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These little guys are going to give mom a run for her money! Not only were they a surprise but they are so adorable! Give them a few years and then moms better lock up their daughters ;) Even their gorgeous older sisters adore them (look for them in a future post).

Surprise Twins Newborn Photographer

Surprise Twins Newborn Photographer
Look at all his hair! He was so easy going and seemed to enjoy having his picture taken (or maybe it was the warm, fuzzy blanket)

Surprise Twins Newborn Photographer
His brother doesn’t have quite as much hair but he’s definitely a redhead like one of his older sisters.

Surprise Twins Newborn Photographer

Surprise Twins Newborn Photographer

Surprise Twins Newborn Photographer
Congratulations on a beautiful family mama, those boys are getting so big already!

Back in July, Houston-based photographer Christie Lacy was here in Phoenix visiting family. Christie and I know each other from a photography forum we both are part of and invited me to join her for an engagement session she was shooting for a family friend and of course I said yes. We met in the Copper Square District of downtown Phoenix and scoped out locations. It was surprisingly quiet and empty until we realized that there were no events going on which made it so much easier to get great shots without strange people ending up in them. She was even kind enough to take a few head shots for me (see them here) that I love (thanks again Christie!).

These two were so much fun to capture-they were constantly laughing and cracking each other up and were obviously very in love!

Phoenix Engagement Photographer
I love the hazy soft colors, I think it adds to the romance.

Phoenix Engagement Portrait
Trying a different black and white, I really like the newsprint feel to it. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Phoenix Engagement Portrait

Phoenix Engagement Photographer
We were in the right place at the right time for a fantastic portrait opportunity!

Phoenix Engagement Photographer

Phoenix Engagement Portrait

Phoenix Engagement Portrait
Look at that gorgeous ring!

Phoenix Engagement Portrait

We had so much fun even on a hot and muggy afternoon during the July monsoon. Can’t say I didn’t break a sweat but it was worth it!

I want to apologize to anyone that I haven’t returned an email to. Some of you already know but my husband ended up in the hospital last week with an 8mm subdural hematoma (pretty much a bruise on your brain). He has fantastic teeth and went in Thursday morning for his first cavities, he was really nervous and forgot to eat breakfast. He made it through the appointment but at checkout he started to feel lightheaded and fell straight backwards, like I imagine a tree falls, hitting his head on the floor and was unconscious for several minutes. I got the call as the paramedics arrived and decided to take him to the hospital, it was a HUGE shock! After my mom arrived to watch my kids, I rushed to to the ER to find him strapped to a backboard with a neckbrace. Luckily there were no neck or spinal injuries but after the initial CT scan they thought they saw something wrong. A second CT was performed and a neurosurgeon was consulted (EEK!) and determined there was no aneurysm but there was a bleed in the front of his head caused when he hit the back of his head as hard as he did.

Phoenix Portrait Photographer hospital
(after he got off the backboard, PS this was with the little point and shoot I carry in my purse)

We were then informed that he was going to be transferred to a different hospital as a precaution in case it got worse and required surgery (the second hospital has a neurosurgery unit and was only 8 miles away by ambulance). I was scared, especially after he started throwing up. I ran home to grab dinner for my momma and my boys and found him in the ICU when I arrived. I’ve never had to advocate on someone’s behalf to busy nurses, or spend hours next to a mostly sleeping person’s bedside-it was an awful way to spend two days. It took forever to get clearance from a neurosurgeon, a cardiologist (another precaution), and an internal medicine specialist to go home that we were afraid he’d be there a second night.

We finally got home and got him settled in and I waited up for my mother-in-law to bring the boys home from a day spent with out of town guests. Saturday was spent with those out of town guests celebrating his grandfather’s 80th birthday (I’ll hopefully get some pictures from that up soon), it was a wonderful get together but we ended up spending Sunday recovering from the previous few days by laying around and sleeping. Which leads me to Monday that I tried to spend catching up on everything that fell to the wayside last week and not succeeding at any of it. I drove my husband, I am now his chauffeur, to his doctor’s appointment to find out he still is not released for driving and will need yet another CT scan. And today will not be any easier as we go to to our youngest’s first GI appointment to see if we can get to the bottom of his tummy issues.

All that to say – Do NOT skip breakfast and I will get back to all of you as soon as possible! Pleases be patient and if you don’t hear from me in a couple days, please try me again.

And thank you everyone for all your prayers and kind words! He’ll be ok in the long run, at this point he’s dealing with bad headaches and some short term memory loss that could last awhile and amnosmia – loss of sense of smell – that may or may not get better.

A little while back, I found out that a fantastic photographer that I admire would be here in town visiting her family and I took the chance to meet her. She is an absolute sweetheart and invited me to join her on a photoshoot for a friend of her sister (I’ll share those soon too!). So after spending a late afternoon walking and taking pictures around downtown Phoenix in the middle of the monsoon season, and boy was it hot and muggy, we were sweaty and tired but it was the perfect opportunity to get a few headshots. I am not that comfortable being on the other side of the camera, probably because I am always the one taking the photos, but I know it’s important to do just that from time to time (if nothing else but to show your kids later on that yes you really were there). Besides, a great photographer will put you at ease which is exactly what she did. So here I am, in all goofball glory:

Phoenix Portrait Photographer Kayla Renckly portrait storyboard
There was a funny discussion that led up to these but it just goes to show that I am a big dork, anything for a great photo right?

This has to be my favorite!
Phoenix Portrait Photographer Kayla Renckly portrait

A big thank you to a beautiful Texan, Christie Lacy!

Family is one of the most important parts of my life so why not start there, right?

Recently some of my extended family got together to visit with my cousin while he was on R&R from the front lines. I am so proud of him for what he does and who he is! It was so great to see him, meet the sweetheart in his life, see his cutie of a son and of course enjoy the hamburgers and hotdogs :) Doesn’t he look mischievious in this picture? (You guess which one I’m talking about)
Phoenix Family Photographer

He just cracked me up the way he looked at me from the side like that!

Whenever I get the chance, I try to catch a picture for just me, something that just makes me happy. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted but it was a challenge to translate it to real life. You see, my grandpa is really hard to photograph, at least the way I wanted to. He seems to avoid the camera, especially if he is the only person in the picture.  So I obliged and took a picture of grandpa and my mom to test my lighting and then I stood there and waited for the moment. The moment he looked away and forgot I had the camera. It was perfect, just the light from the ceiling fan in the darkened kitchen. In my mind it was black and white and powerful. It reminded me of the hard life he’s lived, working long hours to support his family first as a farmer and then a painter up until recently when his health forced him to quit. It reminded me of the loneliness he feels after losing his wife of over 50 years to ALS 4 years ago, the one that he spent every night sleeping next to and worked side by side with every day. And it reminded me of how much I love him even though I’ve had a hard time getting close to him.

Phoenix Family Photographer

Keep your head down Conrad and get home safe! Thank you for what you do!

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