{Personal} Introducing Thomas Aaron

Stop me if you've heard this one before ...

Most wedding photographers base their calendar around their wedding season. For me, a self-proclaimed "seamhead," (and this is Mike talking, to be clear. Not Karen) I base my calendar around the baseball season, which, for the most part, coincides with wedding season. Spring training starts in February but Opening Day is in late March/early April as is, usually, our first wedding of the year. When the final out of the World Series is made, we're usually wrapping up with weddings for the year, though we will have one or two around the holidays.

So, what's a wedding photographer to do during the off-season, be it baseball or weddings?

Design albums? Try to develop a passing interest in college hoops? Nah, we have babies!

I'm proud to introduce Thomas Aaron, aka Tommy Boy, who just turned a month old this week. He joins his sister, Maddie, 2, and brother, Nate, 1, in making our house feel like a 24-hour day care center! But we love them all and wouldn't trade any one of them although that's not to say that we won't farm one of them out to grandma's house every now and then which she just hates, let me tell ya! -Mike

Baby Nate

I suppose it's about time for another one of those "Where's Mike been?" posts. My wife and I recently welcomed our second child, Nathan Michael, into the world and we've spent the past few months preparing for and adjusting to life with two kids! It's been overwhelming at times and a breeze at others. To say we're busy would be an understatement. But, nevertheless, I'm documenting Nate's first year with a daily photo blog just like I did for his sister, Maddie. Click here to see it.

With wedding season just around the corner, documenting my own life solidifies why I like to do the same for others. The feelings I get when I look at photos of my growing family are indescribable.

Nate's a big boy, measuring 9 pounds, 4 ounces and 22 inches at birth. At six weeks old, he's already wearing three month outfits. The best part? He sleeps like a champ, just like Maddie did. The photos above are from his newborn portrait session at our house at about 10 days. I'm hoping he grows up to play baseball. Really, though, I just want him to be happy.

Angie + Mike's Pregnancy Portraits

Wow.

What an honor for me to photograph my business partner, Mike, and his wife Angie ... just weeks away from welcoming their daughter into their family.


Isn't his wife, Angie SO beautiful??!?!?!??!!! She's seriously stunning!

Mike and I were photographers together at Kansas State University and it's been fun to watch each of our respective careers grow ... until about three years ago when we joined forces to form Heartland. Many, many, many people make the mistake of thinking Mike and I are married. Well, we are married, but just not to each other. Mike's wife, Angie, is one of the sweetest people I know ... she's also vying for the title as Heartland's No. 1 fan/supporter (my brand new husband is giving her some stiff competition!).


Since Angie is an avid reader, I knew we needed to include some of the parenting books she's been reading. And since Mike and I are news nerds, I suggested he grab a paper to read.


The sun even came out for a little bit, so we headed to their enormous backyard to grab some casual portraits.


And I would be in trouble if I didn't mention Mike and Angie's "oldest child," Harley the dog. We're all interested to see how Harley will respond once Maddie comes home with Angie and Mike. Mike said after last week's baby shower, when they had "the baby loot" spread across the living room, Harley went into pouting mode and stayed there for a good 24 hours.

Speaking of baby shower, please CLICK HERE to check out some images I grabbed from her baby shower. :-)

And, of course, please CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of my favorite images from Angie and Mike's pregnancy session.

Happy Anniversary, Angie + Mike!

Today, I depart from our practice of posting Heartland photos. The occasion is to wish my awesome business partner, Mike, and his wife, Angie, a very happy anniversary.

Angie and Mike's wedding was documented by Colorado photographer Sean Cayton , who we look up to immensely.


A VERY special thank you to Angie! Mike and I are plugging away at so much Heartland business, and Angie is one of our No. 1 fans, always cheering us on. Your support means so much!