Michelle Monk Photography

I'm Back.

2010-08-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Why, you ask? Aren't I off photographing something magical for someone somewhere else and now have a 'professional' photography blog?

Yup.

And in the meantime I've quit my own life. And I hate it. Not the photography, just the fact that I'm not documenting the life that matters. My own. My children are growing and time is slipping away from me and a gazillion and one funny things have happened and milestones have been achieved and I've written how many down?

Zilch.

So I'm back. I don't even care if anyone reads this blog. I don't really even like the 'looks' of it anymore. Funny how tastes change over time, isn't it. The point is, I'm here to tell my story. I'm here to celebrate my children.

I'm here because I need to be.

So if you've lurked around in hopes that I might come back ... you're in luck. If you just forgot to delete me from your blogroll, then guess what? You're in luck. Or not. Because I'm back, baby.

Is my photography blog important? Yes. It's terribly behind, too. But guess what? I don't care. This is the life that matters to me. The here and now. And for whatever reason, I just can't spill my guts over there and tell funny anecdotes from the things that Hope does or how I love wrapping my fingers around Charlie's soft blonde curls or how Madgirl got her driver's license this past week. I just can't.

So here I am.

I'm not sure how much I will be around but I WILL be around.

First up on the order of discussion: School.

Grace and Liv start public school for the first time tomorrow ... uh .. today. I. Am. A. Wreck. For many reasons, but mostly just because I love having my babies close to me. Call me overprotective and I'll .... I'll...I'll .... agree. ::sigh:: I am SO one of those moms.

At any rate, there's lots on my mind concerning this big day, but seriously people... I have to go to bed lest I get up late, making my children late for their first day of school.

And that is SO something I am capable of.

Here I Go Again ... Literally.

2009-10-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Okay. So I know I just moved here recently, but I've got to tell y'all something.... blogger is a pain in the patootie! I'm not the only one to feel this way and I've noticed that I'm not the only one wanting to jump ship lately! So I'm taking the plunge and jumping. Blogs, that is.

Yup.

As my photography business grows and changes, so will this blog. Or the new one. Hopefully before the end of the year I will have an 'actual' photography website with a blog link and be all special like and professional-ish (totally a word).

So follow my sweet Charlie on over to the new place here. I think you'll like it. And if you like me or it, please go leave a comment over there for me. Wordpress doesn't have 'followers' per se (which frankly made me feel a little like Jim Jones anyway - DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-AID!) and I will have no idea who's reading. And I'm insecure enough as it is so leave a comment and spare me some emotional distress. Please.

I'm also trying to figure out how to transfer my blog posts from here and beautifulyouphoto.blogspot.com to over there. I'm a technological imbecile and this could take a few ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ months, so bear with me.

I'll see ya over there. Hurry. Go now. Follow Charlie.

The Boy With the Adorably Squishy Cheeks ~ Eli

2009-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember from my old blog that I photographed little Eli as a newborn. His cheeks were wonderfully squishy then and I totally fell in love with all of his adorable chub.

When his momma contacted me and asked me to do his 3 month pictures I was all about those cheeks, my friends. If they were wonderful the first time around then they were absolutely to die for the second time! I just love this boys cheeks!!!

Definitely my fAvE!!!

And then he got all tuckered out and we let him sleep. The old saying goes, 'never wake a sleeping baby'.... or something like that .... but it never says you can't take pictures of them while they sleep! I love me some sleepin' babies!

We managed to eventually wrangle that paci out of his mouth, but ya gotta admit ... it's really cute with it saying 'I love Mommy' and all.

Oh little E. ... I just know you are the apple of your momma's eye ....

::sigh:: Say YEA if you love you some babies!

iHeart Faces ~ Candid

2009-09-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Smile! You're on Candid Camera!! Y'all remember that show? ::sigh:: Now that was some reality television right there, my friends! But that's not what this post is about. Nope. It's about the iHeart Faces photo challenge this week.

I haven't done one of these in SOOOO long and I was kicking myself last week because I had such a great "Contemplative" entry and then dang it all if I didn't forget to post it. Boo.

So this week I decided to get on the ball and post my version of...

~ Candid ~

I'm not sure, but I think this particular kitty didn't want any Maddie kisses.

For more Candid photos head on over to iHeart Faces and take a candid look around! (Oh. I do slay myself sometimes!) It's always fun to see what other people are posting!!

The Birth of C.D.

2009-09-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I had decided to put birth photography on hold until April of 2010. Charlotte would be weened, Maddie would have her license and my life would hopefully be a little less chaotic to allow for the long hours that birth can sometimes entail.

But then I got a phone call late Saturday afternoon.

My midwife friend told me she had a laboring momma and this 'first time parents' photographer was out of town and could I please come and photograph their birth. At first I said no. After all, Charlotte wasn't weaned, this particular birth center was an hour away and it just wouldn't work out.

Then it just wouldn't let me go. I almost felt a conviction that I needed to go to this birth. So I called back and said I would come. The details were loosely discussed and I headed out the door around 9pm Saturday night, arriving at the birth center around 10 pm.

Things started cooking pretty quick once I arrived.

In case you didn't know .... natural childbirth is a difficult thing physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. That's what I'm there for.

To capture all of that.

The night can get a little long ...

But in the end ... it's always worth it.

Welcome little C.D.!

I do believe you were worth it, little man! Your parents seem pretty smitten already!

Little D

2009-09-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner. Well .... technically they brought the dinner because of me and my whole broken ankle situation, but we invited them to stay and eat with us.

Food is always better with friends, I think. And a little ~~fotography~~ photography, too!

Boys are a little scarce in these here parts, so when I had the opportunity to take a picture of a male child ~ especially one as cute as little D ~ I jumped at it. Literally.

We took all the kids out to the trampoline and I hobbled around and took pictures. I felt as if my big clumsy boot impeded my lightening quick speed (::snort::) so every time I turned around little D was doing something else cute .... on the other side of the trampoline! By the time I limped over to that side he had jumped and tumbled somewhere else. ::sigh:: So is life with boys.

Here are a few of the ones I managed to get and thought were totally cute! :)

D and his momma. I love shots of momma's playing with their babies.

Ahhh....finally STILL!

And my favoritest (it's totally a word!) of the night. I managed to be in the right place at the right time!

Mmm, mmm, that boy is just yummy! I could eat him up!

His momma will just have to bring him over a little more often!

Sweet Baby Sleep

2009-08-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Charlie is always a willing cadidate for a few pictures. Especially when she's sleeping!

And in my opinon, there's nothing quite as sweet as baby feet.

Belated 2

2009-08-18T21:19:00.001-07:00

Somebody turned 2 last month and we just got around to celebrating it this past Sunday. For all the details go here.

Noah and Samuel

2009-08-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

This photography session was special. Why? This is the one where I broke my ankle right before I took the pictures!!

I thought for sure the pictures weren't going to turn out because of the intense pain I was in while taking them, but when you have two cute little boys like these, you're bound to get a few good ones!!

His momma wanted some baseball stuff with him and it was SO cute!

If you wanna hear the whole dramatic tale of my bone breakage (and see more cute pics!) head on over to my other blog!

My Charlie Bird

2009-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

She hates a hat, but I managed to keep it on her just long enough. Little stinker.

Elijah and Austin

2009-08-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the privilege of photographing two cute little boys! When you're the mother of 5 girls, you tend to get excited about boy pictures! Not that I don't LOVE the girly stuff, I do! I just love not having to photograph "pink" occasionally!

So what makes these boys special? They are my great nephews! Yep, you read it right ~ great nephews, as in my niece's sons. Yes, they are the same age as my kiddos. Pretty cool, huh? As you may have guessed ~ I was the baby of the family ~ an "oopsie" you might say!

Anyway, I had SO much fun taking these pictures and so many of them turned out so cute that I'm just gonna go crazy and show y'all a bunch of them! Because I can do that, you know. It has something to do with creative license I think!

That and I'm a little biased towards these two!

And this one falls under one of my Top Ten favorite pictures of all time...

Senior Practice 101

2009-07-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

Ack! I can't really have a son who's going to be a Senior this year, can I? Eegads, people. I have an 8 month old and an 18 year old! I'll be 40 when My Boy graduates and 57 (FIFTY SEVEN!) when Charlotte graduates! Somebody feel sorry for me...please.

Anyway.

We I decided that I was going to take My Boy out for a practice run on some of his Senior pictures. I had found some new places to take pictures and thought they would be really cool for some Senior shots! Boy, was I right! The sites were great. The 103 degree weather? Not so much. So is life in the oven I like to call Texas.

We didn't do so bad for an hour and half in the blazing heat. He was hot and sweaty and grouchy. I was just hot and sweaty. Oh, I kid! We had FUN!

I simply LOVE the fact that Senior pictures are no longer stuffy, in studio only affairs!!

And just so you know...My Boy critiqued me while I was shooting...

...he told me that I didn't give him enough direction...I needed to be more bossy..

...So I told him to shut up and smile. How's that for bossy?

Lily Annette

2009-07-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Lily was born on July 8, 2009 or 07-08-09. Pretty nifty, eh? Knowing her father, he probably planned it that way!

Lily is the daughter of my friend, Mae. We had to shoot TWO sessions with Miss Lil' as she was so sassy (read: AWAKE!) in the first shoot, that I told Mae I would come back again so we could have sleepy squishy baby.

Well. Miss Lil' wasn't having any of that! But she did SO much better the second time. She truly is a little doll baby!

She really did try to be sleepy for me...

...and then she smiled a little..

But mostly she just loved her Momma...

Congratulations Mae and Eamon! Your Lily is beautiful!

Well Hello There...

2009-07-28T22:36:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my new and probably "not so improved" photography blog! I'm excited to start fresh with a new name! Well, not a new name. I mean, I've always been Michelle Monk (well, for the last 11 years at least), but a new photography name. I am so lame. (Did I just rhyme?)

Anyway.

Why a new blog? Well...the old one had my old name...Beautiful You Photography..which I no longer am. I also changed my template in hopes that it will give me wider margins for larger pictures for possibly, a more pleasing look and aesthetic for friends, family, potential clients and internetty types just stopping by! I aim to please, people...I aim to please.

I'm am not the most gifted person technologically, as in, I'm pretty much a boob in all things computer related, but I promise to try and not stir up too much trouble with my lack of technological prowess. At some point along this journey...I'm gonna call in the professionals. As in, hire somebody to design this bad boy so it works, you know....like it should! But frankly, me and Blogger? We are sworn mortal enemies.

Thanks for joining me here! I'm really excited for what the future has in store! God seems to be opening some amazing doors and I'm stepping out on faith in a lot of ways I never thought I could. I'm scared, excited, nervous, giddy, scared, hopeful, thankful, scared and whole gammut of other emotions! Did I mention scared? Ha! I'm scared because it's new, but I'm not afraid to try! I'm scared because I'M new (and a little old), but not afraid to learn! But I am also excited to see what the future has in store! Now if I can just move forward without feeling like I'm going to throw up every time I get hired, we will all be a lot better off!

Thanks for joining me on this journey! I'm fairly certain it's gonna be a doozy!

p.s. This shall be the only post I ever do without some sort of picture. Scouts honor.