Archive | September, 2011

Harlo Tidbits



Harlo has taken a sudden interest in photography.
I always catch her with any camera device she can find up to her face.
I gave her my old, ancient digital camera and she always says to me, “let’s take pictures of Stel”.
Anytime I have my camera she says “that’s mommy’s work?”
I think she’s still a little confused about what I actually do.
She is in such a fun, funny stage right now.
She’s always been a great talker, but it seems like these last few weeks her conversations have gotten more “grown up”.
She always says “Hey, what ya do?” (for “what are you doing?”) and when I say, “just cookin’ dinner (etc) what are you doing?” she says “um… just nuffin’.”
It’s my new favorite.
She’s been waking up at about 8:15 every morning so Brady gets her and she always comes right to my bed to give me some morning lovins.
It’s seriously the best thing ever.
If I stay in bed for a little bit while Brady finishes getting ready for work, she always brings me random things to hold. She’ll go through the house and find my bobby pins or hair ties and bring them to me, or she’ll cook in her play kitchen and bring me things to taste. :)
Her favorite time of the day is when Stella wakes up to go and get her.
No matter what she’s doing, she’ll drop it so she can go “get Stella”.
As soon as she hears the first PEEP out of Stella’s room, she’ll say “I’ll go get her, mom!”
She is loving Tinkerbell movies right now, which she calls “Tooth Fairies”
Her other favorite things to watch at the moment are Beauty and the Beast, which she calls ‘Jingle Bell’d’ and Baby Einstein, which she calls ‘Baby.com’
She always has her own names for things.
She is SUCH a girl.
She loves make-up. I am constantly getting after her for getting into my make-up drawer.
She insists on wearing dresses every. single. day.
It’s been a little cooler this week so she’s had to wear pants and it’s been quite the ordeal.
I have to suggest we dress as twinners or that she and Stella can be matchy to get her into something other than a dress.
She loves being matchy.
She’s pretty particular about what she wears and how we do her hair, these days.
She always wants a ‘Brady’ (braid) but she has specific names for each type of braid we do.
A side brady, princess brady, auntie brady…
If she asks for ‘hair like mama’s', she wants a messy bun.
If she doesn’t want me messing with her hair, she’ll ask for “bangs back” where we just pull her bangs with a bow.
haha, she’s such a little character.

She has still been doing great with potty training. She had about 3 days in there after the first week where she wasn’t so sure about it and had a few accidents, but other than that she’s been amazing. Much better than I thought potty training would be at least. I have nothing else to compare it to. We went to Oceanside last weekend and she woke up with dry pull-ups every day we were there. Such a champ! She is still going on her little pink potty, but is definitely warming up to the big potty (which she calls “the big boy”)
She asks a trillion questions a day.
I love every last one.
She’s always asking “what’s that?” or “what’s this?” or “what ya doin’ mom?”
She’s started tattletaling a bit.. mostly on Daddy.
She’ll come to me and say “Mom, Daddy said No for me”
With Stella, if she’s messing things up, Harlo will tell me “Mom, Stella’s making a whole mess!”
She is such a little mama and always makes sure all of us have had our vitamins and oils for the day.
As funny as she still says some things, she’s learning the correct words for a lot of things. Like oils she no longer calls rainbows, and the ocean is no longer the lotion. Makes me sad.
She also works constantly with Stella on her vocabulary.
It’s usually while we’re in the car and I almost always drive with no music on just so I can hear them talking to eachother. I get such a kick out of them!
Last night I overheard Harlo telling Stella, “Say ‘mama’… ‘tree’… say ‘car’… say ‘old mcdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o!”
She definitely has her moments where she’s naughty with Stella or is too rough with her or just wants to bug her.. they’re sisters. But I don’t love anything more than watching them together. They fight, they bug eachother, they work it out, they giggle and play, they look out for eachother… it’s such a complex relationship, and it’s also so simple.
Harlo’s at the age where we’ve had to set some family values and we talk about those values often.
Like, treating your sister nicely and how important family is.
She likes to talk about family a lot.
How we all have the same last name, how me and auntie are sisters just like she and Stella, how mommy and daddy fell in love and got married, how papa is my daddy… the subject never gets old for her. She’s so fascinated by it.
She is so good at saying sorry.
Just this morning she had a little tissy and grabbed a toy from Stella. After they both calmed down, Harlo says (without being asked) “I’m so sorry, honey. I’m sorry I took a toy for you”
The other day she had a fit before nap time and after we had all calmed down I said, “Harlo, I don’t like it when you cry. I want you to be happy all the time” and she goes, “I just love you, honey.”
haha, she melts my heart!
She is such a good girl.
Sometimes as I kiss her goodnight, I realize she hasn’t given me grief one time that day.
I learn so much from Harlo every single day.
It’s such an amazing blessing in my life to be her mom.
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Master Bedroom

Brady and I

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My little WALKY-talky

Yep, my little Stella Babe is WALKING.
On Friday, Stella started taking 2-3 steps back and forth from me and Harlo. We immediately had to Facetime Daddy and show him while he was at work.
All weekend long she would dare take just a few more steps, a few more…
Today she is taking 10-15 steps at a time! She is so wobbly and does the Frankenstein walk but it’s SO cute. I can’t believe she can even do it on those little feet of hers. She’ll stand up from the floor and walk over to whatever she needs to get. By the end of the week, I think she’ll be keeping up with Harlo! :)

(excuse the blurry pictures!)


Yay, Stella Girl!

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MaskCara | St. George Portrait Photographer

So… if you’re like me, the minute you found out about Maskcara you were totally hooked.  I am a HUGE of the amazing Cara, she is soooo talented and so funny and so beautiful.. the list goes on.  Not to mention she has amazing taste, so when she asked me if I would do her pictures for her blog, I truly almost peed my pants!
Planning Cara’s session was so fun.  She knew she wanted to go with a gypsy feel and I hopped right on board.  I do a lot of families and birth, so having a portrait session and following a theme was a really fun project.
When we met up for the session we started driving around to find some good locations.. we stumbled upon a super great location that was kind of hidden away, so we got out of the car and hiked on over to it.  It was beautiful but it was basically a swamp with bugs EVERYWHERE.  So, basically as soon as we got out I started realizing it maybe wasn’t the best location but we got a few shots and I happily suggested we get on our merry way.  We walk back to the car only to find that the one and only key to our car was missing and had likely been dropped in the swampy field!  So, we trecked back.. we searched and searched and could NOT find the key.  We were quickly losing light, and had no form of transportation so I realized the show must go on.  We got pretty creative with our location and Cara was a total trooper!  She was so glamorous even being swarmed by bugs. :)  When we had finally lost all our light we decided to call and get a ride back to my car so we walked back to get our phones and what was lying right on top of  Cara’s phone?  THE KEY.
So it was quite the adventure, but Cara is stunning and we got some amazing shots.  Head on over to her blog to see a few more!

Isn’t she stunning?!

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Bentlee’s Newborns | St George Newborn Photographer

Bentlee’s newborn session was so fun.  Since I was able to document her birth, it’s always especially fun following up with the newborn session, and the session always goes so smoothly because after we’ve bonded over a birth, it’s easy for the family to open right up to me and totally be themselves.  We wanted the session to be really personal and just be right at home, my favorite way to photograph a newborn.  We did these when Bentlee was maybe 4-5 days old.
The Olcott’s are such a beautiful family and their home is filled with absolute love.  Bringing home their baby girl was such an exciting time and I’m so glad I got to capture that for them.


Thanks for looking,

x0, C

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Jordans Birth | Southern Utah Birth Photographer

Anyone who knows me in “real life” at all knows that the only other thing I really ever talk about other than my kids, is birth.  I just think birth is so amazing.  Even now that my baby is over a year old, birth is still on the topic of my every day readings and discussions.  I don’t think there is anything I love more than photographing birth sessions.  It just absolutely feeds my soul in every way.  Being able to document that for someone… it’s such a special and humbling experience.  All the births I attend, I feel bonded with the women for life.  Each one holds so dear to my heart.
Jordan’s birth was so amazing!  It really felt more like a party than a birth.  She had her brother, sister and mom there, (and of course, Josh the proud Daddy) we all just hung out and laughed all morning long.  It was so laid back.  Jordan is hilarious, and in labor she’s no different.  She was fully ready to PUSH when the doctor walked in and said, “It’s always a party if Jordan’s around.” and without skipping a beat, she says “yeah.. I’m a good time.” haha.  It was probably my favorite quote of the year.
When Bentlee arrived it was such a celebration.  That’s the only word that comes to mind.  It was so special to be apart of that.  Her family just absolutely adored her.  She was such a beautiful little baby with the sweetest spirit.  The energy in the room the whole day was just magical.

Thank you, Jordan for letting me be a part of that amazing day, I’m so excited to share this!

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Stella Tidbits

It’s been a while since Stella has graced the blog… she’s done quite a lot of growing up… like, she stands now.










Oh… My Stella Babe.
Where do I even begin?
Stella absolutely oozes personality.
She has personality seeping out of every inch of her tiny body.
We always joke that she’s belligerent all the time.
She loves anything having to do with being a big girl.
big girl cups, big girl chairs, big girl phones…
She climbs, climbs, CLIMBS all over everything.
All day.
Climbing.
After a few spills off the couch, she has now figured out how to gracefully slide off the couch.
So, all day she climbs up, slides down, climbs up, slides down.
I can’t tell you the relief I have that she’s learning how to effectively climb DOWN from things.
She STANDS UP from sitting on the floor with no help.
(Harlo thinks this is by far her best trick)
She loves to walk holding on to hands, but wont quite do it on her own.
She will take 1-2 steps to get where she needs to go, but other than that, she’s good.
Which I’m good with, too. :)
She still eats our whole family under the table.
The other night she ate two full pieces of pizza and 1 and a half breadsticks.
She basically eats like a full-grown man for every meal.
She has started packing on the lbs. finally, though.
She is back to the 30th percentile and her legs are looking mighty squishy. :)
She suddenly has taken a huge interest in talking.
She will basically repeat anything you tell her to say.
She nods her head for yes.
She knows to ask to get “down” or “up”
She loves sitting in our little brown (kid size) recliner chair.
She’ll climb in that chair and flip through books for a half hour.
I love it!
She has started to be such a little pistol.
She purposely pulls Harlo’s hair sometimes.
(which totally looks like it hurts and Harlo never cares a bit.. so strange)
She can give quite the sassin’.
If you take something away from her, ohhh boy are you in trouble.
She usually rebounds in a few seconds and is back to a happy camper.
Oh, goodness she’s such a little sass.
I love it! :)
Her screaming has seemed to fully disappear, thank the sweet Lord for that.
I swear it shortened my life by 5 years.
It was so, so LOUD.
She throws everything off her trey when she’s done with it.
Drives me nuts.
She is still such a lovey and gives me lovins and big smooches all the time.
Although she is WAY too busy to be held for more than 2.7 seconds at a time.
I have to say I’ve been quite depressed about my baby getting so independent and grown up all the sudden.
But it is so fun to watch her grow and her personality continue to just grow and grow.
I think I’m definitely grasping the days with a baby on my hip all day are coming to an end,
but that’s not totally a bad thing.
big or little, I just absolutely love that little sissy to pieces!
Her hair is thickening right up.
I can’t do pigtails in it yet like I could definitely do with Harlo’s at this age, but I know it’s just around the corner.
Her bangs, however are basically nowhere in sight.
:)
I think we’ll be wearing headbands for quite a while.
She is such a little ham!
I mean, she is a ham sandwich!
I can barely handle it.
She is so not shy like Harlo.
And she has the hammiest little grin.
She has four gappy little teeth on top and two on bottom.
It’s complete and utter perfection.
I always say she looks like a character on Wallace and Grommit (remember them?) Brady thinks that’s mean, but I totally say it with love. She’s obviously so dang cute, but she does. :)
She’s been only taking 2 hour naps lately which is about killing me.. don’t know if it’s a random thing while she’s getting new teeth or if this is our new life.
I’ll actually say it’s been kind of fun being able to do more stuff and playing with them for more of the day, but my poor work is piling up.
She has been wanting to go to bed earlier, though so that’s okay.
By like 7:00 she’s basically begging to go to bed.
We call her our little Ruffian because she’s such a wild girl.
She is not scared of anything! Today she was trying to slide off the bed on her belly like she does off the couches. Her feet would be still 6 inches from the floor and she’d just drop herself.
She loves sitting on the couch.
She always leans back and pats her belly with her little hammy grin like she’s so big.
She is seriously hilarious.
Our favorite thing to do when we get into bed is talk about all the funny things our kids do.
We get laughing so hard.
She is such a little sneaker and always tries to sip my drink when I’m holding her.
I have never had an issue with Harlo doing that.. Harlo didn’t have her first sip of soda forever and she’s never had one since.
Stella’s gotten to it a few times, now!
She and Harlo play so well together.
She totally listens to whatever Harlo tells her to do.
If I’m calling Stella and she’s not listening, I can say “Harlo, call Stella” and she’ll come crawl-running out.
She woke up in the middle of the night the other night and we really didn’t even know what to do with her.
It’s been so long since she’s done it.
I just brought her in bed with me for a minute and she was so cute.
She laid right down by me and just pat-patted me, she tickled my face, she softly touched my eyes, nose and mouth, she would lay her little hand on my cheek.
It was so sweet.
after about 30 minutes she got a little restless and wanted to go back to her bed.
How is it that both of my girls will absolutely not sleep with us?
She is just truly a little ball of sunshine.
She brightens our life all day, every day.
I always tell people, she’s exactly what you would dream a one year old should be like.
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the Sprawka’s | Northern California Family Photographer

These pictures I have been anxiously waiting to post.  This is my best friend, Haley and her sweet family.  Last month I went to visit them for Oliver’s first birthday party that was just a week after my little Stella’s birthday.  Last year at this time Haley and I had both given birth naturally in the same week after 9 long months of pregnancy together.  We were swapping birth stories and sympathizing with each other over pumping and lacking sleep and just absolutely loving every last minute of it all.  No one could ever know me like Haley knows me.  No one’s life has ever been so similar to my own life.  I’ve been so blessed to have Haley in my life to go through all these big events together.  And while we couldn’t be together for each other’s births and our babies actual BIRTH-days since we live a plane ride apart, we had to be together for the 1st year birthdays.  I think for any mother the first birthday is a big huge deal and it was so nice to be able to share that with my friend.  All the emotion and excitement and bittersweet-ness that comes along with all of it.
Not to mention how nice it was to see Haley in her world and meet all of her family.  I truly fell in love with every single person I met while I was there.  SUCH a loving family, every last one of them.
When Haley came out in April I was able to do her pictures with she and the boys but Joey didn’t come for that trip.  Their last family pictures were when Ollie was a week old so no matter what, I had to do a session with them while I was there.  It was such a busy weekend and we definitely didn’t get as much time as we would like for a session (or to pick the time for the session) but we squeezed it in and it was just perfection.

There is something so neat about being the photographer for my family and friends.  Especially in my lifestyle approach to shooting, I get to photograph them exactly how I see them, and then show them that.  It’s a very personal thing. Haley’s family session was like this in a big way for me.

So here are the Sprawka’s.. exactly as I see them.

Thanks for looking and letting me share them with you,

xo, Cass

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Create Workshop | St. George Photographer

Hello!  Did you miss me?  I missed you, terribly.  I would apologize for being gone so long, but I’ve been working on such cool projects that I can’t wait to share with you.  This has been a HUGE time for all of us (me) here at Cassidy Miller Photography.  My business is changing and I’m settling right into where I should be.
so, THANK YOU to all of my supporters who have made this journey possible.  All your comments and questions have fed my soul in ways I can’t explain.  Keep up the good work you little lovies. ;)
While I have lots of projects to share with  you, some of a top secret nature that are going to be saved for a later date, I am so happy to announce that after much thought, many requests and some amazing artists I have finally opened up my own beginner mentorship workshop.

Photography has become such an amazing part of my life.  I have really discovered my own art over the last 3 years and I’ve been guided by some of the most amazing artists in the business.  I really have gotten as far as I have with the help and hospitality of others and I feel like it’s my turn to give back.  I am now offering a workshop for beginners. The Create Workshop really focuses on learning your camera, the ART of photography and developing your own style.  I’m really excited about this new adventure.

If you’re interested in booking a workshop with me, please email me at cm.photo{at}live{dot}com.

I kicked off my workshops a few weeks ago with some really fun students. Here are some photos from their session.  Megan and Egan are SUCH a darling couple.  They were so nice to model for us.  I’m looking forward to more sessions with these two in the future. :)

Thanks for looking and for just being totally awesome.

xo- C

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Labor Day Weekend :: Pioche

Every labor day when I was a kid we would go to Pioche, NV. I have no idea how we got started, but we have had close family friends there for as long as I can remember and it was always the highlight of our year. Since Brady and I have been together, we’ve had his family reunion on labor day and since Pioche is a farther drive and we’ve always had small babies, we’ve never made it out together. This year we decided we had to do both. Family reunion AND Pioche. What a blast!
We started off on the right foot, because as soon as we told Harlo we were going to “Pioche” (pronounced pee-O-ch) she immediately made the connection that “Pioche” kinda sounds like “peach Ogurt” which is her favorite thing in the world, so right away she was excited.
As soon as we pulled to town we went to the two stores Pioche has, Tillies and the Ragdoll. Harlo took a liking to Tillies. She kept asking to go back there all day. (on a potty note.. she had NO accidents the whole day, even on the ride there and back. YAY)
Once we were at the park, we just took in all the goodness Pioche had to offer. It was so fun sharing my favorite childhood memory with my own little family.


Brakken drove down with my dad and first thing had to come over and smooch on my girls. He’s the best!


Go Harlo!


Stelly liked Pioche, too.. but especially liked her Pops on this day.

gotta love the Aunties :)


Maizee was already in Pioche with my mom so we met up with her too :)



Stella chased her ‘boo’ all day long

Then brought it to Papa for some good lovins :)

our little crew

love these pictures of my girls.. so classic:


We even got some great, live entertainment! Harlo was so stoked about Ninadavo playing. :)


The girls just danced their little hearts out.

The ride home was it’s own fun little adventure. I always love the drive to/from Pioche. You drive through all these quaint little towns and it’s all so serene. Maizee and Harlo sang songs keeping us entertained and we even stopped for a little potty break and took in the sunset. It was definitely a successful trip, and one that I look forward to making year after year.


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Labor Day Weekend :: Reunion

We’ve had a crazy busy, fun-filled Labor Day just like always. Every year the Harris family gets together in pine valley for our annual family reunion. They all camp there, but of course we only do day trips. I like nature in small doses. But I do love that Harris family, so I think if the day ever comes that I do agree to camp, it will be at the Harris Reunion. Until then, it will be as close as I get! ;) I had never actually been to a family reunion before I married Brady, but I quickly fell in love. Every year I can’t believe how many people make it out. Some travel quite far for the occasion. It makes me so happy that my girls will get to experience this every year and that they’re a part of this family for life.
This year the Reber side of the Harris family also came on Saturday and they did a tribute to Aunt Dot, which was so sweet. Her kids had compiled a bunch of memories they had about their mom growing up and her grandson got up and gave a little speech and it was all so touching. Aunt Dot now has a huge family with her own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I can’t imagine what that might feel like after devoting your whole life to your children, to hear them all together and speak with such admiration towards their mother. Especially as a young mom with just two little babes of my own, it was quite inspiring to see a mother at the complete other end of the spectrum.
Needless to say, we had a great time at the reunion this year. Can’t wait for next year!




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Beach Babes 2011

I am still desperately trying to catch up on our summer’s events in the blog. We had the busiest summer of our lives this year, but have had such a blast. We have traveled together, apart, experienced new fun things as a family, seen our best friends get married, visited some amazing people… the list goes on and on. While I am quite happy to have our lives be back to normal(ish) and be able to stay put for more than 2-3 days at a time, I’m secretly missing our jet-set lifestyle. We have definitely made some great memories and traditions in 2011, that’s for sure.

The last trip to Auntie’s was pretty busy, but on our last full day there we headed down to “The Lotion” per Harlo’s request and had such a fun family beach day. Now, I’m not much for the ocean.. I love the beach, I can hang and lay out all day, but the actual ocean water totally freaks me out. Luckily, Harlo did NOT inherit my fear of the water, but her dad’s absolute love for it. Stella loves it too, she sat and played with Harlo for hours. It’s so fun to watch my little brood at the beach, though. It’s literally better than Christmas for them. Harlo still asks every. single. day. if we can go to Auntie’s house today and go to the lotion. Poor girl just does not quite grasp that we live 7 hours away. :( But lucky for us, that gives us a pretty great excuse to get down there every month or so! :)

I promised myself I would keep my camera out at the beach and take some pictures of it all this time. It’s so easy for me to forget to bring out my “real” camera with a baby constantly on my hip, but I truly vow to be better at this. The girls are getting more independent which makes it a lot easier, too. As soon as I got home and uploaded these pictures I was so happy I stuck to my guns! These will be some family favorites, I’m sure.

































Thank you for being so good to us this year, CA! Until next time….

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