Straight Up Gangster {Utah County Child Photographer}

Seeming that Brady lives in good ol' Provo, Utah I think it is safe to assume he will never be a thug. He won't have songs to write like Eminem coming from 8 mile or anything of the sort.

But I couldn't resist taking some photos near the tracks complete with graffiti. We can at least

pretend for the whole 15 minutes that I took his picture,

that he is the complicated bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks! 

He OFFICIALLY has had ENOUGH!

Look at that face...I think I am getting the look of death!

No mom...I refuse to smile!

We were teething BIG TIME this weekend.

So much drool and some serious whining going on!

But I sure am excited to see these top teeth appear soon!

Sneak Peek {Utah County Family Photographer}

This has taken me WAY too long to put on the blog, but here is a sneak peek of the rather LARGE group pictures I took a week ago. I have never taken pictures of a group this big or with this many kids. The sun was rather bright that day and they were all really good sports. The kids were SO dang cute and I loved watching all of them have so much fun with their cousins. I would definite;y do more big group shots if every group was as amazing as this one. Guys thanks for being so patient with me and I hope you love your sneak peek! There is definitely more to come! Enjoy!

Divertimento Foto Venerdi (Fun Foto Friday)

This week's Fun Foto Friday is in Italian....

What seems like forever ago, I was able to go to Italy for almost 2 weeks with the BYU soccer team.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to play in any games because a few months prior I tore all the ligaments in my

knee. Actually I pretty much ruptured them. Anywho, I was still super grateful for the opportunity
to travel and see such an amazing place! Italy was CRAZY cool, and I want so badly to go back with my family.

I loved all the history and all the architecture there. Seeing so many cathedrals was amazing and I'm not even Catholic! I had 2 amazing roommates while in Italy, Ali (UH with the JUNK!) and roachy roach coach!

There was never a dull moment with these 2 and memories I will always cherish!

These are 2 of my favorite photos from the trip...

This is from the bell tower in Venice. Venice was one of the coolest cities we went to.
This is where you see famous scenes in movies with all those pigeons...
I didn't dare run through them...filthy!
But anywho...I just LOVED the view from up there!

This was a fun little place called...Bellagio, Italy.
We were in Lake Como, Italy and took a little boat ride to get here.
There were so many cool steps and ally ways here and so many cute lil' shops.
Oh and I just so happened to see my BROTHER here!
Um, what? Ya that's right.
He traveled to Germany around the same time we went to Italy.
Apparently you can get here by going through Switzerland as well.
So there I was on the other side of the globe and what do I hear?
A large man screaming "Brookie" to get my attention.
CRAZY! But quite the memory!

A Boy and HIs Wagon {Utah County Child Photographer}

BrookeB Photo Boot Camp has commenced. This is definitely a new experience for me. 

I am used to working out and getting in shape physically, between playing soccer, running track, gymnastics and being a Junior Lifeguard in the summers in Ca, I have always been in "shape". After playing soccer at BYU came a new kind of "in shape". I no longer had to be able to play for 90 minutes straight. So the time in the gym changed. It no longer became about sprints but about toning my body to the way I wanted it to look. I also had to change my diet BIG TIME. I no longer could eat anything and everything because I would just burn it off later.  There was no later unless I wanted to spend 3 hours in the gym. No thank you!

Anywho, without me rambling on this is a new kind of "in shape" for me. I am working on my exposures,

working on finding the best lighting, but also working on making the not so yummy lighting work.

I know that I will not always have the best shooting scenarios, and I need to feel like I can shoot in anything.

Yesterday I went outside and  did some shoots in broad open sunlight. The sun was still a little high, but Brady

was gettin' a little cranky so it was now or never! So we went on the side of our house and took a few

clicks of the camera and I tried to adjust exposure the best I could. 

It is amazing to me how much the exposure can affect the white balance (skin tone) in a picture.

I will be working on this as well! Like I said....Boot Camp has commenced.

Here are the results from yesterday....

I mean look at this face!!!

He has this thing with sticking his tongue out lately...

And there it is again!!

My Ray of Sunshine {Utah County Child Photographer}

To say yesterday was a bad day for me would be an understatement.

I have actually had a couple of those within the last week, all on unrelated

topics, but I guess when it rains it pours. 

One of my many woes, was feeling inadequate as a photographer.

Maybe I just want to be amazing all at one time, and when I see the photographers I 

aspire to be like and all their awesomeness, I get a little down on myself. I need to remind

myself that Rome was not built in a day, and neither will my photography skills.

I need to practice, practice, practice. And then practice some more.

So yesterday after work that's exactly what I did. I took my adorable little boy, my trusty Nikon

and my favorite lens and cruised over to the random warehouse by my house.

On a bad day, Brady was my ray of sunshine. I worked on getting my exposures right, my white

balance correct and then remembering to have fun. 

His smile made me smile, and watching him observe the cars as they drove by was quite

entertaining as well.  He was mesmerized by them to say the least.

So here is what practice looked like last night....

 Love that smile!

This is the sequence of him watching a car drive by....he is so focused!

The Giraffe is DELICIOUS!

Brady, I love you to the moon and back!

Thanks for letting mommy practice and take pictures

of how adorable you are!

Fun Foto Friday

Guess what day it is!!!??? Fun Foto Friday!! I somewhat dread/really look forward to this day each week.  We have a love hate relationship really.  On one hand it's FRIDAY!! YAY! But on the other, it's letting the general public on a not so secret confession.....I am a total nerd. I make funny faces. I take crazy self-portraits and now I am posting those less than beautiful pictures for everyone to enjoy! But you know what? I actually love it.

Some of my fondest memories I have taken the craziest pictures. Each picture that I am doing something 

less than flattering has a story behind it, so I can see that picture anywhere and remember exactly where I was or

what I was feeling. That's what I love about photography. It has a way to capture emotion in an instant.

Take these photos for instance....

Our roommate and friend Jamie had just been married in the SLC temple

and we were a little excited her based off of these cheesy grins on our faces....perhaps?

Not quite sure what look we were going for here BUT I do feel bad now for the photographer

trying to take one giant group shot of everyone on the steps of the temple, meanwhile

2 idiots are in the back somewhere making ridiculous faces.

So to Jamie, I am sorry if you got any crazy group shots with these two faces in there!

We love you! <3

Traci,

Thank you for allowing me to post all these ridiculous faces. I honestly don't have a single one 

without you in them! We make me laugh! :) We are awesome!

The Beautiful Holly {Utah County Maternity Photographer}

Holly and Alex will be bringing a beautiful little girl into this world any day now! She will no doubt be loved and have beautiful skin! I was so grateful that Holly contacted me to capture this special time in their loves. I love the way that Alex looked at Holly and made her smile and light up inside. He no doubt will be the same way with his little girl. Alex and Holly I hope you love your pictures and will look back on them in years to come and smile and remember how excited you were for this new adventure!

Be Mine {Utah County Child Photographer}

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hope your day is full of sweet treats and love!

Baby Got Back

It's FRIDAY!!! And you know what that means! Fun Foto Friday!

I should probably apologize to my friend Traci. Girlfriend...I am sorry but I just had to. These pictures

are WAY too funny and I have such fun memories with you that I had to share! The world needs to know 

how awesomely funny we are! :)

Traci and I lived together basically through all of college. We were in the dorms freshman year together.

Then lived in a wicked sweet condo off campus for a few years.

This was Halloween.

Halloween is somewhat of an excuse for chicks in our area to get a little sleezy....

OK a LOT sleezy. I was never one of those girls that would put on lingerie (I pronounce this ling-ger-EE)

and angel wings and call it good. And luckily neither were my friends.

I went for the opposite affect. The "how many dirty/awesome looks can I get in one night for how ridiculous

I look" look... For those of you who know me, know I love to make people laugh

and I love to get a reaction out of people. I just wasn't willing to show my T & A to get that reaction.

I opted for (as did Traci) a different look. So we took a trip to the local thrift store and bought

us some pretty sweet dresses, along with some fabulous shoes.

We then stuffed our bras ( I stuffed WAY MORE that Traci did :)) and I stuffed some spandex to get a lusciously round caboose (although I already had quite a large rump...

I did still need to add some padding back there!). We put on a plethora of make-up 

and ratted our hair and put in a few curlers and we were set to go!

I have to say we got so many funny looks, laughs and just down right stares that night it was AMAZING.

I have never laughed so hard or had so much fun. That night will forever be one of my favorite

memories from college. It was good clean fun that I will never forget. We didn't need

booze to have a good time, nor did we sleeze ourselves up to get attention and I loved

every minute of it! Maybe we didn't hook-up with Mr. I'm too sexy for my shirt that night,

but dang-it did we have fun! 

Traci ---- You are so hot right now!

Eat your Heart Out!!

Valentine's Day Special

Roses are Red...

Violets are black...

Why is your chest...

As flat as your back??

NO JOKE....this was a poem given to me in the 5th grade by a boy who thought he was awesome.
Who does that? isn't Valentine's day suppose to be about love and caring for someone??
I mean REALLY!!?  I was a major tomboy anyways, so if I remember correctly, I am pretty sure
I beat him up or beat him at handball or something. Revenge was sweet I can assure you!

ANYWHO...back to the real reason we are talking about Valentine's day....
Let's celebrate together shall we??

Maternity Sneak Peek {Utah County Maternity Photographer}

A mother's joy begins when new life is stirring inside... when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time, and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone....

 

Holly...You are a beautiful momma to be! I am so excited for you and your family to

bring a beautiful baby girl into the world!

Fun Foto Friday

I have so many fun/funny photos (now that I think about it, most are all accompanied with an embarrassing story) so I thought I would share some of them..and why not on Friday when we could all use a little laughter by this time of the week right?! Fabulous. And Fun Foto Friday begins.....

To set the scene with these pictures...they themselves are not the funny part...but the funny story that accompanies them is...Brady thought he was HILARIOUS...I on the other hand DID NOT!

Michael was out of town for the weekend. I was a single mom for the weekend (which is crazy hard

but that is a post all of it's own). I knew our basic routine with B$ for Friday nights and the weekend

basically was free for us to do what we wanted. Just me and my little man. Friday night was a piece

of cake. I left work, picked up the babe at daycare and we went home for a fun night

just mommy and Brady! We played, read books, ate lots of food, took a nice hot bath, and went

to bed at 8.  I actually got in bed after I put him down, watched some TV and then most likely

fell asleep around 9 which was LOVELY!

So far so good right? So Saturday came and went pretty fast.  Brady jumped in his bouncer most

of the morning while I cleaned up the downstairs a bit. We then watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

together which B$ LOVES...and I love watching him bounce up and down when the "Hot Dog" dance

comes on...quite the funny scene!

Ok ok I am being a little wordy right now. Fats forward to Saturday night. I fed B$ just like usual.

After I feed him we go straight up to the bath, then I give him a bottle and down he goes for the night.

So here we are LOVING our sweet potatoes for the night....

Then it's straight upstairs to the bath....

We have THE coolest ducky tub that makes bath time so much fun for B.

But this is where the story takes a turn for the worst. 

Here I am single mom for a weekend. Bathing my kiddo and trying to take some fun

pictures because he always enjoys his tub so much.

As I am taking pictures...after I few I look and it looks like the water is a little murky...

Put the camera down check out the tub but don't see any "floaties" so I take a few more.

But the water now just looks NASTY.

Brady has never pooped in the tub before so I was so confused but that's the only thing

I could think that it was! But was I suppose to do?

I didn't have Michael to come help me and hold Brady if for some reason

I had to scoop things out of the tub. What are you suppose to do with a soaking wet child

while you also need to clean out a tub?

Well folks, it was FOR SURE POOP...and not only poop but like the biggest one I had seen

in a long time. I was for the most part in one big lump BUT STUCK to the bottom of the tub.

So for this next part, I either get Mom of the Month, or Stupid Mom of the Month....

I, with Brady is one arm, drained the tub and scooped poop out of the tub bare hand...
ya that's right.. I did it. Don't judge me.

I honestly still don't know why I did that but I really didn't want to put him down on the dirty floor,

and didn't have extra arms to pass him off to. So I bucked up and did work.

The best part of the story is that while I was scooping out poop, I was talking to Brady.

"Brady, you sicko...who poops in the tub?!"

"You think you are soo funny don't you"

And you know what? He did. He couldn't stop laughing. He thought he was friggin' hilarious.

All I have to say is payback is imminent and always so much worse! :)

Ok now that I have talked your ear off... HAPPY FRIDAY!

Brady at 7 Months {Utah County Child Photographer}

This kid is SO much fun and ALL boy! I only got a few smiles out of him because he was fresh off of a nap when I rushed out the door to grab these pictures before the light was gone.

He was WAY too intrigued by the rocks to look at me and smile...all he wanted to

do was put those dang rocks in his mouth and was NOT happy each time I took them away!

He is also standing and holding on to things on his own which is so much fun to see!

He is growing up WAY too fast!

DELICIOUS Rocks!

Brady kept looking at Daddy to make sure he was watching! It was SO cute!

SO IN LOVE with this guy!

By this time, he had had ENOUGH!