My daughter recently just turned one year old!  I can hardly believe it and I’m so thrilled to watch her grow.  I’ve been taking daily photos of her for her first year of life (which I will share the 2nd half of the first year at some point but you can view the first 6 months of photos HERE). For her birthday party I really wanted to put together a great day even though she will only remember it through the photos I’ve taken.  I sure had fun doing a lot of DIY details this year.  I also handmade some of her gifts and she received an amazing, handmade (by Grandpa and help from dada) wooden kitchen set from Grandpa and Grandma.  I can’t wait to photograph her over the years playing with these gifts.

Ok – So let’s get to it, I want to share the photos with you.  Enjoy a peek into my life.

First, below is an apron I sewed for Jolene.  I didn’t have a pattern and was a bit skeptical that I could actually pull it off but I had some expensive fabric (that I didn’t want to ruin) a new (to me) sewing machine, and an adult size apron to possibly mimic.  It’s a child’s size apron and it totally hangs down to her ankles but that’s the way I planned it to be.  I wanted to give her something that she would have and use for years and years.  Here it is:

The reason I wanted to sew an apron is because Jordan’s dad builds furniture and he planned to make Jolene a wooden kitchen set.  He repurposed an old desk, the sink faucet, the sink, and a knob or two.  Jolene loves it!  It’s also a bit big for her but it’s perfect for what she loves doing right now, which is opening and closing cupboards, standing, and banging toys together.

FYI: the felt carrots above were handmade by me also.  Super easy to make if anyone wants to know how.

View of the cranes from above (photo below)

Now for the party hats!  I really wanted to create party hats that I could keep and use year after year.  I also made these with felt and they were a party hit.

Now for a few of my favorites of the Birthday girl!  Thanks for looking. Happy Birthday baby girl.  You’re the love of our lives.

Hello,

I’m sending out a quick message here on my iPhone. My computer is in for repairs for the next couple days.

The last couple posts here on the blog was a new idea I had to post screenshots of my favorite Pinterest finds and I was setting out to post each Monday. After realizing that one of my favorite images an Pinterest was being posted on several tumbler accounts and I was very much unable to find who truly photographed the image. The short end of it is that I’m rethinking Pinterest and I won’t be posting my favorites here anymore.

Will Post soon when my computer returns.

Today is my husbands 28th birthday and I couldn’t be more proud to call him husband and father to my daughter.  I know I could fill this space with so many cheesy sayings and words that don’t mean much but that’s not really my style, so here’s the for real…

My husband is literally the best man I’ve ever met in my life.  Actually, despite working over 60 hours a week in very hard (socially) jobs (teenager and men with aspergers and autism) he still comes home and offers to change Jols diapers.  And even though he is actually drained by tons of interaction with people – needing a fair amount of alone time to recharge and have energy to be around people- he will make space to listen to me talk and verbalize all the thoughts from the day.  He’s the most generous and giving man I’ve ever met.  He’s the guy that carries on a relationship with an older man who’s been in and out of homelessness for a large chunk of his life.  The one that asks me to drive an hour and a half north to go buy said man Thanksgiving groceries because I am against sending money.  He’s the guy that notices the people on the outside and draws them in, not wanting anyone to feel left out or alone.  He works hard and gives so much to others and still digs down very deep to be my rock and my daughters love of her life.  I’m so thankful for him, he makes me a better person, and I’m not sure what I would do without him.

Jordan, I love you and I’m so glad you were born 28 years ago and have been such a good part of my life for the past 11+ years.  Happy Birthday love!

I’m cheating a little and skipping ahead of a few things to blog one of my first Beloved sessions. We went to a quaint little natural area near my home just outside of Madison, WI and it’s a place my husband and I frequent a lot.

Ben and Rachelann have been married for a little over three years.  :) Can I just say that married couples are my FAVORITE to photograph.  They were anxious for a way to connect after many months of busy and long days working hard at their jobs. They also moved out of town and were temporarily living in a very tight living space with their teenage son. I love these two, they are like family to me. They both love being around people (something I very much relate to) and have no hesitation to get into peoples lives, go deep, and make lasting relationships. Um, I love this about them!

Rachelann texted me the day of our session worried about what to wear. Usually I am not one of those photographers that place extreme high importance on what is worn. I usually tell clients to not be matchy-matchy but coordinate their clothing to compliment one another. And as much as I love a client who comes with an amazing fashion sense, I more so love a client that comes as who they are and loves the way they look in what they are wearing. She was worried because Ben very much likes to dress up in slacks, and a button up shirt looking like he could attend a wedding in ten minutes if he had to. Rachelann, on the other hand, is bright and colorful. She loves contrasting colors, patterns, and to be very eclectic. In the end I encouraged her to dress the way she loved the way she looked and he to do the same. I have to say – I actually LOVE how it turned out.

On to pictures. But don’t forget to go through all of them, at the end are a few photos of the album they got for booking a Beloved session with me. It comes standard with all Beloved sessions and I’m highly considering having it come standard with any session with me (minus weddings).

The album is simple and gorgeous and can come in other colors. Let me just say, lastly, that the way I feel holding a professionally printed album or even professionally printed images I’ve taken makes my heart skip a beat a little… Digital DOES NOT do these photos justice. So if I feel that way, imagine how you would feel if you were holding a book filled with beautiful photos of you and your loved ones! Just sayin. Contact me if you’d like to find out more.

Ben and Rachelann – It was so great working with you.  Thank you for trusting me (even Ben a little too much!) and being yourself in front of my camera.  It really made all the difference.  I hope we can make this “best date of your marriage” Beloved session happen again every year or so!

Patricia

Is it just me or do others have this sort of to do list that you ALWAYS intend to keep up on but forget about and put off day by day until it’s a year later and you’re still thinking “I need to get to that”? I guess for me I have two to do lists, one that I for sure do every week because frankly, I wouldn’t survive without doing it (or I would seriously smell from never washing my clothes) but then there is this other to do list that always gets put on the back burner. Yup, blogging is on that back burner to do list. The sad thing is that I really love blogging, I like that I have to filter myself a bit, because I enjoy reading honest, but filtered, words from my past. I HATE reading old journals where I just threw up every thought I’ve ever had on a page.

I don’t quite remember when blogging got popular but I started in April of 2005. I was a dedicated xanga blogger (ya, anyone else have a xanga page??) laphotographique was my name and I remember sitting in Pikes Perk with Jordan (who is now my husband but was only a good friend then) and declared I was going to start blogging. My first post was in French (thanks to Jordan) and I believe you could also put what you were listening to (Vashti Bunyan, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer, and Sufjan Stevens were frequents in that section). Anyway – all this to say that I LOVED to blog. What happened to that, I don’t know, but I feel a revival coming on. I want to start blogging more frequently. So here we go. I have tons of lovely photographs to blog and I will probably blog personal or for fun posts often as well. I guess I oughta update my 101 in 1001 post as well too since so much has changed. If you’re out there and listening – chime in and let me know you’ll be keeping me accountable. Happy blogging everybody.

p.s. I’m currently listening to the La Blogotheque – Take Away Shows channel on youtube (love.love.LOVE!) and this favorite by Arcade Fire:

This one little girl is the light of my life.  She was born on March 20th at 11:20pm.  7 lbs and 7 oz and 20 inches long.  Now almost 8 weeks later she is over 9 lbs and 20 1/2 inches long.  She braved her first flight this past week – or I should say, I braved my first flight alone with a newborn (on Mother’s Day no less) and came out alright.

I’ve been so behind on my blogging and haven’t even blogged some of my favorite sessions from last year (shame on me!) but do intend to get caught up soon.

In the meantime, I’m here in my hometown of Colorado Springs, CO preparing to photograph two weddings in one weekend.  This will mark the end of my maternity leave that I declared to take and the longest I will have been away from Jolene.  While you wait for wedding photos and for me to get caught up on this blog check out my sweet daughter.