Apr 01 2013

a whole hand | north austin children’s photographer

My sweet Jude turned 5 in February.  How is it that 5 years have passed since this sweet, kind hearted, loving boy, entered my life?!  I can honestly say that he’s the sole person who has changed me more as a mother and as a person than anyone.  I’m so thankful for him.  I’m beyond thankful he’s healthy and strong. His sweet little spirit makes me smile every single day.  He rolls with the punches and takes on change with ease.  He loves Legos to the extreme, he’s always building and imagining and creating something.  He is always bringing me his next creation for feedback and praise.  If you say the word ninja, he’ll karate chop you ninja style, without warning.  He’s still a blankie boy, but this is the year he’s not quite as attached and no longer runs his fingers through the strands at the ends of his favorite blanket.  He still wants mommy to snuggle at bedtime, he needs at least 5-6 *extra* hugs a day.  He only likes “ice cold water”, he loves avocado and dislikes chicken.  He’s loving kindergarten and after just a few weeks in, he’s starting to read a few words.  I love it when he reads a new word and his whole face lights up.  He’d sit and do math all day long if I let him.  He and Taryn drive each other crazy, but also can’t stand to be apart from one another.  They are just like a little old married couple sometimes.  He loves to lay and snuggle with Jonah and I at the end of the day.  He still fits in my lap and does so daily.  There are so many wonderful things about him….I could go on and on.

After a few photos he got to choose what we did on our date night.  He chose to go to HEB and spend his chore money on new Legos.  He worked so hard to earn the money for this particular set of Legos and was so excited to *finally* go get them.  He held my hand through the store, counted out his quarters with care and smiled ear to ear all the way back to the parking lot.  He was thrilled and I loved spending some time just the two of us.

And of course we had to do a quick video birthday interview.  If it feels rushed it is because my phone was about to die.  He looks at me like I’m crazy when I tell him Happy Birthday in the video and that’s because his birthday was 6 weeks ago.  Better late than never.  It makes me laugh his favorite food is “chocolate” in this video. He was hoping for chocolate on Easter, the very next day!  As luck would have it, they each got a special treat, an Enjoy Life chocolate bar, in their Easter basket, along with lots of summer fun toys!  I love that he can’t pick just one favorite color.  He genuinely wants to be an Astronaut and a Jedi when he grows up.  He’s currently Star Wars obsessed.

 

Happy Birthday to my sweet Duder.  A whole hand!

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Michelle - He is just beautiful. Been following you since he was born. xo

GeeGee Lee - Teagan Jude is such a wonderful little boy! He is smart, funny, loving, laid back, and oh so special. He has been through a lot in his short little life. In some ways his Mama gave him life twice – on the day he was born and again following his vaccine injury. Jude is soooo sincere and appreciative. He truly does have the sweetest heart that he wears on his sleeve for all to see. I love you, Duder.

   
Mar 30 2013

ziggy returns | austin lifestyle family photographer

I love that his nickname from when he was snug in his momma’s belly stuck throughout the first year.  It’s kinda crazy to think about how much development and growth happens in just 12 short months.  This sweet family has had so many changes from Ziggy arriving to moving to a new house and I love that they chose an in home session for his first birthday photographs.  My faves?  That second image up at the top of him kissing his mommy.  I love the way 1 year old’s do that!  So funny!  And then the ones at the end….with the moving boxes and nothing on but a diaper.  These were taken on a whim at the end of our session….so many times those types of photographs are my favorites.  Happy birthday little man!

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Origami Owl Wow Photos - awww….those are so precious!

   
Mar 26 2013

10 on tuesday

1.  My baby boy turns 5 months old tomorrow.  Huh?!  What?!  How can that be?!  I’d swear he was just born yesterday.  But then again, I can’t remember what this family was even like without him here.  He fits in so seamlessly.

2.  Speaking of Jonah’s birth, our birth photographer, Leilani, and I bartered and she decided she wanted a love light night session in exchange for Jonah’s birth photos.  She captured one of the biggest and best days of my life so beautifully, she can have whatever type of session she wants!  So even though I’ve said I’m not doing any Love Light Night Sessions until Jonah is older, I’m doing 2, one for Leilani and one open spot to be booked, on the night of April 27, 2013.  If you’d like to book the one open spot, email me at lstradtner@mac.com for details and pricing!  I love doing night sessions and can’t wait to shoot that night!  Very excited!  I’m also still open for a love light session during my trip to Dallas in May.

3.  My most favorite onesie ever.  I love food humor.  And that sweet baby boy.

4.  Jude has developed a severe fear of wasps.  It’s to the point he doesn’t want to go outside.  He’ll sit and watch his sister and friends from the window.  It’s the saddest thing ever and I’m at a loss as to how to help him.  I’ve tried going outside with him.  I’ve tried talking to him about his fear.  I’ve tried rationalizing it by talking through the worst thing that could happen.  Jason has gone outside and inspected the house and gotten rid of all wasps around.  I’m not sure what else to do.  Ideas?  Advice?  The whole situation just makes me so sad, I hate seeing my sweet boy so scared.

5.  This.  A million times this.  Shame on you Victoria’s Secret.  Keeping our girls young matters.  Keeping them modest matters too.  If you’re not a fan of Pigtail Pals and Ballcap Buddies, fan them.  Thought provoking conversations happening daily.

6.  I am currently reading 4 books and have finished only parts of each one.  That drives me crazy but they are all equally good and helpful.  I need to finish each one.

7.  Obviously, I’m knee deep in figuring out how, what and when to feed Jonah solid foods.  We are definitely taking a different road when it comes to introducing solids this go around.  My current plan is to wait until he’s at least 6 months old and then start with healing bone broth to help seal his naturally leaky gut.  then liver, fermented cod liver oil, egg yolks and avocado.  He’s definitely at the stage where he watches us eat every bite.  I’m trying to buy some extra time by giving him breastmilk popsicles at dinner time.  He loves them!

8.  We’ve definitely had some breastfeeding issues in the last 2 months but I think we have finally worked through them.  Jonah was having a few issues that pointed to a dairy intolerance / allergy.  Except we knew that wasn’t right because I’m already dairy free.  It took us awhile but we figured out that I had a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance which has very similar symptoms to a dairy intolerance.  It took us about 2 weeks and some extreme block feeding, but we got it fixed.  Thankfully fixing the problem didn’t affect my supply too much and I was still able to give Jonah everything he needs and donate breastmilk as usual.  Have I mentioned that I’m doing private breastmilk donation to another family?  It’s been so cool to help another sweet little baby.  The little guy is growing and thriving and I’m so blessed and proud to have been able to help this family.  I’m so thankful to have worked through the imbalance issues because it was super stressful and frustrating.  Here is hoping the good balance sticks.

9.  Oh Maggie…..our sweet silly Maggie.  These are the things Taryn teaches her to do in one afternoon of boredom.  Can you believe Mags in 2 years old already?

 

10.  Jonah has been sporting a big old cloth diaper bottom.  While on the hunt for pants that fit cloth diapers better and don’t cause my baby to look like a weeble-wobble, some mommy friends recommended Pomona Pants.  I’m itching to buy some but hoping to come across a co-op to save some money.  If you know of one or see one anytime soon please let me know!

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Nia - We have a Pomona coop group on FB. I’ll add you to it. I’m not sure when the next order is being submitted but I’m sure we can find out soon.

Jane lee - Love me some 10 on Tuesday!! It’s been a while.

   
Mar 25 2013

glowing | cedar park maternity photographer

I first met these two lovely people when they booked a love light night session last year.  Kayla was newly pregnant during that session and I was so excited when they contacted me about capturing a full first year of memories for their new little one.  We joked that when we met downtown for their night session it was me doing the waddling (I was very pregnant with Jonah) and the next time we saw each other for their maternity session she was doing the waddling.  Ha!  Good thing both of us rock the waddle.  I love these photos, the light was beautiful and complimented them both so well.  Everything and everyone was glowing, it was perfect.  I also love that I got to show them their images in person. I never get to do that, I do online ordering and it just so happens that I finished their maternity gallery the night before their newborn session since their daughter decided to make an early appearance.  I took my laptop with me to their newborn session and I’m now officially jealous of those who can do in person ordering….I loved seeing their faces light up and initial reactions to each of the image.  So fun!

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Mar 24 2013

366 days | austin baby photographer

I sat down to do her sneak peek last night and woke up at 3:24 am with my laptop on my lap.  Motherhood kicked my butt yesterday, nonstop.  So, I’m posting this a bit late, oops.  Sorry for the delay Angela, I hope her party yesterday afternoon was a total blast!

She’s exactly 366 days old in this photo.  1 year, big girl Allison!  So much fun yesterday and boy was she a trooper when we had a random cold morning in the middle of spring!

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Malyssa - What a little beauty! You do such a good job at capturing the sweetness of all the little ones!

   
Mar 23 2013

travel sessions announced: heading to dallas

Just a quick note to say that I’m planning on heading to Dallas on May 4th & 5th!  I am so excited to be visiting Dallas for sessions so if you know anyone in the area that might be interested please forward them my information!  I’ll be taking a few full signature sessions and a few mini sessions.  I’m open to doing Love Light night sessions as well.  I will not be charging a travel fee for these sessions!  This is the weekend before Mother’s Day and would also be the perfect gift for the momma in your life!  For session details, pricing and info please email me at lstradtner@mac.com.

ps – If you are seeing this post on a reader or subscription, click on over to the blog to see our freshly updated look! Finally!

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Mar 22 2013

pierce | austin newborn baby photographer

Y’all.  His chin.  I mean seriously…..his chin!!  Love!!  And even though this little guy is all big and sitting up now (catching up on blogging, we shot these on the 4th of July) I had to come share these.  Better late than never.  You’d never know it by the photos or by how calm and relaxed they were, but they had a baby earlier than expected and moved in a matter of days.  I photographed sweet little Lila when she was just a few days old and there is nothing more sweet than watching her become a big sister.  We *had* to go for a similar highchair photo and I’m so glad that we did.

ps – his daddy totally reminds me of Drew Brees in these.  Doppleganger!  Don’t you think?!

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Mar 18 2013

kindergarten | iphoneography

My sweet boy started kindergarten today.  I was mixed with emotion last night and this morning, knowing what a huge step this is for him.  It’s not a huge change because we’ve already been doing Pre-K at home with him for awhile.  I know that he’s ready, but waiver on if his momma is.  It’s a lot more to take on curriculum wise, but he’s ready so even though the timing doesn’t fall in with the typical school calendar, it makes sense for us to dive in.  Starting now will mean that we’ll finish before the holidays hit during the fall/winter and that works great with my business and busy season.  I will admit I mourn a bit that he’s not leaving for school, to hit a classroom with peers and long hallways that smell like glue and construction paper.  He’s my first child that won’t experience that (except for the time he spent in private pre-k, so I guess that counts).  Mourn is the wrong word, maybe I miss the big moment, or the event, of starting big kid school, I think that is it.  The meeting of the teacher, the buying of school supplies, the photo ops, him standing tall with his backpack on the front porch wearing new shoes and a goofy grin.  But then I remember how much he thrives at home, how much he absolutely loves learning here, how much I have loved teaching him so far and I know that this is the best decision for us.  Homeschooling is not easy, it’s not all roses and happy kids, but it is what’s working for us. I look back at those photos and our old life and I genuinely don’t miss it.  I most definitely do NOT miss the schedule that public school required of us!  I think writing this post tonight and seeing those old posts helped me a lot, he may be missing out on a few things, but he’s gaining so many other things as well.  Hey blog, thanks for the therapy!

We struggled with Taryn’s curriculum this year and finally I got to the point that I threw my arms up in the air, waved my white flag and said this is not working for us….and moved on.  And I’m so so so happy we did that.  Even though we spent a lot of money on Sonlight.  I felt bad and stuck with it too long because we did spend the money and because a lot of other families love it and it works for them, but it wasn’t working great for us.  We are selling it at a deep discount if you know anyone who might be interested.  So it was time to move on, adjust, tweak…and we are all so much happier for it.  I think Taryn and I were both happier with school today than we have been in months and I’m thrilled over that.  We made the move over to Timbler Doodle for both Taryn and Jude and so far I’m thrilled with both.  We did customized packages for each of the kids to suit our needs and because we already had some of what was included in the curriculum package.  And I knew we loved those items already.

Both kids are also doing a fitness and nutrition class once per week and Taryn goes to a one day per week enrichment academy that covers art, music, PE, foreign language and character building.  She loves the classes, her teachers and her friends there.  It’s been a very good fit and Jude is looking forward to going in the fall as well.  It’s so nice to have the enrichment program take so much off my plate and free up some time.  I feel like we can really focus on the core subjects and not be spread so thin with time.  My one and only complaint is the recorder for music class.  Oh dear Lord, for the love of all things holy, whhhhhhyyyyyyy?!  Sleeping babies and recorders do.not.mix.  My sanity and recorders do.not.mix.  That’s all I’m going to say!  Ty will however be quick to share with you that the noise coming out of that thing is NOT music.  Ha!  I just remind him we went through the same thing with him.

So yeah, my sweet boy, he’s in kindergarten.  And thriving.  And so smart.  This is good.  I’m excited.  And prayerful that I can be what he needs.

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Carrie Wibright - That is wonderful Lyndsay!!! I am so happy for you guys! Don’t stress about the Sonlight-it will sell. There is a community on FB for the northshore that I can post it to if you would like. We did the tin whistle for six weeks in the fall. And, yes, quite the cacophony :) I was on a girl’s weekend in Fairhope and was singing your praises. You are amazing!!

Chris - My sister may be interested in the Sonlight! Can you shoot me an email and let me know which core and what you’re asking for it? Cnapierk at aol dot com. Thanks!

   
Mar 17 2013

chubbers | austin baby photographer

That tongue.  He kills me.  It’s his new *thing*.  And he’s very ticklish.  Especially on his sides and his back.  He often cracks up laughing through his chiropractic adjustments.  You can pinch those chubby little thighs and he’ll let out a big belly laugh.  It’s my favorite.

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SarahPLIz - We call our chiro the “tickle doctor” for that exact reason. Fun!

   
Mar 13 2013

ifly

This was soooooo freaking cool!  I promised Ty 6 weeks ago that if he brought up his grades that I’d bring him to indoor skydiving at iFly, which just opened in Austin.  He did bring up his grades and today was the day!  He looked super nervous before he jumped in the tunnel.  He absolutely loooooved it!  And his momma is much more comfortable with this compared to him jumping out of an actual airplane!  He did 2 jumps today and we will be going back for more.  Duder is definitely in for the next round and Miss Taryn is a strong “maybe”.  I’m pretty sure it’s going to be difficult to keep Jason away from this place too!  As for me, I have no desire whatsoever to have my chub flap in the wind, no thank you!  Ha!  I’m perfectly happy with my feet on the ground.  I loved watching some of the littlest kids go, kids as young as age 3 can jump, way cool!  I also loved that when we arrived there was an elderly grandmother there jumping with her grandkids, rock on Granny!!  Obviously, we definitely recommend iFly in Austin.  If you have a chance to go, do it!

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Jane Lee - This is so cool! Can more than one person fly in the same area? How long is each fly session? Could Taryn and Jude fly together?

   
Mar 12 2013

K1 | iphoneography

9 hours.
5 kids and me.
Go Carts.
The Claw Game and winning 9 (!!!!) bunnies.
Air Hockey.
Passing out quarters for games in abundance.
Crazy long day….but worth every minute to see my kids have a blast today.
Lately, I haven’t been feeling like I’m a very fun mom.
Today I felt fun.  And we had fun.
Tomorrow?
Indoor skydiving.
Boring mom, be gone during spring break!

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Mar 12 2013

his momma who loves him

I’m trying to do better about getting on the other side of the camera. I realized last Wednesday that I haven’t done that a whole lot with the good camera. Since Ty was home on early release that day, I handed him the camera, cuddled up to my baby boy and less than 5 minutes later I had these. Ty did awesome. And even when I’m super critical of myself, I know that when Jonah looks at these, he will see his momma who loves him.

Photos © Ty Stradtner 2013

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Leyna - Beautiful baby AND mommy :)

Jane Lee - So great to see you on the other side of the camera. These are absolutely precious. Ty did a great job!