Doris | Southlake | Holiday Mini Sessions

Most mini-session inquiries come from families wanting to have that one perfect photo for the Christmas card they'll be mailing out to their friends and family across the country. This one was different! This sweet girl wanted to take photos with her pups! Seeing her loving on her dogs, the animal lover inside of me bawled like a pregnant woman watching Johnson&Johnson's commercial. (Sorry! Memories all too fresh.)  

What a gorgeous golden sunset in Southlake this was last weekend! Riiiight?!

This fashionable tween loves the camera, and the camera clearly LOVES her. Can't wait to do this again!!

It's time for the Holiday Mini-Sessions

Perfect for busy families who wanting to refresh the family album and have beautiful custom-designed holiday cards to send to their friends and family! Currently booking only 8 spots for the following two weekends - Nov. 12 & 13, 19 & 20.

Call 817.778.9901 or email vedrana@vedranaconan.com to book!

Little Did He Know...

He couldn't have known what he was signed up for when he came into this family. 

This momma has been just a tiiiny bit camera happy the last couple of weeks! Holding my camera again has me feeling all giddy inside, and since my postpartum recovery is going better than expected, I think I'll be ready to start booking new sessions sooner than planned. Time to start thinking about your holiday portraits, y'all!  

Our Love Has Doubled!

Meet our little guy Evan! He was born September 13, exactly a month ago today. Seriously. Where did the time go?! 

And here's our first family photo as a party of four, when Evan was five days old. 

Happy sigh. My EVERYTHING is right there... 

Evan rocked his first photoshoot. One of many to come...

A Day in the Life

Finally! With a new camera remote control in hand, yesterday I got to do my first "A Day in the Life" project. This was a personal challenge slightly more than it was a photography challenge. As hard as it was, I did my best to remind myself throughout the day not to spend too much time worrying about the perfect focus, the right composition, or finding a good light source.

The idea was to take photos of everyday moments that made up this summer's average day for Olivia and me. With her brother's arrival just weeks away, it was important to me to document what our life was like while she was still the only child. It'll be a while before she and I get to spend so much one-on-one time together again, so these memories are very special to me. 

---

August 11, 2016

She may not look like me, but she's definitely just like her momma - the day cannot start until we get some serious calories in our bellies. Good ol' Nutella sandwich and milk for me, and "yoye and nana" (yogurt and banana) for Olivia. Anything (un)intentionally dropped - for Lola.

First temper tantrum of the day! She didn't want to get out of her PJs. 

Time for mommy to get out of her PJs, and get ready for the day while Olivia gets her 10 minutes of iPad time. 

The beauty of having two children (almost) back to back is that you already have most of the things you need for the newbie. With the baby being a boy this time, one big thing that I had on my to-do list is to sort all the baby clothes we bought and have been given. I got through about half of it before Olivia thought it would be fun to start unfolding everything I folded...

Rookie mistake - letting Olivia see me cut up slices of watermelon before serving her lunch! Did she think I wouldn't notice how fast she emptied her plate or how Lola leaped at the sound of my delicious vegetable quiche bites hitting the ground?!

Oh the joys of wiping someone's butt multiple times a day! Potty-training can't happen soon enough!

Ohhhh yeaaaah - I've got two words for you!  Nap. Time.  I do not take this hour of peace and quiet for granted!

Guess who's uuup?! 

Pierre's parents brought these wooden puzzles from France last time they came to visit. They were actually Pierre's puzzles when he was a toddler! They also brought a lot of his old baby books in French. You should just see me "read" them in Bosnian and make up stories on the fly like a pro! 

Elmo is on = mommy is cooking/cleaning/taking a mental break. 

Snack time... for Lola?!

Daddy's home! Olivia really likes showing off her puzzle sorting skills... :)

Daddy's girl through and through. Can't blame her, he is pretty awesome!!

Her favorite spot in the house...

I often hear myself say that I can't wait until she can dress herself, brush her own teeth etc. but I know my heart will be heavy when she does and no longer needs my help. Ohhh... the little things!

(Check out Lola sitting on the windowsill! Isn't that a cat thing?)

Night-night!

Pheeew! I am wiped! The only thing I have energy for is eating dinner and watching the latest episode of Tyrant.  

Lights out by 9pm.

---

So, this was fun! Oh, how I wish I had done this sooner! My excuses are a plenty - sometimes I just get too busy, sometimes I simply forget to step back and appreciate this beautiful mixture of ordinary moments that life is mostly made of... heck, sometimes I just don't feel like being in front of a camera! Yet, when I look at the photos that captured so many of our family's wonderful memories over the years, I realize that one day my children won't care that I took the photo as much as they'd care to just have me in it with them. So, even on a day like yesterday, when we seemingly did nothing at all, wonderful memories were made and I have these photos to prove I was there! 

Now, I'm passing the challenge on to you! Don't wait for a moment to be "worth documenting"! Pick up that camera, get in front of it, and click away!

When Things Don't Go as Planned

My summer break is coming to an end, and one of the things that I still want to squeeze in is a personal photography project - "A Day in the Life". With Baby Conan 2.0's arrival penciled in for September, this summer is a very special one for Olivia and myself. Our days pretty much consisted of play time, reading time, snuggle time, and nap time. I'm really loving this toddler stage! Loving it! She's quirky, she's silly, she thinks I'm funny (!!!), and sometimes she'll stop mid-play, wrap her arms around my neck, squeeze tight, and sigh... Aww?! I knoooow!

So, I wanted to capture what our days looked like this summer. Nothing posed, or pre-planned! I wasn't going to get up early to tidy up, do my makeup, or reconsider my pony tail. The idea was that I document all sorts of moments throughout the day: the meals, the play, the tantrums, the snuggles... the little things that often turn into the most cherished memories.

This morning, I was ready and excited! After snapping a few photos just as she woke up, we came downstairs for breakfast I figured I'd put the camera in the corner of the room out of the way, and use the remote to trigger it as the day goes on, so it doesn't get her attention and derail my project.

And then, I realized my remote isn't working... Cue in tears. 

It's okay, I've cried over more ridiculous things in the last eight months. Taking the road to work instead of the grocery store and realizing 15 minutes into the drive. Kitten videos on YouTube. Having brushed my teeth just before breakfast and it tasting like toothpaste. 

A Newborn Session With a Very Special Model

I proudly present you the newest family member, my baby niece Mia! It was so hard having to keep my hands off these delicious baby chunks while photographing her. At almost a month old old, newborns are generally not the most cooperative bunch, but this sleeping beauty did everything I asked of her, while I clicked away.

The moment Mia arrived, her big sister Ena gracefully gave up the status of the baby in the family in exchange for kissing, hugging, and tending to her baby sister. Every parent's dream! 

Excuses Excuses

So... I do realize it's been a while, but I also have the world's best excuse for my absence from blogging, from photographing, from housekeeping, from exploring hair styles other than the ponytail, from eating anything but bland pasta... My excuse will make its big debut sometime in September and then I can be forgiven ::wink wink::

After three long months, I'm out of my funk and feeling 100% better! My hands are itching to hold my camera again, a beautiful spring is upon us, it's time to get busy! 

A Saturday Morning With the Martins

There was nothing "mini"-ish about this mini session! Big family. Big personalities. Big smiles. Big hearts. What a wonderful way to spend a morning at work! 

Hello, Winter! ... or not?

Some of my earliest childhood memories are those of winter time in Sarajevo. I remember white powder covering the city's autumn colors overnight, nutty scent of roasted chestnuts wafting from the street vendors on every corner and curling up under a blanket with a hot cup of tea.

In my 16 years of living in Texas, some winters have been more "wintery" than others. Judging by the balmy 70 degree weather the last few days, we may need to work extra hard to get into the holiday spirit this year! Tomorrow I may go shopping for chestnuts. Today, we start with cozy, fluffy things.