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Hi All! Just a quick update to let you all know that we haven't dropped off the face of the earth if you've got this blog bookmarked, we've simply started a new blog that's hosted on our new site. Come and join us over there. MKD Photography's New Blog

-Mike

MKD's Christmas Gift!

We got it for you, we got it for us, we got it for MKD. What is it????

Click the present to find out!

Head on over now, it's time to update your RSS...there's a surprise waiting there for you too!

100 cans!! 27 comments with 45 questions matched by us with a 10 can bonus

Thank you so much for all of your all of your questions!! I found out that some people were having trouble with blogger leaving comments and that makes me sad, but we did get 29 comments over two entries…but we can do better than that because there are a total of 45 questions, so we’re going to go with that for a total and since we know that there are usually about 100 hits every time we write an entry we’re going to match the 45 with another 45 with a bonus of 10 cans since when I started answering these there were only 10 days left until Christmas…how is that for a mathematical equation!
Stay tuned for pictures of the purchase and delivery!

How come you two don't kill each other working together?
There are many moments when we’re working together totally in sync and basking in the glow of how well we function, a seamless unit and powerhouse team rocking out amazing pictures…and for each and every one of those moments there are glares and harsh words whispered in ears about all of the minor annoyances of the day--We’re human, we’re married. We’re not perfect, but we do somehow find a pretty awesome balance of the two…and for every little tiff we have we get to makeup with each other….and at the end of the day we crawl into the same bed together knowing that without the M or the K MKD would be nothing!

Why do you both wear black crocs to every wedding?
We both used to wear dress shoes…and the next day we both used to hobble around like little old ladies who had worn high heels their whole lives. There was one wedding where I actually felt like I had bruised the bottom of my feet. In my everyday life I often wore a bright blue pair of crocs…one day we just decided that as long as seriously amazing pictures are coming out of our cameras who cares what shoes are on our feet…the first wedding we actually wore them to we made some awesome discoveries—crocs don’t make a SOUND when you are running up the aisle in a church, crocs can go right into the ocean to capture a shot of the couple on the beach with the water in the foreground, and crocs don’t hurt even after standing in them for 12 hours…we were sold!

Why haven't you bought a D700 yet? Why haven't you bought a D700 yet? Why haven't you bought a D700 yet?
We did…and a D90…and we’re buying another D700 before our first wedding of 2009 which is in February. Goodbye D300s and backup D200, you served us well over the last year and we have officially outgrown you.

Are you going to bring your ringlight to my wedding?
Wait, Doug, you’re getting married? We’re totally bringing the ringlight and a Honda Generator…you tell us the date and the ringlight is there!

Ummm. Yeah, I'm not getting married, so Why haven't you bought a D700 yet? Why haven't you bought a D700 yet?
Well…we got the D700, now YOU have to get married. We want to bring the ringlight.

As a (very) amateur photographer with a really nice camera (Nikon D60) what accessory should I ask for for Christmas to help improve my skills?
Either an SB-600 or the yummy new Nikon 50mm 1.4 AFS…Kate would go with the lens in a heartbeat (can you put one on your list for me too?) and Mike would get the flash…both will add so much to the D60 you’ll fall in love all over again.

How much do you charge for photographing a wedding usually (a range is fine :))?
Don’t you hate when you want to put a smiley in parenthesis and it ends up looking like a man with a double chin? Our coverage starts at 4k and goes up to 10k packages for local weddings and 15k with travel.

Are you willing to travel for destination weddings?
We love weddings and we love traveling…so I wouldn’t say we are willing, we are at the airport waiting! Have camera will travel!

How did you get such amazing vision?! (Your work is absolutely beautiful!)
First of all, thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. It is people who love our work that allow us to do what we do for a living. Mike and I both have very different backgrounds when it comes to photography. Mike is more into setting things up or noticing the little details and capturing them as he sees in his mind. I’m more of a sharp shooter pointing my camera in a million different directions throughout the day and happen upon images where the stars align and wow even me. Mike loves photographing things (and people) and I love photographing people (and things).

Will you donate one can for every question I ask? :-P
Yes, yes we will! Actually, no, we'll donate 2!

How old were you when you started photography? I'm 25 and always wanted to get into it but never actually got around to it because I've heard it's expensive to get started in. Do you think I'm too old to start now???
Mike was in high school when he got his first SLR (A Nikon N90s) and he was hooked. He started shooting for a car magazine called Max Power the summer before going to college. I started dating Mike and all of his gear in our sophomore year of college…so we were young. 18 and 19. It can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. My advice is to get an SLR camera (something like the Nikon D40 is fine) with a nice low aperture lens like the new Nikon 50mm 1.4 AFS and see what kind of photographs you like taking. If you end up loving it you can upgrade gear as you go, if you end up just liking it you have a pretty awesome hobby camera that can take you far. We’re all for following your passion, so if you’re 25 or 95 and feel like photography is calling you jump in with both feet…there is always ebay to sell off gear if you decide you really don’t like it at all.

...Do more than one question per comment count or should we leave 1 question per Comment?
We’re counting any and every question…

What is the funniest moment from all the weddings you've photographed?
There are so many moments that we look back on now that make us laugh that weren’t funny at the time at all. But the one that we were actually physically laughing the hardest was one of our earlier weddings, Katie and James back in Mike’s hometown of Leominster. They had a gorgeous tent set up on the lake a the bride’s father’s house. It was sunset and we were down by the edge of the water looking for some fun shots. It was Mike’s turn with them and he set them up behind this big tree right at the water’s edge and said, “Now I’m going to go over there and you’re going to “peek” around this tree…” James immediately looked at Mike and in all seriousness said, “There will be no peeking…we’re not peeking around any tree.” I chimed in with, “How about you just lean over there then and look…just look around the tree, don’t peek….” We wrapped that session up and I remember telling Katie that that was going to be her favorite shot from the day…if I’m remembering correctly it was! We have a running joke (don’t know how funny Mike really thinks it is) that Mike often says things in awkward and embarrassing ways…I usually break the silence by laughing at him and repeating his request out loud so he can see how lame he sounds—love you honey!

What is your favorite moment to take pictures of during weddings?
Kate: I love the time that we get with just the couple…it’s when I can be most creative.
Mike: First dance. Or any dance really…or the walk down the aisle and the leaving of the church when they’ve just gotten married.

Where's your favorite place to photograph a client?
Somewhere that means something to them…if there is a story we love the challenge of trying to capture it. We’re not too keen on shooting in the same place twice, we’ll do it, but it always feels like that space belongs to whomever it was that we first shot there.

What's the ONE piece of photography equipment you couldn't live without?
Batteries…nothing works without them. Seriously, though, we wouldn’t be where we are today without our flashes.

What was the most useful learning tool for you when you first started.
The internet. Seriously, anything that you want to know it out there. Mike is a huge learner. He’s constantly on www.strobist.com, www.dpreview.com, www.nikonians.org, www.photoshopuser.com, www.bythom.com and countless other photographer sites and blogs. I’m more of a forum people girl myself…that and experience. We learn the best by getting out there and doing it.

You are a busy lady: you parent two busy kids, you don't sleep at night due to nursing, you work on pictures full time while your husband is gone Mon-Fri and your weekends are spent taking pics. What motivates you to join and host playgroups and other such "fun" events in your limited free time as opposed to taking a needed nap or watching tv on the couch!?
Everyone says, “Nap when they nap,” but if I take a two hour nap in the middle of the day I feel unproductive and zombified for the rest of the afternoon…I feel so much better if I have a few things on the list that I’ve accomplished. I’m a super type A and feel like the more I have to do the more grounded I feel…but there are days that I give in to the nap or a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

Also, what would you say is the hardest thing about photographing weddings for a living?
The hardest thing is really something that plagues most small business owners. We don’t get a regular Friday paycheck like everyone else. We have to hope that our work and our efforts will continue to book us jobs and we have to have some kind of backup plan in place in case there is a month where we don’t book anything. It’s scary, but so far it is working for us.

What is your favorite thing about photographing weddings?
The people that let us into the inner sanctuary of their lives and families. We were just at a wedding where only the closest family members were allowed in the room for the signing of the Kahtuba…the closest family members and us. We see all of the happiness, the joy, the stress, the knitty gritty and we love it.

Besides photography (and kids), what else do you guys enjoy doing in your free time?
We love movies...although lately we don't have time to watch too many of them (photography and kids) and we do fancy ourselves some cuddled up nights on the couch watching primetime (Heroes, Lost, ANTM, Grey's...thank GOD for the DVR) We also stayed out all night one night to get in line for the Charles River Canoe and Kayak sale where we got two Perception Viscayas. We're also big beach freaks and try to get to either the Cape (Mike's old haunt) or Hampton Beach (Kate's old haunt) throughout the summer. I haven't been to a mountain in three years but when I'm not pregnant and in charge of wee little babies I imgine we'll be able to get our boards back in the snow.

What color undies do you wear on the wedding day? ;)
Whatever the color of the clean undies is…we have a laundry problem. It’s bad.

What would you have done differently with your wedding pictures had you been the photographer at your wedding?
My first thought is we wouldn’t have used the “rain” room…no on looks good in the basement under florescent lighting…I think knowing what I know now we also would have either allotted a bigger window for pictures of just the two of us or done a second session when we got back from our honeymoon…hmm….I still have the dress, perhaps we should trash it.

How do you keep your vision and creativity fresh? How do you find your style?
One the big things that keeps our vision fresh is the fact that every time we are “working” it is with a new couple in a new place. Sometimes we have brides that want to know if we’ve worked at their venue before…on the rare occasion that we haven’t I think it leaves the bride wary that we might not know the ins and the outs of the place…it makes us beyond happy because it is a new place with new pictures to capture! There are certain places that we seem to keep going back to and there is just something about that place the will always be tied to the first wedding we shot there. There is a photo assignment on strobist where you have to take 50 pictures of a white coffee mug without moving it…the key is to use dynamic lighting to change the way the mug looks. I say why not pick the mug up and bring it to a bunch of different churches and a bunch of different reception sites…then there’s no way they’ll look alike!

What was the most classic case of "bridezilla" that you've ever seen?
I’ve had a lot of brides who are just trying to be heard on their wedding day who are so fearful that they are being “bridezillas” and I have yet to see anyone who truly fits the roll. We all deal with stress in such different ways…maybe the true bridezillas are happening in the planning process and they all have it out of their systems by the time we get there on the wedding day or maybe we just have genuinely amazingly calm brides that book us!?

What has been the toughest moment, as parents, thus far?
It is hard to see your babies hurting…so I guess the roughest moment was the hours after Chase was born. I had just had a c-section so I couldn’t be with him…he was so tiny and needed me and Mike so much and it just felt like no matter what we did for him it wasn’t helping. I was so proud of myself that Emmie never had a drop of formula and within hours of Chase’s birth they were saying he was going to seize, they couldn’t get an IV into him, and he was gagging on the formula they were trying to make me feed him…it was the definition of helpless.

What was your wedding song?
“Can’t Take my Eyes off of you,” by Englebert Humperdink…LOL!! Only because it couldn’t be, “Rock DJ,” by Robbie Williams which is technically our song. And honestly….neither of us are dancers so it was VERY awkward to watch!

What was the coolest car Mike ever got to drive during his career photographing cars?
A bright yellow Lamborghini Galliardo tearing around the streets of North Andover while on a shoot for Boston Common magazine on the Auto Club.

Family Guy or Simpsons?
Family Guy…if you have lived in RI you have to love the Family Guy, it’s a rule.

Next child....boy or girl?
Mike: Next child???
Kate: Both, I want a sister for Emmie or a brother for Chase...twins would be nice.

Proudest moment as photographers?
When we make people cry…it means so much to us to give our gift of photography to people. And I don’t mean that in a, “We’re gifted, tah tah,” kind of way, but we know that these are the pictures that you will be looking a for the next 60+ years and we want them to be perfect.

And why do you wear black crocs to every wedding????
You need to get a pair...can I just add that they really are awesome…they are!

Real Christmas tree or fake?
Kate’s allergic and gets all kind of hivey when we have a real tree…so we got a nice pre-light from Namco the Christmas before Emmie was born.

Have you ever seen a bride trip or fall walking down the aisle?
No…I fell down the front steps of the Eisenhower House in Newport just as the Flowers by Semia van was pulling up…and I’ve seen a veil fall off of a bride walking down the aisle. And bridesmaids tripping on the alter…but not a bride!

What's your favorite canned food????
Kate: Cambell’s Vegetable ABC soup
Mike: Spaghettios with meatballs…but they smell a little like barf.

If you own a point-and-shoot...what brand is it?
It’s a Canon SD-400 but Mike wants a G10….if you have a point and shoot you should get a mini tripod and an underwater case. Best purchases ever!

Can you have a video of Emmie in the next 10 blog posts?
You’re going to have to put up with more videos in general…we just got a new D90 which takes some awesome HD video. Maybe not in the next 10 posts, but soon….very soon!

Oh. my. word. could she get any cuter?!!
No, she can’t….because if she did my heart would grow so big it wouldn’t fit in my chest anymore and I would burst with too-much-cuteness.

If you could photograph your choice of any one person in the whole entire world, who would it be?
Kate: A three day old baby who sleeps no matter where I put them and has a head of adorable downy soft dark hair…but they would wake up and calmly look at me for the last 10 minutes of the shoot…and throw in a little reflex smile and I’m in heaven.
Mike: Grace Kelly from her bygone movie days.

If you read all the way through…BRAVO! If you didn’t…I hope at least you read the answer to your questions!
We’ll be donating our cans in January of 2009 when the need is high and the shelves are empty from all of the holiday giving.

Kate goes Boudoir

Hey ladies and gentlemen...exciting news with MKD! Kate is going Boudoir, and she's doing it right! We've got a hotel room at the Onyx Hotel in Boston, booked hair and Kimberly Fosher makeup and we making a day of it!

Guys, great gift to give your girl for Christmas--a day of pampering and some images you don't want to miss. Girls, a great gift to give your guy on your 2009 wedding day or a Valentine for your hubby if you were one of our past brides. Check it out! Book before 12/31/08 and save 20% of the $350 session fee! I'm shooting with Shyla and only accepting 3 clients so drop me an email if you'd like some pampering on January 11!

Comments for Cans w/video Plea!

Here is Emmie's video plea for the last blog post that we did about the Comments for Can Food Drive! Don't be shy, we love comments!!

Leave a comment by clicking on the comments button in this post or the one below...we really want questions that we'll answer next week!

Cans for Comments

I've been writing in an online community since college...when people are feeling like they have nothing to write and no one is leaving them any notes/comments they often put our a quick, "Ask us anything!" post and then they get a ton of comments and a lot of things to write about (answer) the next time they post.

Well...in visiting Justin and Mary's blog from my Google Reader, and now Anne Ruthmann's blog, I see that the photography community is jumping on the commenting bandwagon in a pretty awesome way! Cans for Comments was started by Chris + Lynn and here's the scoop. Leave us comments (preferably you can ask us some questions about life, love, photography, kids, whatever...) and for every comment left we'll go out and buy that number of cans and donate them to the Acton Food Pantry which gives a free bag of food to families in need that show up on Wednesday afternoons from 3:00-5:30pm. As a super special extra bonus Mike and I will also do one big long post where we answer all your questions!

Sample questions:
How come you two don't kill each other working together?

Why do you both wear black crocs to every wedding?

So, click on comments below and get in your questions before December 12th...we'll buy the cans AND answer the questions!

Julia and Sidney rocked the sun!

Julia and Sidney
9.20.08

Are these two not the cutest couple ever? Not to mention the fact that the guys drove H2 to the wedding, Mike always loves to get awesome car pictures, I went through about 200 shots of them driving on the highway...how was he looking at the road too? I was off with the girls...hmmm...must bring that one up with him! Another super cute fact about them, Sidney had his dad as the best man.

I love the face Julia made when the girls were tightening up her dress...classic! The "tough" guys around their transportation...quintessential wedding party, huh? They were so much fun to work with...laid back, easy going, and into photography! The day cooperated as well--September in Newport can be a bit tricky with the rain, not even a hint of that for these two! Everything took place at the Atlantic Beach Club right on the water below the Newport mansions.

They all looked at me like I was off my rock when I told them to put their flowers down and jump on the beach...but then I showed Sidney that one of the guys jumped higher than him...well, the next time they jumped he got MUCH higher! I love that we have two angles on this NBA style jump...mine is the wide shot and Mike must have known Sidney was going to do something ridiculous because he captured the closeup.

Ok, Ok! I know you come here for the pictures...and these are some of my favorite from the season...three more weddings to blog!

Time for a social life...not us!

Hi all, it's Mike here for a change...

Ok, so you might be wondering if we actually ever get out of the house with two small children and a ton of wedding stuff to do. The short answer is yes, rarely.

There aren't too many things that get us out of the house after 6:30 p.m. when the kids are winding down for bed. Oen Kennedy is an exception. You blog/website stalkers already know who he is, and for those of you who don't, Oen sings "Bright Road" on our website.

When we heard Oen was playing right down the street from us we figured it was a good excuse to try breaking the bedtime routine for a fun night out. We had some awesome middle eastern cuisine at Ichabod's Cafe, and relaxed to the sounds of Oen's new CD. It's so new it's not even on iTunes yet. But, you can check out one of my favorite discs: "Live at Club Passim". My favorite songs on that disc are: Iridium, Tierra del Fuego, Jelly, & Loon. Check them out!

Here are a few pics from the evening.





Martin Guitars have the sweetest sound.


Emmie's impression of the table.

Thumbalrina...

Emmie loves it when I tell her stories...the one that is most often told is about a girl named Emmie who is wearing a beautiful pink party dress with stripes, sparkles, and polka dots. She is wandering through the forest looking for her friends...she finds a BIG castle and she knocks on the door. (At this point there is usually and Emmie interjection that reminds me that the castle is PINK) When no one answers the door she creeps in, finds the kitchen, goes into the fridger (refrigerator) and finds a HUGE cake (interjection that it is a PINK cake) and she cuts herself a piece and eats is all up. Then she goes to the toy room (THE YELLOW TOY ROOM) and plays with their twisty people.

Some of it was my original story, some are bits she likes to add...today I decided to mix it up and tell her about the tiny girl named Thumbalina who is so tiny she can play inside Emmie's Little People house...she didn't want her to be tiny. She wanted her to be big, like Emmie...and she wanted to hold her hand, share Ms. Mermaid, and be best friends. Then we came down and drew the scene in Photoshop...she got to dictate colors and things like the "clues" on their dresses...here's the result of a rainy day and our very overactive imaginations!

Eisenhower House, Newport, RI

Erin and Chris
9-13-08

The rain held off for Erin and Chris's wedding down in Newport, the grass was damp, but the ceremony was still outside on the lawn with the ocean behind them and the Eisenhower House up ahead. Erin and Chris said their vows right on the top steps of the wrap around porch with their bridal party framing the stairs. We brought James from The Feds Studio along as a third shooter as Mike was a little under the weather with kidney stones . There were awesome angles everywhere we turned! I really love the shot Mike got from inside the house looking out.

On the day of the wedding I was telling Erin she was making so many awesome decision...number one being Flowers by Semia. They are just always so gorgeous and one of my more recent brides said it all when the truck pulled up, when you work with Semia you just feel like she is this famous star. She also used Kimberly Fosher Makeup and consequently looked perfect in every picture...of course she was making some amazing decisions with planner Jen Brinton in her court! The food was amazing...a clam bake from McGrath Clambakes. It was our first time working with them and the story behind the food, the smell permeating the air, really made all of the guests that much more involved in dinner...and it helps that Erin and Chris got to ring the dinner bell to call everyone over!

What a cutie!

With faces like this to stare at how could I not love my job? Jack, you are too cute! Katie, you should have all of the pics up tomorrow!

12:24am and Facebook has sucked me in....

I wasn't really much of a Facebook person...until...maybe this week? It keeps hitting me in little spurts here and there with its amazingness (it is 12:24am and that is now a word)

The first cool thing to hit me was the gmail contact list thing...so cool to find all of our clients--past and present--and get to stalk them...er...keep up with them post wedding and to see that so many of you apparently really love your wedding pics as they are all over your profiles!

Second cool thing was the people you know thing that popped up...and what do you know, they WERE people that I knew...and I added them!

Third cool thing? Just discovered yesterday that MKD Photography can have it's own Facebook page...with fans and everything. So we're definitely going to use that to upload pictures from weddings that are already websized and sharpened which will save all of you those steps! I just need help tagging them all, ok?

So here I am...at 12:28am...signing out...and carefully extracting myself from Facebook to go and find my pillow!

Narragansett Beach and Indian Point!

We met up with Andrea and Billy in Narragansett on probably one of the windiest days of the year for their engagement shoot...the surf was raging, the wind whipping, and they could barely hear me over the roar of the ocean, but they are happy, in love, and getting married next August--so who cares! One of the cool things is we got to go to the place where he proposed...Indian Point...the rocks there are amazing (although I was worried that Mike was going to trip and break gear...he can be a little clumsy) but we made it out of there and the images were worth it!

Can't wait for your wedding next August (8/22/09)!












Thanks again, Jen and Liz, can't wait to see your footage of Mike and I in action!

P.S. Cool fact about Andrea and Billy? They were guests at OUR wedding 4 years ago...Andrea is Mike's best friend Bob's little sister (Bob was Mike's best man) and Andrea brought Billy as her guest...but they weren't dating!

The Maine Strobist Meet

So we went to The Maine Strobist Meet today...and met with 30 other photographers and about 15 models in a huge house with a lot of different rooms. One of the coolest things was a DIY ring flash that Greg Bennett made...you'll see from some of the pics that we have that there are tiny little dots of light in the model's eyes--so cool! I think I hear some power tools revving up over here because it was too fun! It's always fun when the Boston contingent is well represented...it was good to see you again James, Tony and Anna, Shyla, and Doug...we should all hang out more often and play with lights and cameras!

So...enough idle chatter at midnight, I know you just come here for the pictures! (LOVE LOVE LOVE that these are straight out of the camera...just re-sized and saved for web...it seems to be the trend for us this year and we're not looking back, thanks MC!)

Tony and Anna hard at work

Shyla and James...getting low.

P.S. Models, thanks so much for all your hard work, send me an email and I'll send you your pics for your portfolios!!

Safe and Happy Halloween!

We hope everyone had an awesome night last night! We started with a neighborhood Halloween party where they had fun games like "Tape the Mouth on the Pumpkin" (which Emmie didn't want to be blindfolded for) and some yummy coconut cupcakes. After that we went down to Wayland to Trick-or-Treat around my old neighborhood...there is something about going to the houses of family and friends that makes the night special!

Our little monkey had so much fun and was actually able to say, "Trick or Treat," and "Thank You," this year...last year she was a little shy and a little young...and our little monster did a great job not having any meltdowns and staying up way past his bedtime!




P.S. The red door on our shed might be my new favorite pictures place from now on!!

Honey Pot Hill Orchard meet Carolyn and Bevan

A few weeks back I got a funny inquiry...it was Carolyn. She wanted to know our engagement prices.

Ok, so it doesn't sound too funny, but we're so used to shooting an engagement as a part of our wedding packages. So I poked a bit further and found out that Carolyn and Bevan are a super cute couple living out here but getting married in CA and they weren't sure we would want to go all the way out for their wedding which they are planning for at Laguna Beach. Have camera, would LOVE to go to California to capture these two and if the dates work out for next October it might be in the cards for them and us!

So, we had a bit of a tight window from the first email to this session, she was thinking beach or something "fallish" with foliage...Honey Pot Hill was perfect. Hay rides, a pumpkin patch, the obvious apple trees, a candy apple to split (and use as a bouquet)...sweaters, high heel boots (for her) and jeans. P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

These are ALL Mike, I was home with two napping kiddos and the second he walked in the door I grabbed the camera, checked the back, and pronounced how utterly jealous I was that I didn't get to go!

From across the room folding laundry Mike would like me to add...the apple was caramel (not candy) and he also wanted to make sure I added (with nuts...in parenthesis...he says he like parenthetical additions to sentences). Oh, and he says to thank Carolyn and Bevan!

Trash the Dress Sneak Peak

We had an awesome, amazing, fabulous day today that involved a Trash the Dress with a bride from last season, FTP Weddings (Jen and Liz ROCK), two engagement shoots with super fun couples, a lot of wind, the ocean, Narragansett and Newport...and this image straight out of the camera. Need I say more? Of course I should...but if you look at the time stamp it's too late!! So, off to bed and we'll give you more soon!

Tweet!

So, new obsession of the moment? Twitter! You can follow us and see what we're up to at www.twitter.com/mkdphotography

We think you should make a twitter too...so that we can follow you! Or maybe you already have a twitter account that we don't know about, well please let us know, we want to stalk you...erm...know what you're up to! You can see over there on the right side we also added the last three twitter updates, fun fun, you can add twitter to your blog too!

Thanks for all of the votes on the Emmie pics, we went with number one as that was the top contender and now all we have to do is send it in! I'll let you know which flyers and catalogs you should be looking for her in again this year!

Freedom of the Seas Day 7

9/27/08

Day 7

Another early start...and sadly calm seas means Chase is back to waking frequently in the night. I even had Mike shut the blinds last night so Emmie couldn't see that the sun was up but no such luck. This morning we went to breakfast again at the Windjammer cafe and Emmie was overtired and overwhelmed...she spilt some of her milk and cried about that and had a hard time recovering enough to eat more. We decided she'd do better at the pool...so out she went with Daddy while Chase and I walked the deck nearby until he fell asleep. I got a pina coloda and a strawberry shake for Emmie and Mike to share. We stayed until 10am and then headed up to the baby playgroup on board...sponsered by Fisher Price and full of fun Little People toys. We stayed there until 11am and then went back down to our room for naps. Chase and Emmie conked out fast, but maybe Mike was down faster!? I followed shortly after and we were all awake again by 1:30pm. Back to the Windjammer for some lunch and then back to the toy place for the afternoon session...followed by some pool time for Emmie and Mommy.

At around 5pm Mike and Chase met us at the pool so that we could make it in in time for the Circus show. We all got dressed, Chase tanked up on some milk, and it was off to the circus for us...Emmie decided to wear her swim goggles on her head since they were pink like her dress. You could tell it was the end of the cruise because almost every where we walked Emmie was like the little mayor saying hi to everyone...so many in the crew would wave and say, "Hi, Emmie!" and I was impressed they knew her name. The circus was cute (but I couldn't see much it was so crowded) and Emmie was awestruck sitting on Mike's shoulders watching the parade go by, she really loved it. It was about 15 minutes and then we were off to dinner. Emmie made a picture for Ms. Sherlin and refused to sing for her (but did give her a hug) and I had my first Mahi-Mahi. Chase was worse than any other night and we took turns walking him around outside of the dining room. We ordered some pictures from the week and then sadly came straight back to the room to pack. The babies were both asleep by 8:30pm and the suitcases were outside the doors ready to be carried off the ship by the crew...in so many ways the week seemed to last forever, but of course at the end of it all it seems like the time went by too quickly. One of my favorite memories will be of Emmie in the pool with a enormous grin on her face walking around splashing her toes...but taking the time to come over to me and say, "Guess what, Mommy? I love you in the pool (or morning, night, at dinner, in St. Thomas...)" and then frolicking off to continue on her way. She ate more ice cream, didn't brush her teeth too much, stayed up late, and got to just be more than she ever has in her life and it was so fun to watch. Chase learned to fall asleep hugging his new turtle instead of being swaddled and slept in more places in a wrap than ever before in his life. Yes, he cried, but I cannot count the number of smiles he flashed at everyone on board. I had crew members begging to hold him and make him smile. There were times when it was hard, but so worth it.

We need your vote!!

Emmie was/is a model for an agency in Boston and I haven't updated her picture or brought her on any shoots since she was about 8 months old...now that Chase is handling life better I think it's time to get Emmie back in front of the camera--I think it might be her favorite place to be! So, today she said to me (after opening a package with a new sweater) let's go take pictures at the rocks...get your camera.

128 pictures later I fell in love with about 30...the agency wants one...I narrowed it down to 4...the agency wants one...please help me pick!

--> Vote with the poll over there!

Emmie 1:

Emmie 2:

Emmie 3:

Emmie 4:

Freedom of the Seas Day 6

9/26/08

Day 6

The boat at sea is a totally different place than the boat in port...the elevators are more crowded and take longer to get to your floor and the pools are elbow to elbow. Emmie and I were up early though (unlike the rest of the cruisers) and watched the sun come up again. We all went up to breakfast at the windjammer and then Emmie and I were the only ones at the pool for about three hours. We both got a yummy smoothie. Daddy was back at the room with a napping Chase but came down to meet up with us for the baby group (which I had the wrong time for...doh) and then we brought Emmie to the arcade again where she really just likes to climb on the ride on games. Back to the room for naps....

We ended up waking the kiddos early to go meet with the Digital Wedding Chat group for lunch at Johnny Rockets again...there was a long wait, then a longer wait at the table. Thankfully, the wait was filled with fries and good converstation. We ate with Gino and Heather of Story by Photo and Digital Wedding Chat (DWC...photogs check it out!), Steve Davis and his wife Trina, Jedd & Casey of Blake Slade Photography, and Jake & Michaela (the resident models for the trip). We had some fun with the wide angle lens and got some funny pics.

We sat around for a good while until everyone decided it was time to go our separate ways. We came back here for a bit to feed Chase and change into bathing suits..Emmie was losing it though because her nap was cut short so we ended up just hanging out until the sunset and then we went up on board to catch some quick pictures of the kids around the ship (we were hoping for some fun Christmas card images!!) and some sunset shots...poor Emmie bonked her noggin (she gets clumsy when tired) and had a hard time recovering from that (complete with instant bruise) but we made it to dinner and she did well (and Chase didn't) again. After dinner it was over to the photo booths to check out our pictures and then up to the promendade to eat our dessert...then you guess it, back to bed for Emmie and Chase! Chase loves his baths in the sink and Emmie is truly on vacation watching movies on the laptop before bed and eating ice cream almost daily!

Freedom of the Seas Day 5

9/25/08

Day 5

We woke up again to a slow moving ship and some islands out our balcony window...the tropics are really a beautiful site to wake up to. Emmie rolled over and saw the light out the window and looked at me and whispered, "Want to watch the sunrise?" So we went out to the balcony while the boys were sleeping and snuggled on the deck watching the island go by. Breakfast came to the room at 7:30am and by that time Mike and Chase were up. We packed all of our beach things up for the day, put the babies in their carriers and off the boat we went at 8:30am. St. Maarten at first glance had a much prettier port and shopping area and we took a nice water taxi over to uptown and walked around for a bit...sadly it was super hot and we were all a little bit crabby and tired. Emmie ate a super melty ice cream while Chase nursed and promptly fell asleep...we slowly moved on and bought some more little souvenirs and walked up along the beach looking for a place to sit. There were islanders trying to sell us things left and right which on top of the heat left Mike and I super crabby and we ended up squabbling with each other over getting a seat or not and looking like angry tourists we settled on a set of chairs and an umbrella so that Emmie and I could swim a bit and we could build a sandcastle. There was no treeline at St. Thomas and the water dropped off a bit more and wasn't as clear and clean. We stayed for about a half hour and headed back to the ship for some naps.

When the babies woke up I put Chase up in a back carry and we sat at the pizza place for some late lunch--it is really funny the reaction you get from people seeing a baby in a wrap. I'm so used to it that it leaves me wondering why people are staring and smiling. Next Emmie and I went in the pool for a while while Chase and Daddy went back to the room for a nap. We tried all of the sprinkler things while it got darker and then we went to Johnny Rockets for dinner...they let us eat outside and Emmie made friends with a bunch of the wait staff there telling all of them that it was "wiggling" in a high pitched voice and showing them her signs. We ended up eating back on the balcony of our room by the time the food came and Chase was cranky (story of our dinners here on the boat) and Emmie sucked down a whole strawberry shake by herself. She got to watch The Little Mermaid while I put Chase to sleep cuddling her own Ms. Mermaid doll.

Freedom of the Seas Day 4

9/24/08

Day 4

I was finally able to sleep in a bed with Mike as the kids are used to the state room now...and the queen sized bed is way more comfortable than the pull out couch I've been sharing with Emmie and Chase. Last night was another great night...I only heard from Chase at 1am, 5am, and then he was up for good at 6am. We had yummy breakfast delivered to the room and when we looked out our balcony window we could see islands all along the horizon...we were destined to port at 8am in St. Thomas. Beautiful, hot, and sunny...we ate our fruit, eggs, and pastries and had some yummy orange juice...suited up and sunscreened everyone and went down to disembark. We hopped on a little shuttle over to some shops and almost convinced ourselves that we needed a new D300 for $2800...I bought some more souvenieres and then we found a taxi bus to take us to Megen Bay Beach on the other side of the island. We literally drove up and over some mountains and arrived on the other side in about a half hour. White sandy beach and turquoise waters waited for us on the other side...Emmie and I went straight into the ocean and floated around a bit...then I got Chase and dipped him in too--he loved it! We made a sand castle, took some pictures, and then Mike got us some drinks, fries and chicken fingers. There were some shady trees to sit under so the heat and the sun wasn't unbearable. I was having panic attacks on the drive up and back through the mountains on the other side of the road on tiny little streets. After our drinks and fries I nakified Emmie and dipped her in the ocean to get the sand off and put her into her clothes. Chase fell asleep on Mike's chest and Emmie was getting cranked out so back on the taxi we went and back to the boat. It was a longer morning than usual so they both crashed pretty hard. While they were sleeping Mike was off to find us something to snack on...pizza, noodles, coconut rice and some dessert squares, yum! We napped for a while until the kids woke up and then we got off the ship again and got some snacks and walked the streets of St. Thomas again since we were here. Everyone on the street seems as though they have never seen a baby (or a baby in a wrap? or maybe a baby as cute as Chase?) so they all gawk and stare.

We came back to the ship and went to Ben and Jerry's again since Emmie missed lunch and wasn't too impressed with the snacks offshore. We walked the promenade again and then stopped at guest relations...we're here with some other photographers but since we changed our dinner time we haven't really seen any of them at all. We sent them some chocolate covered strawberries and hope that they'll come with us for breakfast or lunch sometime. We'll see if they take the bait (dining with us can be hairy!) Then it was up to the room for us so Chase could take nap #3 of the day...be wary travelers who have a baby who needs three naps, it's hard! He usually is worn for the first nap while we walk around, his second nap is the same time as Emmie's so we do that one in the room, and then the third one we do right before dinner in the room so we can all get dressed. We set sail for St. Maarten at 6pm and headed to dinner soon after. We walked the promenade for a bit and looked at some cute pictures that the ship photographers got of us throughout the week. Then it was off to bed because we would be on port early the next morning.

Freedom of the Seas Day 3

9/23/08

Day 3

The sea is good to both kids, they sleep like rocks. At home Chase was waking at 11pm, 1am and every hour after that until Emmie was up in the am...at sea his first stretch went from 8pm to 2:45am and then he slept again until 5am and then until 7am....impressive! So, we woke to kind of grey skies but we were ready for a good day...we all swimsuited up before breakfast so we could go straight to the pool. Windjammer's again for some eggs and and bacon (and watery OJ) then it was out to the Flow Rider which is a continuous wave...Mike was itching to try it! I guess it is harder than it looks...but Emmie was telling everyone she wanted to try and that her daddy was strong. It was super windy and it seemed like all 3,000 passengers were in hiding. We went to the pool anyway...Emmie and Mike went in the water while I nursed a very sleepy Chase...then we switched and just as Emmie and I were hopping into the jacuzzi it started to pour! We headed back to the room a bit earlier than we had hope after walking through the arcade and seeing what games there were and planned on napping them then since we were going to arrive in Puerto Rico later that day....and I had a spa appointment at 12:30 for the hot stones massage.

So, with two napping babies I headed off to find the spa on deck 12...75 minutes later I must have left a huge puddle of drool on the floor of the spa but came out feeling rejuvinated. Poor Mike, on the other hand, apparently had an hour of screaming from the two of them when they woke up early from their nap. We decided some lunch at the pizza place would be good followed by some ice cream. Emmie danced up and down the promenade to the live music and really had a lot of fun. The pizza was awesome and the Ben and Jerry's cookies and cream cones that we all got were even better (oh and we splurged on some soda...) We pulled into Puerto Rico at around 3pm and we were off to explore. Lot of shops and fountains and an interesting ruins site...Chase was unbelievable good in Puerto Rico in the hotsling and Emmie (although her and daddy were sweaty and hot) did great in the Ergo on Mike's back. We bought some post cards and suveniers. One of my favorite parts was this city square that was just full full full of pigeons (yes I know, they're dirty dirty birds) but they were eating food literally out of the hands of the tourists that were feeding them and landing on their arms and on their heads. There was one little spanish girl in a stroller who was saying, "MIEDO, MIEDO," because she was scared and at the moment I was so glad Emmie was up on Mike's back. The buildings and even more importantly the doors to each building were such amazing colors it was making me wish someone would have a destination wedding there. We took a family picture in one of the door ways and in front of the fountain and headed back to the ship at around 5:30pm...Chase had a cat nap and Emmie and I had a dance party on the balcony to her World Music CD.

Off to dinner...Emmie was excited to see Sherlin and she literally wolfed down all of her linguini with meat sauce. She was starved. Mike and I had New England Clam Chowder and some yummy pork steaks with potatoes au grautin. Chase had some bits of mashed potatoes and banana. Chase melted down at dinner (what else s new) so Mike took him on a walk and I finished dinner with Emmie. Our waiter had been talking to her friend about her little Ms. Emmie so she came over to meet her and then it was like we were surounded by about 10 wait staff members asking Emmie to sign and telling me how smart she is for just two years old. I know she's pretty special (because I'm her mom) but it is fun to see that other people see that in her as well. After dinner we found Mike and Chase and went back for another stroll down the promenade. Emmie met a little friend and they danced to the live music again in the middle of the street, she had a blast. We stopped at one of the little cafe's to eat our dessert and then we all had our picture taken on the bridge and then the woman asked if we wanted one of just Emmie so we told Emmie to go stand on the bridge and do her pose...she did and everyone stopped to stare--too cute. It was off to bed after that and that went off without a hitch! Chase fits perfectly in the sink!

Freedom of the Seas Day 2

9/22/08

Day Two

Let's see...I guess the day starts with Chase waking up at 5:30am and ready to go...I convinced Mike to take him somewhere, anywhere...they went up to the deck to watch the crew set up for the day. Emmie was up at 7am and we were off to Windjammer's Cafe for some grab and go breakfast...back to the room for swimsuits, sunscreen and Chase's water wrap. We stopped in at the Spa to make me an appointment and we let them upsell us to the hot stone 75min. massage for the next day at 12:30 (when hopefully both babies would be asleep!) The pool for kids is really only about 6 inches deep and it filled with lots of fun sculptures that spray water and soak you...Emmie and Mike went off to explore and Chase and I hung out watching...half way through we switched. At the end of my adventure with Emmie we ended up in the jacuzzi and she loved it (so did I!) and then we found the ice cream server right on the deck. I had Emmie take Mike back to the jacuzzi while I stayed with Chase and there was a super nice older couple from Peru that played with Chase for a bit, the woman had him hysterically giggling and handed him back when he had had enough. Back to the room and we all took a 3 hour nap.

When we woke up we went for some lunch and walked around the ship--it was so windy! We found out that there had just been a hurricane on Puerto Rico (where we were headed) and that we might have to skip that port. We found Gino and Heather (DWC) and got to chat for a little bit on the deck...feeling bad that we don't see them at dinner, but they would be be sorry if we were actually AT dinner with our kiddos that late. We made it back to the room and Emmie and I left Daddy and Chase for a quick nap before our first formal night in the dining room. We walked the Promenade and Emmie got a fun World Kids CD and a mermaid doll.

That night was a formal night so we all dressed up--Mike in a suit, me in a dress, Chase in khakis and a dress shirt and Emmie in her giraffe dress and matching hat. Chase's most difficult time of the day is dinner...he can't eat, he's bored and over tired. Emmie made friends with all of the wait staff and we all came back to the room to crash. Our room attendent has made us a cute towel bird who was wearing Mike's glasses and holding one of Emmie's toys.

Freedom of the Seas Day 1

Vacation Day 1:

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

9/21/08

Day One

Our Adventure started super early on Sunday night when we got back from a wedding and continued the packing extravaganza that had been our life for the last three or four days. We ended up in bed at around 12:30am only to be woken up by Mr. Chase at around 1am for milk...Emmie was up at 4:00am just because and I went in to cuddle her back to sleep. I was sure Chase would be up in a few hours so there was not a thought in my mind that I might not wake up before my dad was scheduled to pick us up at 6:50am...I was thinking we could do all of the last minute things if we woke up at 5:30am. At 6:30 I looked over at the clock and realized we had SLEPT IN...Home Alone style we ran around grabbing everything on our list...I got a shower, woke Emmie up and tried to convince her it was a good idea to get dressed and add my impatient father to the mix to rush us along and we were chaotically in the car by 7am.

The car trip went off without a hitch even though Chase still hadn't had milk since 1am...Emmie was super excited and I think Mike and I were anxious about brining two big suitcases, a small rolley suitcase, a pelican camera case that weighted about 40 lbs., Emmie's huge carseat, a crib for Chase and his carseat...oh and a diaper bag and a HEAVY backpack. We made it through the secruity check without a hitch (Emmie was a little bit mad that they were "taking a picture" of her stroller and her M&M's that Papa gave her) and I knew at that point that we could get through anything this week! We went to gate 35 and asked if there were any openings so that Chase (who would soon be asleep in his bucket) could have a seat. There was! Emmie and Mike went to go find some breakfast while I nursed Chase at the gate watching our stuff. They came back with some messy muffins and in no time we were on the plane ready for takeoff. Chase asleep in the bucket and Emmie buckled in next to me we were ready! Emmie was telling everyone around her that she was so excited to go to Miami and that next we were going on a huge ship! She sat and ate her candy (probably more than she had ever had in her life...a couple starburst halves and some M&M's) and watched Diego on the laptop...if that isn't vacation I don't know what is! When we touched down her ears bothered her a bit but nothing that chewing on her starburst and yawning with Mommy couldn't fix (she kept saying there was gookies in her ears)...and only one brief fussy period from Chase before I bounced him back to sleep in my lap (which made my leg fall asleep) and then we were off to walk Miami airport to find our baggage and the bus to Royale Carribean. We made a potty stop for Em and continued on our way...check in for the boat was easy and we got the front seat of the bus.

We chomped on some mini Pringles (told you it was vacation) and rode on the interstate with the view of Miami in clear view...Emmie was impressed and didn't want to get off the bus when we got to the boat. Chase was unimpressed and was sleeping in the becket seat. Mike and I made a mental note to come back and visit Miami someday because it really is pretty! We boarded the ship and really only waited at the security gate (they let Chase stay sleeping in his seat) and again to get our room keys and all that...then we were on the boat! We were able to check right into our room and meet our room attendant. It was about 3pm and we knew we needed to get some real food and change our dinner pass from the 8:30pm on to the 6pm on because Emmie and Chase at the 8:30 dinner just wasn't going to work. We ate at the Cafe and then headed back to the room for a nap...but the Captain came over the intercom stating that we had to do a mandatory drill for safety before leaving port...Emmie was unimpressed and fell asleep in Mike's lap. We tried to plop her on the bed in the room when we got back but she woke up and that was it for naps. We made it up to dinner that night at 6:15pm and met our lovely head waiter named Sherlin...she called everyone Ms. Emmie, Mr. Chase, Ms. Kate and Mr. Michael Duval (anyone who knows Emmie's birth story hears the humor in that one!) and was really really accomodating...dinner for Emmie was Mac & Cheese, and Mike and I had fruit followed by shrimp ravioli and took some Strawberry Pavlova back to the state room for dessert...yum!

Bedtime that night was pretty unimpressive since we were all so tired...Mike did go up to meet with the DWC people who kept their dinner at 8:30pm while we all slept the night away.

Our "Stateroom" as Emmie liked to call it! (I'm calling home to say we made it!)

The view of Miami from our room.

The dining room!

Falling asleep on Daddy and posing with Mommy!

Loving her chair on the balcony

View looking towards the back of the ship

View looking to the front

Mike's self portrait

Some sibling love.

Cuddles on the balcony

Chase taking a bath in the sink

(We didn't break out the flash for this but the WB in a cruise ship bathroom is pretty terrible!)

Did you miss us?

I just figured out that I never posted on here that we were leaving for a week...so if you weren't one of the many emails in the inbox upon yesterday's return you may not have even known we were gone! But, nevertheless, we're back!



If this picture doesn't say it all we had a blast aboard Royal Carribean's Freedom of the Seas! More on that later...off to email.

Big Girl Bed!

It was about a month ago now that Emmie made the transition from her "cribbey" to her big girl bed (complete with kitty sheets). At first she was a little bit mad at Mike for breaking her crib and kept saying, "Daddy, don't break my cribbey!" But we assured her that the new bed she was getting (a hand-me-down from her Auntie Emily who went off to college this year) was super cool...but she didn't really want Aunt Emily's "old" bed, she wanted a "new" big girl bed. So we brought it up, slapped some sheets on and a bed rail (because I still find her all which ways in the morning) and she was so excited! It's a little tall so she needs a step stool to get in, but she is in love (and so am I, no more rocking the oversized baby in the rocking chair anymore **sniff sniff**) My little baby is growing up!

All kinds of caught up!

So, with the last four posts we are now completely caught up on weddings...now we need to catch you all up on us, on seniors, and on engagement shoots before we go away on our cruise in 10 days!

Mike is in the ER right now with something going on with his stomach...I'm stuck home with the babies (who are sleeping) worrying. So if you're up and reading this how about you pray with me (if you're the praying type)? Crazy how productive one can be when worrying about the person you love. I'll keep you all posted.

**Edit from the AM, Mike is home now waiting to pass a kidney stone, at least we know what it is (and I can commiserate since I've had stones since I was 15...they are not fun at all.)**

Hannah didn't stop Erin and Steve!

9/6/08

My favorite quote from the day is, "I'll have some Erin Lynne Guido with shrimp," said by one of the bridesmaids on the way to the church in reference to Erin's new last name. Erin was feeling a little excited, nervous, anxious and making her laugh was a good way to stop her from crying...it worked!

Tropical Storm Hannah was threatening us the whole day, but in the end we got the shots that we wanted, and we got them outside. Erin and I both joked that it would be fitting for them to name their first daughter Hannah in remembrance of this day! We didn't venture over to the Westerly Beach like Erin had wanted, but I told her when she gets back from her honeymoon we can set that up--she still has the dress so why not wear it again!

This was a wedding where there were a couple of other wedding overlaps...the maid of honor and another guest were actually at Thea and Mike's wedding on July 3rd of this year, and Kerri and Damien (bride and groom from last year) were there as well--it's always fun to run into familiar faces! We had a ton of fun taking Erin and Steve around the course at Quidnesett Country Club and even got to see four white tail deer running around out there. Another couple who gave us a ton of time with just the two of them...that = a happy Mike and Kate!