Posted on July 31, 2010
In the last hour of sunlight this evening I laid outside with Ms. M on our favorite blanket. We read books, flipped through brain quest cards, and talked (with great excitement) about Amma coming to visit next week.
I asked her what made her happy and she said “well I’m really happy when I help with cooking and when I can help people and when I cuddle with my mommy”. My heart swells. I love this girl.
Posted on July 30, 2010
About time, isn’t it? I haven’t posted a fashion friday feature for several weeks! Here’s a little inspiration for planning your family summer session.
Also, on the topic of fashion and style…watch out next week for a special guest blog post by Christina Holm-Sandok. Christina will be featured on the KA photo blog with fabulous ideas about styling a magazine-worthy photo shoot! See more about Christina here.
Posted on July 18, 2010
It was too hot to go outside today for anything…but I felt the urge to ‘click’ so caught Ms. J in the late afternoon window light.
Posted on July 14, 2010
The Sunshine album:
I am so excited to share this new product with you! It’s fresh, it’s fun, it’s fabulous! Order all of your session images together in this whimsical 10×10 flush mount album and enjoy your favorite pics everyday. You will be so happy to see this little ray of sunshine on your coffee table every morning! Includes 50+ images in one book.
The sample album below shows a beautiful family ready to welcome baby #4 (you’ve seen them up on the blog before and you will see them again soon)…
Posted on July 11, 2010
This post is not so much about photography — but it is ALL about inspiration….and what could be better than that? It is also about celebrating the fabulous design work of an old friend.
David Kaihoi is a friend of ours from high school (and now an interior designer in NYC) and is featured this month in House Beautiful (the July/August edition). Check it out and get ready to be AMAZED! David’s work + home are featured on the cover and also in a 10 page article starting on pg. 92.
I am soooo inspired! The ingenuity for making use of a small space is remarkable. David has transformed a 390 sq. foot one-bedroom NYC apartment into a functional (and FABulous) home for his family. Imagine living in that space with a 3 year old! The Kaihoi family makes it look easy. Their living space is a genius combination of style and function.
This feature comes to our family at the perfect time. We are slowly preparing our smallish home for baby #3 and feeling especially cramped. We’re constantly brainstorming about how to make the most of our VERY limited space. I am so thankful for this new House Beautiful issue (Is small the new big?)… it is truly inspiration overload!
Dave – Fabulous work…beautiful home…you rock!!!
on a related note: One of my summer goals is to come up with creative ways to display photos in small spaces. I have a few ideas that I want to try in our home and will share these projects as I work on them. I would also love to see what you are doing! Please email photos that show how you display favorite pictures to kelly@kaphotodesign.com — you may just win a family session!
Posted on July 8, 2010
2010 July 4th weekend of fun =
picnic. splashn’ in the h20. cherry dilly bars. cowgirl hats. star spangled sunglasses. grilln’ burgers + corn on the cob. mini golf. bubbles. hula hoops. a relaxing night with friends. fireworks. a vacation day monday (the 5th).
All in all, a great way to celebrate America and a life of freedom!
The girls were decked out in RWB most of the weekend. Seeing it all together in a series of pictures may be a bit of patriotic overload but that’s ok – we love our USA!!
Sunday evening we spent time with friends. We hung out in their backyard and watched the kids swim, play games, and jump on the trampoline. Ms. J loved their dog (Clifford) and followed him around all night long. We had pizza and watched fireworks and kept them all up way too late (they had to work in the morning and we had a holiday…thanks to ASU for observing the 4th on the 5th). I only snapped a few pictures because I wanted to relax and enjoy the night. Sometimes it is so great to put the camera away and just enjoy the moments as they happen. This was one of those nights. Thank you, Dave and Christy, for a fun night! We always love to spend time with you.
And MN: we missed you! This was one of our first independence days in AZ (we missed friends and family on Green Lake!)
Posted on July 6, 2010
I am loving the season of summer right now. You don’t hear this statement too often among Phoenicians — but it’s true. After a very busy spring with many family sessions, it is nice to have a bit of time to catch up with myself and work on a long list of goals. I am so happy to spend more time with the kiddos and catch up on business projects that are long overdue. I am still taking pictures constantly (just my own kids) and challenging new ideas but it’s a much slower pace than fall/winter/spring.
Arizona has a ‘photography season’ that is almost completely opposite from the rest of the country. In most states, summer is the busiest time of the year for photographers. Not so in AZ. We are all inside enjoying the air conditioning or hanging out in the pool. I’m planning on a busy September/early Oct (with lots of holiday mini sessions) — and then will be taking time off again in mid Oct – Dec (for baby).
I’m loving the seasonal nature of AZ photography right now. There are times of crazy-busyness and then times to step back, regain balance and work on the larger goals that will make business work more efficiently during the busy seasons. So that’s my plan for the next few months – enjoy pregnancy (if that’s possible…I try), hang out with my family, and work on goals for this business that I LOVE! I’m thrilled for the possibilities!
p.s. I know we’re already over a month into summer so I am a bit late in posting this – but to me it seems like we’re just getting started. Time flies!
Posted on July 5, 2010
What a great weekend it was! Happy July 4 everyone!
Posted on July 2, 2010
Congratulations to Marili Jean Accessories for being showcased in the July issue of Baby and Children’s Product magazine!
One of my images from this session was published in the feature. Congrats Laurie!!
Posted on July 2, 2010
It’s time to share the good news!
My growing belly is really giving it away at this point so I will come clean.
Yes, it’s true. If you were wondering (and too shy to ask), now you know - I DO have a growing baby bump!
I will not be booking photo sessions mid Oct- Dec so please plan ahead if you would like to do a session in 2010. I will be offering holiday sessions in Aug/Sept so look out for details.
For those of you interested in the pregnancy details…here are the answers to your questions (you know, the questions to expect while you’re expecting):
How do you feel?
Exhausted. Seriously….like never before.
Symptoms?
Everything. Before I took a pregnancy test I knew that it would be + (I’ve been pregnant twice before and know the feeling). Nausea, irritability, fatigue…
Also – my skin is breaking out like crazy. Thank goodness for my awesome dermatologist (my sister in law – Christina). So thankful for her expertise!
The first trimester was really hard to keep up with work, family, photography, etc. Prior to pregnancy, I stayed up all hours of the night working on my computer and now my body (and mind) completely shut down at 8/9 o’clock. There is far less time to do my creative work but I squeeze it in whenever possible.
Cravings?
Creamy pasta, pizza, ham and swiss bagel melts, whoppers malted milk balls…hmm, maybe this has something to do with my pregnancy acne???
It’s not entirely bad – I also love fruit (especially watermelon and blueberries), giant salads, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob (always my summertime favorite).
Do the kids know…are they excited?
Yes – The girls always jump all over me when I’m sitting or laying down so we had to teach them to be careful (ie – don’t cannonball from the dresser onto the bed and land on mommy’s tummy).
They are very excited to be big sisters (can you tell from the pictures?)
‘M’ keeps talking about wanting a baby brother and wants to name him Jack. ???
‘J’ doesn’t really get it yet but she will be THE BEST mother’s helper. She LOVES babies and always devotes her attention to little ones. She’s full of love and huge on kisses.
Are you planning to find out the sex?
We already know! We were able to find out at my 21 week ultrasound last week. I will share more about that soon…stay tuned.
