Oh, time. Where did you go? | Northwest Arkansas Children’s Photographer

Posted on July 13, 2010

Once upon a time, I had a baby boy. I was barely more than a baby myself as I was only 17 when I had him. He was born the same year I graduated from high school. Not something I recommend, of course, and I often wonder how the conversations will play out with my children when we eventually talk about such intense topics like teenage pregnancy. Especially with the girls. All three of them.

But this isn’t about future sex talks. This is about my baby boy.

My gorgeous, smart, hilarious baby boy. The one that isn’t quite a baby anymore. The one that is actually oh so close to being a teenager and a young man.

He likes Legos. And video games. And his dogs, Tuff and Jax. (A Rottweiler and a Chiweinie, respectively. You should see them play together. Hilarious.) He takes being the big brother to three little sister in stride and does so well with them. And they adore him. A.D.O.R.E him. I can’t help but smile when I walk into the room to see them playing with the girls’ dollhouse, only using Lego Starwars figures and dinosaurs instead of dollies.

He let me take some photos of him during his most recent weekend. I love them. I can’t wait to hang them up in the house, but they also make me sad. He is growing so fast. Soon the the little boy who plays with Legos, calls me an old woman while playing Just Dance with me on the Wii, and who is interested in the guitar will be replaced by a teenage boy wanting car keys and dates. I can see it in these photos.

This was one of the first we took, next to the truck. You can tell he wasn’t toooo into it yet.

The truck is John’s hobby/baby. Blaze hopes it will be his when he gets older.

And while he was letting me take photos, I managed to get this one of almost all my babies. This one will be big in the house.

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Splish Splash | Northwest Arkansas Children’s Photographer

Posted on July 6, 2010

Summer and its heat is going strong here in Arkansas. This means all things summer like lake trips, BBQs, pools, firecrackers, and slip n slides. One day my partner in crime, aka my sister, called and tried to convince me to go to a local waterpark with all the kiddos. I really wasn’t feeling it that day. You must understand- there are SEVEN kids between the two of us. Well, Blaze isn’t always at my house, but even when he isn’t, there still are six kids for my sister and I to try and manage. Blaze is the oldest by five years, but the other little tykes are all under six. The youngest is my little Aryah at eight months. So, yeah, I just wasn’t in the ‘let’s go to a huge public place of water with our massive number of kids’ mood. So, I talked her into making a carnival of sorts in my backyard. We had grand plans of face painting, relay races, crafts, a little Wii, and then some fun on a new slip n slide. Well, we ended up doing the crafts and the wii. The slip n slide, however, was the big hit of the day. We took some snappies of the kids playing and we had a good time. A few days later I was looking back through the photos and realized what a great opportunity the slip n slide could be to get some really fun action shots to document the kids’ summer. So I invited everyone back over to my house and Autumn and I moved the slide to a prettier location.

Here are a few of my favorites from that day.

First up, my niece and nephews.

These are two of the only times that she would slide on her stomach. Normally she likes to slide on her knees like some sort of dancer in a musical. It’s pretty funny.

Bwahahah!! This one cracks me up! I happened to snap the shutter right when Autumn got him with the water hose. I guess it was cold.

He’s good, though. See?

He’s hardcore.

And now some of my girls.

Poor Paeton. She fell on her bum during one of her first turns and didn’t want much to do with the slide after that.

She is so silly.

I didn’t get any of the baby. Bad mommy. She is officially eight months in half an hour, so I need to just take some 8 month photos tomorrow for a future post.

Overwhelmed | Northwest Arkansas Lifestyle Photographer

Posted on July 3, 2010

I have a list. A list a mile long that seems to be running off the paper, off my desk, and onto my living room floor. This list tells me that I have two sessions to wrap up, a couple of sewing projects to look up, laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, blog ideas to ponder, and a complete mess of other items. I am overwhelmed with it all. Not to mention that this week has been insanely busy for me. We’ve had John’s days off packed with visits to friends and movies cuddled together on the couch as we try to find time together. I’ve had visits with my siblings and my dear grandmother who lives almost two hours away. There has been a birthday party for my sweet nephew who turned one (today! but his party was last Saturday), doctor appointments for Tates, a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick out ‘You did well at the doctor’s office and now get an owl!’ fabric (though the owl was supposed to be a treat for being a big girl and getting shots, but a certain mother misplaced the records and we are having to hunt them down….and will have to go BACK to the doctor’s), and we introduced a new kitty into our family. It’s been busy. I’m exhausted.

Why am I blogging? Because one of my new goals for my business is to really start pouring ME into this blog. To show more of Cherron and what makes me tick. I’ve wanted to do this for some time now and things seem to get in the way, but it is never going to happen if I don’t DO it. So here I am. Doing.

I would like to do some sort of weekly theme as well, but I’m not really sure what I would like to do. Maybe two? One more for the business and one more for personal fun? I’m at a loss. Suggestions are always welcome!

Since photos always make things better, here are two from a couple of weeks ago. Dance is over for the summer, but here is a snapshot of Tatum in part of her recital costume. She didn’t have the bows in her hair, so please imagine adorable red bows in the pigtails. Cute!

And here is one of Paeton as a faerie. This one will soon be printed out to hang over her bed. She loves it. Maybe one day I’ll show the one where I turned Tatum into a kite.

Now that a little wee baby is asleep (I’ve been typing this as she was nursing. The joys of a multitasking mama, eh?) I can put her down in the crib and tackle some of this housework. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.

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My Little Ham | Northwest Arkansas Children’s Photographer

Posted on May 13, 2010

Today I decided to write about my little Paeton. She has been giggling on my lap for the biggest part of today. Well, the part of the day that didn’t involve her lathering up her hands with soap and then rubbing her eyes. Repeatedly. I seemed to have lost the battle that involved being able to get her to understand that she needed to STOP rubbing her eyes so I could clean her up. Poor baby.

Here are some cute little photos of her from a couple of weeks ago.

Serious for a moment.

She likes to wear headbands despite not really having any hair. This is her almost normal way of wearing it. The other ‘Paeton style’ is with the ends resting near her eyes.

Her little grin is the best, is it not? I wished I could have put her in better light to show off those eyes, but I take what I can get with her at this age!!

The big girls | Northwest Arkansas Children’s Photographer

Posted on April 17, 2010

It is hard to get photos of my own kids. I’ve said it time and time again. Especially with the girls. Paeton is just more interested in running away than posing. Tatum likes to have the same little grin but likes to take objects (flowers, tiara, stuffed animal, a shoe) and put it in front of her face if I try to take a photo.

Every once in awhile, though, everything comes together so perfectly.

My kids are gorgeous | Northwest Arkansas Children’s Photographer

Posted on March 11, 2010

My children, while often the subjects of numerous snappies throughout the day, are typically my hardest subjects to shoot. The REAL photos? The ones that I want on my walls? Yeah , I’m horrible at those with my own kids. I see some of my photographer friends who have all these AMAZING photos of their children and I’m left to wonder, “What’s wrong with mine?” Surely I’m not the only photographer whose children run from the camera, give funny faces, look down, pick their nose, or other wise will not give me what I want. I must say that I’m close to giving up on getting those ‘perfect’ photos of my own children. I’ll leave that for another photographer when we get family portraits later on this spring. They’ll listen then, right? Right? Oh, boy.

The past week was spent just taking fun photos. Not really putting that much emphasis on getting the ‘perfect’ photo, just a fun photo. I took Tates out to a field to experiment (sun was way too high for the hour we had to ourselves. We must go back) and got one or two that I really love. I might have cornered Blaze and told him that we WILL be attempting SOME sort of photos while we was over for the weekend. Paeton? Well, she never. stops. moving. I think I might have got a foot in the frame. And I took some video of the baby, but since I’m very new with video, I’m not sure if that will ever go on the blog! Not sure yet how to do that.

So, here are some of our lovely little photos from the past week. I like them. They make my heart happy. And that’s all that matters, right?

Oh, one of Paeton! I present to you Paeton with cat and string.

Look at all the dirt on him! That’s some hardcore playing.

This one will now replace the one on the wall that was taken at the very end of 2008. Because that was the last time he let me take a photo of him that didn’t involve a toy cameo or unwashed hair or a really goofy clown face. I’m happy.

He maaaay have been a little tired of the photos.

Tatum and the field.

My kids. They’re gorgeous.

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Snappies of my Sweet Baby | Northwest Arkansas Baby Photographer

Posted on February 27, 2010

Playing on the bed. Taking photos. Getting cuddles. Life is good.

She’ll be four months in a week. Surely that isn’t possible.

I don’t want to forget:

Sweet baby grins full of gums
clutching my shirt in a tiny fist
staring up at me with sleepy eyes
little coos and grunts
smacking and sucking on tiny fingers

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A Little Walk About | Northwest Arkansas Family Photographer

Posted on February 1, 2010

Once upon a time, this little (maybe not so little. Maybe curvy) lady decided to round up her cozy little family and take a walk.

Our little neck of the woods is in the process of creating wonderful walking trails that span several cities. The trails are all paved, so strollers and bikes are a real treat. And they are full of lovely curves (like me) and nature filled scenery, so it is completely possible to be walking amid a fair number of people and still feel as if you were all by yourself. I rather enjoy it.

Anyway, so we decided to talk a walk. John had been complaining earlier in the month how I never seem to take my camera out with us anymore. And that is true. I don’t do it often enough. Mostly because I’m still looking for The Right Camera Bag and don’t feel like dragging my current one out and about unless necessary. (Actually, I know where I will probably get The Right Camera Bag, but she currently doesn’t do messenger style bags. Get on the ball, Ketti! I don’t know how much longer I can hold out since her new spring line is just so fabulous.) I thought that a family walk would be a perfect chance to take some snappies of my little brood.

Tatum insisted that we bring her bike. The poor thing is really too small for her and we have not yet got her a big girl bike. I’m waiting for spring since I don’t feel like hanging out in the garage and watching her do circles because that is what we would be doing if we got her a bike right now. Soooo, we said yes, she could bring the bike for what would probably be the last time she rides it before it is passed off to her sister.

John pushed the Paeton-head in her stroller and I had the baby all tucked into a sling.

(Yes, I realize that the tag is in focus and the adorable baby is not. You try to manipulate your hand around a DSLR while holding your arm out far enough to get the said baby in the frame. It wasn’t easy. )

Why, hello, handsome man, father of (most of) my children.

We stumbled upon some wildlife on our trek. Squirrel, mostly, but there were deer! And deer that were rather used to the humans often found walking through the woods. See?

See the X? That is how close I got to get these.

As you can see, everyone was totally impressed with my wildlife photography exploration.

Ok. Maybe not. But they are so cute.

* You may notice some differences in my editing. I’m using family photos to explore Lightroom. I’m starting to really like it.

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Today I

Posted on January 31, 2010

Today I:

painted my toenails red

discovered gassy children

in a moment of brilliance, fed said gassy children some chili

chased a naked child

finished editing a session

sang silly songs with the girls

kept a fire going to battle the cold…and high propane bills

discovered that I need more cardigans

chased a naked child..again

celebrated putting Aryah into one of her cute little outfits sized 0-3 months. It fit!

celebrated putting Aryah into another cute little outfit after a diaper exploded poo

cleaned up poo from the girls’ room since a naked child decided the floor was much more fun that the potty

wondered when my house became the poo house

threatened to duct tape clothes on the naked child if she stripped down again

explained that cows don’t lay eggs nor do doctors cut babies out of their tummies like they do to mommy

saved the yarn for the blanket I’m crocheting from being unraveled

caught up on some blogs

read a new blog that put things into perspective

researched phones again in hopes that I finally pick one out

made my bed

giggled

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The Little Guys | Northwest Arkansas Lifestyle Photographer

Posted on January 5, 2010

I have four kiddos. Four beautiful, bright, funny children that light up my life. There are days when they drive me insane, days they make me want to cry (and sometimes I do) and days when I think I just can’t do it anymore. Mostly, though, there are days where I am completely amazed that these little people are mine. That they need me. That they love me no matter what.

It’s cold. It’s snowy. The baby is asleep and I should totally be taking advantage of this time to finish cleaning the living room, but I’m going to share these little snappies of my babies instead. I edited them in Flickr’s PicNik mode for fun.

I don’t have nearly as many photos of this guy as I would like. Not only do we only see him on the weekends, but he has hit a stage where he is just too cool for photos. Today while chatting on the phone, I actually got him to agree to a little mini-session the next time he comes over. I’m super excited!

He just HAD to include the new PSP he got for Christmas. This is actually his 2nd one. The first was stolen a few months ago and he has been such a sad panda over it.

Santa brought a Wii this year and my sister gave us the New Super Mario Bros. She is rather obsessed with it and plays whenever she is allowed. I find her concentration game face hilarious!!

Bright, blue eyed beauty, huh? She got her intense eye color from her dad. She got her dirty face from cereal, I think. She’s pretty amazing these days. Lots of pretend play, learning to talk, and recently, attempting to master the potty.

Peanut! Little peanut! We can’t forget her. I love this photo because she looks like she is saying, “Um, Mom. Why aren’t you picking me up? And why did you leave me way over here?” Well, doll, because Mommy has to clean the house sometime!!
Two months tomorrow. Wow.

Notice the spring attire on the older two? Apparently they don’t notice the snow on the ground. I made them change into something warmer shortly after this was taken. And see how sad our couch is? Santa apparently didn’t think I was good enough last year to bring me a new one. One of my goals is to get a new one sometime this year. This one had a good life, but I’m so ready for a change.

Supper needs to be made, a certain baby needs to be fed, and I need to inspect just how ‘clean’ is defined by a five year old when it concerns her room. She says it is done, but I have my doubts.

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