San Antonio Photographer, Children and Families-moxie photography studio

On my way to Santa Monica...

So don't be jealous if you live in San Antonio...just because this...

is what you can expect for the next 7 days.  Well fortunately I am blessed to be photographing in 75ish degree weather while I am out there...unfortunately I am only going to get 36 short hours of it.  Bummer...maybe I should just book a one way ticket for the kids and say...see ya at the end of the month.  DARN...can't do it.

So I leave you with these big browns!

Maternity photography with a high fashion

LIGHTING.  I usually save this lighting set up for my seniors.  But I though...what the heck..carrie was so cute...so here it is!

A mom first, photographer second

We had such a great class on sunday.  I hope that the "hands" on approach is more helpful then just learning a bunch of terms.  Of course we are trying to do both so it can be a bit overwhelming.  So many say, "you must have so many great shots of your children," to whom I respond, "oh yes, when someone else takes the picture!"  So case in point....

So as the photographer, I "get" the shot, but as a mom...well you can see that that isn't always the case!!

It was so cute, b/c here at the loehr house we are obsessed with the "trash" truck.  So when I walked into Devin's room, I just couldn't help, but want a photograph of that moment.  But with a 2 year old...that is all you have...A moment!

BTW...this is straight out of my camera (5dMarkII 50mm 1.2)

Maternity Photo Shoot with...

the cutest couple.  It was so funny b/c when I first met them I thought they looked very young.  BUT their not and hey...that's what people say about me and my husband ALL THE TIME!

In fact...tonight I got ID trying to buy a beer for the hubby.  Gray roots showing and all.  Wishing right now that my hair would look as young as my face ;-)

Of course, I can't wait to do their newborn shoot...I am sure it will be a super cute little guy!

babies, brains, school lunch and...

well lets just leave it at those 3 things.

1. I just finished editing the cutest 8 month old little girl. (see below for what I am talking about).
2. It is 2:33 a.m. and I am still up ;-(  not because it took me so long to edit...but b/c I have been fretting about Grace and Kindergarten.  So I missed getting into our 2nd choice school so she is now on the "waiting list," well good luck with that one...17 kids are on that list. So I decided to send her to Bulverde Creek Elementary.  So I have just spent the good part of the night going over the website.  Now I have resorted to obsessing over "school lunches!!!"  But I do want to thank my facebook friends for all the encouragement today.
3. BRAIN...see brain was supposed to be number 2, but I have already went into total shutdown mode ;-)  So, with new price sheets done and new product on the way...I am hoping I have replied to all my emails, but if I haven't...please send me a little reminder. I used to think I killed brain cells in HS and college, but I am more convinced than ever that labor and deliver is the cause of the big brain cell reduction!

Have you heard the story of Nikki and the Fire Ants?? and THUMBS!

Good Ol' south texas!  Up until 4 years ago I had never been stung by an ant.  But as I sit here and write this I am nursing my second ant bite in the past 2 weeks.  BIG deal you say?  Well, let me just tell you that I am not being a baby b/c I am highly allergic to these bites.  So as the benadryl begins to kick in and my eyes begin to get heavy, I am once again forced to spend the next 2 days in a BENADRYL fog.  I guess you won't see me doing any "field" shots in the near future.

THUMBS

When I was pregnant with grace and getting me weekly ultrasounds, we started to notice a pattern.  SHE sucks her thumb.  FAST FOWARD to 5 years later and she still...sucks her thumb.  We have tried everything under the sun and nothing has worked.  THUMB sucking at an early age is cute, but at 5, not so cute.

FAST FORWARD to 3 days ago. Grace LOVES to hear stories of peoples trials and tribulations.  Yes at the tender age of 5, she is always up for a good story on someone and their struggles.  So as she recounted the story of how her Poppy quit smoking, she told us she was going to quit sucking her thumb.  Now I have heard that a million times...so I took it with a grain of salt.  Well as Poppy did it...she decided to go "cold turkey" (this is in her own words) and so for 3 days...I have not seen a thumb in her mouth ;-)

I wanted to post the below picture of Grace.  She was 8 months old and leslie took the photo.  I thought the "griffiths" would get a kick out of it...since I caught a photo of their daughter which really resembles my photo of Grace.

SO parents of Thumbsuckers...Don't give up hope!

Jane and Grace

Waiting and a Dallas Newborn

So I am writing this from Dallas as we try and wait for the kids to get sleepy so we can set out for the last part of our trip!  Unfortunately our 2 year old is not interested in TV...so we are pretty much limited to driving during nap and night time unless we want to hear him cry and scream the entire time!

So I thought I would take this opportunity to post a photo from friday's shoot.  Perect little Pierce!  The only thing he doesn't have going for him is the "loehr gene"!!!  Luckily it doesn't kick in until about 18 months...so Stephanie you have a year and a half to totally enjoy him ;-)

Another Yummy Newborn and...

I say adios for a couple of days to go on a road trip with my family.  I will be back on Tuesday.

So I leave you with this....

no picture today, just a little vent

First and foremost I am not expressing political views here...but I would like to write a little spoof of the health care/insurance industry.  Well really it is just the insurance.

So here it goes.  Nikki takes grace to the emergency room few months ago and well grace's head is split open so I have no choice.  Fast forward to today.  Get gianormous bill from emergency room.  WHY? Well doctor was not on insurance list.  HMMM...so the next time we are bleeding all over the place am I supposed to get out my handy little list and check to see if the doctor is on OUR LIST?  And if he/she is not am I supposed to say..hold on while my child bleeds to death, but you are not on our list, so I need to find someone who is?  And honestly I wouldn't be so peeved if I didn't pay upwards of $700 a month in premiums and then to be told...Well that wasn't covered or they were not on the list.  RRRRR>>>>>

To make things worse the doctors deserve every penny they get, but are they getting it?  Many times our medical bills get sent to "collections" as I try and sort things out with the insurance.  SO...today the insurance is on my poo-poo list.

OK...back to work ;-)

One last thought...

 I just read through a few of my posts and I know it seems like I am OBSESSING over newborns.  AND I am...many of you probably feel the same aches that I have when you know you are not having any more children.  IT is one half relief and the other half of some sort of sadness.

SO, in order for me to satisfy my need to have another...I hope that you will keep sending this photographer... newborn babies.  Because not only are you going to get great photos, but you can have someone cuddle your child for a few hours and you just get to sit back and relax during the session ;-)

Oh no, I think I made a mistake ;-)...

and sold our CRIB!  I made an executive decision the other day to stop at 2.  One girl and one boy is really all we can handle in this type A family.

So why the remorse?  well you are about to see...

THE MOST AMAZING, CUDDLY, YUMMY, SWEET little 3 day old boy.  Seriously, I really tried not to touch him much.  He was so perfect in every way.  Which brings me to a point.  I know 3 days old seems to some...well a little early and maybe even extreme.  But if you already have children you can agree with me...the first few days..they sleep almost the entire time.  And so was the case with this little man.  I photographed him for about 3 hours and he only fussed when we changed his diaper.  I probably will blog some more pictures of this guy, but for tonight we will start with this one.

OH...and P.S.  Thanks SO much, Chrystie, you were such a great help, we were lucky to have you help us and I am sure Annie feels lucky to have a great friend.

Signing off...nikki

JUST gotta LOVE those Babies

Photographing babies or A baby...is something 10 years ago I would have NEVER thought of doing and now I can't imagine NOT doing it.  Having 2 young ones of my own probably helps...but on the other hand, I DO believe in karma (which is a whole story within itself), which has led me to this great career of being a "photographer."

Here is and adorable 8 month old...more on her and her family tomorrow, but as usual it is past midnight and I am needing to hit the sack, because I am taking the kids out to play tomorrow and being MOM is needs much more sleep than being PHOTOGRAPHER!

As many of you know I like SLOBBER!

BUT I know that some don't...so here is it WITHOUT! Dont you just love the magic of PS.

Twins...and my thoughts for this Friday.

More about this photo shoot tomorrow...oops, I mean today!

IT is 11:49 a.m. and I am actually posting...don't freak out!  Nothing is wrong with me, Grace is at Spanish camp, I am watching Devin be a super dare devil and I am thinking.

1. What happened to the precious little snuggler I gave birth to a couple of years ago? Although, he is fun watch in all his fury...I am thinking maybe I need an ER rider on my insurance policy.  YES...all of you that told me boys are different and I said...Oh...not mine...he is so laid back...well you were right...he is slowly becoming, "monkey boy!"
2. Today after dropping Grace off...I couldn't resist a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit...hmm...but best of all the girl handing the bag to me smiled and said have a great day...like she really meant it.  It really is about customer service, right!
3. Thinking of that.  I know that many of my clients are small business owners and for some reason during all the help that has been handed out...we have been left out.  So what ever little thing I can do, I will.  So I will be creating a small business list on my blog...listing all my clients businesses.  So if you want a link...let me know.  Its only $5!  No..just kidding...its free!
4. OH NO...Devin found the play dough.  HOLD ON A MINUTE as I>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> OK I am back...WHEW almost a play dough mess.  If your kids are not old enough to play with it, I highly recommend, walking right past that aisle once they are old enough! And Grandparents, DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT ;-)
5. And on another note...I am going to be moving the studio.  WHAT????  Well with the growth and my need to be more available to the kids, I have two choices...one, to move closer to downtown or two have the studio up north or closer to me.  Well, option 1 was the idea...but trying to get the house on the market is harder than I thought.  AND I am wanting to move my office OUT of the house...so I need a space for the editing equipment and my lights, etc...if you see a space that looks like it gets a ton of daylight in it...let me know.

And on to the picture below.  Thank you Anna and mario for your help yesterday, I could NOT have done it without you. After leaving this shoot I could only reminisce about when grace was that age.   OMG...these girls were just so cuddly and amazing.  I was so glad to hit the sack knowing it had been a great day.

Couldn't go to bed without...

posting this image.  Although I do now I have an alarm set for midnight that reminds me that I NEED to go to bed.

1. Things are looking up at the Loehr house as all my "sickies"  are getting better.
2. I am kicking myself for wasting all that water in the spring to keep my grass "green."  I thought this year I would be diligent on keeping up the yard...hmmm...crunch, crunch, crunch
3. I have been CRAVING ice cream.  Maybe it is all this NEWBORN photography I have been doing lately?  What is a lactose intolerant person to do?
4. I have lots of irons in the fire right now.  But I promise to do that "summer" special I promised some of you.

Gotta run...that is to bed...my midnight is now 1:32 a.m.

On to the picture post...Someone higher up is trying to cure my newborn wants! He was a little older than most newborns we photograph...but at 4 weeks he wasn't much bigger than mine straight out of the womb.  How crazy is that (on my part...both kids born early and weighted 8 and 9 lbs respectively!)