i have known sydney since before she was born :) she is like my *third* kid…i don’t see her daily anymore…and we miss her….isn’t she the cutest???

Haven’t shown my babies in a while….here is the Jake sporting his oh-so-stylish bed head look! Seriously - he usually looks all cute and surfer-kid - but this crazy hair just had to be permanently recorded! Harvey (a very loved member of our household) has a bit of a hair (fur?!?) issue too….

happy birthday to my sweet little friend Lily…

My Lily really enjoyed the aftermath of the party costumes….she was a pretty good sport about it….

tagged: Santa Clarita children’s photographer, Valencia kids photographer. modern kids photography, Santa Clarita baby and family photography

I lived! Seriously, I had such an amazingly fantastic time teaching this workshop! I was both flattered AND nervous when I was invited to be an instructor there (the other instructors all had such rock-star resumes!) BUT, they asked me, so I figured they wanted me :) How (pleasantly!) surprised was I to find out that my class was SOLD OUT!!?? Um…pressure :) WOW. Just wow.

…and now on to my list of THANK YOUs… (this is going to be wordy, so please bear with me!)

…to my students - you all were SO awesome! Thanks for making my 2 1/2 days of talking, shooting, rolling around in the grass and clicking around in photoshop such a positive experience! Your energy and enthusiasm carried me through the days (which I needed since Lisa and I were up slaving all night!) I think I might have learned as much from y’all as you **hopefully** learned from me!

…speaking of Lisa :) I am So lucky, SO fortunate, SO happy to have such an amazing friend as my good buddy (and crazy-talented photographer!!) Lisa Maksoudian.{{{click on her site right now!! you’ll fall in love with her!}}} Lisa is the ultimate superhero - she knew I had some mini-anxieties about rambling on for days and she VOLUNTEERED to come help out! (leaving her own work and family behind!) If that isn’t the definition of a great friend, I don’t know what is! She stayed up with me each night working on the presentation, she provided moral support AND chips and salsa and best of all, she was such a great *gift with purchase* surprise for the students! They got to hear from *two* photographers instead of just me :) I know they loved her (as do I!) So - thank you, Lisa!! I owe you big time!!!

…GGS people! Thanks for making us feel welcome (and I’m bummed I missed the instructor’s dinner!) I met my new best buddy :) Kim Sayre as soon as I arrived on campus! You know those people you meet and you just know you’ll be friends forever??? That’s how I felt when we met!! (and that was BEFORE I knew that I had her to thank for the referral!) So - thanks KIM! (and she let me try out her killer lightroom presets and templates which are super-awesomeand can be found at Cottage Industry Designs. My *official GGS-designated* trustee was the talented Jonathan Mandel. Jonathan helped keep the class on track and ensured that everyting ran smoothly. I **loved** his gorgeous photos and was blown away when I looked at his portfolio, he has such a great eye for composition and his work was just gorgeous! Lastly, I was flattered to have the President of the PPGBA in my class!! Jeanne DePolo is already a super-successful portrait and wedding photographer, so I was so flattered to have her attend my class. I know I learned a lot from her (and hopefully she learned from me as well!) and look forward to hanging out again in the future! Her award-winning image of a bride and groom locked in passionate embrace was smokin’ hot - I loved viewing her work!

I regret that I did not get an opportunity to socialize/ hang out with the other GGS instructors and staff. Next year!! I will be more prepared and spend my evenings having fun instead of slaving away!

I had lots of help on the homefront leading up to this crazy week, and my hubby not only managed the kids for 4 days without me, I came home to a clean house with all the laundry done!! Petty cool, huh? My friends Jenn, Lori and kay;a are awesome! Jenn helped me learn a new software program and she and her cousin Renee helped with goodie bag stuffing! Her hubby Scott even got in on the fun and helped sort out some computer issues! So - thanks guys! I am lucky to have such generous friends…

One final comment! I had some VERY GENEROUS vendors step up and offer marketing materials, discounts and give-aways for my class. I know they appreciated it and so do I! So - a big shout out to the following peeps:

Jie at J Lee Albums, Patrick at Simply Canvas(he even came and brought goodies in PERSON!), the fabulous Jamie Schultz, my super-inspiring *hello* buddy Marie Cox of Phreckles Photography, the always impressive Lena Hyde at Design Aglow, my new friend (and up-and-coming rockstar photographer) Kate Parker, world-famous Jinky and Dawn at IttyBitty Actions, CB & Roxanne at Pixel2Canvas, the oh-so-stylish marketing gurus at Bellagraficaand the team at Big Folio

**gasp** (must breathe!)
Kevin Kubota for not only his support and gifties with his EVERY-PHOTOGRAPHER-MUST-HAVE action sets, but also with ASUKAbook discounts and giveaways. Plus, I learned so much at Kevin’s Digital Photography BootCamp in April, he totally changed my workflow and made me a *more-organized* photographer!

Jeff and Caitlin at ProDPI(my fabulous lab!) If you are a photographer and are reading this, you should check them out RIGHT NOW! They have such great quality AND outstanding customer service - you will be THANKING me if you make the switch!

Whew. I think I’m done with the *writing* part - now this post needs some images! Some of my students have emailed me photos, I will add them here ASAP.

Meanwhile….good night!

First for graduating pre-school yesterday - I can’t believe he’ll be in kindergarten in just a few months. I am so proud of how far he has come this past year. But mostly, I am just proud of who he is (oh darn - now I’m all teary!).

See that totally adorable part about the luau? He wants to invite “all the soldiers to his luau because they do such a good job protecting us”.

Seriously, I know he is my kid and all - but that is the cutest thing ever, right???

Yep - its time for our annual road-trip to Lake Havasu. The in-laws spend three months there each year and we make an annual journey the same time as my BIL, SIL and cousins - so it is LOADS of fun (for the kids at least!) I will be out of email contact until the evening of Monday, June 2nd but I will have limited cell service so if you need me leave a message and I’ll *try* to find a spot!

Here is just one of my little weirdos from last year’s adventure….

Yes! It’s finally here! Every March I head to Vegas for WPPI, one of the biggest and best photography conventions around! I can’t wait to hang with all my old buddies, meet new people and tempt my wallet at the HUGE tradeshow - Ack! ( I’m planning on winning big in a photographers poker tourney on Sunday, so maybe I’ll have some spare cash!) This year, it’s a work/pleasure trip as I am shooting several sessions in Sin City. Anyone remember my two gorgeous Las Vegas maternity mommies-to-be from last fall? I get to meet/snuggle/photograph thier new little people - I can’t wait!

Sooooooo - if you NEED to get in touch with me these next few dasy - better call instead of email:)

And now, because no post feels *complete* without photos….this is for my Mom…

bugbug…

Las Vegas photographer, Las Vegas children’s photographer, Las Vegas baby photography, Las Vegas lifestyle photography

Sooooo….Jake got this massive Star Wars Lego droid carrier thingy for his birthday, and he and Victor have had many a Friday-night-droid-carrier-building-evening since then….and FINALLY, they are done!!

Can I just say one quick thing about how HAPPY I am that the lego-building assistant job goes to the man of the house?? heehee. 1368 is a LOT of legos! The best part (for ME) is that Jake normally suffers from a little-known ailment called *photographer’s child syndrome*. This USUALLY makes him very un-cooperative when the camera come out. Lucky me, I’ve learned the secret!! Just live through several months of intense lego construction, and lo and behold, he is cured :) I have a camera-ready child!! (okay, okay, ignore the ripped jeans - I didn’t want to push my luck!)

the finished product:

setting up the scene…

the lego-buildging-dream-team…

…and one more, just to show off that precious little face :)

Every time I hear this song I get all teary. I think I’ve heard it a gazillion times now, so I’ve moved on from the choking sobs to the teary-eyed sniffles….it just *speaks* to me….probably because my own little Ali-bug LOVES to dress up as Cinderella. I picture my husband as the Dad in the song… ~~sniffsniff~~ Oh no - here I go again :) It just reminds me how much I love the photos of my children right now, while they are still little. How much and I going to CHERISH them later…(especially when they are eye-rolling teenagers!) My Dad didn’t live to see my wedding, so these types of songs always turn me into a big sappy ball of goo.

Here is a clip of Chuck Wicks just singing the song with his acoustic guitar. I like this version a lot more than the *actual* music video (but what the HECK does he keep doing with his eyebrows?????) If you’d like to see the *real* video you can click here.

You know how you feel when you LOVE something SO much? That’s how my little Ali-bug feels about pink puppy - and I feel like the worst mommy in the world - because somehow, somewhere, pink puppy has been lost. it’s been nearly three weeks now, and not a day goes by that Ali doesn’t ask about her…”mommy? you find pink puppy?” as her eyes well up with tears…I KNOW this is trivial - I KNOW that there are much more important things out there to be dealt with - but I love my baby girl and want her to be happy - so I’m going to TRY to leverage the *power of the internet* to bring pink puppy home.

MISSING: one slightly tattered, well-loved stuffed puppy dog. fur white, nose pink, ears pink. Pink puppy was a Target Valentine’s puppy (why, oh why couldn’t Ali have fallen in love wiith some GUND who could be replaced year round at ToysRUs??) I KNOW someone out there has this puppy sitting on a bookshelf. (not OUR pink puppy, but an identical one) I’ve scoured through listings on eBay, I’ve retraced our steps a hundred times - now I’m asking for your help. There will be some sort of fabulous prize to the person who helps me find pink puppy!! PLease forward this blogpost on to any moms you know! Someone out there can help!

A random sampling of pink puppy photos so you can identify her..

.

Thank you SO SO SO much if you can help!

jen :)

Ahhh - yesterday was so nice - Jake & I had a *mommy & jake ALONE* date - we braved the Labor Day weekend crowds and headed for Hermosa Beach. The Fiesta de la Artes is a huge fair held there Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Jake suffers from *photographers child* syndrome - so I was told in no uncertain terms to leave my big camera at home. Fortunatly, he doesn’t have a problem with the point and shoot - I have the Canon SD800 and it rocks! Okay - a few from our *date-day* - other photographers probably see this as much as I do - this is *the hand*

So, I did what all good moms do - I bribed him -it worked for 5 seconds…

we bought a ton of tickets - but used them all on this - who needs variety when you have a fun slide???

a little wall-walking - i played with this one trying to get that 70s feel…

of course, we ended up going into the water - WITH our clothes on (unprepared mom!) now, normally i would have 17 different changes of clothes shoved in the back of my car - but not this time….we were quite *soggy* on our way home…

what a beautiful day…i love my jake :)

Syd’s 4 year old photo. Could she be any more beautiful???