{BIG giveaway}

Hi! It's been awhile, right?

I have so much to fill everyone in on, but I am short on time at the moment. (who am I kidding...when am I NOT short on time?) I want to get this amazing giveaway up so you can get some free goodies from me, and one of my good friends Brittany from Clicks and Crochets.

I have been super busy being a mommy, moving into a new house, training a new puppy, photographing amazing, sweet newborns, and booking weddings for the season. I have been seriously neglectful of this blog, but I plan to change that in the near future. I am changing a lot of things about my business, including putting more of my focus on newborn and maternity portraits.

Who wouldn't want to spend all their time photographing moments like this....



I absolutely adore photographing newborns. That first week after birth is magical, something to be captured and remembered forever. I am so blessed that my clients allow me into their little world during those precious moments. Which is why...I will be giving away one newborn session. See the bottom of this post for rules and how to enter.

Onto an amazing friend and talented artist, Brittany from Clicks and Crochets. I met Brittany in a photography forum, and we quickly became good friends. She recently opened up an etsy shop, selling adorable crocheted  items. They are a great addition to a session or on their own. My girls both have hats from her, and we love them. 

...and her products are a staple in pretty every session I have...isn't this blanket beautiful?


Brittany is so generously giving away a gift certificate to her shop valued at $20 dollars. Rules and how to enter towards the end of the post!!

As I mentioned above, I am going to be mainly focusing on newborn and maternity photography. On top of the giveaway, I am going to be needing 3 pregnant models. You must be in your 7th month of pregnancy and in the Southeast MI area. The sessions will be taking place at various locations throughout Ann Arbor and surrounding areas. Added bonus- my maternity models will receive half off the session fee for a newborn session!!! SO...if you are or know someone who is pregnant please email me and let me know why I should choose you to represent my art! melissa@melissalaruephotography.com

Another random commenter will receive a FREE {$175 value} session. Whatever you want...family, baby, couple, senior, engagement, etc.

Now you ask...how do I enter? First- if you are on face book like my page and leave me a comment telling me what a session would mean to you, or the person you are entering for.  (and what session you would like to win)  Second- leave me a comment on this blog about your dream session. I'm talking themes, outfits, locations...let your imagination run wild!

For the clicks and crochets gift certificate, all you need to do is leave a comment (separate than the others) on the blog. Make sure to leave your email address so I can contact the winner easily!!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend, and the winners will be announced Tuesday evening :)

{Sunday Morning}

I have never been one for routines. By that I mean I don't thrive on being on a set schedule every day, every minute. Some people do, and I kind of admire that kind of quality in a person. But I am not that person.

When I had my first child, all that changed. The first piece of advice my mother gave me was that children thrive on consistency and routine. If they know what to expect, they will be happier, and more content day-to-day, which in turn will create a well behaved child. She couldn't have been more right. From the day Emma was born, she has had basically the same routine everyday. While it has changed here and there, we do the same things pretty much daily.

The only day that we sway from our usual routine in Sunday. Ahh...Sunday. I reserve most Sundays for PJ's all day, yummy snacks, lots of stories, leaving messes, arts & crafts...you get the idea. One of my favorite memories of growing up will always be Sundays. We sometimes went to church, and would come home and have a lunch. Sandwiches and chips, usually. Then we would all sit in the living and watch football, or movies. My mom and I were usually engrossed in a book, but we were together. And being together is all that really matters, right?

Onto Sundays...

warm, rich coffee in my favorite cup...


reading the Sunday paper while my girls scribble away, using their imagination to create amazingly unique pictures...



clipping coupons, planning next weeks dinners...


babies who are in the mood for some mommy lovin'


little girls with messy, i don't have to school today hair...


big eyed girls...


little girls that are growing up way too fast. Too too fast...


Have I mentioned how much I love Sundays? I do. I really really do :)


Now I am off to bed to read and drink some scrumptious hot tea. Goodnight all!



"Being happy doesn’t mean things are perfect, it just means you’ve decided to look past the imperfections." -unknown

{Lucky Girl}

Cozied up in bed, watching my weekly dose of TV, I can't stop thinking of one annoying thing that happened yesterday. I took the girls to the grocery store to grab a few things yesterday evening. Probably a mistake on my end, it was the end of the day; and we all know a toddler and preschooler at the grocery store is challenging enough, right?

 After fighting Emma all through the aisles about not getting every single thing, we made it to the checkout. We got in line, and there was a charming older lady in the lane next to us. Emma immediatley said Hi, and introduced herself. (She does this with everyone. The girl has never met a stranger!) The lady proceeded to tell me what a handsome little boy I have. She even went as far as telling me 'he' reminded her so much of her son. Umm...ok. The pink and purple coat didn't give it away? Or the pink shoes? Or the fact that Emma said this is my SISTER? On a normal day, I probably would have let it slide, and not get annoyed by it. I know Lexi has virtually no hair. But this lady was the fifth, yes FIFTH person to comment on my little boy.

Annoyed and frustrated already, I arranged my groceries on the belt, and patiently waited for the ever-so-slow cashier ring me up. Swipe my debit card. Declined, insufficent funds. Hmm...I asked him to run it again. Declined again. I called my bank, and verified that I had more than enough to cover my groceries. I was almost in tears. I felt like every person in the store was looking at me with those poor, pitiful, I feel so sorry for you looks. So, I asked them to hold onto my cart and I would run to the bank to withdraw the money. It all worked out, and I arrived home about 45 minutes later with two frustrated, hungry kids.

As I am writing this, it doesn't seem so bad. I guess if that was the worst part of my day, I am a pretty lucky girl, right?

Onto more cheerful things...I am loving the routine we have settled into since Emma started school. I love that I get to spend my afternoons with Lexi, and she gets one on one attention from me. I love Emma's teachers, and I love even more how much Emma loves them. When Emma gets home, we eat dinner, have story time, do bathes, more stories, and most nights for the past month they are in bed around 7. Lovely. Since this is my photography blog...here are a few snapshots I took of the girls tonight after bathtime.

i love how Lexi is looking at Emma in this one. 



such a Lexi face. Her cheesy face :) 



hair or no hair...my baby's got some b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. eyes!!

On Tuesday evening I met up with a good friend of mine to take some photos of her little boy. I shot her wedding over the summer, and I still can't get over how adorable her son is. I can tell he has such a gentle soul as well. He is a very inqusitive, smart kid. And his eyes...they are just stunning. Go ahead...see for yourself...




told ya...


isn't his pumpkin hat perfect for fall? 

Doesn't he look like he belongs on the cover of Parenting magazine? I think so! 


So there you have it, a little dose of what makes me happy, and what gets under my skin a little bit :)

Don't forget that tomorrow is your last day to enter for your chance to win a free session with me! I am going to make it a little interesting...

If you direct someone to my blog, and they leave me a comment, I will put your name in the drawing TWICE! Yep, that means you have a bigger chance to win your session! Make sure your friends let me know who sent them my way :)

I'm heading to bed feeling like a very lucky girl!

{One of those moments}

Do you ever have one of those moments where you just know...where there is nothing else in the world you would rather be doing? As silly as it sounds, last night was one of those moments for me. I made spaghetti after a very long, tiring day. I could think of nothing other than my girls being in bed, and me doing the same. Mind you, it wasn't even 5 o'clock yet. My patience was running low, and so were the girls. So, dinner is ready and we sit at the table to eat. Lexi decides to dump her spaghetti on her head. Then Emma started acting really silly, giggling hysterically. At me. Because I really thought I was going to lose it. But then it hit me...these are the moments that count. Being silly, and acting crazy. So I gave in. Emma and Lexi ate spaghetti with their hands as watched, and wondered; how on earth did I wind up with two amazing, beautiful souls? Children are just amazing. As the days go by, I can't help but thinking that Emma and Lexi are teaching me more than I could ever dream of teaching them. I love it, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 


mmmm...she liked the spaghetti! 





Last weekend I was so busy with shoots, which I love. Keep it comin' people :)

The first was the wedding of a friends parents. They were married in St.Joseph, MI. What a beautiful little town. I had never been before then, and I couldn't get over it! They were married outside at their favorite restuarant. It's called Tosi's and it is an amazing place! Other than being beautiful, all of the staff is extremely nice and helpful. I was hoping for a few sunset shots, but the weather didn't cooperate much longer after the ceremony. Here is a few sneak peeks of the happy couple, and one cute little boy :) Thank you for choosing me to photograph such a fun, special day!

how cute is he? I got a ton of beautiful shots of this handsome little guy!

My last shoot for the weekend was for a very, very dear friend of mine. She has two children that are the same age as Emma and Lexi, so we had a little play date before our shoot. Her daughter was amazing for me in front of the camera. There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do, and she was having fun being my little model. Her brother is a little charmer as well. He was a sweetheart, but by the end of the shoot he was over it. I mean, what 1 year old wouldn't be, right? I'm lucky if I get Lexi to sit still for a second!!

During our shoot it started raining out of literally now where, so I had to run for cover a few times to ensure that my 3rd baby didn't get a splash of water on it. lol. In case you didn't get it, I refer to my camera as my third baby regularly ;)

Now...onto to all this cuteness. Phew, where do I begin?





 precious...I can't wait to do more shoots with these adorable kids!! Love ya Michelle :)

 oh yea...it was Halloween this weekend!! My girls were Dorothy and To To from The Wizard of Oz. I thought they looked incredibly cute, but I guess I am a little biased.

this is one is out of focus, and technically not the best photo. But it was all To-To would let me get ;) 



see...they are pretty cute, huh?

Ok readers, I am going to do a giveaway. All you have to do is leave me a comment, and become a fan of Melissa LaRue Photography on facebook. The winner will be selected by random.org on Friday, and will recieve a free session {$175 value} with me. You must be available to book your session before December 1st! So...go ahead and leave me some love to get your chance!

Doin' the Mommy thing

This past weekend was full of being lazy, reading stories and baking with my girls. you heard me- baking. I am totally ok with the fact that I can cook, but am not so good at baking, but Emma has other plans for me. After a lot of begging from her, we decided to bake some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies on Saturday afternoon. I must have read the recipe 5 times before I even started; I wanted them to be perfect. So, we mixed butter, flicked flour at each other, and snuck bites of cookie dough...and somehow among all this chaos ended up with scrumptious cookies. I mean, really good cookies.

 



Our laziness stretched into Monday, as a broken washer (or whatever was wrong. who knows. its fixed now) is the perfect excuse to not do a darn thing all day. We played dress up, and as soon as I pulled my camera out, my girls went into push mommy's buttons mode. Lexi started saying owie whenever my camera is in her vicinity. Emma has resorted to bribing me to take good photos. Wait...I am the mom...shouldn't I decide when/where/if bribing will take place? She said "Mom, if you take me to Java Jungle everyday forever I will smile." I told you she is smart...and very good at getting what she wants. She smiled, and I compromised by telling her maybe grandma will take her :) Sorry, mom- I couldn't resist!

I don't have any new sessions to share, I have not been able to upload from my computer, so here are a few photos of my favorite thing (s) in the world.

Yep, you know it. My girls.

As of lately, this is the look I get while I am behind the camera.


oh, sweet Lexi Lynn




this is my current favorite of Emma.


she is getting braver...trying to run!

and this. This is perfect.

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -Lin Yutang

{Snail Mail}

Every morning at 11 am, I check the mail.

Every morning Emma asks me if she got any mail. She absolutely loves getting snail mail. My mom got her a subscription to Highlights, and she patiently waits every month for another issue. I love that she knows what mail is. In a world so full of technology, it’s nice to get a letter or post card via snail mail. There is something about taking the time to hand write a letter with a crisp piece of paper and a nice pen. Anyway, today Emma did get something! I have to brag a little bit…this girl is smart. She is barely 4, and she can recognize her name, and write and spell it. Sweet, right? So she got a letter today from Haab’s, a local restaurant we go eat sometimes. She entered a coloring page in a contest and SHE WON!! Ok, so every kid probably wins, but Emma doesn’t know that. SHE.WAS.THRILLED.

Her excitement:

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. I LOVE fall. With every part of me. I even love the rainy days like today. The air just seems to smell a little crisper, and a little cleaner than the hot, humid weather summer brings. I am planning lots of fall activities for us. I can’t wait to take the girls to the apple orchard, and pick apples, eat donuts, and drink warm apple cider. My mouth is literally drooling just thinking about it. I remember picking out our own pumpkins when I was a kid. I have an old photo of my brother, sister, and I at an apple orchard. I may have been about 5 or 6. We were complete in our early 90's attire picking apples. Good memories :)

We don’t usually do dessert around here. Mainly because, if I do bake, it came out of a box. and we all know that's nothing like the real thing. I can make some pretty fabulous lasagna from scratch though! Tonight was an exception. We picked up some caramel apples at the grocery store, and tonight after cheese tortellini, we ate caramel apples like there was no tomorrow.


On to my latest session. These kids were great and full of life. I photographed them in Depot town, which has to be my favorite place to shoot. It’s got so many options and great backgrounds and lighting.

her eyes remind me of the ocean...


i love love using this faygo crate. it gives photos a nice vintage feel.


see what I mean about the great backgrounds?


adorable.


Thank you, Hollie for choosing me as your photographer!

{on a totally random note, my friend Kayleigh got me a bag of Dove chocolates for my birthday. I am lovin' the dove life lessons that came along with it!}

breakfast for dinner

After not getting much sleep last night, I woke up to find I had forgot to set my automatic timer on the coffee. Or even make it. So I made the coffee, while waiting I checked my email…waiting for the delicious smell of my morning drug to wake me up….after a few minutes I realized... Crap- I forgot to plug the coffee maker in. So, starting out my morning without coffee asap was surely going to set the precedent to an awful Monday. Luckily,  it didn’t start off so bad. I had to baby my oldest baby a little, she seems to be coming down with some kind of cold that makes her say, “ mommmmmy…my throat feels itchy. Mommmmy….my eyes are itchy. Mommmmy….can I go outside?” She feels sick enough to not pick up her toys (but can run outside for hours), but man…I would KILL for just an ounce of the energy she has, even on a ‘sick’ day. They are so amazing and wonderful. Kids, that is. I always thought I would be a ‘working’ mom, but I love being able to stay at home with my loves. It’s not that it isn’t work, because it is. It’s the best kind of work there is :)

I had a wedding reception to shoot this weekend, and it rained. A LOT. The couple got married a few weeks ago at the courthouse, and I photographed that as well. They are family of a really good friend of mine, Laura. it was a pleasant…and so many fun people at the reception! The bride, Tammy’s, dad was hilarious on the dance floor. I have never seen anyone dance the way he did, very entertaining ;) Congrats again Tammy and Rob!

 the dude could dance. seriously.

I couldn’t let today go without recognizing that is has been 2 months since my Grandma has passed away. It hits me in the oddest moments.  I think of her a lot when I cook dinner, she was always so curious to know what we had to eat. I usually would talk to her in the morning, or at night after the girls went to bed. The conversation was always normal chit chat, but it meant so much to me. And I know it meant a lot to her. She was never around my girls day to day, but she felt like she was a part of our life in some way. I miss her. People say time will make it better, but I am just missing her more every day.  

I can feel the end of the day coming, the girls are tired and so am I. They are getting clingy, and I am yearning for peace and quiet. I suppose I should start dinner, even though we had a late lunch. I’m thinking…breakfast for dinner. Delicious and Fun! 

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.  ~Mildred B. Vermont