Life in Motion Photography by Lyndsay Stradtner, Austin Texas Child Photographer

dennis the menace

I just had to come back and share a few more of cute little Bradley.  The whole time I was proofing I couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity.  At first I thought it was because this little guy reminds me of Ty when he was 2....which desperately made me wish I could go back in time with my camera.  But when I was chatting with his mom about the photos, she mentioned the little look of mischief in his eyes in this shot and said "he is such a little dennis the menace!"  HA!  lightbulb moment - that's who he reminds me of!!

a little more traditional than my usual work, but I still love it...

I love that even though he's all dressed up, his rough and tumble boy side peeks through with his cute scabby little knees...

look at this sweet face...I bet he never gets in to trouble {wink wink}

Thanks for the great time you guys, it was fun!!

trash the dress, stephanie fisher style

I love, love, love working with other photographers.  Nine times out of ten, they are totally up for anything and everything.  I was so psyched that our first thing to do once arriving at the beach was to meet my longtime online buddy Stephanie.  We started this whole photography journey around the same time and it was so fun to finally meet her and her gorgeous little girl in person.  So after a quick dinner, we hit the beach for a quick trash the dress session.  It was Teagan's first time at the beach and he was so chill about it....

A couple of confessions....first, I love it that my husband is always willing to wear Teagan, even when I only pack the girlie print sling.  By kiddo #3, he's pretty chill too, and such a trooper.  Second, I was pretty nervous about my camera and the sand.  So much so, that I took an absurd number of photos without even looking through the viewfinder trying to protect it from the sand and breaking surf when in the water.  Third, looking at these I'm dying to do a destination wedding. 

On our way down...

love the bucket for a touch of whimsy - haha!

For what it's worth, she totally dove in to the surf.  We had a blast!!

33 sounds pretty good to me

I had an awesome birthday, thank you for all the well wishes.  First, my wonderful little dude gave me the best birthday gift ever, he slept through the night for the first time!  From 8:30 pm until 5:45 am.....way to go buddy!!  Then I had several mini-sessions and a big family birthday party after that.  My husband even took over camera duty for awhile at the party, how cool is that....I love finding photos on my camera.  A great day!

I promised sneak peeks before I head to the beach for a few days of relaxation.  The Slidell mini-sessions were a huge success, we managed to dodge the rain and it was fun to hang out with some old friends....thank you to everyone who booked one!

First up, little Bradley.  Remember him at 3 months (and here)?  And 6 months (and here)?  I can't believe how much he's grown...could he be any cuter?!?

Next up, the triplets.  The last time I saw them, they were itty bitty little peanuts.  I can't believe they're a year old already!  I got a bunch of shots of them, but I have to share this one, it cracks me up!  Their mom is brave and decided to let them dive into cupcakes at the end of the session.  They loved em!

and big sister Hannah with MacKenzie

Next up, Fletcher.  He's the adorable little boy of Mary with Paper & Ink Studio.  I was so psyched when Mary booked one of the mini-sessions, I finally got to meet her.  I hired her to do some custom work for me awhile back and I'm consistently amazed with her talent.  Is Fletcher seriously cute or what?!

His parents are pretty cute too!

last but not least, my little buddy Aiden (click here and here).  I've been photographing him since he was just a tiny little thing too, it was fun to see how much he's grown since we moved and catch up with his parents...

love the lashes

Many more of everyone to come...but now I'm off to the beach!!!!

Even more.

Sweet baby Calla, a few more from her recent session...

I know I must sound like a broken record, but I just can't help it.

I adore her.  From the time she was in her mommy's tummy, to her birth, her 2 month shots and now, already 6 months old, sweet baby Calla.  She steals my heart every time....

She stole Taryn's heart tonight too.  She talked more about Calla on the way home than she did the hot dogs we all had for dinner, she's smitten, for sure.  Thanks Tuckers for inviting our clan (sans Ty) over for dinner, it was great to visit with you guys!

Trash The Dress

I cannot even tell y'all how much fun this was.  It took a lot of planning and before I share a few faves, I have to thank MC, Amanda and Anne-Marie for assisting with everything from shooting, to carrying stuff, to hauling wet dresses and even keeping one eye on security (you'll see why later).  Thanks girls....you guys rock!!

I've only started thumbing through them...

A cracks me up - she showed up driving in her dress, hair in pigtails and sportin some shades.   Love it!!!

And while we had permission to be on site, I got a little nervous we were going to get kicked out when the girls jumped into the fountain.   

Many, many more to come!  Thanks for an awesome morning yesterday girls - it was a BLAST!!!

 

crazy. busy.

This week has been.  Haven't picked up my camera much at all.  This weekend though, it'll get a workout.  Trash the dress.  I don't do weddings.  Ok, so I could totally be talked into doing a destination wedding.  But trash the dress sounded like fun to me!!  5 models, 3 assistants and lots of fun, I can't wait!!!  I'm about to load up the kids and head out the door to scout a location I got permission to use.  Really excited about the location, it's different for me.

Ty heads out tomorrow to visit my Mom.  Excited but this momma is a little sad.  I won't see him for 2 weeks :(  He'll be flying on his own for the first time.  Pretty nervous about that.  Him and me both.

Announcing Louisiana Sessions!!

A few things you need to know if you're gonna live in Texas.

Queso is considered a food group.

"Howdy" means "Hi, how are ya?" and usually includes a nod of the head.  Go ahead, try it out, bet you can't do it without the nod.

And cowboy hats....well....they're big here.  But, its windy....so you best hold on to hat....

A few other favorites...

when you are 18 months old, smelling pretty flowers includes puckering =)

And since I haven't shared an entire session in quite a while, and because I love them all, CLICK HERE.  Lily is one amazing little girl, I just adore her and we are so lucky to have such wonderful friends in her parents!

ps - I'll be posting about Ty's birthday tomorrow, then I'll sit down and answer all the questions from "Ask me anything" on Sunday!  Even my momma's crazy question!!

10 on Tuesday

and it's actually Tuesday, how about that?!

1.  Our lives feel like total chaos right now.  Maybe it's the fact that summer is here and that means more time outside, more go, go, go.  Maybe its the fact that our business just opened up this week, officially, and  its been a lot of work getting things ready to go.  Ty's birthday party coming up, Jase is busy with work, Taryn's taken a liking to using her outside voice 24/7, which Teagan is not liking.  And Teagan is teetering on that 4 month growth spurt, it's coming, and the thought of it makes me tired.  He'll want to nurse non-stop.  He's been really fussy the last few days, thankfully, I ordered a new sling last night so I can wear him more comfortably.  Thanks Nancy for the recommendation!  I love the way she wears her daughter so that she can see out, Teagan is going to dig that.

2. This is their thing.  Never let's Mommy do it, just Daddy.  I secretly love that though.  Makes me go awwwwwww....

3.  We hit the pool this morning with some friends.  Our neighborhood pool is awesome, it slopes down so the little ones can play safely, has a lot of sprinklers and buckets of water that splashes down from a big pole, pretty cool.  Well, at the end of the slope are a couple of stairs that lead to the deep end.  Taryn never goes out that far.  Today I was at the edge of the pool with Teagan and Taryn stepped right off the stairs and down into the water.  I jumped towards her and started to grab her and yelled out to Alli who was close to her as well.  She grabbed her and I pulled her up by the arms.  Scary.  We now have a new rule not to go past the blue line that marks the start of the stairs.  It wasn't that deep, less than 3 feet with the other step right there, but enough for her to loose her bearings and go under.  She did not like the water up her nose and the look of fear in her eyes as she went under sticks in my mind....ugh.  Thankfully we were both right there to grab her, and that Ms. Alli is good at being quick on her toes, Lily was a swimming fish with no fear this morning!

4.  We decided at the last minute this week to participate in a silent auction through Jason's work to benefit the ASPCA.  We will be donating a session and I had to pull some display materials together really quick last night.  In addition to some large prints, a canvas, an album, business cards and some other frilly stuff, I printed this as a mounted 20x20 for the display table.  Me likey....

5.   Only two more days of school left.  Ty can't wait.  I have mixed emotions about it, probably like every other mom out there right?  I can't wait to have him home and spend more time with him, watch him have a fun summer being a kid.  He's earned that, the right to play in our neighborhood, be safe and just be a kid, ride his bike, go to the pool, get dirty and just be a boy.  We had a hard time letting him do those things in our old neighborhood with all the rebuilding, so this is a whole new thing for him.  On the other hand, he and Taryn have been in a bickering rut lately, and I'm not sure I'm ready for full, all day banter and rough housing back and forth.  Oh, and I'm not ready for the grocery bill.  Yikes can that kid eat!! 

6.  I know I promised pics of Teagan's Blurb book, sorry, I took them and just haven't had a chance to proof them yet.  I will, soon, promise!

7.  I'm considering a new blog.  For a bunch of reasons.  Some business reasons, some personal reasons.  Just can't decide.  I want to upgrade, but I'm having a hard time deciding whether to separate the business from the personal.  Part of me feels that all my work is intertwined with who I am and what I do, and then the other part of me thinks it would be better having two distinct blogs, one for each.  Hmmmm, decisions, decisions.  What do you guys think?

8.  This makes me go awwwwwww too.  Meredith and her Mommy.

9.  Must get working on Father's Day pics.  Soon, maybe one night this week.  Can't wait to work out the ideas in my head. 

10.  Ok, it's the end of 10 on Tuesday and I'm at my wits end with Taryn's 24/7 outside voice.  We've tried everything, the quiet game, jumping over the threshold of our house going from inside to outside voice (yeah, my neighbors think I'm nuts), spending quiet time in her room, reminders, nothing is working.  The loud, screeching, constant yelling at toddler volume, is making me nuts.  Help?  Advice?  Anyone?  Anyone??