Alright, so I need your opinions! What do you think of my new header? I was just tired of the gigantic picture of me on there, that I had to do something. I was going for a vintage look, but I'm not sure it really goes. Let me know what you think! This is my tricky way of getting people to make comments, since I'm starting to feel like my blog has an audience of one and I need to feel popular. Come on, help my ego out, just a little?

Well, it was a fun weekend on my end! For Thanksgiving I went to my aunt's home in Northfield where part of my mom's huge family got together. It was definitely a full house. I tried to get involved in some card games, but it was a bit tough since Nina was one of two children in the house and demanding attention! She ran in circles almost the whole time, climbing under the table and grabbing people's feet, getting tickled and bonking her head more than once. Man, when they say toddlers are a handful, they were being nice! She's my little sweetie, and it was fun watching her see the Christmas tree when I set it up last night. Poor baby though grabbed a branch and scraped herself in the face. She has such soft baby skin and it's really sad to see her scratch it up :( I'll have to take a picture and post it. Maybe a little later. I will show you some photos from yesterday morning. I went to my sister's house and took some pictures of her two boys in front of the Christmas tree. It was quite the challenge, but we got it done! Jacob, her youngest is the same age as Nina, enough said. Anyway, here are some pictures!

Ok, so I finally had some time to get my product page up and running! Here's the link: www.kariphotography.com/products. I'm now offering handbags and canvas wraps, which is very exciting for me. I am loving those bags, so I'm going to have to stalk Nina again and get "THE" shot of her to use for a bag. That'll probably make for good advertising too, don't you think? I'm sure a great bag like that will stand out in the mall! Anyway, this last week was fun for sessions. I think my favorite was a little newborn boy named Blake. He was a sweet little blondie just over a week old. His hair was so soft! He had just gotten out of his first real bath, so he was freshly shampooed and so cuddely! He had a thing about his hands being in his face, so that was a little challenge, but with the help of his mommy with her finger/pacefier and Daddy's soothing voice, he fell asleep and I got to work my magic! They had an awesome dining room with contemporary black furniture with windows on both sides, so I was in heaven with that lighting! The family was great to work with and the pictures turned out great.

I had a family this weekend with two boys, 6 and 8 who had me laughing pretty much the whole time. Great personalities! I'm sure these two know how to work together and give Mom and Dad a run for their money! The younger boy took it upon himself to make everyone else smile, as he would snort like a pig right before every shot, of course making everyone bust a gut. The other, well, he had other methods, but his mom asked me not to write about that..... Hehe.

So I've been missing again, sorry about that. I have some good news though. I'm finally cured from the never ending cough! Yeah! That's very exciting news for me. Anyway, two more days until the new products are introduced. I'll give you a sneak peak. I'm going to be offering very classy leather handbags with your photo on them. They actually look very sleek and not at all cheesy. I'm going to have to get one for myself next time I get a good shot of Nina, which is increasingly difficult these days! Last weekend I did a mini shoot of her just to get some funny expressions to use in a storyboard to send to her long distance grandparents who don't see her often. Man, was she a little stinker! I didn't really plan for it, so as a spur of the moment thing, I set up the backdrop and put her in her sweater. If her hair's all messy, oh well. That's what she looks like most of the time anyway! So, here I am trying to get some pictures of her and what does she do? Well, the same thing most 16 month olds would do. RUN AWAY! Over and over again. That's ok, I have a game plan. I grabbed her stacking blocks and built a big tower right where I wanted her. What toddler can resist that? So here she comes, over to knock over my tower and there's my chance - snap, snap snap. UH OH! Did you knock over my tower? As she giggles, I get more pictures, yippy! It's amazing the things you think of when trying to get pictures of your kids. I have yet to take out the bubbles with Nina, I'll have to save that trick for a special occasion...

Ok, back on topic. New products. I just found an excellent vendor for canvas wrap prints, so now I'm proud to offer canvas prints! I will be working on designing some sample storyboards and senior collages, and will have an entire website devoted to specialty items. Watch for the link!

I went to the doctor today and they gave me steroids to ease the inflamation in my lungs. Does that mean I'm going to get big muscles? Haha, no really though, I have to take 9 pills tomorrow! Doesn't that just sound insane??? And now my throat is starting to hurt. It didn't hurt before. Will this ever go away or am I just going to have to live with this forever? I guess I should probably go to bed since Nina seems to be waking up extra early since daylight spending time last Sunday. Mama is NOT too happy about that! Anyway, I'm going to be ordering business card wallets with each order now that clients can pass out to their friends with their kid's picture on them. Here's a sample:

So I published my new price list online, and it is now in effect. For those of you who already had sessions based on the old price list, you still have until November 15th to finalize your orders and still get the old prices. Anyway, it seems like this cough isn't going anywhere, so I think I'm going to have to break down and see a doctor. I always feel like I'm wasting the doctor's time because every time I've gone in the past, it's just a virus and I'm supposed to drink lots of fluids and get rest. Well, I could have figured that out myself, but I guess it's good to have assurance from a pro. The whole rest thing isn't so easy when you have a 16 month old demanding your attention! Ok, on to some pictures, because I know that's what you read this for anyway! This one was actually a couple weeks ago, but I wanted to share some because I just loved the little hat and bootie set they had! Have I mentioned how much I love newborns?