My Photography

I have been having so much fun lately with my photography. I have been so busy and Im lovin' it! I cant even believe how fast my business took off. It was less than a year ago I started and now Im booked every weekend and am constantly getting new clients. Amazing. Just thought I would share some of my latest work. You can check it out on my photography blog at www.madsenphotography.blogspot.com or on my facebook photography page at www.facebook.com/madsenphotography. I am excited to move to Utah and find all new clients and meet all new people. Not to mention some fresh photo locations too:) And since newborns are my favorite Im hoping that I can get a good newborn clientle down there in baby having city =P

First Day of School

Yesterday was Brets first day of school! The mom in me was so temped to have him stand by the front door and take his "first day picture" before he could leave! He was on a wait list for one of his classes (pre-calc) and luckily he found out yesterday he got into it which made us happy. So he is on his way now to his degree. Its exciting to start this new chapter of our lives, kind of scary but exciting none the less. I am enjoying having him home more during the day too!

My Big Boy!

Connor LOVES to stand up! He stands up all the time now and is starting to get adventurous and trys to let go here and there. He is starting to really cruise a bit along the couch and stuff. I bet he will be walking before we know it!

Gosh he is just so darn cute! And getting so big!

UTAH.... Here we come.... to stay!

For any of you who have not heard Bret is going back to school full time. We will be moving to Utah for him to go to school down there the last week of August/first week of September. We are very excited for this change but nervous as well. We are excited to have a fun little adventure and meet new people, live near family we dont usually get to see often and for Bret to further his education. He will be getting his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He will do his first 2 years at SLCC (to get residency for tuition at the University) and then he hopes to finish his last two years at the University of Utah. As for me I really hope to continue my photography business down there. Im hoping to be able to get it going once we get there. So to all you in Utah... here we come! See you in about 5 months!

The Worlds Worst Blogger

Hello... yes Im still alive! I havent blogged since November! I cant believe it! Everytime I get on the computer I think "Oh I need to blog, I will go do it when Im finished editing or checking emails." Then I finish and I want to go to bed and end up not blogging. So here we are, with a massive time gap on my blog. Sorry to my mother in law who I know enjoys reading the blog, I will start it up again Maggie:) So I have crowned myself the worlds worst blogger but I promise to try to be better!

Heres what I have been up to.... www.madsenphotography.blogspot.com or you can find me on Facebook at Madsen Photography. I really enjoy doing photography but it sure does suck up your time! I spend so much time editing and by the time Im done I dont want to be on the computer anymore. But its a lot of fun and I have such a great clientle built up now.

Cameron is almost 3 already! I cant even believe it! He will turn 3 on May 4th. My little baby is a little boy now! Just today I was browsing through some old pictures and I cant believe how much he has grown up. He is a very busy boy, chats your ear off and runs everywhere! Its exhausting (for me). He is a very very smart kid. He surprises me with what he knows everyday and he learns amazingly fast. Right now he is in a Cars kick and I swear I have heard/watched that movie about a million times in the last month lol. We are taking him to Disneyland for his birthday and he is so excited to meet Mickey Mouse!

Connor is 9 1/2 months old now which blows my mind! He is supposed to still be a brand new baby. I swear time goes way too fast. A friend of mine shared a quote that sums up my life... "The days go slow but the years go fast." It amazes me that he is coming up on his first birthday when I feel like he was just born yesterday. He is a busy little boy! Crawling all over the place and he loves to climb up the stairs. I swear he is going to be just like Cameron and walk early. Cameron walked at just over 10 months and it wouldnt surprise me if Connor walked around that time too. He is such a sweet little boy, cuddles with me and loves to play one on one with you. He is a peaceful little boy and brings so much happiness to our home. We call him our garbage disposal because he will eat any and everything you put in front of him!

As for Bret he is going back to school! His last day at his job is this Friday and he starts school next Tuesday. He will be going to school for a degree in Mechanical Engineering which is a 4 year degree. We will be doing two quarters here and then transferring to go to school in Utah. Its a big change but it will be a lot of fun. He is excited to start a new phase of life and have his education furthered.

Thats about what we have been up to. I will try really hard to do better!

SNOW! Thats right, snow in Seattle!

We were all stoked to find snow falling outside. Its rare here so when it comes we all get so excited. Not to mention chaos often occurs. It snowed a little bit on Sunday then more Sunday night. By Monday afternoon it had almost all melted so Bret, the kids and I headed up to mall to get Cameron a nice warm coat since his from last year was a little small. We were in the mall maybe an hour and we came out and it was like a blizzard! The wind was whipping the snow around and it was falling so fast, accumulating quickly. We of course started home but since we live in Seattle no one was moving we were stuck up on the hill, cars sliding all over the place... Finally we got onto the highway but even there we were barely moving, there were cars slid off the road here and there and semis jack knifed blocking the road, it was crazy. Luckily we made it home safely. Bret got to stay home from work on Tuesday and Wednesday so we enjoyed a nice long week at home together as a family. It gave us some fun time to go out and play!

Cameron and I built this little mini snowman during Connors nap one day:) I wanted to build a bigger one but he was too impatient.
Bret and Cameron starting on a big snowman, but the snow wasnt compacting well so the changed their plans and just played.

Even Connor got to go out in the snow for a little bit!

Halloween

I know, I know, this is a very belated post. I have been so incredibly busy lately and just keep forgetting to post on here. So, finally, here are a few pictures from Halloween and Trick or Treating. Cameron LOVED it this year! He could have totally kept going but we reined him in after about 4 blocks worth of houses. We went with our friends Courtney and Hank, Max joined us for just a little bit but then went home to chow down on his candy. Hank and Cameron had a lot of fun. This year my mom came down and stayed at our house with Connor and handed out candy so that Bret could come with us Trick or Treating. Connor was a little pumkin' boy and Cameron insisted on being a Garbage Man. Since he wanted to be something that there is no costumes for we had to make it up a little bit. So this is what we came up with. And to make it all come together Bret made him a little garbage can to drag behind him to collect his candy in, it was really cute! All in all we had a ton of fun this Halloween:)

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving was a lot of fun this year, Cameron really got into it and enjoyed it. He loved the mess we got to make doing it. He especially loved it because he got to be naked, well, besides his diaper. He would run around naked all the time if I let him... Here are a few pictures:)

Connor getting in on the fun

The finished bunch!

Little Balls...

The other day I was filling my beanbag for newborn photography and Cameron insisted on helping. Of course a big mess was made in no time. Camerons new favorite chore to help with is vacuuming and sometimes I dump a little bit of Cheerios out and let him vacuum them up. So when it came time to clean up the mess of course he wanted to do it. He had soooo much fun! It entertained him for way longer than I thought it would. He kepts yelling "More little balls! More Mama!" I guess I will have to keep this in mind for a rainy day:)

Snuggle Buddies

In the morning while I get dressed my boys like to lay in bed together and watch cartoons together. I just thought it was a cute sight so I had to snap a picture! I tried to get one just before this of Cameron cuddling up with Connor but by the time I got my camera he had stopped. Love these boys!

My Grandma

As many already know my dear Grandma Compton passed away on September 25, 2010 at 1:20pm. She was very very sick and as much as I didnt want to loose her I was thankful she was freed of her pain and suffering. I had a really hard time with her death. I dont think I was really as prepared for her passing as I thought I was. Since I knew she was so sick and we had gone to visit her in July I thought I had prepped myself as best I could but no matter what you think I dont think your ever ready to let someone you love go. I know she was so happy to be reunited with her parents and sister on the other side. One of things I have a hard time with is that she will never know my future children and she wont be able to watch all of my children grow up. But really since she lived so far away and was unable to travel she didnt see them at all now so truely now she will be able to see them all the time and watch me and my family as we grow and change. I love my Grandma so much, she was the best Grandma anyone could ask for! I cant wait to see her again someday.

My Grandma, Lillie Deaton Wilkerson Compton. This photo was taken while she was in highschool.

Me on my Grandmas lap when I was a baby.

This was the last time I saw my Grandma alive. We were able to go see her in Indiana in July. I wish I had really realized this was my last time with her alive. I would have hugged her more and told her I loved her more times.

My Photography

I just posted pictures from all 5 of my sessions I had this weekend, have a peek and let me know what you think! www.madsenphotography.blogspot.com I had the opportunity to work with twins for the first time which was fun and a little crazy lol. I feel like my photos are improving every session and there is nowhere to go but better! Im loving this so much, its so much fun to meet all these new people and spend time with and meet so many beautiful children. Im thankful that my business is doing so well in such a short time!