my project 52 - week 12

Still. No. Baby. Nevermind that every client (except for one - hi Angie!), friend and family member who I know was expecting a March bambino has already had theirs (weeks in advance, even!)

Dag, yo. I'm way past antsy over here.

I've had plenty of days filled with contractions (or at least I THINK they are contractions - this is my 2nd baby, you'd think I'd know...), where I've told myself "Ok, house is clean, bags are packed, today was a great day with Grayson - I'm ready", and then the contractions will subside and the day will pass with nothing. And onto the next day when the house is once again a disaster, the fridge is emptying, and my hospital bag has been packed for so long, that I've had to ransack it to find my comfy pants (more than once).

Sigh... Tom Petty had it right - it most definitely IS the hardest part.

project 52 - week 9

Ok... who forgot to baby sit me again? I realized I'm 2 WEEKS behind on these guys. Not cool.

Luckily, I have a life filled with fodder and photos for internet use. Not really. In fact, the past 2 weeks have pretty much been spent anticipating labor every single minute of every single day - and finding new ways to keep Grayson occupied and simultaneously feel important in the interim.

Since I blocked my schedule off about a week ago, deciding not to take any more sessions on for about 8 weeks, I've had a lot more "free time". Its never really a good thing. Aside form driving my husband insane with my crazy nesting techniques - spouting orders and ridiculous requests (not all of them are ridiculous, but I'm sure he thinks they are) - I've simply had too much time to think.

Do you know how TERRIFYING the idea of being a mother of 2 actually is when you have time to sit and contemplate it for minutes (notice how I didn't say hours, I don't have THAT much free time) on end? Aside from the day in/day out monotony of feeding, diapering, waking in the middle of the night... there's an entire other aspect to it.

Love. How is it possible to find enough love in this motherly heart of mine to fit 2 KIDDOS, when currently it so fully occupied by 1?! I know, I know - people do it every day, and your mommy genes just kick in and you love all your children the same, blah blah blah. I get it. I know how it works. But I can't help but worry that its not going to be the same as it has been with Grayson, that I'm not going to be able to stretch the love & attention to cover 2. That something, somewhere is going to be lacking and its going to make me miss out in either his direction or hers.

Yes, internet, these are the things that keep me up nights. So, instead of becoming a complete and total basket case about it all - I keep my mind occupied by keeping my #1 occupied.

Last week - we played pirates. I can't even begin to tell you how pleased I was with how excited Grayson was for the "boat" I made him (out of the box for our new double stroller, no less). I made him his own telescope, he had a treasure box (a good use for an empty wipes box), a hat, a flag - he even had an eye patch (thanks to left over supplies from mom's 2008 retina reattachment surgery).

My mommy cool-ometer was off the charts last week ;)

Watch yourselves - he'll totally steal your booty.

my project 52 - week 8

Admittedly, this week's photo is nothing special. Well, I mean, its special to me - every photo of my little man is special to me (seriously, I have issues with deleting, but thats for another time), but the photo itself - from an artist's perspective - nothing to be proud of.

What I am proud of is what lead up to the photo. I was having a session for the son of one of my good friends. He and Grayson are about 4 months apart - and at this age, are becoming buddies. Thats right, my "little" boy has friends. And not the forced, "look how cute when we lay them on the blanket together at a month old" kind of friends - real bonds that he is forming with other kids all on his own. He plays, he mimics, he makes his own fun with other kids (and no help from mom, sad... but happy!). It is amazing to watch. I feel like I say that a lot about my kid, but I'm in constant awe of him. Sorry! Can't help it.

But back to the photo... Mr. Owen (the subject of the actual session) was a bit rambunctious, so getting him to sit still  proved difficult. To save both myself and his mama (who is also prego with #2) some energy, I asked Grayson to sit down for me, so I could light test. And, without a 2nd thought, he did. He walked over, sat nicely and stayed until I told him it was ok to get up. He actually listened very well for the entire session - despite the tremendous overstimulation I can only imagine that another child's presence provides.

If that isn't proof enough that he is making the transition to big kid - just look at the photo... who IS this kid? He looks like he's AT LEAST 4 ;)

buds :)

my project 52 - week 7

This one, though a few days late, is on time.

Time. FLYING.

When I was a carefree college student (where my Marquette peeps - woot!), I used to pine for the end of the day, the week, the school year - and sometimes these things seemed to take FOR.E.VA. to come. Even in the "real world", working a 9-5, M-F job - gosh, did the weeks drag on and on and on to a sometimes agonizing degree.

Now, life is different. I'm a mommy, a SAHM (with quite the successful photography career!) if you will. I spend almost every day with my little man, and I adore every minute of it.

And good lord, does it fly by. Most days, it is noon before I know what hit me. This week, I did not have any sittings scheduled M-F, which is ghe first time in MONTHS, and the week was over before I knew it.

Watching little man advance by leaps and bounds every day is enough evidence that time moves quickly - this 2nd pregnancy has only made that all the more evident. This week, is week 35... THIRTY-FIVE, ya'll. As in, going to have another baby in less than a month - when the HECK did that happen?

Simply put, it happened over the last 4 months I have spent at home - cuddling, playing with, feeding, diapering, reading to, dancing and singing with, snuggling, teaching, learning from, and loving #1 (who, by the way is about to be 22 months old - sheesh!)

The time, it flies. But it is wonderful :)

21 Months (and like 3.8 weeks, because Mommy has been slacking on her monthly pics)

35 weeks (and more than ready to make her grand entrance, if ya ask me)

my project 52 - week 6

The girlie stuff has been arriving en masse lately, since I finally got my butt in gear and started ordering/shopping for some of the necessities. In addition, we had a quick belly session over the weekend, which made the fact that we are going to be a family of F-O-U-R very S-O-O-N all the more real (and scary).

Grayson has also been exercising his big boys pants a lot more lately - using his words, putting together small phrases, referring to "baby" (even putting his head to the belly to talk to her now and then). It makes me realize just how big he is getting, and just how teeny this new one is going to seem in comparison.

Grayson is still just a little munchkin - how much smaller can a newbie possibly seem? A dose of reality, folks...

back to teeny onesies...

back to teeny diapers...

back to teeny (super cute and girly) shoes...

well, at least the binkies are the same size...

oh, wait. nevermind.

my project 52 - week 5

Initially, I was going to post photos from the big snow storm we had here in Milwaukee this week. But... everyone has seen those photos, everyone has posted those photos and really, Grayson didn't dig the snow all that much.

This week had gotten away from me, and being friday, I was worried that I was going to miss a week. BUT, this afternoon I had a shoot. When I left the house, Grayson was napping. When I returned 2 hours later, I could hear happy cackling coming from inside the house.

I walked in to find Grayson running all around the house happily, wearing nothing but a diaper. His hair was crazily standing straight up - Daddy explained to me that this is because he rubbed some of his applesauce from a late lunch into it.

He was in one of the silliest moods I've ever seen from him. I immediately took out my camera and started snapping. He ran lap after lap from living room to kitchen, yelling and giggling the whole time. He paused to take a look down the laundry chute, and also to field a call on Daddy's cell phone. He knew he was being funny -  and I LOVE that he knows when he is being funny.

I definitely couldn't choose just 1 pic - so... here's a bunch. Love this kid.

some pretty big news {from grayson}

In case you're a blog stalker, but not a Facebook friend or family member :)

on my little man turning one.

Its not often that I post personal things on the photog blog, but... I feel like today I have to. Grayson turned 1 this week. ONE. Meaning he has been around for an entire year [longer if you count the 9 months on the inside]. I can hardly believe it. The last year has been such an amazing and wonderful adventure - and I am so excited to see what the next brings - I'm told it only gets better!

Last night I did a cake session for Grayson and his cousin Samantha, who [believe it or not] is only 24  hours older than him. Its been so great watching them grow together - although Sam is leaps and bounds more advanced than Grayson [but she has a big brother to keep up with]. It was awesome. It was also, as I'm finding with all things birthday, bittersweet. Even though I'm home with Grayson more now, I still feel like I don't get enough time with him - I'd guess all parents probably feel this way.

I'm running low on free time now that wedding season is in full swing - and while I won't EVER EVER EVER complain about how busy we are [love you, fabulous clients!], I WILL relish in the few moments I have to sit back and enjoy my own little world here at home. Here, internet, is a snippet of it:

my 1 year old :)

every now and then - I get to be in a photo, too

cousins

blue frosting makes for [ahem] innneresting diapers...

practice makes perfect

Today Jen, Eric [with little man, Jamie in tow] and I held a practice shoot of sorts. We were able to utilize Divine Mercy's St. Adalbert's church to work on some chapel shooting... and to test out our awesome new lenses!

Our "bride" was my gorgeous little sis, Krista - and she wore my backup wedding dress. [Sigh... I bought a dress at a sample sale, and ended up finding one I liked better a few months later - judge away...] It was a little big, so we had to entrust some industrial clips to hold it on. Overall, good times. And aside from one casualty - li'l Jamie lost one of his airplanes - I'd say quite the success.

Isn't she pretty? I can't wait for her to have a real wedding someday!

The light in St. Adalbert's was AMAZING. Dear all other churches, please have light like this. That is all.

my veil too [I swear only had 1... ]

holy hiatus!

Happy 2010, y'all. Sorry about the lack of content on the blog here. The holidays gave us a much needed break [and time to update poor Grayson's blog, which hadn't seen any new entries in over a month!]

We were SUPPOSED to have a belly session this past Sunday. But, as they sometimes do, the little one came early [36 weeks!]. So, instead of a belly session, next Sunday we'll have some newbie shots to post. After that, we start to pick up again - sessions for 3 yr old Elliana, 1 yr old Ryan, the Glubka family and the start of our wedding season!

In the meantime to fill the void, here are some photos of Grayson... because I can plaster the internet with photos of my kid if I want to.

His eyes seem to be getting a little green in them. Love it.

This may be my favorite picture of 2009 - I find it HILARIOUS.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for letting our Mommies take your pictures!

Love, Ella & Grayson

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Jessi & Mitch - adventures in the Ward

On Sunday, we had an engagement session for Jessi & Mitch. Mitch is a fellow Beloiter [B-TOWN!], so we go waaaaay back! [Can I get a NINETY-NINE!] Ok, I'm done...

We met up with these two at Raterra, ahem, Alterra in the Fifth Ward. [Are people getting that reference? Well, if you wanna know, just ask...]. Initially, we planned to hit up our "go-to" spot, BUT the weather was decent and these 2 were game, so instead... we wandered around. And we are SO glad we did - we found so many wonderful spots. The Third/Fifth Ward area is such a gem, we definitely need to utilize it more often!

We're super excited for Jessi & Mitch's wedding because they are our first couple who've agreed to some photos pre-ceremony... we can't wait to get shots of their first glimpse of eachother all decked out! And speaking of first glimpses - enjoy your preview, y'all.

Jenny, remember to remind me that we need to hit up this store :)

there weren't any "no trespassing" signs...

Jessi was really good at posing - we didn't even have to give her much direction. Love that!

Holiday Card Designs!

We are now offering a small variety of holiday cards. These pre-designed cards are fully customizable to include your photos, message, and preferred color scheme. The following designs are available for $15 each, or we can custom design a template for you - email wucherercreative@gmail.com for more information!

Option #1 [sorry, you'll have to supply your own adorable photo...]

Option #2

Option #3:

Option #4:

Option #5:

Option #6:

More to come!

for your viewing pleasure...

I'm not even entirely sure how many people follow this blog on a regular basis, but I just feel awful about not adding a new post in over a week! Since we've actually had a few days off, I don't have client previews to post [sad face].

I do, however, have a RIDICULOUS amount of pictures of my kid [HAPPY FACE]. I got new prime lens, and I love love LOVE it - I would make out with it, if that wasn't weird. That said, Grayson has been put back into model mode. Though he doesn't seem to mind. And, I'm sorry to be all "my kid is so cute", but he IS! So, readers [if we do, in fact, have "readers"], for your viewing pleasure - here are some new pics of G-Unit...

our first experience with cereal

a messy eater - just like Dad [and Brody... and Miles}

hey grayson, whatcha doin'? oh, just watching the rain and contemplating the meaning of life...

seriously, mom? we're doing the whole camera in my face thing, AGAIN?

this picture makes me SO happy. every time I look at it.

oh, yeah - we totally tweet.

shannon wucherer photography joined twitter today. I s'pose if you're into that sort of thing, you could follow us. I mean, we are pretty interesting, and as we get busier, we can only imagine that our "tweets" will be completely compelling, cutting-edge and perhaps now and then a little off the wall...

PLUS - we'll be offering super tweet [see what I did there?] discounts via twitter only, so... snooze ya lose.

Can't say we didn't warn you.

no grayson, no tweeting for you until you're at least 6 months old!