Last weekend we had so much fun meeting all the parents and kids at the Madison Kids Expo 2009. We wanted to thank everyone who came out to the expo and stopped by our booth!

Thanks to Oompa Toys and the Middleton Oompa store manager, we had some pretty cool toys to play with. The most popular was the train table, which really was a whole city with lots of fun wooden structures, vehicles and people.  Glad we were able to provide a little bit of fun for the little ones.

We had lots of people enter in our raffle for over $1,000 in prizes. We wish everyone could win but we had to draw 3 names for our Gift Certificates:

$500 Gift Certificate – Holly Pacubas

$300 Gift Certificate – Erin Thornley

$200 Gift Certificate – Jess Bohrer

To the winners – Congratulations! Please email us with your mailing address.  We are very excited to work with you! Winners must be willing to travel to our Madison studio to redeem Gift Certificates. Not redeemable for cash. Please contact us for details.

To everyone who entered – thank you and we’ll be sending you a special Kids Expo Only offer as well soon!

It’s that time again, for the “NOT my child Monday”, an idea from a fellow blogger.

My almost-4-year-old daughter is finally dancing at the ballet classes, yay! She’s loving it. Before each class, some children waiting play in a toy corner and some hang out with their parents scattered around the large lobby. While waiting for our last class, some child, definitely NOT my child, yelled from the toy corner across the entire lobby for everyone to hear, “Mommy, I FARTED! Hee hee hee.” Phew, so glad that wasn’t my kid. I wouldn’t want to be known as THAT mom. Afterall, I’m supposed to be the dance studio photographer next weekend.

Our little princess goes to swimming classes too. From time to time we get an email that classes were canceled and pool closed because a child had an “accident in the pool.” We got such an email last week and had to explain to her why the classes were called off, much to her disappointment. Next day, during make up classes, it was definitely NOT my child who told another little girl in the class, while pointing a finger to her, “Now remember, NO POOP today!” Loud enough for her mommy to hear. Aaaaaah.

A while back we went to the Great Dane Pub by the Capitol. They had a fun party for kids with face painting, balloons, and more activities. Apparently, some kids (NOT mine) must have thought the whole building was a fun house. “What’s that red pully thingy on the wall? Hmmm, I wonder what happens when I pull this handle.” must have went through some child’s mind, because next thing we know, a very LOUD, piercing sound went off with blinking lights throughout the building. Everyone’s heads turned to the fire alarm and the culprit that started it, who hung her head in shame and ran crying in tears to her parents.  We were just waiting for a fire truck to show up. And a hefty bill from the fire department. After very long 5 minutes that seemed like forever, a manager showed up with a special key and disabled the alarm.  Phew!!!!!

♥

Just 2 years ago, I had the privilege of photographing baby “B” when she was still in mommy’s belly and then again when she first came into this world. Now, I got to witness her being a big sister for the first time.

Here is B 2 ynears ago as a brand new baby:

And here is her baby sister M 10 days old:

More of baby M, the little sister. Welcome to this world, baby! I love this angelic pink look on her.

She kept making this pucker face. It’s totally her. Oh so cute.

10 little piggies and a newborn baby belly button. Love the tiny details.

I have an exciting preview for you: the 2010 StreetSmart SAFETY 4 Kids calendar cover!

Come and see us this weekend at the Kids Expo at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI, from 10am-4pm Saturday and Sunday 11/14-11/15.

Seeing these girls grow is always a source of joy for me. Just look how they have changed since I first met them! It’s that time of the year again – time for holiday portraits! Since some of the images may be featured on holiday cards, I will only pots a couple.

Look who just became a big brother. You may have seen him on our website and blog before because he’s one of my favorite little models.  Super handsome, adorable, imaginative, smart and a mellow personality. Now he’s got a new baby sister to look after. Who, by the way, is an ubber-cutie herself. She loves to be snuggled up and very warm. Sleeping on mommy is her favorite. Welcome to the world, little J!

Image #5 with 703 votes! Congratulations little V and parents!
She will be the start on the cover of 2010 StreetSmart Safety for Kids Calendar.

Thank you to everyone who voted and all the participants.

The voting for the COVER PHOTO of the StreetSmart Safety for Kids 2010 Calendar begins now and ends on Monday, 11/9/09 at Midnight CT.
The limit on voting is once per day per computer. Feel free to invite friends and family to cast their votes. The finalist to be featured on the Calendar cover will be announced on Tuesday, 11/10/09 here on this blog and at www.funkymonkeyphoto.com/calendar.

How to vote:
1. Scroll below to get the number under the photo of the child you want to vote for
2. Click the number corresponding to the child you chose.
3. Click Vote.

To Parents & Families:
Thank you to all of our wonderful models and their parents! I have never seen more cuter babies and kids! My job is so fun. It was so nice meeting everyone. Thank you for supporting the StreetSmart Safety for Kids 2010 Calendar. 100% of, your Session Fee is funding the calendar, and 100% of proceeds goes to the StreetSmart Center for Family Safety.

Below are the final selections for images that will be featured in the calendar. All children photographed at mini-sessions will be featured in the final calendar. Since we had more than 12 little models, some months will more than one child featured. This voting is for the Cover of the Calendar only.

Also, we have a couple more spots opened for Calendar Sponsors! If you own or knows someone who owns a local children oriented business, please refer them to the Sponsorship page for StreetSmart Safety for Kids 2010 Calendar.

StreetSmart Safety for Kids 2010 Calendar is still on schedule to launch in November 2009 (soon!) and will be available for $9.99
You can pre-purchase the calendar here for a limited time only for $8.99.

Sweet little Baby R is only 6 days old here.

I’m a sucker for cute baby hats. This cute little bunny hat just came in the mail and I couldn’t wait to use it with little R. Isn’t it cute how she made a little bunny face just for this shot? Awww!

Sometimes I like to change the mood of a portrait with a little bit of creative editing. I love the fitting pink undertones to this image:

Baby R was so sweet to us, she fell asleep in the middle of our session and looked very peaceful. She can do some cool things with her toes!

Thank you so much for sharing your little girl’s first days with me!

Here are some sneak peaks from 2010 StreetSmart Safety for Kids Calendar!

Thank you to all the gorgeous, funny, adorable models that came to our studio in the past week, and the wonderful parents for arranging for the sessions.

The good news is: we have decided to include all photographed children in the calendar, yay!

We will hold a vote to choose the cover image. Stay tuned.

More info on the calendar update coming soon….

I wanted to let everybody know the sneak peaks from the calendar sessions are coming soon!
Probably by Saturday morning most should be up.

If you haven’t heard of the 2010 StreetSmart For Kids Calendar, check it out.
(It’s too late to apply to be a model, but it is not too late to donate to the project!)

Hope you have a spooky and safe Halloween!

I love 1st birthday portraits, always so fun with balloons and a cake. Girls in tutus are adorable. Oh so sweet. Recently, we’ve had a few of our Baby Plan babies turn one and so we had ourselves a few first birthday parties. Here are a couple of 1st Birthday Story Boards.

We ventured out to the Olbrich Gardens in Monona, WI. I’ve always loved the gorgeous flower and colors in the gardens, but this time I was amazed by its autumn beauty. Each leaves glistened with a different hue, making an intricate carpet of leaves. Little guy E had lots of fun too. I’ve had the privilege of photographing him since right after he was born.  He’s always been the most smily, happy, cuddly kid and I loved getting hugs from him. Thanks so much, E, J & D, for the fun afternoon in the gardens!

c

Dear clients… yes it’s that time of the year where the we take lots of portraits and get really busy. Throw on top of that some technical difficulties, and we’re behind. Please hang in there, lots of previews coming soon. We plan to catch up by next week. Sorry for any delays!

Here is one of my favorite families, whom I’ve had the pleasure of photographing since before their first daughters birth. Now they are expecting baby #2 and little K will be the Big Sister. How exciting! Congratulations!

This has been a big year for A’s parents… Move into a new home, a trip and now a brand new baby boy! Congratulations on your very handsome little guy and thank you for sharing his first days with me. Little A has a big sister, a Puggle,  who’s very protective of him. What a neat family they are! Enjoy the newborn portraits.

Little Miss V is a real charmer at just 6 months. With smiles abundant, she made my job of capturing her sweet personality pretty easy. She’s ready for Halloween too! Isn’t she a cute little pumpkin?
Thank you for having some fun in our studio, V & parents!

2 more adorable little sisters visited my studio a few days ago. All this cuteness in my studio! Little Sister is super bubbly and happy. Big Sister is very caring, she carried around a kitty and her puppy. Her parents say she adopts random teddy bears and toys and cares for them. She’s a gentle soul, I can tell.
Thanks girls for gracing my studio with your cuteness!

Fall in Wisconsin is so colorful. I always enjoy a family portrait season with the beautiful foliage as our background. Last weekend was a bit different, we added the funky green sofa to the landscape. The gorgeous family made the family portrait a breeze. Enjoy the colorful leaves while they last, if you can still find them around Madison.
And thank you to the R Family for being such a fun family to work with.

Remember when I asked the blog readers to select a local charity we could help this year?
It’s official, we are launching a new project to benefit the StreetSmart Center for Family Safety, a Madison based non-profit educational organization dedicated to providing personal safety education, training, and resources to help keep women, children, and families safe.
The new project is called :

2010 StreetSmart Safety for Kids Calendar

and you can find out more information about it here. 

The mission of the calendar project is to help children be safe in our own community. We hope to make a difference in many children’s lives. 100% of the proceeds from this calendar are donated to the StreetSmart Center for Family Safety located in Madison, WI.

The calendar will feature portraits of local children, the very ones whose safety we want to ensure. It provides 12 valuable child safety tips and conversation starters for parents and families. The safety tips are provided by the StreetSmart Center for Family Safety.

So, do you want to help us keep the children in our communities safe?

I knew you would!
First, we need child models.

Criteria:

• Children of ages 0-12 years of age.
• Parents must submit one application per each child.
• Must live in Wisconsin.
• Must be willing to travel to our studio at 202 S Dickinson St, Madison, during the month of October.
• Does NOT have to be a model or interested in modeling.

Apply by 10/22/2009.
Interested? Apply here.
Need more info. Find out here.

Look who graced our studio with her presence, little Miss C. She’s so petite and adorable, she captured my heart right away. When she gave me the stare with her big blue eyes, I just melted and couldn’t stop capturing her beauty.  Oh what a sweetie she is!

And yes, she gave me plenty of smiles but I’m saving those for mommy:)

That’s what little girls are made of, right?  Little B is definitely oh so sweet! I had the pleasure of taking her first ever portraits when she was just a few days old, and now she is going to be a big sister! I love it I get to see families grow right in front of my lens. Her eyes are mesmerizing and her smile melting. Isn’t she a doll? See you soon for your sister’s birthday!

It doesn’t get any cuter than this little 2 year old boy! What a charmer. Very on the go and constantly in motion, like a little boy should be! Trucks are his passion and as long as he has one to play with, he’s fine!

This morning, my daughter did NOT get up, rub her eyes and bring me her dried up eye bugger and say: “Look mommy, this is from my eye.” Not her! Gross. To which of course I would NOT have to say “Please go wash your face and eyes.” She did NOT answer “But my eye is not stinky yet.” Not her! Oh nope. I did NOT laugh out loud after that comment.

She did start “Fairy Fun” classes which is like ballet for little girls, oh so sweet. She loved the first class, ran right in and followed the teacher, hopped and skipped and danced her heart away. Yes she did. Next class…. she did NOT go in to the dance studio just to lay down on the floor and pretend to be dead. Why would a little girl who loves ballet do that? No reason! She did NOT! Absolutely she did  NOT lay down on the floor like a log while 3-4 year old little fairies danced around the room having lots of fun. She did NOT open one eye from time to time to look around and then prompt play asleep again. She did NOT lay limp when the teacher helper tried to move her out of the way of hopping girls. She did NOT lay next to the wall for the rest of the 30 minutes and embarrassed the mommy of the only girl laying instead of dancing. Nope!

This little girl did NOT demand gummy bears for breakfast, why would she? She knows better that milk, cereal and fruit is the norm. She did NOT proceed to stack her chair in the kitchen, hop on the counter  and reach to the tallest shelf to steal some gummy bears. Nope, NOT this 3 footer.

When I tried taking some snapshots of her in a foamy bubble bath, she did NOT proceed to try to lick my lens. Why would she? She’s not a goat (don’t ask, goats have tried to lick my lens in a petting zoo once). She did NOT think that would be fun and make it into a game.

Awaiting their first born, their baby girl, they seem radiant and joyful. The soon-to-be-mom’s gorgeous red hair stood out on the background of luscious greens at the Olbrich Gardens.  I hope I was able to capture some of that glow.

And a few more creative images. I normally don’t post that many but we had a long session and there so many that caught my eye. Beautiful!

And big thank you for the dad-to-be for being such a great sport and “finding the right light” for this image:

Maternity (pregnancy) photography is offered with newborn portrait sessions in Madison, WI, and area. Around the 8th month is a good time for your maternity session. It’s best to schedule ahead to make sure you get your desired date frame. Call 608.513.9400 or email us for more info on maternity sessions.