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Category Archives: My Life

My kids, my life and things going on!

At Home in Your Body: Talent, Oregon Child Photography

This week I got a bladder infection that I avoided going to the doctor for and tried to get rid of via water and cranberry juice, which meant that I let it get really bad and painful before I got any relief.  Anyways, while I spent several days in or around my bed I was thinking up in my mind about the human body, movement and awareness.

One thing that I love about the stage that Autumn is in, is that she is so comfortable in her own body. Something I hope will not change, but likely will given, our culture. I love how she moves in order to get her body to do things for her. She doesn’t think about sucking in her tummy, unless her body requires her to do so for balance. She doesn’t worry that when she bends over she may show the world her undies.

I struggled last week when Autumn fell in love with a pair of plastic princess “heels” she wanted from Goodwill. She has been wearing the things all around the house and even to bed (I don’t let her wear them outside because I don’t want her to fall and because I want her to run). I personally hate heels and never understood the point of causing yourself discomfort for the sake of fashion, so I really didn’t understand why Autumn would wear something that limited her movement, are hard and surely must be uncomfortable. I may never know, but it seems the fad is dying down. At any rate, I hope she never chooses heels because she thinks she needs to to make her legs look better, fit in or to feel taller like girls in magazines. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it and model a different attitude along the way while I am at it.

Today however was about photographing Autumn in some of her beautiful, natural movements. I didn’t even get half of them. In fact as soon as we got home I immediately noticed some tippy toe stands as she reached for things just out of reach and a pointed toe on one foot (for whatever reason). I imagined these photos taking place in this cool place I had seen in Talent, but when I took Autumn there this time it just didn’t seem like safe enough place to let her be free to move and explore so I opted out. I think they turned out to be a nice capture of her being comfortable in her own skin in a simple way though.

 

“And though she be but little, she is fierce.” -Shakespeare

And a little happy color to end the session. :) Of course we followed up with a cupcake at the Cupcake Daily here in Talent. The prefect little Mama/Daughter date!

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Tired of cheesey character Valentine’s?

Josiah and Autumn helped me do some test shots today for Valentine’s day. We used a random strand of all red Christmas lights (that I have no idea where they came from) and set up a fun little area in my bedroom and made these. They thought the way the hearts came out was really cool!

If you would like to book a mini session before Feb 4th to get a few fun pictures to send cards or e-cards to friends and family or for your child’s school Valentine’s party just click the contact button! We can do this same set up in your home or mine, or one of man other love themed ideas that are simple, fun and relaxed.

For now, Happy (early) Valentine’s Day form Josiah and Autumn!

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Cutting Down a Christmas Tree in Ashland: We are real Oregonians now!

When I was a kid my granddad used to take me each Christ out into the north Louisiana woods around where we lived to pick out and cut down a tree for Christmas. We would take it home in the back of his truck and hang LOTS of tinsel on it, and lights and ornaments, including ones I made and brought home from school. Looking back those Louisiana pines, don’t make the best tress, they kind of look like a teenage Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but I never noticed or minded.

This year with the kids being 3 and 4, they have been really excited about getting a Christmas tree and someone told me you could cut your own at in certain places in the National Forest here in Ashland. SO we went to the ranger station (behind Super 8 on the south side of Ashland) and bought a permit and got a map to know where we could cut from. You can find info here if you are looking to cut your own Christmas tree in the Rogue Valley. The best part was that the permit costs only FIVE BUCKS!! And you can cut a tree up to 12 feet tall, and up to 5 per family. Talk about a deal! Anyways, we drove up Dead Indian Road about 26 miles, stopped on the side of the road and hiked around in the snow until we found the perfect tree. The kids had so much fun, and we even brought hot coco that we picked up form a gas station and listened to Christmas music on the drive up. I highly recommend anyone in the area to do this, I just can’t explain what a joy it was for all of us.

I also think this would make a wonderful family photo session for Christmas, New Year’s or just because!

Here is a little video my hubby, Brian, made on his iPhone of the trip. :)

 

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Ashland Halloween Parade

Yesterday Brian and I went to our first Ashland Halloween Parade with the kids. It is really fun because everyone dresses up and gets to be in the parade; young, old, humans, dogs, families, photographers, unicyclers, men, women, men dressed as women, women dressed like men ;) .

The weather was nice, the costumes were creative, and the music and children were all very lively! Autumn has so much fun she cried when it was time to go home. Josiah, not being a man of crowds and chaos, was not as impressed, but suffered through with some candy and our neighbor girl Jane by his side, who we ran into during the event. After the parade we went home and Brian and I and my brother dressed up and passed out candy. It was a fun night!

This guy is an “oil spill.” Awesome.

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