A professional photographer sharing sessions and life in Northern Virginia

March 28, 2016

christmas eve | central jersey child photographer

It was important for my mom when I came back on Christmas Eve to get a few photos of her with her grandchildren, that she + my dad are so courageously raising as their own now. It hasn’t been an easy road for my nephews, but the one thing that has been constant in their lives is my parents (Sassy + Papa). I wish my dad had been home when we were taking these photos, but he was running around getting the last minute items for Christmas morning (wink wink!!)

It isn’t hard to tell that Rylan is ornery as the day is long (see photos from last Christmas). He loves to pick on his older brother, goes a million miles a minute, makes crazy faces, then crashes hard! Randon has turned into a lovebug as of late. What I loved about when we were in Disney, he was adamant about holding at least one person’s hand when we were walking anywhere. For a 9 year old, it felt like something that we were never going to experience. I got more hugs from him in Florida than probably the entire rest of his life.

I’m so very thankful for where they are now, in a safe, loving home. It’s apparent by interacting with them that they finally feel at home too!

Kim Schmidt is currently booking newborn, child, + family photo sessions for this spring. If you are in Princeton, Lawrenceville, Hopewell, Hamilton or Bordentown, please be in touch soon, as my schedule is limited this spring.

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March 25, 2016

we moved.

When we got the news that Anthony wouldn’t be graduating last May, we had applied to stay in our married housing for another year. It wasn’t our choice that A was technically still a student. We ended up being denied another year. At first we were upset (just another knot on a long string of bad luck). We probably could have fought it, but at that point, we felt defeated + wanted to get away. I will tell you that it was the best decision for us. It wasn’t easy, we were stressed finding a place that we could afford, that would have the amenities we would like, that would be available when we needed it. That last part was key!! We were not told until last minute, needing to be out by the end of June. I believe we had a little over a month. While it put so much stress on us both, we finally found a place in Bordentown that was brand new, had a decent layout, + that we could afford. Lease signed! I hope to come back to share photos that I did take with my real camera right after we got settled. The place is beautiful, though there are quirks that we could do without, like hearing every.little.thing. that is going on above us. Things have calmed down upstairs since the family with two little boys moved out in December. We heard them at all hours of the day + night.

Perks: gas stove | painted gray wall | elevator | pool

Anthony is a master Tetris builder.

We packed away all of our utensils, so the next best thing is a mixing spoon to eat my dinner in the car, as I’m running to work.

I’m thankful that we bought these IKEA shelfs in 2009. They have lasted us several moves, held a ton of books, + made us look all professional at the same time. Fabric hides within the closed off cabinets. 🙂

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hamilton » kim schmidt - July 10, 2017 - 10:46 am

[…] was Off-Broadway at Public Theater thinking I needed to see this show. At this same time, we were scrambling, trying to figure out what our future would entail. Fast forward to 2016, when Hamilton received […]

March 24, 2016

schmidt boys | oklahoma

The weather in Oklahoma over Christmas was wild. It was gorgeous on Christmas day, tornado warnings, then an ice storm two days later. The boys decided to go fishing after we were done celebrating with family – I’m so glad to have been able to capture some photos of their non-successful fishing excursion.

Every year I’m tasked to get new photos of the boys for a calendar that I put together for my mother-in-law. This year, we were a bit tight on time, as Noah was heading out with the Pride of Oklahoma to play during the football playoffs. These three, with different personalities, ages (they are spaced out every 6 years, with Anthony being the oldest), are somehow the best of friends now. I love that they laugh at themselves, especially when we take these photos each Christmas!

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March 22, 2016

disney world

The middle of December my family met in Orlando for a fun-filled, surprise vacation to DISNEY WORLD!!! The nephews had no idea, it was probably one of my top 5 moments ever, seeing their excitement when we all arrived at our hotel + at each park. I have so many fond memories from our week stay. You can see most of our PhotoPass+ photos over on my business blog. 🙂

One of the highlights is getting Randon + Rylan both on the Tower of Terror. While I am not a parent, I do have strong feelings on how scare tactics should not be used on children. See Randon (who turned 9 a week after our trip) has been through quite a bit of trauma in his short life, has experienced these scare tactics. My #1 goal on all rides was to make it as fun as possible as we waited, even ones that may seem a little scary. I let Randon know especially that it’s okay to be scared, but we will have fun too!! When we were in line for ToT (it was just the 4 of us), Randon thought about chickening out on multiple occasions. Anthony + I both reassured him that we wouldn’t make him ride the ride, but we’d love for him to at least give it a shot. He was such a rockstar (though squeezing the beejezese out of A’s hand!!) on the ride. It was such a huge accomplishment!! Rylan (who turned 7 in January) is fearless. He rode every ride with gusto!

Now that my parents are raising another round of children, I’m so glad that we were able to take this trip with them. Not only to be able to make these memories but to also be an extra set of eyes/hands/bodies. We were exhausted each night, boy was it worth it though!! Disney sure knows how to make vacations magical!!

After spending our first morning at Magic Kingdom, we hopped on the bus to go to Hollywood Studios. Sums up the trip perfectly. 😀

Before we left, I ordered off eBay DIsney trading pins so the boys could trade pins. We didn’t get into it much until the last day, as Animal Kingdom is for sure to place to do most of the trading! My favorite thing is how Randon wore the lanyard across his chest every day!!

Rylan ruining Uncle Anthony’s moment with Chewie.

It ended up down pouring on us right after dinner at Hollywood Studios. I was quite bummed, as we were hoping to catch Fantasmic (which ended up being cancelled) + then walk through the Osborne Lights. I luckily had a rain jacket in my bag so I was fine staying at the park. Rylan was on board too, while the rest of the gang went back to the hotel. Rylan + I ended up riding Tower of Terror again, then I forced him to walk through the lights with me! I’m glad I was able to take that in, since they won’t be doing it again. Sad that the rest of the family didn’t get to see it.

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March 21, 2016

disney world 2015

Last Christmas, my family decided that in 2015 we would celebrate at Disney for the holidays. My nephews were finally at an age that they would both remember the trip. When my mom got ill last March, all the planning went out the door. At the end of June, my parents ended up gaining custody of the nephews. When that happened, my mom + I thought it would still be fun to go to Disney. Everyone minus my oldest brother was invited. With a turn of events, the trip ended up being my parents, the nephews, Anthony + I. My other brother + his wife stayed back in Oklahoma. While it would have been so great to have everyone there, we still had such a fun time! The boys were completely surprised, they thought they were coming to New Jersey to visit us! Even now when I talk to the boys, we speak about this trip, about which ride was our favorite. Mine was probably the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I have an adorable video of Rylan (the littlest guy) from the ride – I love re-watching it! Anthony’s was either Space Mountain or Mission Space (he’s quite obsessed with space these days!!). Randon’s favorite ride was the Astro Blaster at Magic Kingdom (I think we rode it at least 4 times!), Rylan’s was either Buzz Lightyear or Tower of Terror.

Overall, this trip to celebrate Christmas + birthday’s for both boys was extremely magical. It was so fun to see the excitement in their eyes throughout the entire trip.

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March 21, 2016

good ole rocky top, rocky top tennessee

Would you believe us if I told you the entire 3 years we lived in Nashville, we never visited Knoxville? I sure do regret not exploring more of that beautiful state. Fortunately last September, we flew into Nashville, explored our old stomping grounds, met up with my folks, rented a car + drove to Knoxville to spend the weekend routing on our beloved Sooners! The atmosphere alone was worth the trip. Then to top it off, OU pulled from behind in a nail bitter, to win the game! It was hands down the best football game I’ve ever attended.

Obviously, first stop was Vanderbilt | Art in the Vanderbilt Divinity Chapel atrium

2001 Club Parkway | Our first apartment.

St. Henry’s | our home, our community, for a year our income. We miss the beautiful choir + Fr. Mike’s wonderful homilies.

Smoky Mountains with the people I love.

Hiking.

Oh hey, look, it’s a bear cub.

I made my parents hike up several miles to see a “waterfall”. While that was underwhelming, the views, breathing in crisp fall air, + seeing a bear cub was worth it!

First successful checkered stadium for them. We were at the very top of the stadium, which wasn’t good for my dad whom isn’t a fan of heights! This game was boring for the majority of 3.5 quarters. Then it turned into the most exciting game I’ve ever experienced. Sooner magic happened that night!

On the day that we were set to fly home, there was a bomb scarce at Nashville International. Everyone was evacuated while the bomb team was called in. Luckily there were no delays for our flight back!

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Kim Schmidt Photography LLC | Northern Virgina Family Photographer

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christmas eve | central jersey child photographer

we moved.

schmidt boys | oklahoma

disney world

disney world 2015

good ole rocky top, rocky top tennessee