For the next few months the blog will be a bit quiet while we take some time off to search for where to lay our roots. We’ve talked about moving for years and now we’re off to narrow down the search! Session sneak peeks will still be posted on Facebook and I’ll be back to blogging full time in March. We’ll be kicking off being back from maternity leave with John & Charlotte’s wedding in Key West.
Happy Holidays everyone!
And, because every post needs an image, here’s a quick image from Seph & Chris’ session and of my own DJ TLC (and accompanying Crafton break dancers).

Dear 16 year old Kate,
Stop (collaborate) and listen. I know you say you don’t want kids. EVER. 31 year old Kate is here to tell you that it’s bunk. You’re really saying that because you’re reeling from your parent’s divorce and are sick of being dragged all over the country and moving. Here’s the thing. Get your head out of your *ss and realize how lucky you are to have two parents that love and support you. And guess what? You have 3 kids in your 30′s. THREE. And you’re happy. Blissfully happy. So happy that you want to climb up on top of a hill and spin around Julie Andrews style while singing (badly) at the top of your lungs.

You’ll spend years thinking you’re a crappy parent just because you’re not a traditional mom but that’s bunk too. Your kids will love your silly, haphazard parenting style and they will experience things because of your job that you haven’t even dreamed of yet. They’ll love your spontaneity and overlook the areas in which you’re lacking (for now). They’ll also have an obnoxious number of pictures of their life with you that they complain about as kids but I’m pretty sure they’ll appreciate it as adults. You’ll experience more love than you’ve ever dreamed of.

And there’s this man. This red head (seriously, you fall in love with a red head) who is the kindest person that you’ve met in your life. He’s selfless and strong and is leaps and bounds over those punks that you’re dating now. I know you don’t like nice guys now but you will. And it will change you. You’ll learn kindness and selflessness (errrr, well still working on that one) and how to love someone with your entire heart. There will still be times that you want to punch him in the throat but those are few and far between. He is the best husband. The best father. And, wait for it, you meet him when he already has a kid. That’s right, little miss “I don’t want kids ever”, you get the baptism by fire treatment. You’ll stumble through it and come out on top.

So let’s sum this up. You’ll have an amazing life. Quit being a morose, grunge-infused whiner and look forward to the joy that is coming your way. And, while you’re at it, make sure to cover your navel because in a few months you’ll get sent home from school for dressing like a tramp. And you’ll tell your kids that story and they’ll laugh hysterically. Life is good. Just wait, it’s coming.

(image by Jon & Emily Beaty)

I had planned to post this on Friday but have been second guessing myself for a few days now. My dear friend Anna, who some of you have met when she shot beside me for multiple weddings, brought home a beautiful baby girl this past week. Watching her go through the process of adoption created so much happiness in my life and reminded me of the joy and turmoil that we went through adopting my son.

My beautiful boy is about to turn 9 next week. N-I-N-E. How does time go by so quickly!?!??!? I was having a very adult conversation with the boy the other day about how special he was because I CHOSE him to be my son. Something the other kids never had. We went on to chat a bit about his birth mother and I found myself getting more and more anxious. That talk brought up a good bit of angst for me. As an adoptive mom, I always am worried about the birth mom coming back and taking my son away from me. I know we signed papers where she gave up all rights to LM. I know that I’ve raised him since he was 9 months old and he knows no other life. BUT I have such fear that one day he’ll whip out the “you’re not my real mom” phrase or feel a gap in his life that is enough to send him on the search for a woman he never knew. It made me realize how overprotective I am of the boy compared to TLC & Peanut. I want to wrap him in a smothering blanket of “you are my son”-ness and not let the mean old world hurt him in any way. How blessed am I to have this handsome boy who has his daddy’s kind spirit and gentle heart?

Happy early birthday, my Little Man. You bring so much joy into my world. I am the lucky one.
Love, Mom.

I was chatting with a client the other day (Hi Beth!) and realized that I haven’t done a Family Friday post since TLC was still a newborn. I’ve been soaking up this summer with my beautiful, and complete, family. We are so in love with Drools McFatkins, aka Griff the wonder baby, and had a blast a few weeks ago when one of my former brides (who is now a photographer) photographed the five of us…six, counting Summit. Here’s a little glimpse of what he’s been up to since March!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I will be officially back from maternity leave as of April 10th. I am currently scheduling sessions (and weddings for 2011/2012) and will only be taking a limited amount of bookings for the remainder of the year. I’m excited to start shooting again soon but right now I’m drinking in these moments with my little man. We’re so in love!

Hello, my love.
You’re here.
You’re perfect.

I stare at your handsome little face, totally in love, and remember crying for months on end because I thought this day would not come. The fertility issues. Bad news, some hopeful news and then the surprise that brought us here. It reminds me of the Looney Tunes episode where Wile E. Coyote finally catches the Road-Runner. After years and years of frantically pursuing a dream (or, in the coyote’s case, a tasty snack) you finally catch up with the idea of what you’ve always wanted…and then hold up a “Now what do I do?” sign.
I’m at a loss of where to go from here,
Other than to just snuggle and breathe you in.

I am so thankful that I was able to be pregnant again.
I am so thankful that you are in my arms
…and healthy.

For now, the world is perfect.
Happy birthday Griff.
I love you.

Hello loves!
Thank you for all of the sweet emails that I’ve received lately regarding TLC (The Littlest Crafton). We’re still impatiently waiting for our little man to to show up…hopefully any day now! I’ll update the blog with pictures when our tiny Pisces arrives!

I have three weddings coming up in December so we’ve been enjoying our November slow-down (aside from fall session editing) as a family. Here’s a few images from this past week at the beach!
Some of my favorite pictures of my husband and I have been taken by our 5-year-old. I think she’s after my job.

“He is the cheese to my macaroni.
And, I know that people are supposed to fall in love before they reproduce, but… I guess normalcy isn’t really our style.”


From our family to yours, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Fall session teasers coming up tomorrow!

I’m not a patient person. Not in the slightest.
We have a boy and a girl already so I’d LOVE to wait until the birth to find out the gender of our child. Realistically I knew if we tried that then I’d end up running into a 3D ultrasound place, at like 36 weeks, because I couldn’t wait any longer. Yeah, I’m that neurotic. We still wanted to have that special moment of surprise though. So today, at our big ultrasound, we had the tech put the gender results in an envelope to keep it secret. Then we took the envelope to a party store and asked them to put the corresponding color of balloons in a box and seal it so we couldn’t see anything. Our dear friend, Chris, met our family at the park to capture the moment where we all found out, together, who the TLC (The Littlest Crafton) would be!
Feeling their new sibling kick me:

Prying open the box:

It’s a…

BOY!!!!!!



Baby is healthy and happy! We do have a little pregnancy issue where I need to be monitored with extra ultrasounds but who is complaining? More opportunities to see our little BOY! =)