Max :: 1 Year

I know I'm the worst blogger in the world... No excuses... I'm just awful!

This month has surprisingly been EXTREMELY busy and in between all the fun sessions I've had, I've been taking care of our growing baby boy. He's getting so big and cute... I can't believe he'll be 3 months old on Friday. Wowzaaazzz!



But as the year winds down, I'm catching up on filling you in on all the special and fun sessions we've had... One of those special sessions has actually been all year long.

I had the opportunity to not only photograph this couple's wedding a few years back, but also their first child's whole first year (3 months, 6 months, & 9 months)! What a privilege! I've been able to watch Max grow from a super cute little guy into a super cute little boy. PLUS, his mom and dad had great news to share as they will be expecting their second child in the spring. How fun! I sure hope to be a part of the newest ones life as well.

Congratulations Joe & Megan on your beautiful growing family!!! It's been so special to be a part of these important moments in your life.

Check out a few of my favorites from our session... and check the links above to see how much he's grown...

Adorable...



He's starting to stand, but not quite walking...



Too cute...



Family LOVE....



Handsome boy...



Max is seriously the happiest baby...



Love it...

Aaron & Leslie :: Engagements

Michigan State or University of Michigan...

You are either a fan of one or the other, right?!

Well here at the Veldman house, we are U of M fans... well, I guess you could say Todd is a HUGE U of M fan, I'm just the one in the background screaming at the TV for whatever team that has the best jerseys and colors. Ha! Needless to say, I'm not partial to one more then the other, even if I am loyal to my husband and always root for U of M. GO BLUE!

But when I did tell him that I had a couple request to do their engagement session at MSU, he threatened to kick me out of the house if I went.... Ha! I'm totally kidding there... could you imagine that headline?

"Man kicks wife out for going to his rival school"

I'm pretty sure that would never happen here in our house. And now since we have a kid and he decides he wants to go to MSU, he will be allowed to go... as long as he still calls home to check in from time to time and allows his mom and dad to visit him and meet his friends. There will be a lot more to it then just that, but I'm pretty sure we have some time before he decides what college he is going to attend.

As I get off track here...

The moral of this post is that no matter who you may be a fan of, or what school you go to, have gone to, or plan to go to, as long as you are friendly and kind, it really doesn't matter.

I'm pretty sure both Aaron and Leslie are two of the sweetest, most fun loving couple around, even if they are the couple that almost caused me to get kicked out of the house... totally kidding! I was glad to have met them over at MSU. The weather was gorgeous, they were both gorgeous, and they even brought their gorgeous black lab to add to the mix. LOVED that! I had so much fun capturing their sweetness towards each other, how they make each other laugh, and most importantly how they love each other. They are so cute and I cannot wait to travel back over there for their wedding in June!

Check out of a few of my favorites from our session...

I'm pretty sure when they said "Let's go to the 'Sparty' statue," I was expecting to see the cartoon mascot... boy was I wrong...



I love how they have so much fun together... A-DORABLE!



LOVE THIS...



Leslie is absolutely gorgeous... and I'm pretty sure Aaron LOVES her so much!!!



They are so beautiful... and the weather was so beautiful as well...



I LOVE these "real" moments that happen...



But these are great too... they could totally be in a magazine!



Mmmm... he did a great job picking that one out...



Perfect!!!



So sweet... this is one of my favorites...



Ummm... who doesn't love a black lab to add to the mix... LOVE IT!!!



Sooooo cute!!!



I'm pretty sure the colors were absolutely perfect... got to love October...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone...

Despite the fact that I don't quite understand this holiday, it's still fun to celebrate. I know last year we had this super fun party with lots of "Halloween" themed desserts, a scary movie playing on the projector, scary music playing with a strobe light that seriously made you want to throw up... Ha! It was SO fun! This year, on the other hand, is a bit more relaxed... no strobe light, no fun "halloween" themed desserts, no scary movie or music... man, we sound really lame right now! Ha!

But we are so excited for all the trick-o-treaters to arrive later today and we even have a little monster that will be giving candy out... don't be fooled he's not a scary monster, just a super cute one!

Enjoy your Halloween!!!

Isabelle :: 6 months

I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but seriously, where does the time go?

It's been such a busy last couple weeks, I have not yet had the chance to update you all on what has been going on. I have had tons of photoshoots that I will be posting since I have a little bit more time now... now that I have our little-big guy on a "schedule"... well, sort of "schedule". I'm trying, and being a first time mom, these last 8 weeks have been the most challenging, yet most wonderful moments of my life. I knew it was going to be hard, but man-oh-man is it tough. It didn't help that Jackson got pretty sick and the only way he would sleep was propped up in his bouncer for a week. Poor guy! Along with myself only getting maybe 3-4 hours a sleep that whole entire week. I don't quite remember all of the photo shoots I had due to the haze of sleep depravation I was under, but things are getting SO much better... and it could not be in better timing because...

Our little-big man started SMILING a few weeks back! He has got the cutest smile and I get so excited to see it. When I go pick him up from his naps, when he's done eating, when I change him, when I ask in my baby-type voice "Where's your smile?", or when I sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle' to him, he gives me the biggest open mouth smile... similar to this... (Note: I took this at 6 weeks, so it's much better now... but he's napping right now so I don't want to wake him just for this post! Ha!)



Pretty darn cute, huh?! I think so too.

But someone else that is pretty darn cute is Miss Isabelle...

I met Miss Izzy back in March when her mama was WAY past due... I'm talking 3 weeks past due. Ek! I have a "new" perspective on that situation, and I could not even imagine those three long weeks for her. But I'm sure she is thinking how time is flying by since Miss Izzy turned 6 months old, and she is the sweetest, most precious 6 month old. I love her big brown eyes and her super sweet smile. She is A-DORABLE!

Check out a few of my favorites from our session...

Love her little facial expressions...



Love her smile...



Mama brought her REAL pearls...



And in the mouth they went... and why wouldn't they?! Ha!



I LOVE this one... look at those eyes!



Umm... is this tutu the most adorable tutu ever?




Haha!



LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the colorful paper balls...



Happy Wednesday!!!

4 Week Whirlwind...

Where does the time go?

I'm a bit clueless on that one...

The last four weeks have been a whirlwind!

I guess I always thought to myself... Oh, I'll be just like my mom when delivering a baby. She had both my sister and I within just a few hours of her water breaking, a smooth recovery, and back to normal within a few weeks.

Ummm... little did I know that would NOT be the case for me. After the NOT-SO-SMOOTH delivery (do not read if you are planning on wanting kids - Haha! Just kidding!), it has been a NOT-SO-SMOOTH recovery as well. Since I had both a natural childbirth and a c-section childbirth, along with trip to the ER from my incision gushing blood, to a few doctors appointments because my incision has a 2" gaping hole, which Todd calls my "flapper", and now I have to have him clean inside my incision twice a day so that it starts to heal since it is not closed in one area (not normal and not fun!), the time has just flew by and I feel like I do not have much to show for the last couple weeks. That's not mentioning the sleep depravation, that seriously NO ONE can prepare you for, and you really do not know what you are doing and saying at times. Ha!

I SO wish I had the smooth delivery and the smooth recovery because I would have been up and moving a lot sooner than this four week mark, but I guess you have to accept what you are given... and I'm soooooo blessed to have been given one of the BEST and CUTEST babies on the planet!

Jackson has been A-MAZING and has made this rough experience SO worth all of the pain, tears, and agony I have been going through. He is so sweet and so mellow... he cries when he needs something and that is about it! He's so content with life and you can tell he's going to be such a sweetheart. I love this kid SO much... and I cannot even explain how much he has changed Todd and I's life.

I did get a chance to pick up my camera to get some shots of him, not as many as I would have liked to, but we made the best of the situation... and we even have a poop explosion from all the excitement to prove it. I'm not talking "little" explosion, it pretty much was like a shotgun and took out my shirt, pants, our bedspread, and all over the floor. We had some fun times cleaning that mess up! Haha!

But here's our little cutie the past couple weeks...

1 WEEK OLD

I mean how could you not be changed when you get to see this face every day? Oh... I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!!



He was COLD... hehe... sorry buddy!



This is his signature pose...



First signs of a smile... my heart melts!



So small...



Adorable...



2 WEEKS OLD

Still being cute!



The next few are a few of my absolute FAVORITES!!







Oh how I LOVE him!!!



Haha...



3 WEEKS

He's getting so BIG!!!



Don't be fooled... he's really not tired!



Ok... maybe only for a few minutes at a time does he sleep... Haha!





Sooo adorable... (This is when I decided to take his diaper off and get some shots of him naked... that's when the explosion took place and he was not going to cooperate, so diaper stayed on! Haha!)



Not quite sure what this is all about, but it's pretty cute!



XOXOXO!!!



4 WEEKS



I LOVE YOU... I LOVE YOU... I LOVE YOU...



Mmm... so cute!



So precious when he sleeps... I just wish he did more of this at night... HaHa!





Oh yes... this happened...



I think Maddox misses being center of attention... what do you think?!



I'm hoping we get more on a routine so I can post more, but excuse me while I try to catch up on sleep in between posts.

Happy 4 weeks Jackson! We love you!!!!