We look forward to having your little ballerinas in to have some dancing fun with us.  Please feel free to call us to learn more.  We are happy to answer your questions.

Posted by Denise at 09:25 PM | Permalink

The Blackberry cell phone has some how intertwined itself into our everyday lives in today's world.  It was really the precursor to the current texting mania of the youth (and many others).  Take a flight today and I challenge you to count less than 8 people around you that quickly take out their Blackberries when the plane has landed.  Danny had a "first generation" Blackberry seven years ago...you know the one that looked like a big pager with a keyboard? I hated it then too.  It is really a love-hate relationship.  I can't live without it, but I can't stand the accessibility either.  It is addicting to constantly check your e-mails on it.  The little red blinking light is like a beacon to the Blackberry-addict.  Danny was even checking his Blackberry when we were in the hospital delivering Whitney.    Well, now we have come full circle. 

Danny stayed home today and the kids and I went to church this morning.  It was promotion Sunday and the kids got to go to their new Sunday school classes.  James was very excited because each year they have a little train ride for the kids.  Whitney on the other hand, really didn't want to go and kept begging to come to "my church", which means service with me.  So after Sunday school, I decided to bring Whitney with me to the service.  She did O.K..  She spent part of the time working on the bible activity sheet and a little while playing a video game, BrickBreaker, on my Blackberry.  Besides her constant movement, she was pretty well behaved.  Fast forward to the call to Daddy on the way home.  It went something like this:

Mommy:  "Hello Daddy, we are on our way home now." 

Daddy: "Did you know Whitney called me from church?"

Mommy: "What?"

Daddy:  "The phone rang and I answered and there was Whitney whispering, "Hi Daddy" and I could hear the pastor speaking in the background"

It is amazing that I didn't know.  She was sitting right next to me.  So keep that evil Blackberry away from the kids in church.

Posted by Denise at 06:43 PM | Permalink

Today was the first day of second grade.  I am not sure about you all, but the humidity and heat didn't make the morning drop off any easier.  All the kids were perfect this morning getting up with the wake-up call and getting out of the house on time. 

Whitney wore a new "cool" rocker outfit that she bought for back-to-school and evidently Daddy is the only one that knows how to fix the tie right.  We tried not to embarrass her too badly and when Daddy asked her if he could take a pic of her in her new classroom, he was quickly told no.  Notice the unhappy face below?  Compare this big girl to the one just 2 short years ago.

So we were off to get James to school for his first day back at Southampton, but first 2 shots of the girls...I don't think they will be able to deny that they are related.

Later in the day, Danny was able to pick up Whitney from school in our new car and when he got to the carpool line they asked, "what's your child's name?"  Danny replied with, "Whitney, but she has never seen this new car."  So the teacher with the bull horn proceeds to annouce, "Whitney Clark in a new car!"  Whitney was not only excited to get into the shiny new vehicle, but very loudly told Daddy that "2nd grade is awesome!".  I hope that her feelings stick around longer than a day.  She loves her new teacher and being a bigger kid this year. 

Posted by Denise at 07:48 PM | Permalink

I am sure that we are only one of thousands of families in Houston that have spent this evening preparing the kids for the first day of school.  It is exciting yet, bittersweet...on one hand, we are looking forward to the 8 PM bedtimes and having a little longer adult time in the evening, but on the other hand, we get hit with the realization that our kiddos are growing up.  It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating Whitney's first day of kindergarten.  Now she is starting 2nd grade and we can no longer use the adult secret language of spelling in front of the kids.

Look how innocent and sweet she was back then.  She is still sweet, but of course not so innocent...she not only has learned how to read, write and do arithmatic, but also how to talk back, roll her eyes, and I don't want to forget, "the drama temper tantrum" I sometimes get (i.e. "this is the worst day of my life!").  Despite all of her new found knowledge of life, to mommy she is still and always will be this little girl in this picture.

To all the parents out there-- good luck and congratulations on raising your kids to be the best they can be.  We hope everyone has a wonderful first day of school!

Posted by Denise at 08:11 PM | Permalink

Posted by Denise at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

More good friends came into the studio today to view and order their portraits.  Matt, Allison, Gianna and Nicholas were in to see his four month portraits.  When I saw the onesie that Baby Nick was wearing I had to get Danny to get a photo for the blog.  Isn't he a cutie?  He already knows what he likes. 

Thanks for coming in today.  We had fun.

Posted by Denise at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of the great parts of my job is to be able to see new families as they begin and grow.  Many times we are given the opportunity to take the maternity portraits, then a few months later we meet the little one.  As the baby grows we are able to follow their progress, which becomes the baby's first year album.  We would like to introduce you to 2 of the newest, cutest additions to our Houston community.

Maximilien was born July 29th.  Denise and I have to say that we admire Monica's endurance.  This sweet bundle of joy was born with no pain meds through a long labor.  Congratulations guys!  Try and get some sleep.

Later this week we had Sara and Dan to photograph Lukas.  Denise used to work with Sara back in her pharmacy days.  We remember Sara coming to visit us at home when we had our first baby, Whitney (who by the way, just turned 7 on Friday).  It is amazing how quickly time flies.  We are so excited for Sara and Dan to join the Parenthood Club.  Club dues are progressive and start with sleepless nights and I'm told later will become gray hair.  Sara, we hope you get the hang of the napping.  It looks like Lukas can give you a few pointers.

What a beautiful family.  Congratulations...and welcome to the best club ever! 

Posted by danny at 06:44 AM | Permalink

It is hard to believe, but Danny and I are celebrating our tenth anniversary.   In case you didn't know, Danny and I met at Lamar High School and are high school sweethearts.  We both had Volkswagon bugs, but his was cool and mine was beat up.  We have actually been together for 18 years.  That means that we are about to hit the point in our relationship that we have known each other longer than we haven't known each other. (yes you can do the math and figure out how old we are)  It puts a whole new meaning on the saying, "I can't imagine life without him."  It is completely true.  I have been so lucky to have Danny.  Many of you know this, but Danny is my renaissance man.  He, of course, is the best photographer I know, he is an excellent cook (and he bakes a mean cookie), he helps around the house, he can fix household appliances (he fixed our washer just last week), he is an active Dad and now he has taken up the art of screen printing.  His creativity is never ending.  I wouldn't have been able to be where I am today and make the accomplishments that I have made in my life and career without his support. 

I don't think we will ever be able to beat our 3rd year anniversary gift, the birth of our first baby, Whitney.  I actually have forgotten our anniversary more often than him because of the hustle bustle of planning the birthdays for Whitney.  When Whitney was turning two I had planned a fun party at our house with the Tumble Tykes bus.  I could only think about the fact that I was going to have between 10 and 20 two year olds and their families in my house.  In all the preparing of the day, Danny brought home a beautiful arrangement of Cala Lillies in an exquisite vase.  Me, in my party planning mode, took the flowers and told him, "Oh how nice, they will look perfect on the table for the party."....not realizing the beautiful flowers were for our anniversary.  The next morning in bed, I woke up suddenly and realized that Danny had given me the flowers, not for his daughters party decor, but as an anniversary gift.  I will never live that one down, but it proves that women can forget that oh so important date too. 

Danny, Thanks for 10 wonderful wedded years and many more years to come!  I love you forever and always.

Posted by danny at 07:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)