Every year, for almost the entire the month of January, I have to endure something both hideous and torturous. Its the same, year after year and you'd think I'd have learned by now that its coming and figure out a way to put a stop to it? Yes its called "watching the tennis" and my husband likes to punish me with it year after year. This brings back boring, horrible memories of having to sit through the "Summer of Tennis" season with my mum when I was a kid. Just the sound of that tennis ball being struck back and forth, back and forth, the grunting, monotonous line calls and slow commentary makes me want to drift off to sleep. The sound will forever remind me of lazy, hot summer days and long boring school holidays! My husband of course just laughs and tells me this is his payback for him having to endure 11 months of the year with endless cooking shows (seriously, how can he not enjoy Jamie Oliver?), dancing shows and reality TV. So for the month of January, I act like a very patient wife and endure with limited eye-rolling. We only have one TV in the house (the other TV is in the studio) so there is no escape! And to make matters worse, miss 7 loves it too so they love to tease me about it! But now, alas, the finals have been played... and while my poor husband mopes about the fact that its finished for another year (and there is now apparently nothing on TV worth watching), I'm silently and secretly doing a little happy dance... hehe... and now back to our regular programming! Do you have to put up with your significant other's TV shows, for the sake of peace, too? Which show is it at your house? Lisa and her extended family shared a lovely afternoon with me in a fabulous park recently - all was not too fabulous to start with though as when I arrived on location, my favourite shooting spot was fenced off and being dug up by excavators! Not happy!! All was not lost though as we had plenty of other areas to explore and of course the adorable Master Leo and his new baby sister Layla to keep us occupied! Here is a few of my favourites from the day! Thank you Lisa and your beautiful family for sharing your morning with me!
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Mr 4 doesn't do things by halves. Last week we had a bloody scene on our hands on the Trampoline, where he had tripped, and face-planted into one of the few bits of exposed metal on the whole structure. (seriously, there is padding almost EVERYWHERE else!) Miss 6 started shouting and we came running... The result was blood, tears, one tooth knocked clean out, and another one bent back into his mouth at a frightening angle. His mouth looked like mince meat! So the last week has seen us running around for multiple x-rays and dental appointments ,along with soft foods and cautious warnings to settle down. This week we returned to the dentist to have the second tooth removed, and he was super brave. He didn't even flinch when the needle went in (although I did, watching on, eeek!) and he handled the whole thing quite calmly and without any fuss. Now that he's had his first visit from the tooth fairy, he's thrilled! I doubt this will cause him to slow down at all, but we can always hope! Alexis and Ryan showed off their beautiful baby bump at their maternity shoot recently - doesn't she look amazing? It was so beautiful to capture the love between this gorgeous couple, as they eagerly awaited the arrival of their little girl! I was lucky enough to do the newborn shoot for this little bub once she was born too, coming up on the blog soon! Here's a snippet of our images from this day: Beautiful memories for a beautiful family! The second week of the school holidays was a bit of a write-off here. I came down with some sort of viral flu thing, so for 2 days we were house-bound while mummy shivered under a blanket with the chills and bodyaches. The kids coped as best as they could, but inevitably, cabin fever set in. The fighting and bickering hit an all time high, and everyone was just sick of the sight of each other, and sick of shouting at each other. So when my husband suggested we have a quick 2 night getaway somewhere, well I wasn't sure how it would go! But it turns out, it was just what we needed. Change of scenery, some fresh beach air, new sights, sand between our toes, and no work or other distractions for a few nights. We did a couple of touristy things, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed being away from it all. And two nights of no cooking certainly counts as a holiday to me! Nice to be home now and ready to tackle the new term, and whatever it may bring! We had a lovely afternoon for Sasha, Chris and Mark's family shoot recently - Sasha and Chris are keen ice hockey players and wanted to incorporate some of their gear into the shoot. It made for some really fun and colourful images! Mark loved being able to bring his bike along for the photos too. Thanks for a fun afternoon, guys! Do you have an ordinary super-power? Mine is this: I can tell myself to wake up at a certain time, and I will. I was asleep yesterday morning when I woke suddenly about 5am as my husband was leaving for work... I thought "Its too early, go back to sleep and wake up at 6.30am" And then I opened my eyes again and it was bang on 6.30am. Seriously, who needs an alarm clock? I have always had this ability for some reason. I can also usually make a pretty good guess at what the time is, without having a look at my watch - ie - "Hmm it feels like its about quarter past 10"... look at my watch, its 10.18. I also know when the oven timer is just about to go off, a second before it does. ie - "Surely that thing has been cooking for 15 minutes already" - walk over to the oven just as the timer starts beeping. Every. Single. Time. How do I do this? Am I the only one? Do YOU have a super-power? For those who like to win FREE Stuff... I have a giveaway running on my Facebook page at the moment - win a FREE mini family shoot. Drawn Thursday 16th June at 8.30pm - check it out! Todays blog feature is from Danielle's family shoot, at one of my favourite parks! The weather had us running for cover a couple of times and the cloudy skies kept things a little more muted than normal (the sun did peek out a little bit at times), but we still had a fun shoot. I love it when the generations get together and I just love all the wonderful families I get to meet! Thank you for a wonderful afternoon! Don't you love it when plans backfire on you? Today was meant to be a super productive day. I have to-do lists, a massive editing pile to get through, galleries to finish, disks to finalise and post, and emails to answer... So it was with some degree of glee that I arrived at Kindy this morning to drop Master 4 off, anticipating 6 child-free hours of productivity... only to be told it was a Pupil Free Day, no Kindy today! Silly me had obviously not read the calendar, because when I got home, yep - there it is... in bright yellow highlight so I wouldn't miss it. We dropped Miss 6 off at school, and then Master 4 spent the whole drive home saying "Silly Mummy!" which I found really helpful, thanks buddy! So master 4 is very disappointed (he loves Kindy), and now mummy is resigning herself to a much less productive day, but one extra day of love and cuddles instead. There is a silver lining to every cloud, after all. Today's blog features the Cragg family, and what a lovely, fun family they are! So many gorgeous kids and happy moments, the park was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous - gotta love my job, right? Thanks for a fun afternoon guys! We have been going through some major life changes over the last few months. Big. Mega. I have been about as stressed as I ever want to get, I have cried, laughed, felt very deflated, worried, sad and excited - and sometimes I have felt all those things in the space of one day. It took over 8 months to finally sell our family home. That in itself felt like a bit of a marathon and was quite an emotional process. Then the challenge was on to find the place for our next adventure - and we discovered it nestled at the base of beautiful Tamborine Mountain - 5 of the most amazing, beautiful acres I think we'd ever seen, along with a tiny little house! Despite the tiny house, the potential here is massive, and we are excited to finally turn some dreams into reality here. I cannot get over the peace and serenity! No more helicopters overhead at all hours, no highway noise, no more sirens or traffic congestion - its just such a breath of fresh air. I also look forward to using my own backyard for some photo shoots! Our little dog Dutchy, meeting one of our friendly neighbours! Donna's family shoot was originally scheduled for some months ago - however in my profession, we are always at the mercy of the Weather Gods! That day was a little showery but we decided to persevere - I got one click of the shutter before the downpour started!! Ok - time to reschedule! Luckily, our next attempt turned out to be a glorious afternoon - the sun was shining, the kids were happy, the location was stunning - what more could you ask for? Miss Ayla - love that gorgeous smile and twinkly eyes :) These trees are made for climbing! Super cool - Kayden and Leyton Thanks Donna and family for sharing your afternoon with me!
So the kids went back to school this week - did you shed a tear, or breathe a sigh of relief? Or were you something like me and did a little bit of both? Miss 6 has been ready to go back to school since about the first week of school holidays. We've had an pretty constant line of questioning something along the lines of: "When can I go back to school?" "How many sleeps is it NOW?" "WHY cant I go back yet?" etc etc She had new school shoes and spent the last few weeks clomping around the house in them. She's instigated games at home where she is the school teacher to Mr 4 (he is SO used to being told what to do already lol!) and she has even been spotted sitting down reading a book to him, teacher style. So its safe to say, this week, she is one happy little vegemite. Mr 4 on the other hand has spent the last 6 months telling us he is NOT going to kindy, and getting upset every time it was mentioned. Even promises of a school bag of his choice (Avengers), a fancy lunchbox, lots of painting, new friends... "NUP! Not going mummy. I wanna stay home with you!" So it was with great trepidation that we arrived at kindy on Wednesday. I was nervous for him, but I kept my tone light, talking about all the fun he was going to have. We walked through the door and he was off, playing! I spent 10 minutes chatting to the teachers, and then told him I was going. He ran to me, gave me a big hug and kiss, then waved me off with a "See ya mummy!" and barely a backward glance! And now I dont know whether to sigh with relief that he's settled in so well, or to be slightly miffed that he doesn't need me as much as I thought he did! Harris family shoot; I love doing family shoots at this lovely park - every time I go there I find another little gem location with amazing light and a spectacular backdrop. Trees aplenty, lots of shade, and lots of space for the kids to run around and have a ball! The Harris family did just that - and 3 very energetic and absolutely gorgeous kids made for a fun day at the park. And the best bit is they got to have a play on the playground as a reward (for all those beautiful smiles!) when it was all over! Thank you Harris family for allowing me to capture these memories for you!
I remember during those long, seemingly endless months of infertility, promising myself that if we were ever lucky enough to be blessed with a child, that I would never take that child for granted. This long wished for and dreamed of baby, who would make our world complete and bring us everlasting joy and happiness, no - not me. You hear so many stories from those older and wiser, that you must enjoy them while you still can. "They wont stay little forever", those wise owls proclaim, as we tear our hair out and wonder if we will ever sleep properly again. You wont get this time back. You will look at them one day and wonder where the time went, how they got so big? Part of me rejoices at each small step towards independence. Part of me whispers "they're not your little babies anymore"... With a 5 and 3 year old, I know that the time for cuddles on laps, kissing "ouchies" and loving on them is now. And though I get frustrated with the constant interruptions, the demands for snacks, the whining and bickering over toy ownership, and the constant chatter & hullabaloo that is the background music to any parents life, I try to stop and remind myself to breathe - remember, they will not stay little forever. One day I will stop and realise that the house sounds empty and I will miss kissing "ouchies" better, I will miss having little hands to hold, and I will miss having a soft warm body climb onto my lap for cuddles and to see what can be swiped from the computer desk. I will miss this stage. I am lucky enough to get to photograph lots of little cuties, and honestly, no matter what the age of my young models, I think to myself "Oh I loved this age..." I do. It reminds me that it wasn't that long ago that my "littles" were that, um, little! And how quickly they grow, and change, and become independent of us... yes, a bit sad, but also a bit awesome too. I was lucky enough to photograph the Richardson family at a nearby park recently, and spent a lovely morning exploring the area and capturing memories. Miss Abigail is 6 months old, an absolutely gorgeous age! She seemed quite fascinated by the sounds of trucks nearby, kids playing and birds singing as we moved to each location. Anyone watching on would have had a bit of a chuckle at me, as I was trying to sing bits of Wiggles songs (her favourite) and busting a few moves to try and catch her attention! Not so easy with a camera in hand I can tell you! Luckily, having mum or dad dance around behind the camera (when they're not in the shot) helps too :) How cute, loving being able to "stand" just like a big kid! And sitting up? Too easy! But you cant beat cuddles with mum and dad :)
Enjoy these special moments while you can - they are only little for a little while. |
AuthorHilary Hudson Photography. Natural Light Newborn and Families Photographer based in Tamborine, QLD. Australia. Archives
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Hilary Hudson Photography is located in Tamborine, Queensland, photographing newborn portraits and family sessions in the Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim areas of Queensland, Australia.
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