuriating need to always been right when you are completely WRONG.... I love you. And I love when FINALLY you go to bed and are getting ready to sleep I hear the words 'I love you mom'. No matter what... that makes my day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADENCE!

The day started of rocky. You saw the box of your present (we left it out on purpose) and looked in it. And said hey.... my present is not in here. Where is it??? Then I showed it to you. By 6:30 you were out jumping around and having a blast. By 7 you were on the couch with a frozen compress on your leg!

My sister brought her crew over. Jumping and pool fun on a gorgeous day. SWEET. Too bad all Kade did was continue having accidents. Stubbed toes, falling, you know how it goes when it is JUST NOT YOUR DAY hahahaha Thankfully... there was also some laughter and fun!

And then Gram came over. More fun! Although.... one must admit. the both of you kids were tired. A bit crabby. A lot ready for bed! But you got some sweet presents!

Just like WOAWIE.... for her that is heaven. PLUS it's tinkerbell :)

Rohan gets more excited for other people's birthdays than his own. He has been counting the days to Kade's. Getting her all excited (ok TRYING to lol)... telling her she will have friends over, presents, cake... all the good stuff. Never once does he think of himself - he is honestly excited for her. No jealousy. Nothing. So we got him a lil goop. Which is one of his fav things to play with. I hope he ALWAYS is like this... such a sweetheart sometimes!

And lastly.... this pics just goes to show how dangerous high heels are. They took them out of my closet when I was in the shower (yes.... again with the shower time lol) and were walking around in them and changing pairs leaving them all over as kids do. Well he tripped and fell on top of a heel. I don't think he will be trying on anymore heels anytime soon!!!!

365 day 212 | Sunglasses.....Kade and I

We bought some new shades today.
I, unfortunately, love BIG sunglasses. Which for me means raccoon tan in 2.5 minutes. I tan very fast, which is a good thing. EXCEPT when it comes to BIG sunglasses lol.

So today I went and got myself a new pair. Of course my kids absolutely HAD to have some too ;)
Kade looks too freakin cute. Little retro diva that she is!!!
Mine are mens.... can you tell? Are sunglasses REALLY that gender specific? I am hoping for my raccoon eyes to go away with them..... what do you think?

Rohan took my pics.... he's getting better! You have to choose focal points the way I have my camera set. He got about 1/2 in focus this time!!! He's going to be a pro in no time!

I was under his 'direction'

More of Ro's posing instructions lol.

365 day 211 Rohan can blow bubbles! | Calgary children's photographer

For real. Bubblegum ones!!! He finally got the hang of it while out with daddy the day before Father's Days.
And he could NOT be more proud. Too bad.... when we got home today he was already tired out from blowing them in the car.... so the ones he was blowing for his pics we super tiny - and I never caught one!!

Today was going to be THE DAY. Kaden's 3 yr old shots. However.... when the clouds were out I had no motivation to get out. Then when we were ready the sun came out. Thinking we would chance it and find shade we went and bought ballons. The wind then completely picked up and I realized it was useless. So we came home. These are the snaps of the day ;)

LOL - the Bokeh makes it look like he has horns!!!

Trying out some different positions for window lighting. Also checking some settings on my camera I haven't before. There are about a zillion on that thing lol. Learning every day!

I love his smile.

SUCH A LADY!!!!!!!

365 day 210 nothing like a little chalk | Calgary children's photographer

to help lift the spirits!!!
The kids went with daddy to grandma's while I had an awesome newborn session today. And from the sounds of it both daddy and grandma were tired of them lol.

When I got there it was a little on the later side. WHY oh WHY am I such a magnet for accidents?????
Anyways.... poor grandma and daddy. They were ok though..and we played with some chalk before leaving. FUN FUN!!! And it got them into MUCH better spirits. Of course just in time to tell them it was time to go ;)

He's got some BIG footprints to fill :)

On the way home we stopped at Dion's Auntie Deb's to take pics of the curbs he just installed. Which ROCK.  Kade had a whoopsi moment and I was going to have to take her home naked. Auntie came to the rescue. Boy did she ever ;) This is the best room ever. And the perfect sized door. A kids DREAM!

brand new..... perfection!! | Calgary newborn photographer

Meet little Mr.H.
Hands down.... sleepiest session ever :) I have had a couple solid sleepers... but this guy was just made to model!!! So so cute... I had so much fun today!!! Here's hoping he sleeps tonight for mom and dad ;) Thank you so much for the pleasure of taking his pictures today - it was awesome!!!

I almost squealed in my excitement when I FINALLY got a shot I have been trying to get forever... he was a pro at it!

365 day 209 I was going to post about soccer....

Instead I will just say this.
As I was batch saving the pics I edited for the post, photoshop closed on me.
I am TOTALLY not into redoing the pictures at midnight lol. So here is one. And just so you know.... soccer is now over. Ro got a medal and a ball and PICTURES. The teams had pictures done a few weeks ago. NEVER have I seen someone SO POSSESIVE over pictures. Word of advice... don't touch them unless you ask  ;)

So here he is... the medal stayed on all day. He wants to go back in soccer. Like tomorrow. Guess I have some soccer searches coming on!!!!

365 day 209 more CURBS | Calgary photographer

I missed a day blogging as I was supposed to get these up ;)
Anyways.... this is one of Dion's latest jobs. Don't mind the black bark on the trees... the lanscaped area had just been filled in and wasn't cleaned off when I came to take pics. Plus my kids made a beeline for the stuff and messed it up even more.

Dion's website is here.

365 day 208 save me | Calgary

Save me from my HOUSE!!!!!!! Some days being a SAHM just doesn't pay enough. No really it's true. I LOVE LOVE being a SAHM. I love seeing my kids every day.
But some days they just plain and simple DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!!!! I thought taking the 4 kids to the park then coming home would tire them out...... I think it just made everyone grouchy! We parked it, then came home had lunch, they had a special ice cream treat and I let them run around with waterguns. That is where it really went downhill. I love listening to never ending crying and whining! So I moved the gong show inside for a movie while I attempted to straighten the house.

Sometimes.... I am so impressed when I get to clean something thinking my kids are watching a movie. Or playing. The other day I was so happy to finally give the master bathroom a good scrubdown. When I left my bedroom I came out to find...... Kade. Soaking wet. Covered in dirt. And a trail of muddy water from the kids bathroom to her room. AWESOME. She was watering the seeds we had planted.

OR..... like this day. I had folded 8 million loads of laundry throughout the day (or so it seemed). Started making supper only to realize the kids were jumping on my bed. That took a few seconds to register. MY BED..... the bed ALL the laundry was folded on!!!!

Maybe this will help paint the picture of the day..... while upstairs folding laundry kids going through the fridge, leaving it wide open, grabbing cheese slices and attempting to SMUSH them out of the plastic. ALL OVER.

How about this? Clean up the living room so I can wash the floors. Go downstairs to change the laundry and hear super loud crashing noises upstairs. Come up to find this

Thankfully they were playing nicely and all was well... and I gave up on the floors lol.

Or try trying to sweep. When kids are fighting, toys are flying, and someone poops their pants.

Some days you just have to give it up. Which I did. Bedtime came and I took off. Bought a book. And a slurpee. And did nothing else but read.

365 day 207 now THIS is a bucket full of water! | Calgary photographer

NO KIDDING. Location-Okotoks. Waterpark-AWESOME. Going again-better believe it!
Check this sucker out.......

READY..................... SET................

SPLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ro and Jax totally hyped up over the bucket. This was after the first dump lol.

Ro would wait under that bucket FOREVER. Just waiting. Look at him...looks like he's about to burst from the excitement!

LOL.... Where'd he go?

The rest of the park is not too shabby either. The kids really had a ton of fun!!!!
There were a few splash options... good for kids of all ages!

My only complaints were..... no bathrooms. It is in the rec center parking lot - but you have to round up kids and go in to the rec center.
Also it is in the same playground as a school park. Annoying to have to watch your kids in such a huge area while there is school going on and kids can't play in their HUGE park!
BUT - the splash park is brand new - so who knows... they may be fixing that :) All in all it is an excellent way to spend the day and the kids LOVED it!!!

He is going to be a HEART BREAKER. Even with his messy face.

She didn't have fun. AT ALL. lol.

My VERY FAVORITE PICTURE!!!!

the rest of a rockin family shoot | Calgary family photographer

There most definitely is a reason I don't shoot weddings. FEAR. They scare me so much the thought of them makes me want to run screaming. The reason? GROUP SHOTS.
Seriously. You know that site awkward family photos? Ya that is not some place I WANT to see my photos ;) There are soooo many reasons wedding photography (good wedding photography) is expensive. BUT one of them is - really you have to have a clue what to do with group shots. You need to be able to organize, pose, direct, check poses, expose, focus, check poses... check the light.... on and on. So much thought goes into ONE shot... it is incredible.

What does this have to do with my rockin family shoot? GROUP SHOTS. I get so nervous when it comes down to it. Because of course I want them to be perfect. I want them to still be done in my style. I want everyone to be happy and comfortable... and get great keepsakes for them to display! And it makes me soooo nervous!

Every time I do a group shoot I learn something. And I get some great pictures. And I meet some great people!!! This shoot was no exception. It was one of my good friends extended family. We had so much fun and really pulled off some great images. I am so glad to have been given this opportunity!!! Thanks for being so patient waiting for your pictures..... enjoy!