this blog is moving....

Happy thanksgiving!!

I'm switching this here photog-blog over to:
KRISTENHASSELL.WORDPRESS.COM

sorry for any inconvenience.... but come on over there & follow me on my new blog site.
thanks!

Dusti welcomes Ryan home

Dusti & Ryan have done 3 deployments in the 4 years they have been in the Marine Corps.

This time, their little one was just teeny when daddy left.

August 8th was a HOT & HUMID night

but one filled with anticipation & happiness

as everyone welcomed home the 2nd Batallion 8th Marines from their tour in Afghanistan.

Ryan's sister (USAF), brother in law & niece were also there

along with his wife Dusti & sweet baby girl.

Ryan's niece made a sign on the iPad, it was pretty awesome!

I'm pretty sure the 2hours while the Marines turn in their weapons at the armory 

felt

almost

as long 

as the previous 7 months.

And the butterflies were almost visible as those big buses drove in

& the Marines poured out looking for their loved ones.

Welcome home, Ryan & thanks for your service!!

And good job, Dusti, you're truly a hero!!

Full Gallery for viewing & print orders available here

Baby Madison

This little one decided she wanted to make her world debut about 6 weeks early!

We did these photos on her actual due date...

and she was weighing in at 6 weeks old at 8lbs 3oz.

Such a little peanut!!

Her mama is a proud Navy wife & I loved capturing their tender mama/bebe bond.

Madison was a trooper being held all kinds of crazy ways &

being awake so long (all in the name of good light!) & conked out by the last few shots.

Mmmmm, newborns are the sweetest.

So teeny. So precious. So new.

I love that she was still a little fuzzy:

 

 

this next one is my absolute favorite image from the session -
can't you just hear mama saying "shhhhhh?"

Maggie

 

{ meet Miss Maggie! }

her mom is the famous blogger/quilter extraordinaire AmyLouWho

MamaLouWho really likes fabric... it's a wonder Maggie's name isn't AmyButler LouWho.

Maggie is such a little cutie & we wanted to capture her littleness as much as possible.

She loves mama, milk, tickles & her big siblings.

She was barely learning to stand when we took these pictures.

We made a day of it & just hung out at my house & played

& of course took lots of pictures.

Amylouwho is such a great friend-

one you can just talk for hours with & laugh & be yourself & feel so loved!

We both love dentists, wegmans, ikea, photography & baba ganoujh

& playing that blasted words with friends scrabble game on our iThings.

 

 meanwhile, this is going on behind the scenes.
2 harmonicas, 5 kids, 2 moms, a bed & a camera (and a whole lot of crazy!):

after a couple milk breaks for Maggie & some lunch for everyone else, we relocated & re-costumed for some more shots. It was a long day for such a little model, but she was sweet as ever, even past naptime.

 

 

you can see the whole shoot & order prints here