Sneak Peek of Baby Caden ~ Ixonia Newborn Photography

Last night I had a chance to meet 6-day old Caden and his Mom and Dad.  They are first time parents and so in love with this little guy.  Who can blame them...he is absolutely gorgeous!!!   He did a great job in his first photo session...gave me some sleepy time, some wonderful wakeful time, and even had an extra special treat for Daddy (although I didn't capture that one)!

Thanks for the great time and for letting me take over Caden's bedroom, Sarah and Jim.  Unfortunately,  that's probably the most use it will get for a while!  :-)

This is one of my favorite newborn pics ever.  Caden loved to be snuggled up and he was just so content.  SOOOO sweet and perfect!

This was shortly after the aforementioned unmentionable act.  Caden looks like he's plotting for more mis-deeds.  Thanks for being a good sport, Jim.  Love the tat!

I was very excited when I saw that Caden had this bookshelf in his room.  It was a bit tight to get a full shot but I like this...what do you think??

Project 365 - Day 43. Keeping My Perspective

The last couple of days my 16 month old BABY has been insisting upon sitting in her big sister's booster seat at the table and she won't even THINK of eating anything off of a tray anymore!  

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this age but I'm also realizing that I'm really not liking how fast it's all going.  I think that knowing Emma is our last child is making me hang onto her and every little moment even tighter.  

She just looks so big and so little to me at the same time right now.

So for todays photo I decided to go with two.  Because in one, her plate looks so huge and she looks my teeny weeny baby relative to it.  But in the other, she looks like the big kid that she thinks she is.  (sigh)  You can guess which one is my favorite.

Fix-It Friday...For Real This Time

Ok...I'm on track now with Fix-It Friday and I was excited to get started.

Here's the before picture:

The photographer was unhappy with the "clutter" in the background and while that didn't bother me too much, I worked with that.

Here's my edit:

To have a play of your own or see what others came up with, go to:





I intentionally didn't look at ANY other plays before I did my own so I wouldn't be biased. Now off to see what I could have done!

Fix It Friday....A Day Early, A Couple Weeks Late. Texture

The iheartfaces website runs a series called Fix-It Fridays.  They post a photo and then anyone can play with it to make edits as they see fit.  This was the last one they did but I decided to try it because they were encouraging the use of Textures.  Something I've never worked with before.  To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about them, generally speaking or in my use of it.   At least I know how now and I'll keep it in mind but don't think it'll be something I use too often....   I need some good urban shots so I can really play with it....

Anyway, here is the photo as it was given to us:

And here is my edit:

Wanna have a play yourself?  Just go to:



Let me know what you come up with!!

Project 365 - Day 42. Off The Charts

This morning I had a mini work session / play date.  It was fun and I got to catch up with a 5-month old that I shot when he was just a day old and while he was still in utero.   He actually slept for all but the last 5 minutes of the time we were together, but I enjoyed getting a good look at him for those few minutes.  WOW...that "little" guy is off the charts cute!  Check out those lashes!  Love 'em!!

Oh, and Drew is famous in my Illustrations Photography world.   His shoulder is the image I use as my Illustrations Facebook ID (look left).

Project 365 - Day 41. Catch Us If You Can

Well...not a high quality photo but definitely a high quality representation of my day!

I've learned over time that one of the ways we keep our sanity as a large family is by limiting extra-curricular activities. They tend to add more stress than benefit to our lives so we choose them carefully.

Wednesdays are Christian Formation classes - they've made the cut! So I spend the majority of my Wednesday driving to and from schools (Clare, Corey and Lilly's, and our Church's). By the time we get home, I'm usually a bit stressed and tired. Like today.

The only chance I had to take a shot today, fittingly, was in my car. We had 5 minutes for an on-the-go snack and I turned around to take these snaps of Lilly with my Photobooth App on my iPhone. I had no intention of using it as my Project 365 shot but there you go...It's a perfect representation of our day. Quick and Crazy! Just like photobooths and our Wednesdays are meant to be.

Project 365 - Day 40. Snow Smiles

We've had about 10 inches of snow today.  As hearty Wisconsinites, of course, the kids still had school.  They couldn't wait to get off that bus and let the playing begin!   They were sledding off our retaining wall (is that safe?) and anywhere else they could find a bump.   Even Emma was anxious to kick the snow around.  Lilly played for a bit but then had to go potty and couldn't be bothered getting resuited up so she was done by the time I got out there with my camera.  The rest of us had a good time until Corey decided to slide sans-sled, face first, down a hill.  He did a massive face-plant and this was his response.   Then he stood up and realized he had snow all inside his coat and, believe it or not, that actually made him cold.   Game over.

For a few more pics from our playtime, check out our Family Blog.