Lincoln Love

I'm so in love with this little guy!




He is just the cutest! I love his little face. He resembles Jeremy and my mother in law a lot in that last photo. Lincoln definitely looks most like Jeremy and the 'Marks' side of the family out of our three babes. Ethan and Gracelyn favor the 'Petke' side more (my maiden name). I do see Lincoln looking like his brother and sister at times...but the first thing I said once I saw him was that he looked different than our other two. He still does to me....yet still looks like his brother and sister at times also. They are all so beautiful!

What a blessing it is to be a mom. A gift I am so thankful for.

Kids are doing good but have all been under the weather with colds this past week. They are on the mend though so I'm thankful!

3 photo sessions on the schedule this weekend :) Looking forward to it!

Here's a few from a session I did for some very good friends last weekend.






Enjoy your weekend!

Yes, I'm still alive :)

Hi friends and family.

My blog has been put on the back burner a bit lately. No reason other than being a busy momma of 3. Wife. Cleaning. Laundry. You know, all those wonderful gifts :) I don't have much extra time and when I do it's usually doing one of the things I listed above, editing photos or simply being with my cute family.

Little Lincoln is getting big and fast. He's 7 weeks and oh so cute! He's starting to look a bit more like his siblings to me. He still has his own look, but definitely related to big brother and sister :) He's doing well and is a pretty mellow and easy baby. He's even sleeping long stretches for me at night already. Not always consistent but he's given me many 9-10 hour nights! Amazing! Here's a pic of our little man:



In other news, I got a new camera yesterday :) Very exciting! I've been saving up with my photo shoots to upgrade. It feels good to have saved up enough from a hobby that I really enjoy and never really expected to make income from. Such a blessing! I'm enjoying learning more and more about photography. I sold my old camera today to my cousin, glad it's staying in the family :)

I also photographed my first wedding last week! It was special to be a part of my friend's big day. The ceremony was beautiful, intimate and small. Sadly we had the worst weather...a completely windy and rainy day :( So, we didn't get to get many photos outside which was a real bummer to me and them as well. Natural light produces the best photos so it was a disappointment to me. Can't change the weather though so I did the best I could. I still got lots of great shots, I think they will be happy with them. I just finished editing the photos today, all 286 of them. Phew! That was a big job :) Here are some favorites:


















Fun wedding :)

All is well with the Harrison's. Enjoying life as a family of five :) Ethan and Gracelyn are doing good and still best buddies. They come and kiss and love on Lincoln throughout their day and then run off and continue playing. It's precious.

That's all for now, thanks for reading :)

One month cutie...

Our little Lincoln turned one month on the 7th, it was a fast month! Here's a recent photo of him...I took it this morning. He sure is handsome :)



October has been a busy month so far. I've been busy with photo shoots, playing with my babies and getting together with family, went to a wedding....busy busy but all so fun!

Sorry for such a short post...I have some laundry to get done :)

Hope all is well with all of you.

Much Love,

3 weeks...

My little Lincoln log turned 3 weeks old yesterday. He celebrated by moving out of newborn clothes and into 0-3 months. Tear. Slow down little buddy, I want you to stay little forever :)

I took this photo of him this morning and I simply cannot stop staring at it. He's such a beautiful baby and I feel so blessed he's here and healthy.



He's doing well, nursing like a champ and is a happy baby. We are blessed.

I have my first photo session since his arrival scheduled for tonight. It's for a brand new baby girl, I'm looking forward to it :)

Wow, my little hobby of doing photography on the side has really taken off, it's been so fun and blesses me. It's something I really enjoy doing and love being able to do for an affordable price for people. I think a lot of people simply cannot afford to get photos taken of their family but would love to have those memories. Part of the reason I enjoy it is that I can do it for an affordable price and I think that's why I'm getting bombarded with people wanting to book a session. I currently have 12 sessions to book! The session tonight, I'm doing 2 sessions on Sunday and then 9 others that are wanting to book a session.

And.....guess what else I officially am doing?

A WEDDING! Eeeekkk! I am really nervous and excited. Weddings are not something I plan on getting into, but a friend is getting married in a few weeks (quick engagement) and has a small budget to work with and really wants me to photograph the wedding.

I emailed her 100 reasons why she shouldn't use me (ha!) and she insisted I am who they want. I was just feeling very nervous seeing as I'm a total rookie at photography and don't have all the settings on my camera figured out, still produce blurry photos at times and am learning why and how to fix it, etc. I went on and on telling her my concerns. She completely understood but after reading her last message back to me I decided to do it. They really want me too and she relieved a lot of my nerves by telling me she isn't expecting perfection and completely understands this would be my first wedding and knows it would be a learning experience for me.

The cool thing is it's a very small and intimate wedding. Only immediate family are attending. The wedding will be at a Cider Mill and then dinner will follow at a restaurant where they had their first date. It's a very low key wedding. A good first wedding for me to photograph. Although again, I don't plan on getting into wedding photography. While I won't be making a whole lot, it's still some extra money and I'm saving up for that new camera body (oh how awesome it would be to have it before I shoot the wedding...but I know I won't have it that soon and that's ok.) so I can put it towards that.

Jeremy will be taking the day off of work to be home with the babies as it's on a Wednesday. I'm excited about it and nervous all at the same time...but it should be fun :) She wrote me the sweetest message telling me how talented and gifted she feels I am and how she's honored for me to do her photos. It blessed me and really was encouraging.

Anyhow, not too much else to report...I have some laundry to fold and put away and need to get my things together for the session tonight also.

Until next time...

Fall is here :)

And I must say, it just may be my favorite season here in Michigan. I've always loved summer and enjoy the hot summer days but there's so many fun things to enjoy when fall comes.

Cider Mills. Jeans. Hoodies. Football. Leaves. Crisp air. I always enjoy the fall season. Plus my two favorite Holiday's are not too far off. Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both are filled with lots of family time, my favorite!!

Saturday morning my family came over and we went to Spicer's Orchard, a nice cider mill just a mile from our home. We enjoyed some warm cinnamon donuts, cider and the kids had a blast at the kid area they have too. My family then came back to our place afterwards and the kids played outside most of the afternoon, we watched the Michigan game and my momma made us a homemade dinner. Fun times!

Here are some photos from our little trip.




Look at my gorgeous girl!! She is so amazing. I didn't get any good ones of Ethan, he was too busy playing in the bounce house and I couldn't get him to pose for me. Oh well, maybe next time!







It's been a low key weekend for us. Just enjoying being home as a family and the kids are loving playing outside this weekend. We've had such beautiful weather. We had planned to try and make it to church this morning, but Gracelyn had a bit of a rough night and was up coughing a bit so we decided it was best to stay home.

I do have some exciting news. My brother has a girlfriend :) We are all very excited for him as he's been praying for God to bring "the one" into his life (as have we) for many years. Of course we don't know if she is "the one" forsure, but Craig feels strongly she is. I'm excited for him, he's such a great guy. Her name is Kate. Kristy, Keri and Kate...it fits :)

Enjoy your Sunday :)

Our Partners in Crime...

I know Lincoln has kinda stolen the spotlight when it comes to pictures the past 2 weeks so I thought I would share a few of our sweet Ethan and Gracelyn. I took these this morning, had to bribe them with a little chocolate ;) They are so precious, I love these kids so much!







Beautiful children. Blessed momma.

2 weeks already...

Our little Lincoln Jude is already 2 weeks old. I am so enjoying every moment with him, even the feedings in the middle of the night. I know how fast they change and grow and I just love this newborn stage so so much.

I took this photo of him this morning, does he get cuter and cuter by the day or what? We definitely know he has his daddy's eyes (even Jer agrees on this one!) and we think he will look most like daddy out of our three munchkins. Ethan seems to be a mix and Gracelyn is my mini-me, as people like to say. They are all so adorable and I couldn't love them any more!


Lincoln is doing well, he's a pretty happy baby. Only tends to cry or fuss when he needs a diaper change or is hungry. He does seem to have one thing in common with his big brother. He likes to spit up after he eats :) Maybe not as much as Ethan did but I definitely have to have a burp cloth handy! He gets the hiccups after almost every feeding (which is normal due to them sucking in air) and that is what seems to cause him to spit up. Gracelyn never spit up, it's funny how each baby really is different!

Speaking of my 3 kids, I found this beautiful silver pendant that I want to get that will have the kids names on it and their birthstones. I found it on Etsy and just fell in love with it. I'm thinking maybe I'll get it from profits from my next photo session, we'll see :)

I also have a new camera my heart has fallen in love with. I love my new lens and will forsure be using that for a long time but there is an upgraded camera body that I am slowly going to start saving up for. A friend of mine started getting into photography when I did. We both knew very little, both bought the same camera, etc. Last week as I was looking through her latest photo shoots I was amazed. Something looked different, the pictures looked amazing to me...way nicer than any of her past ones. I sent her a message and was like tell me what you learned because you need to teach me!

It was funny when she wrote back and told me, "Well, I upgraded my camera." Ha! That made sense, the clarity with her new camera compared to our old one (my current one) is a huge step up. She was impressed I could tell the difference...but I noticed immediately. Of course the camera I have now still takes wonderful photos...but the more and more I get into photography the more and more I realize how much nicer some cameras are and I really noticed the difference. She is getting busy with clients and felt it would be a good decision to upgrade to a bit of a nicer camera. Nicer camera = nicer photos. Every new photographer longs for that! I don't blame her and told her now I want the same one. Ha! All in time :)

Not much else to report. Just a quick update before my little Lincoln wakes up to eat. I'm loving being a momma of three and feeling so blessed to have these healthy children to call my own. And of course an amazing husband by my side to raise them with me. They sure love their daddy....which I love :)

Until next time,