The Moll Family...

This session might be just short of a miracle. No really, I'm not joking...this session was originally going to happen in early September! 4-5 tries later, we were finally able to connect!

Cohen is just so stinking cute, that one of his "friends" at daycare thought so too and thought that a bite on his cheek would be a lot more affectionate than just a kiss. That was the start of the re-schedules. :) But he is all healed up and looking mighty fine now!

He did not bring along his little pucker like last time, but he did bring along Bobby...

How sweet is that?!?! I just love this image of him and his little buddy Bobby!

Moll family - Yay!! We got to see you again! We knew it would work out, despite all the roadblocks. I'm pretty sure we could not have asked for a more perfect day though! It was perfect! There was one thing I did learn...I will never challenge Cohen to a cheese eating contest! :) I will be in touch soon!

Ok, ok, ok....

I've heard you and I understand I may have been the only one who welcomed the blog break. :)

I now know there are more readers out there in lurker land...come on out and comment! Comments motivate me to keep going! And because of your in-person comments about my break, I'm coming back! :)

I have LOTS to blog about...whew, not sure when I'll get caught up. But there are at least 6 families, 1 wedding, a surprise birthday party and a healthy dog update waiting to make an appearance here....with ALOT more coming this weekend and the following weeks!

Stay tuned...

Dear blog,

I don't know how to say this or break it to you easily....so I might as well just blurt it out. OK, here I go...no really, are you ready?

I need to take a little break from you. Now, now, now, don't start getting those tears welling up, my computer could not handle water damage right now. But I promise I will be back.

It's just a little break to get caught up. This girl is getting further behind by the minute. I have lots of families (don't you see their pretty faces below...don't look down too much, I really can't have those tears falling), that need to see the rest of their images. They've seen enough of the sneak peak's and now they need more!

So... this break is just temporary, but I needed to let you know so I could let go of my guilt for not updating. :)

This is Karen signing off the virtual world (but not for too long I promise!). It's just a little break...

I'll be back!!

Handsaker family...

has grown since the last time we captured them! Actually little Cooper was a bun the oven last time around!


We were greeted at the door by 2 adorable pictures Layla had painted for us...what a sweet and awesome welcome! She turned 3 a month ago and all she wanted was fingers paints and she got them and created masterpieces for us with them!

I was talking with Layla about how we could go play on the playset after we were done taking some pictures and then we could have so much fun playing and getting all messy and dirty. DUH Karen! Little girls don't like to get dirty! She promptly told me no, she didn't want to get dirty. :)

I have no doubt that little Cooper will take me up on the offer in a couple of years though! He is ALL boy....he loves to make noise, I just know that finding dirt is next on his list of things to accomplish! Tthe harder and louder he can bang something on the table...the better it is! Check out this little guy with his handsome hat! This is nearly too much to handle!

Guess what we got to do next? Take the puppies out to play!! Gosh, I wasn't in heaven or anything...no not at all!

This next story could have been the funniest story of the day. We were done taking pictures and were hanging out and talking. Layla wanted her umbrella on her picnic table. She was told she could go get as long as she could do it by herself. Nothing will stop Layla, she is a determined little girl! She promptly went inside and we all fully anticipated her coming back with nothing. Not so! Next thing we saw was the umbrella in her hand and she was ready to put it up! Looks pretty good doesn't it?!?!?

Cousin Handsaker family - :) We love hanging out with you guys and have so much fun capturing your family! We don't see each other often enough! But we do melt when Layla calls us by name and it seems like we are with her every day! And the way she says Cooper's name is the sweetest voice on earth! I love watching her and how much she cares for him! We can't wait to keep watching the little man as he grows up! I'm taking a rain check with Layla and will apply it to Cooper when he's ready to find that dirt pile with me!

P.S. Jen, you have to go get Layla for this next part. I promised her we would surprise you. It's about to come....

I had not seen Layla's room since it had been converted to her "big girl" room so Layla gave me the tour. It ended up turning into an impromptu photo session and I told Layla that it would be a big surprise for mommy when she saw the pictures. So here you go Layla...SURPRISE MOMMY!! :)

Sesker family...

The whole crew came out for a family shoot! I am always amazed when we do BIG family shoots. I love to think about why we are there and the only reason we are able to be there to capture them is because 2 people fell in love...and now they are BIG family of 14! I love it, so cool! Gary and Judy, check out what you started...beautiful!

The 3 sisters that helped the family grow to what it is today...

The other cool thing about this family is that 4 of the 6 kids are all around the same age! How fun! And the furthest one family lives from the other is just 20 minutes! Talk about a tight family!

But there's only 5 kids in the above image? You're right! Here's the other little guy... (remember seeing him when he was 3 months old?)


This is going to be a first for us...we're going to share a "behind the scenes" sneak peak! Check out all the help we had to get the image above!! :)

This image so totally 100% makes me giggle every time I look at it! It is just hilarious, but the second funniest part of it is that Eric thought it would be funny to capture it...and he did! See me in the left corner? SEE, I'm working! How am I ever going to get that boy to stay on task?!?! :) But I guess I can't say too much...because I really do like what he captured here! :)

Thank you Sesker family for coming out and letting us capture you! I hope you had tons of fun celebrating Jaden's birthday after the shoot! Jaden, I'm still waiting to hear what was on your birthday list!

The Schwarck family...

came to play with us! The first time we saw them this year, it was a surprise session for daddy, the second time we saw them it was for the arrival of little Maci Mae and now she's 6 months old!


She sure has grown up a lot, but she is still a tiny little peanut! And she still has that little button nose that I melted over the first time I saw her.

Maddie, Maddie, Maddie...is all I can say! She is a smart little cookie and she totally knows better than to fall for a little bribery! :) I challenged her to a race to the candy...that wasn't enticing enough...so I challenged her to a race to the gum. Gum was definitely the ticket...but the only thing she got upon winning, was candy...no gum. Don't worry, she tattled on me. :) Like I said, she's a smart little cookie!

Amber, I totally have to tell this story, because I'm still cracking up over it.
I asked Amber if she wanted to see a sneak peak on the blog. Well, the answer I got was not passive or just a "yeah", but more like, um...heck yeah! She told me that if she could hack into my computer to see the images sooner, she totally would! :) Ok, ok, ok...I think I get the point....sneak peak needed ASAP! Save the computer, give her a sneak peak, save the computer, give her a sneak peak!

Schwarck family - Thank you for coming to Ames and for letting us hang out with your sweet girls again (and you too!). I'm not sure that I will ever stop laughing about Maddie and how she is so specific about her needs at any given moment. :) And little Maci, I'm not sure she could get any quieter! Such a sweetheart!

P.S. To Aunt Shelby - major bonus points to you on the outfits*! Loved them! :)

*No dress was harmed in the making of this image. (Although I cannot vouch for either of the girls' tights by the end of the session!)

Email problems!

YIKES!! We just found out that our email provider has been having problems with its mail forwarding "feature". UGH! So that means that some emails sent through the contact us page on our website or sent directly to karen@kandeproductionsonline.com have not been getting to me.

It appears that it has been happening since last Monday and maybe even before. So if you have sent me a message and have not heard back from me, please know that I am not ignoring you! :) Please don't hesitate to email me again to get your name at the top of the inbox so I am sure to know I missed your email!

I will be working on figuring out who I have missed tonight and will be in touch soon!