Brady at 8 Months {Utah County Child Photographer}

I can't believe this little guy is already 8 months! Time is FLYING by! 

He is on the verge of crawling. He pulls up on you or anything he can. One day very

soon, I will be chasing him all over the house I just know it.

He is my big ball of energy! He laughs constantly, he is super tickle-ish and I LOVE

his little laugh. I might be a little bias though because I think it sounds just like mine! Now I know

what people mean when they say my laugh makes them laugh, because every time he laughs, I die laughing too!

He LOVES to watch cartoons in the morning. I love it too because I get to cuddle up with him before

we have to start our day and part ways. His favorites are Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny and he LOVES

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I could sing each theme song to you by heart, that's how much we watch it!

He loves books and loves to eat them :) He loves his kitty Lucy, although she isn't as fond of him...we 

get a little rough with our kitty because we are so excited to pet her!

This little boy is such a fun kid to be around, and has captured my whole heart!

I love you Brady Michael Bakken. Happy 8 months my love!

He would ONLY smile like this at Daddy...Not at me!

Love that tongue!

There is the tongue again!

My Lil' Cutie {Utah County Child Photographer}

Brady was in quite a goofy mood last night, so I wanted to take advantage of all his smiles and giggles.

Since he has been teething big time, we have been a little on the irritated side

(for example the pics from this weekend at the graffiti-NOT a happy camper), but not last night.

I am pretty sure he is my biggest fan and thinks I'm hilarious, which is a boost to my confidence :)

I sure do love this little kid! He is on the verge of crawling any day now, so I am trying to take advantage 

of taking his picture while he is still in one place!

Most likely this is picture overload....But these are the ones that I actually narrowed it down to!

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!

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!

Be Mine {Utah County Child Photographer}

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hope your day is full of sweet treats and love!

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!