dakota at 3

We thought about doing this session outside but it was just a touch too cold and wasn't very green out. Dakota wore his cowboy boots for me though and showed me exactly how loud he could stomp his feet. :) We also got a chance to talk about "Mater" (from the movie Cars for those of you who don't have a 2-6 year old boy). He kept me entertained. :)

Some of my favorites of the session were from when we had his sister, Jordyn, join him. They both had the giggles and we got some true sibling interaction shots. :)

miss rylie

I had a blast shooting this session with Rylie. She recently turned three and is a BALL full of energy. :) Towards the end of the session she cracked me up by very carefully going toe by toe to make sure there wasn't any toe-jam between her toes. What's even funnier, I have pictures of her from her 2 year session doing almost the exact same thing. :) I think I'll tuck those away in a safe spot for when she graduates.

Thanks for coming Rylie and Tessa!

miss gretta

Miss Gretta lives next door to us. My children have been in love with her parents (especially her dad) for a while now. Before Gretta, they enjoyed mornings where they actually got to sleep past 8 a.m. ... all while my house was already out in the backyard and swimming in the pool. Ryan and I liked to give them a hard time about how their life would change once they had kids.

Enter Gretta. She's just over 6 months now and it's obvious that she has changed their lives. But really, who would have a hard time getting up if you were waking up to smiles and hair like this? :)

Happy Birthday Jack!

When Ryan and I decided to build a house in the middle of a bunch of empty lots in Byron, we never knew how our life would change. We've been blessed with the most amazing neighbors. A few months after we moved in we got a call from our builders wife (also a neighbor) saying that they had someone who was interested in our floorplan and would it be okay if they came through to show them our house. Understanding how hard it was to envision space in a house from a drawing on paper, we told them to come over. Little did we know that the couple walking through our house that night would become not only neighbors, but become some of our best friends.

They've since moved (and left us ... *sniff*) but came for a visit this past weekend. Between lunch and taking the kids to the Mall of America, we managed to get a session in for their little boy who turned one this month. Jack is a little cutie and is such a calm baby. He hung out with us all day and hardly ever cried. The one thing he DID do? MOVE. The boy is on a mission once his legs hit the floor. :)

Mr. Jack gave us some interesting faces. Ha ha.

We couldn't let big sister, Grace, get by without a few pictures. I'm in love with her hair and her eyes.

And finally, the funniest picture of the day. This is how we ended. This is the only time I heard Jack cry all day long ... but I'm thinking Grace is used to his crying. The fingers went right into the ears.

Even funnier? Take a look at the second picture ... taking almost one year ago to the day of Grace and her brother when I did his newborn pictures. I see a pattern. :)

If you've placed an order in the past two weeks ...

... and did not receive confirmation from me, please let me know. I've heard from one family that an order was placed but it never actually went through. Now I'm hoping that there aren't more of you out there. Please contact me if you placed an order but never got a confirmation e-mail directly from me.

Thanks!

Norah ... 11 months.

Once again ... the beautiful Miss Norah. I personally LOVE this months photos of her. I was able to capture both sides of her this month ... the serious thinker and the giggly little girl. :) And those EYES ... ugh ... they just melt my heart.

Enjoy!

Our First Baby ...

I don't think Ryan and I were home from our honeymoon to the Wine Country of California more than 2 or 3 days before we took the plunge into parenthood. I had always wanted a dog ... but childhood allergies had pretty much wiped out that option for me.

While browsing the internet, we found a breeder that said it had puppies available. So we took off that day to go look. They first brought out an 11 week old yellow lab who just seemed so big already so we asked to see the younger litter. Out they brought (soon to be named) Pumba. He was SO gosh darn cute. I instantly fell in love.

He was a skittish little thing. We had to hand feed him on the carpet for the first couple of nights because he wouldn't walk on the hardwood floor. When we took him to see my brothers family he hid from the kids in one of the plants. And later on, whenever I'd vacuum, he'd pee. :)

Well, almost 7 years later, we have a huge dog who is still as hyper as a puppy. He's calmed down a little but just can't control himself when someone comes over. For the longest time, people in our neighborhood referred to Ryan and I as, "Pumba's parents". Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood had met and remembered him.

He's a bit strange ... he only likes water in it's frozen state. Take him near any kind of water and he'll FREAK OUT ... tail between the legs with this look like, "ARE YOU CRAZY!?" ... but once the first snowfall hits, he's out in the front yard rolling around in it.

My point with this whole post? Don't forget to include your "first baby" when planning for family pictures. I know it's hard to give the four legged babies all the love and attention they got before the two legged variety came along ... but don't forget how important they are to you.

Anyway, catching snowballs is one of Pumba's most favorite winter activities. Last weekend I shot a few pictures of him while we were out building a snowman. So here he is ... Pumba. (And because I know someone will ask ... he's a pure bread Lab. His monster head always throws people off.)

Kristin Knudson Photography News

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a great Groundhog's Day. They say he saw his shadow this morning so we're left with 6 more weeks of winter. Bah-humbug! I'm itching to get outside.

Anyway, I just thought I'd update the blog with a couple things ...

First, please check out the pricing changes on my website. The changes have been in place for a couple weeks now but I just hadn't had time to post a reminder here. If you had a session in January, you are still locked into the old price structure through February.

Second, I will be closed down for a few days. I have to have my wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday, February 4 (joy, joy!!) so I am closing up shop from February 4 thru February 8. Depending on how I feel, I may respond to e-mails but I probably won't be taking any calls. All inquires/questions will be returned on Monday, February 9th!

And lastly, I've had a few people ask me about gift certificates ... YES! If you are interested in giving a session as a gift, I will certainly work with you to get the perfect package put together. Honestly, I can't think of a longer lasting baby shower gift. Outfits, bottles and blankets come and go, but a parent will forever treasure photos of their child as a newborn.

Have a great day!!

Meet Spencer

I love catching up with old friends. I resisted joining Facebook for a while ... mostly because I didn't think I'd really find that many people on there that I knew. BOY was I wrong!

In junior high there were two girls I was really close friends with. We were on a bowling team together (I'll still taking anyone on in bowling ... and I might even give away a free session to anyone that beats me) and spent countless nights at sleep overs. When it came time for high school I went to one school while they went to another. Well, I have found both of these girls on Facebook.

Trea, her husband Eric and their little boy, Spencer, drove down from the Cities a few weekends ago for a 2 year old session for Spencer. He is SUCH a sweet little boy. I am head over heels in love with his red hair.

Here's a little bit from his session ...

(Thanks again, Trea, for coming all the way down ... and thanks for a great "girls" lunch!)

If anyone else is on Facebook, friend me!!!

Isn't she getting big?

I hadn't posted any of Norah for a while so I thought I'd post a few from our January session. Her mom is bringing her every month and I love being able to watch her grow and show off all her new skills!

:: future NBA All-Star ::

This boy obviously practices passing the ball with his dad ... he's got quite the throw. I playfully asked him to toss it to me thinking it'd travel a few feet. Instead I found myself protecting my head. :)

Luke is so cute though that I told his mom and dad that they were free to drop him off at my house anytime. His laugh is infectious and his typical three year old pronunciations had me smiling from ear to ear.

:: full of personality ::

I photographed these two with their four other brothers and sisters this summer so I was excited to have them back. Talk about a family full of fun personality!!