WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOOLE ART MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR DETROIT CHICAGO AND WORLD DESTINATIONS

Taking a breath

December 2, 2008 – 3:06 pm

So, life really changes when you have a baby. I knew that already since I had my first beautiful baby boy 3.5 years ago, but the reality check really hits home when you are sleeping very little and exhausted from caring for everyone but yourself. Well I am starting to feel like myself again, and I believe that I can possibly get caught up on some of the things that need to get done around the house and for the business. Yeah! Christmas is just around the corner and I am very excited for my baby girls first Christmas (although she won’t have a clue what is going on!) and also the first year that Parker really gets it and is excited about the holidays. Since my baby girl is almost a month old (crazy!), I thought I would post a few more pics from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

By admin | Posted in Personal, Photography | Tagged Ann Arbor, Detroit, Husband, photographers, Photography, Wedding, Wife | 2 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Delilah’s Room

November 28, 2008 – 5:06 pm

One more post for the day. These aren’t the greatest pics and her room is technically not done yet, but I wanted to post a few pics of our hard work getting her cute nursery finished! Here it is!

Once again the photos are horrible, but here are the really cute art pieces that I got off Etsy.com! Love em!

Here is the wall that took me way to long to paint, but in the end I really love it, so it was worth it!

The bookshelves that my dad and hubby made when this was Parker’s room. Very nice to have some storage space in such a tiny room.

We really need a new rocking chair (it is on the list) and I will be getting a few canvases for these walls, they aren’t quite done yet.

By admin | Posted in Personal, Photography | Tagged Ann Arbor, Children, Detroit, Family, Husband, michigan, Novi, photographers, Photography, South Lyon, Team, Wedding, Wife | 1 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Happy “late” Thanksgiving

November 28, 2008 – 5:00 pm

So I figured that now that Thanksgiving was over I would post a few more Halloween images that I never got a chance to update. Here are a few of Parker and Mike cutting up the pumpkin and Parker on Trick-or-Treating day!

By admin | Posted in Personal, Photography | Tagged Chicago, Children, Detroit, Family, Husband, michigan, Ohio, Photographer, Photography, Team, Wedding, Wife | no comments No Comments | Add a Comment

Quick Update

November 20, 2008 – 12:02 pm

Not much time to do anything over here. We are trying to get little things done, like orders that need to go through and albums that need to be designed, but with the lack of sleep it has been a bit difficult. One thing that has been hard to do is get photos of our new little girl. I wanted to hire a photographer (hello, we do love supporting those professional photographers), but Mike was convinced we could do it all on our own. Well we have a few good pics of her, but not quite what I want at this point. We are going to try for some more today, but here are a few to wet the whistle. She is a doll, now if she would sleep at night she would be an angel. Oh, and on a business note, we are only taking a few more weddings this summer. Both my sisters are getting married and since that takes up alot of time and weekend availability we won’t be taking as many weddings this summer. So if you are on the fence and need to book, let us know soon.

My favorite!

By admin | Posted in Family, Personal, Photography | Tagged Artistic, Baby, Little Girl, Maternity, Photography | 3 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Finally

November 10, 2008 – 6:45 pm

It has been a bit hectic here and things are finally starting to slow down a bit. We still aren’t sleeping the greatest, but with Mike home we can take naps during the day. So I thought I would post my birth story here for family, friends, clients to see and then I don’t have to repeat it on 50 different websites/emails/etc. I also have some photos ready to show of baby Delilah!

On Thursday, November 6th (about a day before I was suppose to be induced) around 5AM I started having very mild but annoying contractions. Mostly because I figured they were false labor and secondly because I couldn’t sleep after they started coming about every half hour and waking me up enough to keep me up till I finally rolled out of bed. I then started getting ready for the following day, cleaning house, vacuuming, bathing Parker, etc. I was still having these contractions but they were very little and not that noticeable. My Dad, Mom, Jenny and Becky were heading up around 10/11 at night to stay with Parker and to be there when they induced on Friday. My dad showed up around 2 and my contractions had started getting a bit more painful. We decided to run some errands. First to the post office where I had a few stronger contractions while standing in line to mail photos. Then to the groomer, so the dog would shed less when baby came. We were then going to go get groceries, but we decided that I couldn’t handle that. So Dad went out by himself to get food and I stayed in timing my contractions. They started to get closer together and stronger and even though I still thought they weren’t real I decided to call the doctor. Mike got home right around this time and my doctor called me back and said to get into the hospital right away. I was still a little surprised, but we got everything all packed up, called my dad, and family and headed out. My mom and sisters headed out early so they could get to Holland in time and I still thought we would be sent home from the hospital. Or at least I thought that till right around when we got to the hospital and boom, my contractions started to be a lot less tolerable. They were very hard to handle as we headed to the maternity ward and when they checked me I was dilated to a 4/5. About 30 minutes later I talked to the nurse about how fast labor was last time and how when I started really going it was a swift process. She said she would check my again and said, yeah you are coming along fast. I was at a 6 and they ordered me my epidural. This took about 45 minutes for the tech guy to get set up and in place. We had some trouble with threading the catheter. Or at least that is how they explained it. In the mean time, my head was down and I was wrapped around a pillow and was hyperventilating a bit. The nurse had to hold my head down cause for some reason I couldn’t think straight and kept wanting to get up. Finally it was in and they checked me again, 8. They then broke my water and I once again explained that last time they broke my water it was really fast after that. So a bit later they checked me again and I was all set to push. We had arrived at 5:30 and we were getting ready to push some time after 8. It all seamed very unreal to me. Especially after pushing through two contractions and the doctor announcing that the baby was here. I was like, WHAT? I didn’t do anything! So she was born at 8:31 and was much easier than her big brother had been. The rest of the hospital stay was nice and mostly relaxing and I actually missed it after getting back home. So now we are just trying to adjust to a new life together and trying to keep up on the little things (like paying bills) that need to be done. ☺

I am sure Jenny will be thrilled that I posted this one, but I thought it was so funny. He he.

Parker is such a good big brother. He is a bit grumpy and possibly wants all the attention, but he still loves his baby sister.

By admin | Posted in Family, Personal, Photography | Tagged Artistic, Baby, Little Girl, Photography | 14 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Halloween and baby talk

October 29, 2008 – 8:22 am

So I wanted to post a quick update and a bit of information that I thought would be helpful for those looking to book an ‘09 wedding.

First, everything is still going well with my pregnancy. I am officially in my last week, 3 days till my due date. I had some labor on Friday and Saturday this past weekend but we are really praying nothing happens till at least Friday. Unfortunately my hubby had to go out of town for 3 days, yeah bad timing. So we are waiting it out and hoping no more contractions come. The baby room is pretty much ready, I have been meaning to get a picture or two to post here, I will do that soon. For those who don’t know, her name is Delilah Brooklyn.

Secondly, thanks to all my understanding brides! This is prime ‘09 booking time and I know I have had to phone conference with alot of people lately, due to the fact that I can’t really leave the city of Holland. I won’t go far from the hospital at this point. And also, to any potential ‘09 brides, I apologize for not being able to meet up personally at this point, but I can phone and video conference if need be and I am more than happy to answer any and all questions that need to be answered. I also will have open days for meetings between Christmas and the New Year, so if anyone wants to meet up in that time frame I will be happy to schedule something. I am also more than halfway booked for ‘09 and due to the fact that both my sisters will be getting married this next summer, I have less dates available than before. I haven’t been updating my website calendar, so be sure to ask about your date soon because there is more booked than meets the eye. It is on my to do list to update that schedule.

Lastly, here is a pic of my little man in his Halloween costume. We had a party this past weekend and he kept this thing on for a total for about 1 minute! Hopefully he will keep it on longer for actual trick-or-treating!

By admin | Posted in Family, Personal, Photography | Tagged Artistic, husband wife, mi, michigan, photographers, Photography, Toole Art | 1 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Caroline and Josh

October 20, 2008 – 2:54 pm

So we are officially posting our last full wedding blog till probably January. I am planning on doing some recap of the old blog, so I can do away with it, but for now Caroline and Josh’s fabulous wedding will be the last. I am SO glad we decided to take Caroline and Josh’s wedding last minute. It was a beautiful day, from the moment I woke up for some reason everything seamed to go smoothly. Getting my husband out of the house on time, picking up our dear friend Stacey for some fun second shooting, getting to the hotel early and having a nice clean car (most people know I am a bit of a neat freak, things being tidy makes my day much happier). So anyways, back to the wedding. Caroline was getting ready in the beautiful Omni Hotel and of course it was dejavu for me since Daynor from earlier this year was in the exact same room! We then headed to Belle Isle to take pics of the bride and groom before the wedding, which of course was awesome since we love it when bride and grooms give themselves enough time for pics of the two of them. The wedding was at the Belle Isle Botanical Gardens. I have always said that I LOVE outdoor weddings, usually better lighting, easier rules (sometimes we can’t move around at all in a church) and just beautiful. But now I have to say that I think I love weddings in Botanical gardens even better. Other than the fact that it is a little hot, the lighting is awesome and of course there are flowers everywhere. The reception was on the island as well at the Belle Isle Casino. Also another cool venue. Alright, enough talk, here are some favorite images from the day!

As I mentioned, our good friend Stacey came along to Caroline and Josh’s wedding and here is one of my favorites of hers from the day! She will be helping with my sisters wedding next May. Yeah!

Waiting to see Caroline for the first time!

Another from the beautiful Stacey!

The Wedding

When the groom told me the cake was a pile of Crispy Cream donuts I thought he was kidding, he was into cracking jokes. But he was seriously and I totally loved their cake!

Alright and here is a disclaimer for those of you who might get sick of the food pics that I am going to share. I was pregnant and really enjoyed taking pics of the food and also the caterers were kick butt! I don’t think I could say enough about this vendor, Two Unique rocks! The set up was awesome, and the food was probably the best I have ever tasted from a catering company!

We stole the bride and groom away one last time before dinner. The upstairs at the casino was so cool.

Ok, and the band was also amazing. The best I have heard at a wedding, as far as live bands go. Laith Al-Saadi Trio you rock!

A snack for on the way out!

By admin | Posted in Photography, Wedding | Tagged Ann Arbor, Artistic, Belle Isle, Belle Isle Botanical Gardens, Bride, Chicago, Detroit, Gardens, Groom, husband wife, love, mi, michigan, Modern, Ohio, Omni Hotel, photographers, Photography, Toole Art, Two Unique, Wedding | 7 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Number 25 wins the scarf

October 16, 2008 – 12:23 pm

This would be Jen! Jen, send me your mailing info via email and I will get that out to you.

Congrats

By admin | Posted in Photography | Tagged Artistic, husband wife, mi, michigan, photographers, Photography, Toole Art, Wedding | 1 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

A few reminders.

October 14, 2008 – 10:08 am

Hello all! Just wanted to blog a few reminders for people who might need to get orders in and for the contest. I am currently 2.5 weeks to my due date and could have the baby any time, I am sure. I don’t think I will be that lucky, pretty sure I am going to go over my due date. But that is besides the point. Any orders that get in to me before October 30th will be taken care of right away and my hubby or I will attempt to get them out A.S.A.P. but after November 1st I will be taking maternity leave and won’t be working for 6 weeks. So if you have a wedding album order, etc. that needs to be filled, please contact me A.S.A.P. I have also sent emails to all my brides and grooms about this, but I thought I would post a little reminder.

Secondly, the contest is closed after tomorrow and I will have someone pick and number to decide who gets the scarf. We are thinking next time we will do an itunes gift card. So that will be fun. Thanks for your support in getting this new blog off the ground. I am very happy with the results!

Thirdly, I wanted to say CONGRATS to my little sister on her engagement. Both my sisters are currently engaged and will be getting married this coming summer. This of course will book up dates in my calendar and less weekends will be open for other events. If you are in the process of booking your wedding, please get back to me soon so we can iron out dates.

Best wishes everyone! I will keep you posted on baby news!

By admin | Posted in Photography | Tagged Artistic, husband wife, mi, michigan, photographers, Photography, Toole Art, Wedding | 1 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

Denise and Greg

October 13, 2008 – 2:52 pm

We didn’t have the best weather for our shoot, but even with the drizzle I am super excited about this engagement shoot. Not only were Denise and Greg very photogenic, they were also easy to shoot and easy to talk to. I am very excited for their May wedding next year and the opportunity to get some wedding images of the two of them. I have to also say that for some reason, I love shooting red heads. You guys are great! I hope you like your images and we did get some fall colors here and there.