The biggest change I’m making to my personal and business life in 2010 is restructuring things so that I can spend more time with Katie and Carson.  I’ll be discussing some of those changes in future blog posts, but in the meantime, enjoy these pics of our family fun out in the snow a couple days ago.  Good times!

It’s been a good, solid 6 weeks with no blogging.  You know what?  It was great.  Don’t get me wrong—I love my blog.  But after such a jam-packed  year in 2009,  I just needed to unplug for a bit.  I’ve been MIA on Facebook and Twitter, too, so don’t take it personally!

Instead?  I’ve been enjoying the holidays, chilling with Katie and Carson alot more, and getting things ready for 2010.  It’s good to step away occasionally.  Helps put things into perspective. It’s going to be a crazy-good year professionally and personally.  Can’t wait to tell you all about it in the coming days.

Here are a few pics from Katie’s birthday recently. The cake is from our friend and genius cake artist Brandi Romines.  She owns Happy as a Lark Cakes.  There’s a clip at the end with Carson and I singing Happy Birthday to Katie.  Carson has some mad vocals.  Enjoy! 

One of the cool things about my job is that I get to meet and work with up-and-coming photographers.  Betsy Whiteman has been second-shooting with me for a couple seasons now, and I couldn’t be happier with how much she’s grown as a photographer during that time.  Make no mistake, though.  She’s got her own style and way of looking at the world.  I can take zero credit for that!  I’m really excited to see what she’ll be doing with her mad skills here in a few more years, especially when she’s finished with her studies at SCAD.  Pretty impressive stuff!

Thank you, Betsy, for driving up from Atlanta to Lexington to photograph Katie, Carson and me.  You did great, and we absolutely love the images.  Stay in touch, and don’t forget about us when you’re famous!

Some of our faves that we’re going to have printed for our home:

My little boy is growing up!  3 years.  Dang.  Breaks my heart to see him getting so big, but I’m excited about all that’s waiting for him in this great big world.  What an adventure.

It was Katie’s idea to have his party at the Explorium of Lexington, which, if you haven’t been there for a birthday party, is a VERY cool venue.  The staff handles all of the activities and clean-up in the party room, and then all of the kids can stay at the Explorium as long as they want (or as long as the parents want…LOL) that same day.  Heads up?  If you’re a member there, you get a discount on the party, too.  Well worth it.

Our friend Brandi Romines, owner of Happy As A Lark Cake Creations, put her mad skills to work in making a dinosaur-themed cake for Carson.  Each dinosaur was sculpted and hand-painted.  Unbelievable talent.  Please, please, please contact Brandi for your next cake.  Her cakes are better than crack. You’ll be hooked!

I love this shot of Carson and his good friend Ally.

Background story for this shot:  For the last couple months, Katie has been telling Carson about blowing out his candles, and how everyone was going to be singing Happy Birthday to him.  We’ve been practicing, so when he finally heard everyone singing that familiar song to him, check out his expression…priceless.

Taking a spin for the first time on his new tricycle (thanks Nana and Gigi). I love the mix of joy and uncertainty here.  He’s looking at me as if to say, “This is awesome, I think, right?”

Today is a bit rainy, so I’m finally getting a chance to post a few of my fave images from our Florida vacation so far.  I won’t bore you with too much commentary, though.  Enjoy, and please leave some comments below!

Carson’s first plane ride went surprisingly well.  We strapped in his carseat, gave him some books, and toward the end he watched a couple of his favorite shows.  Not too shabby!

This is the spot out our backdoor where we set up camp each day.

One of the nicest things about the cottage is having this shady backyard that overlooks the beach.

If you already know me, then you know that I am not athletic at all.  I did, however, give ye ol’ kayak a whirl.  Turned out pretty well, actually!

We dropped by the aquarium in Clearwater.

One of my dearest friends Bill Manley now lives in Hudson, FL with his wife and son.  In a nice twist of fate, Bill had a house concert at a friend’s house (thanks, Jackie!) already planned for the Friday after we arrived. I brought my gear to the concert so that I could grab some sweet shots of Bill performing.  I’m really happy with the images, but I’m most happy that Bill is still pursuing his passion for music.  You rock, brother!  I’m glad we got to jam on a few tunes!

While mama lays out on the beach catching up on her pop culture news via People magazine, Carson and I chill inside watching movies.  Here’s how Carson looks when he’s watching The Land Before Time.

There’s a Dinosaur World in Florida that’s owned by the same company that has one in Elizabethtown, KY. 

After Dinosaur World, we cruised on up to Downtown Disney to visit the T-Rex Cafe.  Carson got a new friend at Build-A-Dino.  He named him T.

Katie, Carson and T.

While in Florida, we got to give the Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo a spin.  It’s been voted the best zoo for children by Parent magazine for several consecutive years.  We’re Louisville Zoo members, so we got in free under a reciprocal agreement.  I love going to zoos, and I’m a big fan of free.

This zoo lets visitors feed their giraffes.  Awesome experience for Carson.

Carson getting to pet the rays.

What a cool moment.

And finally, some beachy shots of Katie, Carson, Bert and Ernie.

A fitting ending to this series…

Thanks for stopping by, y’all!  I probably won’t be posting any more vacation pics while here.  Too much relaxing I want to get in before we come back home.  Please do say hi, though!  I love hearing from you all! Byeeeee!  -shaun

Our little weekend excursion couldn’t have come at a better time.  With me being right in the thick of peak season for real estate and photography, I was sooooo needing to just get away for a few days for some family time with Katie and Carson.  Here are a few highlights from our trip to Cincy.

Carson looooooves crocodiles.  The Cincinnati Zoo was nice, but I’ve gotta say…I’m think I like the Louisville Zoo much better.  Just being honest!

Carson’s very first theater experience was a short 3-D presentation at the Cincinnati Zoo.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t persuade him to wear the goofy glasses.  I’d doubting that he enjoyed the blurry 2-D version.

Me being serious as always.

Love this shot. 

So pretty.  That’s the hotel we stayed at.  The Hilton Netherland Plaza was really old and full of character.  Rooms were a bit small, but the overall vibe was excellent.

Nice moment.

We got to check out the dinosaur exhibit at the Cincinnati Children’s Museum.  Carson and Diego had quite an adventure.