Ok so once again, I went MIA.  I’ve GOT to stop doing that.  April and May was slightly insane, but the 2012 Senior’s are out of here and off to bright futures.  And between weddings and family sessions, I’ve been running around like crazy trying to catch up.  So my friday favorite of the week is more of an “update”.

BUT…I have so many fun sessions to show you all…if you are on facebook and the fan page (and if not why NOT???) you’ve seen little glimpses, and I have to say there are times that it is so hard to decide which ones to show…I swear I get to photograph some of the cutest kids…big and little.  Starting next week I should have a post every day (starting with one of the seniors that I missed showing, I feel really bad about that), and plan to post each day until I”m completley caught up.

And then, I’ve been working with my team of designers and web people to finally get the website and blog all finished.  My client information site is just about ready, it will have everything you need to know, FAQ’s, and policies of the studio, as well as the option to go paper free and sign model and print releases all online, saving us time during the session especially if we have cranky tired kids by the time we are finished.  I’m also SO excited that it will have design ideas on what to order to best showcase your beautiful family, depending on what room you are decorating at the time.  The link is live from my homepage, but I’m not giving out passwords to it quite yet…so those that have emailed asking for one, just hang tight.

So…thats all thats been going on, I really do hope to get better streamlined so there isn’t so much time in between blog posts.

And since I always post with a picture….this one is a bit different.  Its actually taken with my iphone, so not the best quality, but it was a pretty exciting one for me.  Back in January I had the opportunity to start working with the City of Wichita Parks and Rec division for their quarterly guide, and the first one came out last week.   I have been lucky enough to be in Splurge Magazine a few times, but this is my first “cover”, and I’m going to admit I squealed like a little girl when I saw it sitting in a rack at Dillons.  We are already working on the next issue, and I love this opportunity that I’ve been givin to work with so many awesome people.

So seniors are just about finished up, now to get all those last minute orders of wallets in and of course my 2013 (I still can’t believe it) seniors are getting ready to start but I finally am back to normal business hours (what IS normal when your a photographer anyway lol) and back to my babies whose parents have been patiently waiting for their proofs.

I’ve put a few previews up on the facebook fan page this week, but have been bad about updating here.  It always takes a bit more time to update the blog, and time is something that I haven’t had much of the last few weeks.  And I realize that I’ve missed putting a few seniors up on the blog, so that WILL be done before graduation.

This senior is a favorite….and most of you know he is my nephew.  He warned me up front that he wasn’t going to smile, and knowing him as I do, I wasn’t going to force him.  We did get one lonely smile at the end, and I”m not telling you all why (even though we had a pretty good laugh at the time), but I loved how all of Todd’s pictures came out, and they were just so him.

and I just love this little one.  This is one of my baby planners, and you’ve seen her and her parents quite often on my blog.  I was lucky enough to be able to do their wedding for them a few years ago, and so excited to get the call when told me they were expecting.  So often I’m sad after a wedding is over and pictures are delivered, I get attached to my clients and end up spending quite a bit of time getting to know them, so when they come back to me for the other big events in their life it really makes my day.

So this was supposed to actually go up last week, and well it didn’t.  So I’ve been saving her for this week.

For those of you that has stopped in on Saturday’s the last few years, or sometimes randomly thru the week, you’ll recognize this senior.  Emily has worked here for a few years, and I still can’t believe she is a senior.  She’s helped me get organized, worked her hind end off when we moved last winter, seriously kept me sane this last week coming in almost every evening to help me with the stuff that there just wasn’t enough time in the day for and has put a smile on my face numerous times.  As well as randomly made fun of me and picked on me, but I tell her every week I’m going to fire her if she’s not nice to me, so I guess we are even.

We did most of her pictures a few months ago, we just kind of mosied our way around to see what we could find and she did an amazing job.  And then we just did a quick mini session of her at the track field.  If you know Em, you know that she is headed to WSU to join their track team.  She is a hurdle maniac, and seems to like breaking records. lol  So we of course had to have a mini session focused on her track accomplishments.  And in the process I’ve taken one of my top favorites EVER.

And before I start bawling in the studio thinking of next year without her (even though her replacement is amazing and she is MUCH nicer to me), I’m going to finish this up.  So meet Emily…and help me wish her good luck in everything she does.

and this was an awesome class, they were all a blast to work with and get to know.  And with this senior being on our volunteer fire department, we ended up pulling a truck out and doing some fun shots that I wouldn’t normally do with a senior.  He was tons of fun, adventurous (we aren’t talking about the ravine he jumped into that I thought we would HAVE to call the fire department out to get him out of lol) and he had a great smile.

I didn’t mean to go MIA, but I think I’m finally caught up from the crazyness that the seniors bring the last month before graduation.  I had a great time with this years group, and just about have them wrapped up.  Which means on to NEXT years class…. lol

So now I can finally get caught up on all the baby yumminess that I was able to shoot the last few weeks.  This is one of my baby planners, I can’t believe she is one already…it seemed like her mom JUST had her.  I had a whole group of them “graduate” the program, which always makes me sad, but I’m working on my toddler program right now and hope to debut it and my NEW “All about me at…. 1, 2, 3″ which is going to totally ROCK.  So stay tuned, I’m going to put a model call out soon for a 3 to 4 year old for this special program (did I mention I”m excited??? lol).

And so in closing, I dare you all to NOT smile at this munchkin.  She was so happy, and at first she didn’t want anything to do with her cake…until we gave her a spoon.  Then she was all over that cake.

And check in all week this week…I’ve got LOTS to show and not enough days in the week to get them all done. lol

I’ve been going slightly crazy trying to finish up the many projects I have going on, and its been everything I can do to keep my head above water at the moment.  I have just a couple of more seniors to show you, this has been a great class this year and I’ve loved getting to know these kids just a little bit.  And then I need to catch you all up on my baby planners, I had a whole bunch of them turn one in the last week, we did so many fun cake smashes.

This senior had the BEST smile, in fact I don’t think we did one serious look the entire session, he just couldn’t do it.  And we went to all sorts of fun places, and we even brought out the BIG props.

to show you, and she did an awesome job even though she wasn’t so much into having her picture taken.  I loved how all of hers came out, and can’t wait for her (and her mom) to see them.

and I swear that is one of the prettiest corvettes I’ve seen.  This senior was full of ideas and we ended up with a ton of great  shots!!!

So this time of year always ends up crazy busy, and this year is no exception.  Getting rained out over spring break didn’t help things (except for how beautiful and green it is outside now, it was a good trade off) so I’m working like crazy to get all these seniors finished and out the door.

This one got a little interesting….there for a little bit I thought I was going to have to call my dad to come pull me out of the mud, you know those roads that your parents always tell you to stay off of after a big rain???  Yea thats the one we ended up on.  We got some great shots, laughed quite a bit and I had a great time getting to know this senior.