[Lifestyle] Family:My Children

This past Saturday, my scheduled client had to cancel due to sickness, so I decided to take my children out on a photo session. I mean, come on, I'm a photographer and I've yet to "schedule" a shoot with them. Mostly because it can be a nightmare trying to get all three of them ready - which turned out not to be so bad - and then I have to contend with them over shooting because, you know, I'm their mom. And with that being said, they took full advantage of my desperation to get some good shots of them.

Bribery works best, I've found.

So, the morning was extremely humid. Like a fat pig sittin' in a sauna. That kind of slick sweatiness. That's what I was feeling.

And of course, my kids got cranky and when they don't want to pose or give me a natural smile, they just don't. Flat-out. Even bribery wouldn't give me an edge. However, I managed to pull some rabbits out of my hat with some funny things to say, when I wasn't aggravated with the stubborness they put up against me.

I have to say that some of the images I captured are some of my favorites ever. I'm sure because these are my babies, but it's my photography, I can do what I want to. I hope you all enjoy my hard-earned efforts in trying to get Haley, Brennan and Aubrey to strike a pose. Trust me, I sweated worked my hiney off to get the following!

[Lifestyle] Family:Jake & Kade

Yesterday I posted some sneak peeks of two brothers, Jake and Kade. As I said in that post, they were up for anything: trains, laying in chalk, and especially the corn field. Because that's how they roll: farming.

Today, I'm posting more images of the morning in hopes of making one proud momma very happy. I hope! Again, I enjoyed shooting these dudes and had a great morning.

On one side note: Happy Father's Day to all the daddies. I didn't have a daddy in my house growing up, but I certainly have a great daddy for my children, whom they adore. We are going to get our fun on today, since it is beautiful and oh so hot, and make sure to let your daddies know how much you love them. Happy Father's Day, Daddy Tom! Have a great day!

[Sneak Peek] Kade & Jake

I was looking forward to this morning. Really. I've been sick this week and was worried that I'd have to cancel this morning's session due to this virus I had. Fortunately, I recovered after two whole days and felt well enough to lasso a rainbow. Except there are no rainbows because there's no rain. Just heat and humidity.

Today I got to meet an old friend's little men. I have known their mommy since I was little girl and we reconnected through, you guessed it, Facebook. God love Facebook! Kade and Jake were a hoot this morning and were up for anything. We played with chalk, checked out the train cars and even scurried through corn rows. Right up their farming alley!

I got so many great shots of the kids and for now, I'm posting some sneak peeks for them. Thanks for a great morning, even though the humidity started rockin' my world! It was great to catch up with you mom, and Kade & Jake, stay cool dudes. It was a pleasure to play with you today!

[Lifestyle] Babies:Braxton

Braxton is about to turn one and last week I blogged some of his birthday pictures with balloons. The morning after that shoot, I met up with him and his mom, very early that morning, but guess what? Braxton was just smooth sailin' even though he was up way before his time. He's quite the good baby, chilled out and low-maintenance.

This lil' dude has some photogenic abilities and hammed it up in his cowboy boots, although it was a feat to get them over his adorably chubby legs! I found the wagon at an antiques store and had yet to use it, so I was quite excited to get him in it for this shoot. We also went to a family friend's pond and shot some images of him in his overalls.

So, enough writing and on to the pics!

Miss Independent

She woke up this morning tired, very, very tired. I did my usual "Happy Birthday" serendade on her special day, no movement. I kissed her, stiff as a board. So, being the gentle mom that I am, I just rolled her over; she finally let out a sigh.

"Good morning, my sugar bear!"

"Mmmmmm."

"It's your birthday today, let's get up!"

"Mmmmmm."

So I kissed her totally kissable lips. Gosh, how I love her lips! Makes me jealous of her. Anyways, I finished getting ready, only to come back to a still sleeping beauty, refusing to celebrate her day.

See, we went to the lake yesterday and the kids had a fulfilled day of playing in the water, cruisin' in the boat, and riding on the tube. Even my one-day-shy-of-3-years-old baby got on for a ride. Only she got flipped off it with Uncle Randy.

Fortunately, she was just fine, because, well, she is Miss Independent and tough as nails. And she had on her life jacket. When they came back, she said, "I fell off and went in the air!" as if to let me know that she's fine and nothing will phase her. Go figure.

Among her many traits and qualities, she's quite self-sufficient and knows what she wants, when she wants it. She'll debate with you like a lawyer, and she no doubt has any trouble expressing herself. And don't tell her she can't do something because she will show you that she can. And she will.

Like getting herself dressed without my assistance and when I put on an article of clothing, she takes it off and says, "I'm gonna start all over and do it by myself." There, she told me.

Like pushing her chair up the counter to climb up on the counter to get a honey bun out of the cabinet after I told her she couldn't have one. There, she showed me.

Like when she decided to she was done swimming at our neighbor's pool, so she gathered her shoes and towel and decided to walk home, by herself, until I caught her at the end of their driveway. There, she's Miss Independent and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm only of use to her when she doesn't want to do something or when she's ready to snuggle and pull on my hair and suck her thumb. That's when I know she still needs me.

My baby turns three today. Three years of watching her grow up, literally, grow up because she walks and talks like a grown up. She's tempermental, beautiful, strong-willed, independent, smart, loving, and she's all mine. She's all me. (So, I've heard.)

Happy 3rd birthday, Sugar Bear! "I love you so much!"

[Sneak Peek] Birthday Boy Braxton

How cute is this kid? Really? Can he get any cuter?

Braxton's 1st birthday is coming up soon and his Mommy wanted me to capture some images for his invitation, and later for his 1 year session. So he hammed it up over the balloons and though he was more interested in getting my camera, he did give me some quite adorable looks.

Gosh, he's cute and did I ever mention how I love lil' chunky monkey babies? He's got it all. Makes me excited to have my own well-padded boy!

And the winner is...

So, all I have to say is you guys RoK! I can't believe there were 301 votes cast for this contest! There were some people wanting a freebie and I'm glad! My stats did go over 10,000 and are now at 11,640! Man, I'm about to get my hula-hoop and go at it! Uh, maybe not such a good idea right now(belly's getting big)!

Alright, a big congrats to Joey & Shea Watkins for the having the most votes on their son's picture, #5. I will be presenting your mounted 11x14 to you soon; I know you are both excited and worked hard to get some votes on here. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled because I'll be running another contest later this summer!

Again, thanks to everyone who voted, everyone who just stopped by, and everyone for the support of my work and my blog! I love my (2nd) job!



Final Results:

Question: Vote for your fave image!
Answer times selected answer distribution (%)
1. #1 17 6%
2. #2 26 9%
3. #3 23 8%
4. #4 7 2%
5. #5 100 33%
6. #6 11 4%
7. #7 16 5%
8. #8 3 1%
9. #9 31 10%
10. #10 67 22%
Summary: 301 votes
http://www.stephaniegreenwell.com

[Lifestyle] The Stevens Family

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of photographing an adorable family of three generations. The beautiful sunset provided some nice lighting for the event and I couldn't have been more pleased.

Miss Kelsey is all girly-girl and it showed when she traipsed around in her lovely polka dot dress. Oh, and her little earrings just spoke volumes of her femininity. Lil' Jake is just as handsome as they come and was all decked out with his new haircut! His personality reminded me of Aubrey's in that they tell stories and speak so well for their age. (They were born two days apart in the same hospital three years ago next week.) He also has quite a love for tractors, no doubt considering his family's farming background.

One a funny thing to note, at one location of the shoot in some long grass, a crippled bird came hobbling out and lil' man screamed, so guess what I did? I screamed too, because I didn't see the bird and I reacted to Jake! Apparently the bird lives in that grass and we intruded on his home!

Mom and Dad, the grandparents and even their aunt joined in on the action near the end of our shoot for a family pic. Thank you for letting me photograph your family today! I had a fun time, so fun in fact, that I forgot that I was pregnant and laid on my belly to get shots!

Enjoy!