pascale wowak photoblog

Baby Kenzi

Oh how sweet this little buddha baby was!  Aside from being awake for only a few short moments when I was setting up, she slept the ENTIRE session! UNREAL!!  And not one single "accident" either.  She broke quite a few records this little rockstar!   I just went from pose to pose to pose so seamlessly it almost didn't feel POSSIBLE to have a baby be THIS cooperative :)

I had the distinct pleasure of photographing mom and dad when they were expecting Kenzi and so you may recognize THIS gorgeous mommy-to-be from just a few short weeks ago.  (Which was another super easy shoot I might add).  I am just so thrilled that I will get to watch Kenzi grow and photograph her 6 mo, 9 mo and 1 yr photos.  Those are the BEST ages to photograph and I get giddy just thinking about it.

No need to delay this any further, I know how excited they are to see these images so here you go!  Peter and Elisa, thank you so much for inviting me into your home and letting me take these precious images of your adorable little girl.

 

Well, it's not a lion but it's close....

First of all, I need to remind you all that I WARNED you about the barrage of puppy related posts that would be coming down the pike so no complaining allowed.

Secondly, I have two newborn shoots over the next 3 days so yes, I will have actual, real photos to post soon enough, be patient!

Third, my kitchen area has the worst light and ugly tile so yeah, just focus on the puppy ok?

So, my mom came down on Christmas to celebrate it with us and we had a marvelous time.  She and I cooked (well, she did most of it) a DELICIOUS meal and the kids played together like ANGELS all day and Kooper was a blast and it was just really, really nice hanging out with my mom.  I even got to take a nap which is a luxury I have not been able to have in ages and needed SO bad with all the "up all night puppy" business.

My mom brought down this HUGE stuffed elephant for Kooper.  A little background on Rhodesian Ridgebacks first, you see, they were used in Africa to hunt lions.  Their hunting instincts are deeply engrained in their DNA.  And even though Kooper is the most gentle, sweet, loving soul, we got to see him get in touch with his roots that day!

Granted, an elephant is NOT a lion but still, you get the idea!

If Kooper could speak, I am quite certain this is what he was thinking at the time....

Oh, ye elephant, I shall pounce on you first and then chew on your ear....

 
 

Then I shall drag you to my den by the trunk....

 
 

Do not resist me elephant, it is futile....

 

And then I shall sit on you, Elephant, for I have conquered you...

 

And since you are so comfy, elephant, I shall sleep on you...  

  

You are now mine, elephant....

 

I think I love you, elephant...

 

And he has been sleeping with Elephant ever since.  Cute, no?

Oh, and where are the pictures of my children on Christmas you may ask?   Well, I didn't take any of them, just the dog.   Ooooooooops.  :)  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A little holiday cheer in the form of a song, with custom variations, by Gavin and Ellie.

Password is:   MerryChristmas

I hope today is full of wonder and merriment for those of you celebrating this day and I wish everyone a truly magical Holiday Season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  This one is, officially, The Best Christmas Ever.

Kooper The Red Nosed Doggie from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

When daddy is a firefighter....

...that means he'll be at work either Christmas Eve or Christmas day!  Usually it's Christmas Day (so we celebrate it as a family the day before) but this year he had to work Christmas Eve.  As per usual, whichever day he has to work we come down for a visit.  This year we had our new puppy with us and it was only his second car trip (the first one being to the vet just down the street) and a long one at that.  I kinda wore him out before hand and he slept the whole way like a champ!

The kids were super excited because we hadn't been to the fire station to visit dad at work in a LONG time.  Kooper was excited to see his daddy and visit a new place.  We haven't taken him out anywhere yet because he hasn't finished his first series of vaccinations so we can't introduce him to parks, playgrounds, other dogs etc.. until that is all taken care of at about 12 weeks.

We had a nice time at the fire station hanging out with dad and his coworkers.  I grabbed a few shots as well. :)

First though, a couple shots from this morning.

  

 Kooper perched himself there and Gavin refused to move until Kooper moved of his own accord.

Gavin took his job of "Kooper holder" VERY seriously but dad was just outside the frame "just in case."

  

 

Ellie getting a big kiss from Mr. Loverboy who kisses EVERYONE all the time.

   

 

 

 

So the next picture cracks me up because in my scramble to get everyone taken care of and out the door I left the house wearing my Ugg Boots.  Which I NEVER EVER EVER wear in public.  I find them to be kinda hideous honestly and confine myself to only wearing them around the house, HOWEVER, I've been wearing them practically nonstop since Kooper arrived because I need to take him out of the house at a moment;s notice to go pee and don't have the time to get socks and shoes on and I like my comfort around the house (I usually wear slippers) and the Ugg allows me to have the slipper feeling indoors but still be able to run him outside in a jiffy if I need to.  And in my hurry leaving the house I failed to notice I was still wearing them.  Fashion Faux Pas!  Oh well, at least I was comfy all day!

 

And here I am getting a big WET kiss!

 

Kooper slept the whole drive home too and was still wiped out when we got back.  Here he is on his mat with the blankie Ellie insisted he needed.  We sure do love this guy.

 
 
 
 
 

Kooper (finally more pictures!)

I know, I know, I made all these lofty promises of "A Puppy PIcture A Day" for the blog but that was BEFORE I realized I'd be up every 2 hrs all night long with my little dude.   I'm a sleep deprived train wreck these days BUT am so incredibly in love with this AMAZING pup that I don't even care how tired I am.  Having said that, the only pictures I"ve managed thus far have been quickie Iphone shots of the kids cuddling and playing with him that I've posted on my FaceBook page.

Today I vowed I'd get at least ONE decent shot to post here.  And I was able to get a few but not that many.  Turns out puppies are just about as hard to photograph as toddlers! HA!

Here's a couple favorites from today.  Kooper is hands down the most incredible dog.  He has the BEST disposition, sweetest character, loving personality and is, if I may so boldly state, the SMARTEST puppy on the planet.   He learned the "sit" command by the end of our first day together and after three days knows "Sit", "Off", and "Come."   We are now working on "No Bite" with the kids but are so lucky that he has a really "soft mouth" tendency so never bites so hard as to break the skin, he's got a GREAT temperament.  He is so gentle and trusting.  He was the most sociable of the bunch and basically, he picked us.  And I'm so glad he did.  I can't imagine us with any other dog. 

We are all completely smitten.  Having said that, I do hope he starts sleeping for longer stretches and doesn't need to go out to pee every hour or 2 around the clock!   Everyone has been telling me that it gets better and easier every single day so I'm crossing my fingers I can start having some real R.E.M. sleep again soon!  And maybe even be able to get something done around the house and work-wise!  Everything has been put on hold as we all transition, nest and attend to our puppy!  In three days we've managed to take him to his first visit to the vet (at 8 weeks old he already weighs 19 lbs!), had an in home visit with a trainer who specializes in Rhodesian Ridgebacks and taken care of all his microchip, AKC, pet insurance paperwork etc...  Been busy!!

I do have TWO newborn shoots this coming week so stay tuned for those which I will probably get to posting around the first week of 2010.

Without further delay, here are some images of Mr. Kooper.

  

Here you can see his distinctive ridge.

 

 

 

 
 We've been doing training sessions with Kooper and each kid separately.  We found that both the puppy and the child are more focused when it's just them two and no other distractions (of the sibling variety....)  Here are some pics of Ellie's session today with him.  The sessions only last 5 minutes which is about the attention span of a puppy AND a kid! :)

Here Kooper notices Ellie has a treat and is very interested in her hand. :)

  

Ellie gives him the SIT command and he promptly plops his little bottom down.

 

She gives him his much deserved treat...

 

and lots of love and "good boys!"'s

 

I love how he has his eye on the prize here....

 

 

And Gavin took this one on his little point and shoot.  I'm getting lots and lots of cuddle time.

 
 

Happy Holidays!!!

Well, it was bound to happen.....you know, that there would be a year in my adult life that I would not be able to get a Christmas Card out in time.   Generally speaking, I have my cards completely designed by Thanksgiving and addressed/stamped and out the door by December 1st.  No joke.  This year, though, absolutely not a chance of that happening.  And here it is, Dec. 20th, and I have nothing to mail out.  Nada.   But, I do have something else to share to make up for it.  I decided to play around with my IMovie software on my Mac computer and do a "Highlights of 2009" slideshow for my immediate family showcasing some of my favorite pictures, memories and shortened video clips of the past year.   I will not admit to how much time I spent scouring through the THOUSANDS of images I had taken in order to try to pick 100 images or how much time I spent picking the right music, video clips and so on.  I ended up with 185 images after multiple "triage" sessions!  Typical me, I can never narrow it down.... I love them all. :)

Regardless, the whole project was a ton of work as I did everything from scratch but the end result just makes me smile, and, more importantly, it makes my kids smile, giggle and reminisce when they watch it.  And, well, that was THE WHOLE POINT of this project.  First and foremost, I did it for them.  I wanted them to have something to look back on and have a condensed "review" of that particular year in their lives.   Eventually, I plan to get all those thousands of images I took in albums as well, but for now, this was what I wanted, scratch that, NEEDED, to do.  Watching them watch this just brings me immeasurable amounts of joy.  

MEMORIES.   That's why we do these things, right?  That's why we bake the cookies and clean up the mess, that's why we do the art projects and spend the next week finding glitter all over the house and silently sweeping it all up.  That's why we take them on all these adventures and experiences, to enrich their lives, to expose them to as much as we can, to show them we loved them with our actions as well as our words.  We might be more worn out than them by the end of the day, but it's a happy, fulfilled kind of exhaustion.

We all love our children more than life itself.  We want to provide for them as best we can.  Sure, we falter and fail sometimes, or at the very least, fall short of our "ideal" way of mothering. However, in the end, our children know we love them unconditionally and that's really all that matters when it all comes down to it.  

I want for my children to one day look back on this first slideshow (of what I hope to be a yearly tradition from here on out) and for them to really FEEL my love for them, and perhaps maybe a little 'grown up' gratitude for how blessed their childhood truly was.  It may not have always been easy and we certainly had our fair share of struggles and challenges this past year (UGH!) but in the end, I want them to remember that they were quite lucky to have the life they had.

This time of year is one of reflection and gratitude.  It is about appreciating our many blessings and helping others who are less fortunate.  It is about giving, not material things necessarily, but rather of our time, our friendship, our love and our assistance, in any way we can.

My time spent on this slideshow and all the memories held within, which I helped create for my children, is my way of showing them my unequivocal love.  They will certainly not truly understand the depth of all that right now but I know one day they will.  And perhaps in the future we can all sit around a "space age" computer and watch this together, with their own children laughing along with us. :)

So, in a nutshell, HAPPY HOLIDAYS. :)

I wish all of you the very best for 2010. 

Now, go make some memories!

[Be forewarned, the slideshow is TWENTY minutes long.  As I said, it was originally intended to be something just for my immediate family but I've decided to send it out to my friends as well as my Holiday Greeting in lieu of my "not gonna happen" holiday card this year.  Think of all the trees I"m saving!  And stamps!! :)  I don't expect anyone to actually sit through the whole thing but I wanted to share it with you all in case anyone wanted to see it or wanted to try it for themselves as something to do for their own family.]

CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW

(for some reason the web/online version is very FUZZY and soft and the colors are all WAY off.... which is aggravating, just know that the original version is quite nice looking!)

Introducing......Kooper

He's here.  We're all in love.  More later.

  
 

Home made mini journals

So, way back in October I posted THIS showcasing a great idea by PhotoJoJo on how to make your own mini journals/notebooks.  I loved the idea, shared it with you all and then never got around to doing it myself until just this week.  FINALLY!

I wanted the kids to participate and contribute to the Holiday Gifts they would give their friends and teachers this year so I enlisted their help in making these.  I obviously did all the paper cutting stuff and glueing myself (which I did without them late one night) but they then sat there with me for TWO hours straight assembling the notepads with me and were, much to my surprise, really excited to be a part of this creation.  I think they feel much more invested in the gifts they are giving this year due to having played such a huge role in its assembly! 

A true win-win!

Here are some quick snapshots of the final result.  We created about 5 different designs in three different sizes.  I used a bunch of different papers to place inside including lined, graph, blank, color etc...  I like how eclectic the notebooks are by having a variety of paper styles in them. 

SO, if you are still looking for a home made gift to make this year for family and friends, I really recommend this project, it took longer than I expected from start to finish but was well worth the effort!

  

 

 
 

Jingle Bells

EEEEK!  I know! I know! It's been like DAYS since I last posted here.  SO unlike me.   I've been CRAZY busy with the kids stuff and a ton of other things going on all at the same time, INSANE!  So, thanks for being patient everyone!  I have a bunch of blogposts on the way over the next few days, I promise!!

My poor boy has been VERY sick the past 2 weeks including two trips to Urgent Care so that's just been my main priority....  He is finally on the mend and I am sending him back to school (after missing all this time) tomorrow.  Phew!

For tonight, real quick, a short clip from one of the songs Ellie and her class performed at their annual school Christmas Program.  SO CUTE!  

Password is :  woosh

Jingle Bells from pascale wowak on Vimeo.

Jenny, Ryan, Jaxson &....?

Jenny and I met a few years ago and then a couple years ago her then coworkers gifted her with a pregnancy shoot with me.  We totally hit it off and became friends.  I adore this gal.  Jenny is about as sweet and sassy as they come all in one beautiful package.  I've been able to photograph Jaxson before and he is such a cutie.  Being able to photograph Jenny's second pregnancy meant the world to me and I'm so happy we were able to make this shoot happen even when LIFE seemed determined to get in the way!

The first setback was the weather.  Our intended date was going to be RAINED on and there was only ONE day that worked for both our schedules to reschedule it on.  Another FREEZING cold day.   But we decided to deal with the ridiculously cold air (hovering around 38 degrees) in exchange for not having the images at all!

The, we get to our destination, downtown Capitola, and the wonky stormy weather was creating havoc on the beach.  As in, there was NO BEACH.  It was completely submerged under water.  I have NEVER seen that happen there and it was so disconcerting.  Not only that, it threw a wrench in our "let's do pictures on the beach and under the pier" shots we wanted to do.....yeah, no underwater housing unit on this camera.....  

So, we go to plan B and decide to take pictures along the colorful houses that are near the beach, which are, by the way, protected by a low cement wall.  As we walk down there we are suddenly attacked by a swarm of bugs (what!?) and as we are walking out of there we notice a FREAKISH set of MONGOSO waves heading out way.  Jenny grabs Jaxson and we start RUNNING.  We barely got out of that area before the waves went crashing OVER the cement wall and up against the houses.  Yeah, I'm serious. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!  SO, um, plan B is out the window at this point....

Plan C is to go on top of the pier.  We settle in to get started and next thing you know the waves are crashing up and AGAINST the pier.  Lordy.  The water did eventually recede for a few minutes allowing us a handful of silhouette shots near the top end of the beach but we didn't stick around to see if the "killer waves" would return....

Plan C was to basically just walk away from the entire beachfront area!!! HA!

So between everything going nothing as we had planned, we still managed some pretty darn awesome images and I attribute that entirely to the fact that Jenny looks gorgeous no matter WHAT.  That girl WORKS the camera.  She makes me happy.  :)

Oh, and I should mention that Jenny H. is a FANTASTIC esthetician!  She ROCKS.  You can find her at Simply Skin Salon in Santa Cruz.  HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Jenny and Ryan, I am so happy for you guys to be adding to your family.  Jaxson is going to be an incredible big brother!!

ENJOY your sneak peek!

 

Kelly Moore Bag

I'm so happy to announce the launching of photography extraordinaire Kelly Moore Clark's amazing photographer bags.  I remember discussing these with her many months ago when I went out to visit her in Louisiana for my one on one "Give Me Moore" session and how excited I was for her dream to become a reality.  And did it ever!?

These bags are absolutely gorgeous through and through, highly functional and so stylish that I could even see using them when I'm NOT on a shoot! Kelly gave me a discount code for $50 off to share with my readers.  Enter code: "bloglove" at checkout.  The offer expires on Christmas day so get your pre orders in before then!

To access the website for the bags CLICK HERE.      I dare you not to want one of these for yourself! :)

  
  

Letters to Santa

Tonight the kids wrote their letters to Santa.  I've had mixed feelings about lying to them about things like Santa and the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny etc....  Ultimately, I decided that even though I'd been lied to about these things as a kid and certainly harbor no deep seated resentment about it so I need to just chill out about the whole thing and just let them believe as long as they want to.  

I will admit to sweating it a bit tonight though while being BOMBARDED with question after question regarding exactly HOW Santa manages his workflow that fateful night..... 

Along the lines of: "exactly how does Santa fit in our small woodburning stovepipe?" and "How does he GET to every child all over the world in ONE night?" and "Why do the homeless or really poor kids not get as many gifts as the really rich kids even if they were just as good?".... seriously, my head hurts.

I bailed out of the above mentioned questions with, in chronological order:

 "that's a really great question!" - flattery

and "what do you think?" - deflection

and "what could we do to change that?" - redirection

They have yet to flat out ask me if he really exists and until that point I will keep this magic going for them.  When they do ask me that question though, I intend to be honest about it.  

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy what may be my last Christmas morning of having them run into my room with their eyes bugging out of their heads squealing with delight and assuring me that they DEFINITELY heard the reindeer on the roof last night.... :)

Here are their letters and pictures they drew.  Ellie told me what she wanted to say and wrote it herself, but I helped her spell all the words since she is not quite there yet.  

 
  

 
 
  

Emerson, Aiden & Kaisa

Oh my!  I don't even know where to begin with this shoot!  First of all, mom Kirsten is one of the nicest people I know and I am so lucky to call her my friend.  She always makes me laugh and, really, is there any greater gift?  So that, in and of itself, would be enough to guarantee a delightful session.... BUT, wait, there's more!

She also happens to have the sweetest husband and most deliciously photogenic and unbelievably cooperative children on the face of the planet.  This family has been through a lot over the past year and it brings me great joy to have been able to capture so much happiness and good times.  What I love most about Kirsten is that she doesn't take anything for granted and maintains a very healthy sense of perspective every single day.  Simply put, she APPRECIATES everything in life.  She is always my source of good juju vibes! :)

On a side note, I have to mention that it was totally FREEZING that day, as in ARCTIC temperatures!  We were all soooooo cold but the kids were amazing and even though little Kaisa was none too pleased with the frigid air, she pulled through as well.  She was our little popsicle, right Kirsten!? :)

Emerson and Aiden are twins and everyone knows how much I love photographing twins.  Emerson was an absolute delight to photograph and, seriously, I could photograph that girl all day long and never tire.  She ROCKED the camera.  A PRO.   Aiden was the sweetest boy and was so willing to participate in everything we did, and so darn handsome to boot.  Kaisa was the little feisty one who kept us all on our toes.  She is quite the character that one and her "forced smile" look had me rolling in laughter.  

At the very end of the shoot we grabbed a couple shots with their longtime companion and family member, their 13 yr old dog Leo.  What a sweet, sweet dog.  Made me all that more excited for us to get our pup! The last shot of Leo eagerly running towards them as they call out to him, all smiles and love, totally made me get all choked up.   

This was, without doubt, one of my favorite sessions of the year and I am so happy to have been able to be a part of all the magic that happened that day.

The slideshow is a small fraction of all the awesomeness that occurred out there but a good sneak peek.

Kirsten and Andrew, I hope you love the images.  :)

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW 

2010 Calendar OPEN

Ok folks, the time you've all been waiting for has arrived! :)

I sent out a newsletter to all my established clients a little under 36 hrs ago that my 2010 calendar of availability was open and posted online on my website.

Since then I've booked a ridiculous amount of sessions.  October is completely full.  November only has one date left.  September only has 2 dates left and December only has 3 dates left.   CRAZINESS.

So, now that I am publicly posting this on my blog, if you want to get a session in with me NOW is the time to book it.  As in RIGHT NOW.  I am offering 25% less sessions this year than I did in 2009 so the slots are going to book up even faster this year.  

As always, I set aside one session every week for newborn shoots and those are not posted on my calendar so rest assured that, barring any personal emergencies or excessive amount of newborn being born the same week, I should be able to get your newborn session in no matter how booked my calendar is.

To view my calendar go to MY WEBSITE and click on the availability tab.  The boxes are the dates I have open.  Pick your desired date and send me an email to book it.

ALSO, I am teaching a beginner digital photography workshop the weekend of January 9/10th.  If you are interested in attending, please send me an email or comment below.  

THANK YOU EVERYONE for making my business what it is today. :)

Disclaimer

Well, I just received the funniest email ever from a client of mine.  She just wanted to let me know that she and her husband just delivered a beautiful baby girl, exactly 9 months after her husband saw THIS.

She recommends I put a disclaimer on my boudoir session FAQ sheet stating that such a session may result in some serious baby making.  :)

WARNING : partial nudity - not appropriate to view at work.  Also, Ishtar has provided full permission for me to post this!

ZoZoBugBaby's new Bolero Jacket Outfit

I cannot even tell you how happy I am with these images, not because of the images themselves (although I am quite fond of them) but because of how my kids totally rallied and worked together as a team to make them come to life.  The day I had set to do this shoot turned out to be a FREEZING day.  I mean, temps of 36 degrees in the morning, and only warming up to 52 degrees when we were shooting.   With a wind that cut through you too.  I knew we were going to have to work FAST and efficiently.  Gavin came along to be my reflector holder and ended up also being my "make your sister laugh hard" guy.  He was AMAZING.  Ellie was none too pleased when we first started the shoot (the girl hates being cold) but within minutes was laughing her head off at her brother's antics and playing off his exuberant energy and spirit.  Before long the two of them were just making this shoot totally come to life.  It was my shortest and quickest commercial shoot yet, especially considering we had FOUR variations of the outfit to cover due to a reversible jacket and matching pants AND skirt.  Lots of material to cover and the three of us just whipped it out something fierce.  A total family affair.  I seriously was on cloud 9 after this shoot and the kids were beaming too.  Very cool.

The outfit is a SUPERB combination of style, class, hipness and funk all in one delectable package by none other than miss Julie of ZOZOBUGBABY.  Her work just continues to inspire me.  Between her and Courtney, I don't have to look anywhere else for Ellie's wardrobe.  I am SET. :)

Now, of course, every great outfit is made all that much better with the right accessory, n'est-ce pas? SO, in came Miss Melissa of NUXIEMADE.  The crocheted hat, hair band and flower barrette were all done by her.  Julie and Melissa collaborate on many outfits so you can always find a matching accessory for one of Julie's outfits in Melissa's Etsy store.  Perfection.

These images were practically perfect SOOC (straight out of the camera) too and needed very little post processing, just color boosting to help them pop and that was it.  I didn't even have to sharpen them at all and I always do at least a tad bit of sharpening!  So much fun when you have perfect light and a wonderful subject and a great little helper!

Like I said, it was COLD.  Here  you can tell that Ellie is freezing and NOT in the mood.

  

Our Annual Tradition - trip to Johnson Farm for our tree

This is our 9th year straight going to Johnson Farm for our tree.  We love Farmer Rob and his family run tree farm nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains just 15 minutes from our home.  The grounds there are just GORGEOUS.  The kids start talking about going up there at the start of the school year because they know they will be going there for a school field trip (I posted a blog post about Ellie's school field trip up there a couple months ago) and then again for our tree.  We just love it up there.  We take our time, sip hot cocoa and play.    

And, being the multi tasker that I am, I had Ellie wear two Courtney Courtney dresses that I needed to photograph her in since I KNEW I would be taking pictures on our outing anyways so might as well, right!? :)

Ellie was having a hard time concentrating on being a model (who can blame her when there is so much playing to be had) and I certainly didn't want her to feel like she was "working" on our little adventure so I didn't ask her to pose too much and just caught her when she was in the right light and the right moment to grab a shot here and there.  She's been "over posing" lately.  A symptom, I'm sure, of having been my commercial shoot model nonstop this past year and so I am finding that it's getting harder to get her "real" smile and natural body movements out of her as she is snapping into "model mode" and I'm not too thrilled about that.  I don't want that for her.  I want her to be herself.  SO I am trying to undo that tendency by interacting with her more and making her laugh and just being silly rather than having her strike pose after pose (even though she likes to do that for the most part, it make ME uncomfortable). I just wanted her to be a kid and have fun.  And that's exactly what she did. :)

I even grabbed a couple of Gavin although he really is in a NO PHOTO mood these days so I'm not imposing it on him.  I let him tell me when he wants a picture taken.  

We started off by just wandering around checking out all the white tagged (ok for cutting) trees and reading off the silly names Farmer Rob has assigned to each tree.

Here Ellie is wearing a new style of "neck tie" dress by Courtney Courtney which is just ADORABLE.  I love this dress.  Ellie loves this dress.  It is just soooooooo cute!