A Momma & Her Little Love...

This is a super exciting post for me! Why? First, I had so much fun with this "A Momma & Her Little Love" session! I got to photograph this sweet little guy as a newborn and I just can't believe how big he is getting! Heather is such a sweet and loving momma and I just L.O.V.E.D. getting to spend a fun afternoon with her and her sweet little man at the beautiful DeLILLE CELLARS! Heather requested that we do our top secret session at DeLILLE as a surprise anniversary gift to her hubby. (how romantic and thoughtful is she?!?) They tied the knot there a few years ago and it was the perfect spot for this special little session. I simply LOVE it when clients have fun requests like that! It just makes the session that much more fun and special!



So you may have already noticed the second reason this is a super special post for me. It's a little preview of what I have been working on! My brand new "Kara Hicks Photography" blog will be launching soon and this post should give you a little taste of some changes that you will see there! I LOVE my new logo! Thanks to the crazy talented Greg Swinehart, I finally have a logo that I feel fits me! It has been a long time in the making but it was WELL wroth the wait! We are still a little ways away from the launch of the site but I promise we are getting closer by the day! :) In the mean time, you can still follow along here on my personal blog and shoot me an email if you are interested in your own "A Momma & Her Loves" session or any other special session as well!

karahicksphotography@gmail.com

{KHP} a little Kara Hicks Photography Update...

I know, I am WAY overdue for a little blog update. Both work and personal. Let's start with a little update on some of the photo shoots I have had recently, then stay tuned for a little personal update too!

A little while ago, on a *rare* sunny evening I got to steal my dear (and GORGEOUS) friend Sadie and her two little loves for a quick shoot. I LOVE photographing mommas and their little ones so Sadie and the boys happily obliged and let me have a little fun!

As always, I had a BLAST with these three and came away with some great examples of what "A Momma & her loves" mini session looks like! If you are interested in purchasing "A Momma & her loves" mini session, please email me at karahicksphotography@gmail.com.

I am working on making a huge transition to my little photography business. I have a really cool person working on some branding and visual identity for me and hope to see the launch of my official website and photography blog before the end of the summer! Eeeek (insert a HUGE amount of excitement here!) I am BEYOND excited for this phase of my little business! I can't believe that it has taken me this long, but I feel like the timing is just perfect. Perfect because I finally feel like I know what I love to photograph and I have a WAY better idea of what I want my business to look like now than when I started a few years ago. Heck, when I first "started" I didn't even really know that it was going to turn into a business!!

With that, I know that newborns will be a big focus of the new launch. Why? Because I absolutely ADORE photographing newborns! AHHH-DORE! Exhibit "A"...baby Adelyn, that is. :)

There is something that is so precious, perfect and positively divine about a newborn. The overwhelming love and awe of the beautiful miracle that God chooses to bless mommies and daddies with is just un-real. UN-REAL. It's such a wild time as a new parent, but looking back on when Grady was a newborn, I sure wish I could just bottle everything about those first few weeks and take a little sip here and there. SO - my love of photographing newborns is two-fold. ONE - I get a little taste of the sweet little new lives during the shoots. TWO - I get to capture that special time and those precious moments for these new parents to hold on to for their own for the years to come when it is oh so hard to ever remember your sweet little one having ever been so small...and fitting into daddy's hand so perfectly...

Another one of my absolute favorite things to photograph is the sweet love and awe that the new parents have for their precious new little love...Sara and Justin were not lacking in this area! I just love how you can see the joy and love that they have in their smiles...

Just.Perfect.

I also love to photograph families, and MY family is no exception. Greg and I were down South over Memorial Day Weekend and it was time to do some family photos for my sister and brother in law and their two little loves, Karis and Kellen...

Ok, so photographing your family *might* be a little more challenging than they average family?? But I think we got a few good ones... :)

Love this moment between daddy & daughter...

The kids patience was quickly coming to an end at this point of the shoot (and mommy & daddy's patience may have been shot too)...but there is something about this photo that I love. We were 0/4 on smiles and eye contact with the camera, but I think this is WAY better than smiles and eye contact...

It's them, it's real and it's life. :) And THAT is perfect. :)

Although I love the "little ones", I also photograph "older ones" too. :) I had the privilege of capturing this wonderful family this weekend. Meet the Boyes Fam. Sara, the youngest is graduating from High School this week, and mom wanted to take the opportunity to get some family photos of everyone while big sis, Laura and her hubby were in town from sunny CA for the big event.

Although Laura & Larry were not able to bring the sunny California weather with them, we still had a great shoot!

Don't you think these 3 are just gorgeous?!?

...and don't you think these 3 are just...well...tough guys?!? :)

Thank you SO much to ALL my amazing and fun clients! I have so much fun and feel SO privileged getting to capture you and those that you love...

{Grady} Bana-na-na-NOOOO & other news...

"Well hello! I've missed you"

It has been quite a while since I have done an update on our sweet little Grady. Well, this morning we had a new "first". Not your typical "record-it-in-the-baby-book" kind of first, but it was kind of funny so I thought I would share...

Grady has done amazing since we started solids. He pretty much gobbles up whatever it is that I make for him. The only 2 things he has not enjoyed are avocados and banana. Well, all the books say that it can take up to 10 times for some babies to catch on to liking some foods, so I thought this morning would be a good morning to try banana again. I fed him about 3/4 of his bowl of oatmeal cereal, then I mashed up 2 super tiny (like pea sized) pieces of banana into the remaining oatmeal. First bite: he gagged then threw up his ENTIRE breakfast. Awesome. Is it horrible that I giggled a little after he threw up for the very first time in his life?? I kind of feel like a horrible mom, but honestly the look on his face after it happened was just priceless. It read something along the lines of, "Seriously mom. I'm NOT kidding when I tell you that I DON'T LIKE BANANAS. Next time you try this it's gonna be projectile vomit all over you, not the nice regular kind like I just did."

And here is his face shortly after:

(Well, after I stripped his vomit covered onesie off him and grabbed my camera)

In other news....

Grady is on the move as of a few weeks ago! He is rolling, scooting and semi-crawling all over the place! Life has totally changed. Gone are the days of lying out a blanket and a few toys while I get stuff done around the house! I knew this was coming soon, but oh man...what happened to my little baby?!?! :)

As of now his favorite things to "scooch" or roll to are...

- Red (his favorite)

- The leavers on our recliner and couch

- My books on the bookshelf

- The basket with blankets and his football

- The cool shinny legs of the desk

- Cords (currently working on getting those out of reach)

My silly, wiggly, smiley guy...

He also LOVES to grab for my camera when I am taking pics of him. Poor guy has already had more pictures taken of him in 7 months than most people have taken in their entire lifetime! :)

Words can't describe how much Greg and I love this little guy...

This is mid-chatter. He chit-chats all the time with me, or just himself. Sometime to Red too. It's just too cute. CrAzY cute...

Grady's "determined" look when he spots something he must have...

And for my new favorite phrase I have to say multiple times a day:

"Grady, lets not eat Red please. Thank you."

(wow...do I sounds like a mom or what?!? yikes...when did that happen??)

I honestly never imagined mommy-hood to be this wonderful...

sweet baby {brooklyne} - 2 weeks old

I can't believe she is already 4 week old now, but I had the privilege of taking photos of sweet baby Brooklyne a few short weeks ago! I am just LOVING that I have been able to capture so many newborns lately...keep sending them my way! :)

Layne is just so sweet with her lovable little baby girl! I think they are just perfect together, don't you??

It took till then end of the 3 hour shoot, but Brooklyne finally decided to do some deep sleeping for us! It was TOTALLY worth the wait! :)

I just love this...

This was a basin that Layne's mom bathed her in when she was a baby! How wonderful is that?? I love being able to incorporate special props into shoots!

Congrats Jason & Layne on your sweet little baby "B". She is just precious! Enjoy every little moment with her!

sweet little {espen} - 11 days new

Ok, seriously. How lucky am I? Two newborns in two weeks (and another next week!). I am in heaven! I was so excited that Heather contacted me to do sweet little Espen's newborn photos! He was one amazing sleeper and we got to do some pretty fun photos with him!

I just can't resist the yawning! Melts me every time! :)

Heather & Scott - thank you SO much for contacting me to "fill in". :) What an honor to photograph your sweet little guy! He was SO fun and SO easy to photograph! Congrats to you guys. He is just perfect in every way!

(oh - did you get the giraffe??)

sweet little baby {aria} - 11 days new

What a special day last Sunday was! Not only did I get to see a dear old co-worker of mine but I got to do my very first {fresh} newborn photo shoot! Sweet little Aria was just 11 days old! What could be more fun?!?

What a joy getting to see Steph as a new mommy! I just loved getting to witness these new parents love on their perfect little one.

I found myself a few times just staring at Aria... overwhelmed by God's beautiful creation of a new little life. I was also reminded that it was not that long ago that Grady was that tiny. My goodness how time flies!

Steph - you are SUCH a beautiful momma! Just stunning.

Aria was just perfect. She even gave us a little yawn towards the end of the shoot! Being the perfect little model is hard work! :)

Congrats to you two! Thanks so much for the privilege of capturing your sweet little love. It was SO wonderful to see you. Let's not wait as long for the next time we see each other!

{Testing, testing...}

I am super excited to be working on a little re-launch/re-brand/re-focus of my little photography business. I am still a little ways away from the launch, but till then Grady has the privilege of being my little model and guinea pig. He is quite patient with his mommy.

In this photo I was testing out a new basket that I got for a Newborn shoot that I have this Sunday. :) I am just giddy about that opportunity to photograph a newborn baby girl that will be just 11 days old! Part of my re-focus will be more of an emphasis on Newborns, babies and kids. I am so very excited about this! Get ready to start sending those prego mommas my way! :)

Adoption {ROCKS}

I happen to LOVE the fact that I see adoption happening everywhere! Here are just a few examples...

{1} Our church, OCC is a huge advocate and supporter of adoption. The 3 purposes of our church are "Love God, Love People, Serve the World" and within the "Serve the World" part, one of the major initiatives is Orphan Care. I LOVE how this is at the heart of our church!

{2} Our great friends, the Avery's are getting very close to the adoption of their little girl Zephina from Zambia. They have an amazing story about their journey to adoption on their BLOG. They are holding a huge fundraiser THIS Saturday at Alder Ridge Winery in Woodinville. Greg and I will be there, and you too are welcome to join tons of friends that are coming together to help this wonderful family bring their baby girl home! :) You can find all the details HERE!

{3} Our great friends, the Butterworth's are also adopting! They are in the process of adopting a sweet baby girl from Ethiopia! Marisa and Jesse had these crazy awesome "Adoption Rocks" t-shrits made to raise funds for their adoption. I bought this shirt for Grady back when I was just a few months prego with him and I felt like he would NEVER be THAT big! :) HA! Here we are, at 5 1/2 months old, and it totally fits! :) They only have a few little people t-shirts left, so if you are interested, check out their blog to find out what is left and help to support the homecoming of their little girl!

And I just HAD to include this sweet little one too! This is little Miss Lydia, Marisa & Jesse's niece. She is not only CrAzY adorable, but she is also Grady's B-day buddy. She was born the day after Grady! How fun is that?!? Her mommy and I are also fellow photogs & friends from back in the day! You can check out her blog HERE!

I also just found out a few months ago that one of my good friends from back in Coeur d' Alene are in the process of adopting! I'm so crazy excited for them!

Are YOU adopting or thinking about it? If you have a blog to document the journey, please let me know! I'd love to follow!

{Heart Stealer}

Grady steals my heart on a daily basis. Actually, multiple times a day. Just when I don't think that I can love him anymore, he whips out another one of his crazy contagious smiles of his and he does it again. Heart. Stolen.Check!

One of my favorite hear-stealing-moments is our "first look of the day" in the morning. These days he wakes up around 6:15am or so. We start to hear him moving about in his crib (well, his pack-n-play...he doesn't have a crib yet) and then some cute "talking" follows. He chats with himself for a little while contently, and it then turns to a more intentional form of communication. It never turns into a cry, just a more serious tone of chatting. :) Time for some breakfast around 6:30am! :) 

As soon as I get up I think he can sense that I am coming to his rescue. His movement get more rapid and as soon as he sees me his sweet little face just lights up like a Christmas tree! Ah, the Grady "Good Morning, Mommy" smile. Melts me. Most people that know me know I am NOT a morning person. BUT - when I get to wake up to the sweetest little guy and the most wonderful smile you have ever seen it somehow wakes me to a point I have never achieved via caffeine or any other form at that!

I just love my little Love Bug to pieces!

{New Introductions}

It was finally time...

Grady turned 5 months old today and we decided it was time to introduce him to his first meal of Rice Cereal!

"Mommy, what is that thing coming towards my face? Is that for ME?"

"I'm not too sure about this...are you sure babies eat this stuff??"

"Hmmm, it's kinda good, but I can't figure out how to keep it in my mouth??"

"The texture is quite different...not like mommy's milk at all!"

"Wait, I might be getting the hang of this..."

"Yes, mommy...I think I can do it!"

"Yummy!!! I will take some more, please!"

It was pretty funny getting to watch the progression of discovery Grady went through bite by bite! As you can tell by the photos he was not a fan at first. But he didn't give up! He seemed quite curious what we were trying to get him to eat, even though it wasn't love at first bite. It only took a handful of bites for him to figure out how to keep it in his mouth instead of spitting it out. Once he figured that out, he took a few more bites to decide if this was something he would like to continue to try. After that he seemed to like it as he started grabbing for the spoon and lunging towards the incoming bite. He even started "talking" to daddy in what I could only interpret as happy and excited feedback. :)

I can't help but think ahead to Grady's future and wonder how other  introductions to new things will go. Will they go as smoothly as this? Will he trust that even though what we are "feeding" him does not seem too appealing at first that we still have his best interests in mind? Will he stick it out and give it a chance? Will he end up liking it as much as we hope and pray he does?

I know there will be ups and downs as Grady grows and learns and becomes a little man. Greg and I will try to "feed" him only the best we know. We hope to instill in him morals and values but most importantly a love for Jesus, others and a heart to serve the world. I just pray that he will trust that we will always have his best interests in mind and that he will grow up to become and do all the special things God has planned for him.