Teasers for the lovely LaVigne family! Enjoy!
Author Archives: Jennifer Gustines
It’s Potty Time….
When Maximus turned two I was almost 8 months pregnant with Maverick, so getting him out of diapers was a MUST for me! I was determined that I wasn't going to have two kiddos in diapers, and by the time Maverick arrived, Maximus was about 90% potty trained. As silly as it sounds, it was such an accomplishment for not only him but me too.
Well, Maverick turned 2 in April and I got myself into "potty training" mode. I thought, I've done this before, I'm a pro, I can for sure do this again. Haha, well our journey the past couple months hasn't been easy...but thankfully there isn't a baby on the way for me to speed up the process, so I've just been taking it at his pace.
First, we started with reading our potty books every night and every time I went to the bathroom I would take him with me and say "look, mommy go potty" "yay, mommy did it" etc., etc. After a couple weeks of talking it up, we are ready to start. Only at bath time while the water was running, I would sit him on the potty (we don't use a little potty, I just find it confusing to go from a little potty to a big potty, and we bought one for Maximus but he never used it) so, while the bath water ran, he would sit...some nights he would go (not realizing it) and we as a family would cheer, scream and dance as he just looked at us like we were crazy. Next, I started with every time I changed his diaper I would sit him on the potty. After months of doing this routine he finally started realizing he was "making bubbles" like daddy. Gross I know, but the joys of having little boys. Just recently, I've been hitting it hard, because I know he can do it. We now sit on the potty first thing in the morning, after breakfast, a couple times before lunch, right before nap, immediately after nap, anytime before we leave the house, as soon as we arrive someplace, before we leave, etc. etc. It's exhausting!
I feel as if I have a little puppy running around ( I know, awful to relate my kid to a puppy) but every time I turn around I'm stepping in pee (gross) or having to clean up poo! lol I let him run around naked most of the day, this didn't work for Maximus but for Maverick I find he does better on days that he doesn't have underwear on. Most days are good, but we do have bad ones. I stay home the majority of the day so that we are close to a potty and at times it's a bit frustrating taking him to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so but I'm hoping that soon it will just click and we will be diaper free. Any mommas out there going through the same thing? What worked for you? Any and all advice is welcome and hopefully this post will help anyone who is getting ready to start this wonderful chapter, I wish you the best of luck and just have patience.
Here are a couple pictures of my big boy and him working hard for those M&Ms!
Tiptoe Teasers!
We shot Keith and Andrea's wedding last year. Andrea's sister had just found out she was expecting so it was nice to finally meet their newest member. Sean was such a ham, and Ms. Kennedi was quite the little diva! Check out some teasers from this wonderful family session. Enjoy!
Mason is ONE!
We have captured many milestones with this amazing couple. When they were seniors in high school, to their engagement photos, their wedding day, maternity, newborn, and now Mason's one year session. Man does time fly by. It has been such a blessing to be apart of their journey and I look forward to watching their little family grow. Here are a few teasers from Mason's birthday session. My gosh...what a little cutie he is. I mean look at those big baby blues!!
Tiptoe Teasers!
The boys and I made the 10 hour drive to visit one of my best friends! HAHA... it's not really that long but I always kid around that I'm halfway to the beach when I go to visit her. She is expecting her 4th baby so how could I not bring my camera along and snap a few photos for her. We don't see each other as much as we both would like so to be able to capture these moments for her truly means so much! Here are a few teasers for her! ENJOY!!
Tommie & Mark {A Fairytale Wedding}
We have shot many weddings over the years, so we have seen it all. But when I say they thought about everything, really...they thought about EVERYTHING. It was such an amazing day that I'm sure their guest will not forget. Everything was absolutely STUNNING! Tommie and Mark are such a sweet couple, and we are so thankful to have been able to capture their perfect day! They got married at The Bowling Green Country Club in Front Royal, VA. Enjoy a couple teasers from their special day.
Justine & Danny {Love}
What a beautiful wedding this was. Justine looked absolutely flawless in her dress and those bright red lips. Danny could not keep his eyes off her and I don't believe he EVER stopped smiling. I mean do you blame him...just look at her, GORGEOUS!! They got married at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester, VA. Here are a few teasers from their special day. Enjoy!
A mini vacation…
Every year since Maximus was 6 months old we have done a week long vacation to North Carolina, but with trying to sell our house (which is still on the market if you know anyone looking for a house...lol) we just weren't sure of our plans...so we backed out of the usual group vacation and had no plans of doing a beach trip this summer....BUMMER! BUT...when my parents expressed wanting to get away for a few days we decided a quick trip to Ocean City for a few days is just what our family needed.
The boys were super excited because we have never gone on vacation with Grandma and Papa and I was excited to use my new camera that my partners got me for my birthday, which was last week. (Thanks TT and Hoss!!!) I still can't believe I only have one more year until I'm 30, ugh!!! Sucks getting old. But anyways that's another blog topic. As usual a few days leading up to it, I'm running around like a crazy person trying to make sure I have all I need, doing some last minute shopping, wondering who is going to look after our cats, washing clothes, cleaning the house, etc. etc.
We finally get to the beach and AHHH... It's crazy how just being there makes me feel so peaceful. Maximus kept asking if we would live here. They both were a big crazy mess... staying up late, getting up early, eating anything and everything, but hey what's vacation if you can't do all those things, right? It was a great time and I do love the beach, but boy am glad to be home.
Here are a few photos of the boys and for once I managed to get in a photo with Maximus. Enjoy!
A little girl and her puppy…
So, I have been photographing Ms. Kennedy since she was about 2 years old. We schedule her shoot every year right around her birthday. She usually walks into the studio not so happy to be there. Mom and Mimi can surely vouch....it is always a process, but after a few talks and bribing of course, lol she opens up and we get some great shots. Well, Kennedy just got a new puppy, or as she calls it, her "baby" Lily. So what do I do but send mom a message... "photo shoot with her new puppy?" and of course that is exactly what we did. OMG....Ms. Kennedy walked into the studio as polite as can be and was a freaking ROCK STAR!!! I couldn't have asked for a better shoot. Here are a few teasers from our session. I can't wait for them to see the rest.
A little girl and her puppy..... or should I say a mommy and her baby! 🙂
A First Look- Ashley & Cody
We have shot A LOT of weddings over the past 7 years and about a handful of those have actually been "first looks". We have never pushed a first look and very rarely even discuss it at our consults other than asking, "Will you guys be seeing each other before the ceremony?" and when we get a "no" we leave it at that. I think everyone is so caught up in keeping everything "traditional" that they are missing out on something AMAZING! (Just my opinion)
I get it, I was once there. I remember when I was planning my wedding, it wasn't even a question I wanted the "traditional way". I wanted Codie to see me for the first time walking down the aisle. I wanted the photographer to capture his "REACTION" and of course I got the shot I wanted....him crying, (because he swore he wouldn't) I mean lets be honest ladies, isn't that the shot we all want? Whether you're in a church (like myself) or wherever and those doors open or you walk around the corner and your eyes meet for the first time. It's an indescribable moment! I still remember like it was yesterday. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that moment. I was nervous, scared, excited...so full of emotions, but the music came on, the doors opened and there he was...and in that moment I didn't notice the 200+ people standing there..... I just saw him!
So why do a first look you ask? Well here are a couple reasons...
Experience the moment in private
Doing a first look will allow you to embrace the moment, alone. The bride can walk up behind him, tap his shoulder and as he turns around and sees his gorgeous bride for the first time...He can kiss her, hold her, cry with her, talk with her (which you wouldn't be able to do until after the ceremony) and just share this moment together without any distractions or holding any emotions back. PLUS, your hair and make up are fresh and photo ready!
Looking back now, I wish I had that time to talk with Codie and tell him how handsome he looked and how excited I was.
Get rid of any nerves
Even us brides are so full of emotions, wondering if he's going to get cold feet and seeing each other beforehand can be a huge comfort for us before the big walk down the aisle.
More time for photos
You aren't trying to squeeze in all the photos after the ceremony. It sounds like plenty of time during the cocktail hour to rally up the family and bridal party for group photos, but it's harder than you think. It leaves you with barely any time for photos of just the two of you. (Just to be clear, it is all doable, as we have been doing it for years, but not feeling rushed is wonderful)
Alone time
Doing a first look allows you to be alone, because trust me you won't get any alone time the rest of the day. You will get 30-40% more photos of just the two of you than you would if you didn't do a first look. We can get those sweet intimate photos because your emotions are fresh and you can't keep your hands off each other. Whereas sometimes, it's harder to get back to that "lovey dovey" stage after waiting for so long to get through the family and bridal party photos. You can just enjoy each other without feeling rushed to get to the reception.
Whether you choose to do a first look or not, the day is still just as magical, but we have seen the benefits to doing a first look so we wanted to share this info with our couples.
Enjoy these images of Ashley and Cody's first look!
