Hissyfits Photography Blog

Saturday we loaded up the fam into Chris’ truck and headed up north to the mountains for a day trip. Our mission? To spend the day together {in quite close proximity I must say since we were crammed into a truck that has a tiny backseat!!} AND find our Christmas tree!

Chris grew up in the country. His grandparents had a Christmas tree farm and he spent many winters working on that farm with them. It was only natural for his family to always have a live Christmas tree. I, on the other hand, was extremely allergic to live trees as a child and grew up with artificial trees. Once Chris and I were married though and were still living in Kansas, we would always go “home” to the tree farm and pick out a live tree. We’d cut it, load it into the truck and haul it back to Kansas City. And then we moved out here.

Our first Christmas here we didn’t even put up a tree. Huntler was barely two and Gentry was five months. They didn’t have a clue. I was homesick and a basket case. It was hot and I just couldn’t bring myself to celebrate. I can’t remember the next year? I think that might have been the Christmas that we put up an artificial tree. Allbeit a very nice one, with Chris coming from a background of live Christmas trees, it was hard for him. So last year we left it up in the closet and went to the good old Safeway parking lot to pick out our tree. It must have been cut long before it made it to the lot though because that tree did not fare well at all!

Chris told Huntler last year that we would go to the mountains this year and cut down our very own tree. Making good on his promise, we did just that. We drove up past Payson to a huge national forest stuffed to the gills with trees and found one! What a FUN day! For the past three weeks all I have been able to think of is “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!” Love that movie!! Luckily, we remembered our saw! And even though my ears about froze off, we weren’t walking through feet of snow or anything crazy!

Before picking out our tree we went on this quarter mile hike down to a lake. Beautiful. It is amazing to me that the Arizona I see and loathe every day is so completely different than the Arizona only two and half hours away. We have sand and dust and cacti. Up north has dirt and trees and water. I have often said that if we lived ANYWHERE but here I may not be in such a big rush to get out! That being said though, Kansas is where we belong. It is and always will be home. My heart is full knowing that in just a short time we will be heading back for Christmas…spending the holidays with those we love most and those who love us. It is hard living here. Since we got home from New York it has been really hard for me…the cool weather really brought on a sense of homesickness and I have been counting down ever since!!

Here is our trip in snapshots…if I attempted to edit these, they would be like the thousands of other images that never make it to the blog!

The tree is up and adorned with sparkly lights and cheerful ornaments. The mess has been cleaned up and now we get to enjoy the holiday spirit! Happy Monday!

Just one of this little cutie pie this morning to hold her grandma over until I can get a few more edited and ready to go!! Despite the big, beautiful smile here, this little miss was one tough cookie! It was all we could do to get ANY sort of a smile out of her!!

Any just turned four year old that uses the words “actually” and “besides” in regular conversation totally suckers me in! Something about little people using such big words and using them appropriately just makes me giggle! My own kids use big, adult words all of the time, but because they are mine, I guess I don’t think twice about it! Yet hearing Lincoln carry on about everything from school to Sponge Bob to Optimus Prime with perfect grammar and confidence made my “almost majored in English vocabulary loving little heart” skip a beat!

{Please ignore the non-centered images! Chris did some work on my blog and one of the not so great things is that now my pictures won’t center! We are working on getting it resolved though!!}

Meet Lincoln. I am pretty sure he is every bit as ornery as he is cute! He looks like he is cooking up something in that mind of his, doesn’t he?

I am also pretty sure that he adores his mom and dad just as much as they adore him!

I had a wonderful time at this session. Lincoln was the chattiest, happiest little guy and was a total rock star when it came to listening to my crazy ideas and then following through! He tried really, really hard to give me lots of shots with the best four year old “cheese” smile he could muster up, but when I brought up things like transformers and school friends, he totally let loose and let his real smile shine through. And isn’t it a sweet one?

And a serious face every now and then too! I LOVED how Rachel dressed him for this session! He was super stylin’ in his layered look! And that scarf? Well, let me just say that I came home that very night and ordered Huntler the same scarf with a matching hat and mittens. And maybe an orange sweater too. Maybe not. You can be the judge of that one!

When emailing back and forth with Rachel in regards to this session, I knew that my gumball machine would be the perfect prop to tote along! I have had it for months now and have been waiting oh so patiently for a little guy just the right age to come along! Lincoln was definitely that little guy! I had an idea in my mind of how I wanted these images to look even before I took them…they had to have that vintage flair.

And this next one? One word: LOVE. It is quite possibly one of my all time faves. Ever. I can assure you it will be seen again on my website! I also would LOVE to try to recreate it with Huntler and Gentry both. I giggle as I type that…the odds of that happening are slim to none, but lucky for me, this gumball machine just so happens to be at my disposal, as are my two favorite kidlets!! Then I want to blow them up big and on canvas. But for now, back to Lincoln. Is this shot not amazing?! And the orange gumball peeking through his hand up there? Fab little detail I couldn’t have planned if I had tried!

Of course we did a few more with mom and dad too! As you can tell, I was totally feeling the black and white on some of these! There is just something so captivating about black and white photographs in real life moments for me. I can’t really explain it, but you’ll notice that a lot of the more candid shots I edit will be black and white…love the timeless feel!

And this next one…it is slightly out of focus and not quite as sharp as I wish it would have been, but it is such a sweet moment that I just had to edit it! I adore how Lincoln is looking up and has that genuine smile on his little face!

And one more black and white image to finish it off! If you would have seen me trying to capture this one you would have had to have laughed! I was shoved back in a corner as far as I could get and was bent over at one crazy angle! But I managed to get the shot!

Sam, Rachel and Lincoln…thanks for making the drive out to meet up with me! It was so nice to meet you all! Have a wonderful holiday season!

Here is just a super tiny sneak peek from my session yesterday! I had such a wonderful time meeting up with this little man and his mom and dad! More to come soon!

Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t fanned my Facebook page yet, here is the link! I am trying to keep my “personal” page just that, personal. Real life friends and family only! And although I haven’t been too great about updating the fan page, I promise to make an honest effort!

Mom and Dad, enjoy this little peek of your little man!!

Just a quick post for today…which is better than the “no posts” I have done the last several days, right? Life is busy. It is just that time of year for everyone and despite my great intentions, updating my blog has taken the back burner for the time being!

However, I am no longer taking sessions for 2009, so once I finish out these last few on the books, that will free up some more time! I have big plans of getting all of my pricing and packages updated and doing a little maintenance work on my blog!! Not to mention there are several forms I am personalizing and incorporating as this little business of mine continues to grow!

Okay…so I have officially begun my Christmas shopping for the year! It’s late for me, but better late than never, right? We are doing things a bit different around here this year. Our kids have WAY.TOO.MUCH. And because they will continue to get way too much from their grandparents and the rest of the family, we are limiting what we get them. I have spent a good chunk of this year sifting through toys and games and getting rid of things…I am not about to add back in a bunch of stuff just for the sake of buying it, which is what I usually do! I guess I associate Christmas for the kids with having a lot to open…obviously that is NOT the meaning of Christmas. This year I want to make it special…to have them help me sort through and donate something to the kids who need it, to adopt a family, SOMETHING. Times are tough for everyone right now. People are hungry. Parents won’t be able to provide their kids with Christmas presents. And while we too have had to scale back, we are lucky. Our kids rarely do without. We have plenty to eat. It’s our turn to give back.

So…does anyone know of a great place to start? Charities? Programs? Let me know…I want to find the perfect fit for us! And I want it to involve kids of course!

Despite the changes we are making, there are still gifts to be bought! I am going practical for everyone I can this year…our kids included. I am also wanting to do whatever shopping I can on Etsy…may as well help out the super small businesses and get fabulous and creative gifts in return!

And here is where I started…

The kids LOVE to help in the kitchen! It’s a shame I really don’t love to be in the kitchen, but they do. So…during the month of December I am going to work on a list of things I want to change and improve upon with myself for 2010. One of those is baking with the kids. I want to make something with them at least once a week. Of course they need aprons, right? Maybe not at the top of the list of necessities, but come on, they have SO much stuff…I am thinking outside the box!

This is the apron I ordered for Huntler. It is coming all the way from Australia!! I had a really rough time finding something for him that I loved…but this one definitely says BOY!

Now for the queen of all things girl? I happened upon this seller and knew right away that Gentry HAD to have one of her creations. Tell me you disagree! HA! I picked out this darling Strawberry Shortcake one for her, but there are several SUPER cute ones to choose from! A couple of them are holiday designs and absolutely precious!

And what chef is complete without a monogrammed hat? Huntler’s will be white with his name in black. Gentry’s will of course be pink, but I am not sure on what color I want her name to be. I was thinking hot pink, but I emailed the seller of this apron to find out if that tulle is red or hot pink! So…once I have that figured out, I can get the hats ordered and will have one of their three or four gifts down!

For some reason these pictures will NOT center when I click on them! Argh! Oh well!! I am off to get my work out in before the crew starts stirring! Huntler is out of school today for Veteran’s Day…I am thinking I am going to take the kids for a picnic maybe! We can’t play in our yard because there is manure and grass seed everywhere {we planted our winter grass} and I am avoiding busy public places until about May, so I think McDonald’s and a blanket under a shade tree sounds pretty darn perfect!

Every single decision I make for these two is out of complete and utter love. It just so happens that some of those decisions are harder than others. Take H1N1 and the vaccine for example! I have read and reread all of the comments you have taken the time to leave both here and on Facebook in regards to the H1N1 vaccine. That being said, I am still at a loss on what to do! Just when I think I make my mind up, I change it.

But at this point, it really doesn’t matter anyway. I called the kids’ pediatrician yesterday to talk with them about it. They have none of the vaccine in stock and the waiting list is extremely long. The receptionist even made a point to tell me not to think they had forgotten about us, it is just that long. So I questioned her…like 4-5 weeks? At least. Quite possibly longer.

So begins a new chapter in our lives. We can’t live in a bubble. But we CAN be ultra careful. We will take our vitamins and eat healthy. We will drink water and orange juice. We will get fresh air and sunshine. We will steer clear of any and all playplaces and lay low on the playdates. Because that is all we can do.

In a way, yes, I am relieved that the vaccine isn’t in stock and the waiting list is miles long. It makes my decision easy…and it was the one my gut was telling me to go with anyway.

And that my friends, is all I’ve got today. It is cloudy and cool and I am having the urge to get my little loves out and in front of my camera in the orange grove where I shot these last year…

Being a mother sometimes flat out sucks. It is by far the hardest job out there and all of the worrying and wondering is about to do me in. The latest? H1N1 and the vaccine.

Two months ago I was bound and determined my kids were getting the vaccine. No ifs, ands or buts about it. And then all the research {or lack there of} came out and I changed my mind. So for the past month, I have been of the mindset that no, my kids are not getting the vaccine. Too new, too risky, too scary.

And then I took Gentry to dance today and left feeling more confused and frustrated than ever. What in the world is a parent to do? What is the right decision? Or is there one? We are avoiding play places and things like that where germs run rampant on a normal basis, but we can’t live in a bubble. Or can we? Right now I want to put us in one. Other than school and dance, we are laying low while I make the big decision over whether or not to get us vaccinated.

Chris says that we aren’t even able to get the vaccine yet…it is only for high risk groups. Since Huntler is in a private school, it isn’t even being offered that I am aware of. Fortunately, because he is in a private school, there aren’t as many kids and the germs are hopefully less.

In the meantime we are washing hands like crazy. We are also washing pillowcases, puppies and blankets like crazy. This is so not normal behavior for me…I am not a germophobe at all. But after hearing about all the kids in the ICU at our local hospital {one of the moms at dance has a sister in law who works there} and also the people without underlying health conditions that have died, I’m freaking.

Random I know. Not my normal post. But this is weighing heavy on my mind this week. It is times like this I desperately wish I had a little instruction book on raising kids!

Thoughts? Does anyone out there have any connections and know anything I should know to help me make my decision?

Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting up with a sweet family at a fabulously fun new location. Okay, well, let me clarify a bit. When I say “new” I don’t really mean new…I have been there before with my littles, but it has been a good ten months or so! And the area certainly isn’t new, it is actually historic! Oh how I love the timeless buildings that have stories to tell! The ones that have seen countless people come and go, heard the conversations and weathered the storms. There is just something so charming and inviting about places with such character.

But you want to know who really stole the show with all her charm and character? That would be adorable little Gracie here. She’d had a rough morning and no nap, but I can honestly tell you that I never would have known! The moment I walked up she was all smiles and pure baby happiness and it lasted through the entire session!

This was little Gracie girl’s first time to ever have professional pictures taken. I feel so honored and blessed to have been entrusted with the opportunity to give her parents priceless images of their beautiful baby. Quite obviously I love photography. That is why I do what I do after all! But you see, my real love comes in giving others something they can not give themselves. Fleeting expressions, family snuggles, gappy toothed grins and squeezable baby chub captured and forever frozen in time. I take the same approach when photographing my own kids…capturing real life and preserving the moments. I can’t even fathom it at this point, but I know that one day when my sweet babes are grown and gone and the memories have long since faded with time, I will always have countless images to sift through and remind me of days gone by. But let’s not go there…I am making myself tear up thinking about my loves getting any bigger than they already are!

We started off our time together by getting some of the more traditional family shots. Here are just a couple from beginning of our session…

And a little vintage flare…an obvious love of mine! I wish that this building wasn’t empty…these huge store front windows would be amazing with neat little goodies tucked away behind the glass and peeping through the background!

And those pigtails? OH MY GOSH! Don’t even get me started! Aren’t they darling?!

I have an obsession with brick for some reason! I just love it! However, the area where we live is all new construction. There is no brick. What we do have a lot of is stucco in a large variety of earthy tones, but that just doesn’t fit my personality too well! Needless to say, I took full advantage of the brick!

And you have probably noticed I do this pose a lot with littles! It is one I think is just too sweet! Brick background and a fab pose equal one adorable image if you ask me!

And now for the belle of the ball and an outfit change. I spent a lot of time editing this image and gave it a feel that I love! Vintage, timeless, retro… I would love to have an image of Gentry just like this one on canvas! And those pink boots? I need some in a toddler girl size 10 or 11 if anyone has some in good condition they are wanting to part with!

Don’t you LOVE LOVE LOVE the chub? Oh my gosh! I wish people thought that my chubby thighs were even half this cute!

Something about this next one really gets me!

And one last family shot…obviously not posed yet my personal fave! Just one of those real life moments, you know?

David, Karina and Gracie…I am so glad that ladybug party post I blogged led you to me! You have a beautiful family and a future full of so much promise! Gracie is a doll and such a happy, sweet baby! I wish you all a lifetime of wonderful memories that will dance through your minds for years to come!

It seems as though life has once again gotten busy on me…or maybe it truly hasn’t ever really settled down. Nevertheless, I still haven’t gotten to share much about our amazing trip to NYC so am going to use this chance to post a few fun facts.

And because it seems less overwhelming, I am going to do this “list style!” My OCD makes me want to have each paragraph lead into the next and go in sequential order of our trip, but at this point I just want to remember the details, no matter the order!

Let me preface this with a couple of VERY important facts. This was a trip Chris qualified for. It was all expenses paid and by far the most luxurious trip we have ever been on. We are so grateful for the opportunity to go and get to experience all of the “finer” aspects of NYC without spending our life savings!

Second of all, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to go had Chris’ mom not flown out and met us. This trip was not “child friendly” and some of you know I refuse to fly {or travel at all!} without my kids. So had Grandma not gone, we wouldn’t have been able to go either. She stayed with the kids while we were off eating in fancy restaurants and doing grown up stuff! Thanks again Grandma!

Now for a few facts…

1. We saw Wicked on Broadway. AMAZING. I have never experienced anything like that before and it was absolutely something I will never forget. Everything from the unbelievable set and props to the beautiful voices of the actors and actresses. It was SO much fun and definitely a highlight of our trip!

2. You hear so much about the people of NYC being super rude and unfriendly but our experience was the exact opposite. Our first day there a couple sat next to us in the restaurant where we were eating lunch and struck up a conversation. They worked nearby in the United Nations building and were so helpful and full of advice about things we should try to do while visiting. We met many more like them during our stay.

3. We went to both FAO Schwartz and the fancy Toys R Us in Times Square. The Toys R Us came complete with one of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs AND a ferris wheel! I have a whimpy stomach and got motion sick on the ferris wheel. Yeah, pretty lame, hunh? While FAO Schwartz was fun and different {Gentry and I totally danced on the big piano!}, we liked Toys R Us better!

4. We also went to the America Girl store and Gentry got her first American Girl doll. She got a Bitty Baby. We named her Gracie.

5. Huntler loved riding the subway. When you ask him what his favorite thing about NYC was, he’ll tell you the subway. Me? Not so much. Too many people. Too many germs. {We had to wait for one of our trains to take off because they were cleaning puke out of the car we were on. Gross.} Too many connections and having to change lines. Filthy dirty. Dark. You get the idea. Oh…and the rats. Yep…the kids and I saw two GIANT black rats scurrying across the tracks. Chris missed them…he was walking way too fast for the kids and didn’t get the privilege of seeing such filth. Let me just say that I threw the mittens Gentry was wearing during our subway trips away and washed Huntler’s and mine in hot water once we got home. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. But Huntler loved it!

6. Huntler also LOVED ice skating! For years and years now I have wanted to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Like everyone else, I have seen the rink on Christmas specials on TV as well as the Today Show. It just looked so fun! So, our last day in NYC we went. The rink was closed all morning because of the rain, but once it stopped, they cleaned the ice and we were ready to go! Well, all of us but Gentry. She HATED it. Screamed. Cried. Fought us while putting on her skates. Typical Gentry behavior when she doesn’t want to do something. I am sure that the other people there were wondering what in the world we were doing trying to make her skate! Let me just say it was NOT cheap and we weren’t about to give up! Once we made it to the ice, the hysteria continued. We had to call Grandma to come to the rescue and sit with sassy pants while we skated with Huntler.

Chris and I spent the entire time hanging onto his arms to keep him upright but oh how he LOVED it! He giggled and chatted the entire time! When we asked him if his legs were getting tired he would say, “No. They are just fine! They aren’t tired at all!” He didn’t want to stop!

And just for giggles, here is a snapshot of Gentry. Not a happy camper! But she looked darn cute, don’t ya think?

7. Of all the wives there, I connected the most with the ones from Kansas. Imagine that.

8. I got up early one morning {we left at 6:15} and went to the Today Show with a few of the wives. It was just a short walk from our hotel. Had it not been freezing cold, wet and windy, it would have been SO much fun! If we are ever back in NYC when the weather is nicer, I would definitely love to go again! The big story the day we were visiting was the boy in the balloon. While we were there we also stopped at the Dean and Deluca you always see when they are filming outside for hot drinks! It was so much fun to get to experience all of these places I have only ever seen on TV!

9. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and let me just say, I could have stayed another week or two. Seriously. I am telling you guys…this trip was by far the most luxurious one we have ever been on! We were upgraded to a two bedroom suite and definitely had the best of accommodations! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dressing room and a living room. Three flat screens. Insane. Oh and the soap? They have the BEST smelling soap I have ever smelled! I think I mentioned that we went a day early so we were on our own? Yeah…the room we stayed in that night was the size of a postage stamp and not nearly as nice!

10. We took a tour of Ground Zero. It was not at all what I expected. I guess I thought we would actually be able to see the dirt and such where the buildings once stood, but it was all fenced off and we couldn’t see anything. It was a bit surreal to be walking around down there though. We all have memories of where we were when we heard about the towers. I am sure most of us remember seeing the footage of people running and all of the dust and dirt billowing down the streets as well. It was definitely a time to remember and reflect.

11. Before our tour of Ground Zero, we heard a presentation by Bob Beckwith. Remember this picture? That is Bob Beckwith {retired fire fighter} with President Bush. He told us where he was the day he heard about the towers and then some about his time working at the site. It really brought home once again just how devastating this all really was.

12. Central Park is AMAZING and I could take pictures there all day long. ALL.DAY.LONG.  Enough said!

13. We also had the opportunity to eat at Tavern on the Green and Sardi’s while we were there! Both fabulously fancy restaurants! Sardi’s is known for their caricature artists. They have hundreds of caricatures of very famous people who have eaten there covering their walls. They drew our caricatures as well. Let me just say that I hope I look NOTHING like the picture that we had drawn!! And Tavern on the Green? Amazing. I definitely felt like a bowl in a china cabinet because I am the kind of girl who is more than perfectly fine to head out to eat at Red Robin in my jeans, but these once in a lifetime experiences were amazing!

14. The fast food restaurants in NYC are TINY. I mean, like barely any or no seating. Seriously? I never did get used to that!

15. There really are people EVERYWHERE – just like you see on TV. Even in the cold temps! You could definitely tell when the work day ended because it got even crazier! I am super paranoid about pick pocketers and told Chris to keep an eye on his wallet more times than I can count and checked to make sure my own was still in my bag countless times as well! How horrible would it be to lose not only our credit cards and cash but also our ID when we had to fly back? Bad, bad, bad.

16. We did not take the carseats. We debated and debated but in the end decided not to. Definitely not my best decision ever as a mom. We knew we weren’t going to have a car and the only time we would need them was to and from the airport. Let me just say that I was a nervous wreck and making myself sick over the fact that our kids were only being restrained by a seat belt while at the hands of taxi drivers. I think it was somewhere between 15 and 20 miles from the airport to the hotel and while the highways weren’t nearly as overwhelming as they are here in AZ, the drivers are CRAZY. Especially the taxi drivers. I was seriously about to throw up I was so nervous. I hate traffic anyway but when I have NO control whatsoever, it is a thousand times worse. Luckily we didn’t have any problems but I can assure you I will NEVER do that again.

I think that’s it? I’ve been working on this post for days now so I am sure I have forgotten something, but I covered a lot! Happy Monday!

I met up with this beautiful baby girl and her parents tonight for a fab session in a fun new shooting spot!! We had a wonderful time and I have many, many more images to sort through and of course a whole blog entry to create once I have done some editing, but for tonight, I only have it in me to edit just this one!

Karina, I hope this will hold you over until I can get more up for you! Thanks so much for meeting me this afternoon! I had a wonderful time!