Chicago Belly Session: Shelley

Meet Shelley:

And the soon-to-be-any-day-now Ms. Eleanor!

Shelley is a friend from my life in Chicago where I was an intern for Chris Guillen Photography. Shelley was Chris' studio manager and second photographer. In short, I learned a lot from her and we have kept in touch over the years.

We, however, lacked on our "being in touch" this past year and so when I saw on Facebook that Shelley had a new website, I shot an e-mail of "how awesome!". Imagine how surprised I was when Shelley e-mailed me back talking about a new joint DJ/Photography studio that she and her hubby, Tyler, were opening and oh yeah, "also having a baby girl in May." WHOA! Yes, I think I did do a little happy dance. Great news from friends makes me dance!

After chatting more we decided that my trip to Chicago could (and should!) accommodate one Belly Session for this wonderful woman. Unfortunately Tyler could not join us because of his work schedule, but we still had a lovely time cruising about Chicago and "breaking into" golf courses. (Really, the gate was not locked...very well). Shelley made the comment that, "You are totally a country photographer. You keep finding every living thing to compose your image with." Ha! That made me laugh and yet, it was true....so we have to do a few more city-like poses near the end. Congratulations again Shelley and Tyler! I cannot wait to meet Ms. Eleanor one day :) Enjoy! xo Kaht

Belly Session: Leighann & Justin (Huxley too!)

This post is a bit late considering baby McKenna made her debut in mid October, but better late than never! And I could not forgo sharing these images with you. They are just that sweet :)

As with many Belly Sessions, we started outdoors at beautiful lawns surrounding The Weston Playhouse. And of course we include the whole family: doggies too!

Thank you so much Leighann and Justin for letting me capture and document the building excitement for McKenna's arrival! Your love and happiness truly shines through your images. What a great thing to share with McKenna as she grows! xo Kaht

Leighann is simply beautiful. And truly radiant at nearly 8.5 months.

Huxley joined us for a few portraits. Did a great job holding still and...smiling!









Leighann played along with me for this one, but I was trying to capture what many women feel at 8.5 months along: like their feet are VERY far away! Plus, Leighann has really cute shoes :)













One of those moments that I love: when the baby moves and everyone reacts!


Your family is so blessed!

Maternity Photos: Brenda and Jeff

There is much to be said about this couple. But in the interest of sharing these images with you, I will keep this short and sweet. They are nothing short of fabulous. FABULOUS! (Okay, I will step off of my little mountain now). But really...I have worked with them several times in the past year (engagement session and wedding day) and when they contacted me about belly photos (after I did several back flips in excitement) I was thrilled I would get to see them again!

This baby is going to be welcomed into such warm and loving arms. Brenda and Jeff have so much love between them that their baby is simply going to float on a little cloud of rainbows and bluebirds. :) Not to mention, parents-to-be who give their photographer ice cream sandwiches after photo sessions are no doubt going to rock!! Best of luck B+J! Any day now:) xo Kaht

Gus :)

Baby Tickles

When a client forgets for a moment that I am photographing them and just lives in that second, I am truly blessed with a beautiful image that speaks volumes. The following sequence is from a recent maternity session. While we were working on the backdrops, the baby moved and tickled Brenda's belly. I was so pleased to see while editing that I had captured the 10 seconds of Brenda getting lost in the moment of tickling her baby back!  xo Kaht

More images from this session will be up soon!

Any Day Now! Jess' Belly

Jess makes pregnancy look easy. She has embraced this time in her life and simply glows every time I see her. She might deny it, but even at 9 months (any day now!) she still moves around like she is toting a feather pillow attached to her stomach and not another human being. She does not complain, she does not roll her eyes, and she hardly misses a step when chasing after her 2.5 year old, Jane. It is really amazing!

Truly it has been my ultimate joy to be a part of Jess’ pregnancy from the day she told me, “You might wonder why I am gaining weight, so I should tell you…I’m pregnant.” :) I had hardly noticed, but was completely head over heels excited for her and her family! We immediately started documenting her belly on a monthly basis and watching her and Baby Iggy (boy or girl, we don’t know!) grow has been amazing. Really…she makes it look easy!

Jane is really excited for the new baby to arrive. Sometimes there is concern about older siblings not welcoming the new baby, but Jane is completely ready to be a big sister. Early on in Jess’ pregnancy, Jane would refer to her mom and her belly as two separate things: “Bye Mommy. Bye Belly.” Now she recognizes there is a baby in there and talks daily about the baby arriving soon. Adorable!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone! And keep Jess in your thoughts as Baby Iggy is bound to arrive any day now! {No doubt she’ll make that look easy too. :)}

This was a fun shot for many reasons, one of them being that the baby kept moving and literally knocking the rings off! We had to keep rebalancing the rings. It was pretty amazing to watch though. :)





Jane's first time drinking out of a hose. Dad was a great teacher!



This is one of my very favorite images: just so peaceful.









Jess was blessed with these beautiful blue eyes. Glamorous!

Big sister to-be :) 
xo Kaht