MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013!

Stephanie Chan December 26, 2013

Better late than never! We miraculously managed to schedule our annual Holiday Photos into our crazy schedule with Miss Lindsay Elliott and as usual, she did not disappoint!

Lindsay getting in on the action with Momo

Christmas is finally over and I am on a mission to catch up on all the action that has been jam packed into the last month! We hope your Christmas was well spent with loved ones and that your bellies have been filled with delicious food.

A massive thank you to you, Linds, for capturing our family once again. Year after year we are so lucky to have you spoil us with your talent and time. MUCH LOVE LADY!!!!

CLICK ME for last year's photos

XO

15 Minutes: Charlene & Karl

Stephanie Chan November 29, 2013

Doo doo doo, plugging along! Just received the remaining orders of postcards from the first weekend of Holiday Sessions which means tomorrow is a PACKAGING DAY. We had to reschedule one family on the Sunday due to a flu so I had a small pocket of time available between families. My cousin Charlene from my mom's side of the family was another one of the few people that donated $200 to the Change Your Hair Change Your Life Fundraiser which landed her a 15 Minute session with The Pauhaus.

SO appropriate that we got her in on these BLUE backed sessions since her favourite colour is blue and has been blue for as long as I have known her. AND, it's her birthday party tomorrow which has been themed THE BLUE PARTY! Nothing better than having some new photos to flaunt on ya berthdayyyy!!!

Her partner Karl joined the fun and after getting her to laugh during a few portraits, he was brought into the picture for some quick couples shots!

I LOVE THIS PHOTO.

Two Outtakes.
Left: "Do you like my new sweater?"
I asked Karl to hold up his sweater just to see how it would contrast against the backdrop

Right: "Whatever shall we have for dinner tonight?"
Charlene's contact fell out mid pose turning this shot into a much more artsy image

Thanks to both of you for making the treck all the way out to T-Town from your fast-paced city life! And of course, a huge thank you to Char for supporting me and my family through the years. Thank you for coming out to the fundraiser. I truly appreciated the effort and kindness of every single person that was able to be there for such an important day.

See you guys tomorrow night!

XO

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Christmas 2012 with Lindsaysdiet

Stephanie Chan November 28, 2013

It's been a whirlwind of sessions, editing, designing, ordering, eye infections, weird flues and colds since the last post! I pinkyswear I'll post more sneaks from our Secret Third Day of Holiday Sessions soon but to tide you over, here are the photos from last year's incredible Holiday Session with my Sista-From-Anotha-Mista: Lindsay Elliott!

Going through these photos is kind of gouging my heart with a melon scooper. The older the kids get, the faster the year goes and the less they seem to change... that is until you look back 365 days. Chloe's hair is 3 almost 4 inches shorter here and she definitely has a little more chub in her cheeks mmm ok all around. The physical changes with Moses are not as noticeable, but as I have lovingly observed during my nightly motherly rituals, I am blown away by the length and lithe in his 4.5 year old limbs. SIGH. Equally as painful is how much younger Kev and I seem in these photos... that's pretty painful considering I've already been torturing myself with photos of us from when I was pregnant the first time. AND THIS YEAR I HAVE NO HAIR!

Dearest Lindsay, thank you so much for capturing these photos of my radiant little muffins, my handsome sweetie and my long hair :) Can't wait to see what we get this year! DRESS SHOPPING TOMORROW!!!!

HOLIDAY SNEAKS

Stephanie Chan November 20, 2013

Finally! Here they are!
TOO many to choose from, but here are a few of my favourites from our Holiday Sessions this weekend!

Thank you to everyone who came out! I have most of the postcards confirmed and ready to order. We should be able to put them through by tomorrow evening and receive them by the end of next week! Hope you all had a great time! Everyone did a great job, especially those with teary little ones! GREAT TEAM WORK GUYS! I had a wonderful time catching up with those of you I don't see very often and it was a pleasure to finally meet Rachel and Mike and super smiley Ollie!

Looking forward to our secret third day...

15 Minutes: The McLeod-Knight Crew

Stephanie Chan November 3, 2013

So if you are new to The Pauhaus, you may have missed out on our Fundraiser back in August: Change Your Hair, Change a Life. I shaved my head! The closest you could get to pure shiny skin after having a head of hair almost touching my bum. It was the 10th Anniversary since my Dad passed from cancer and this was my way of remembering him and giving back. With help from my friends Erin & Kerstyn from Our Little Flower Company and the many businesses that donated goods and services to our raffle, we raised over $3500! Not too shabby!

I worked hand in hand with Tinykick who have Tokens of Gratitude on their site as a way of enticing and rewarding donators. The Token for $200 was a 15 minute photo session and my good friends and neighbours Michelle, Jason and Ethan were one of the generous donators that gave $200!

We have a serendipitous story with this family. Our boys were born about 2 weeks apart in May 2009. At the time, we were living in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver... so we were they.... 2 doors down the hall from our tiny 500sq ft studio apartment. Not even down the hall! We were the two pieces of bread sandwiching a corner apartment suite, so I was literally 2.5 large steps to their door. And yet, I never saw them! Not for the 9 months we were pregnant, nor once the boys were born. I think Kevin and Jason had their occasional run ins in the elevator, but for the first 3 months after our boys were born and before they moved away, nothing. I heard Ethan crying occasionally when I was out in the hall coming or going but it never occurred to me to knock and connect. WHY.

We moved to Tsawwassen 2 months after MJE had left their tiny Vancouver apartment. In fact, when their place went up for sale, we went to view their place as we also needed out of our tiny studio. It wasn't until the boys were 10 months that we finally came in contact with another... living in the same condo in Tsawwassen. YES. We moved to the same condo complex. Chubby Moses was stuffing his face with a banana and using a walker when we met Michelle & Ethan in our amenities room for a meeting. Michelle later told Jason about having met us and Jason pointed out that we were the same family that had lived two doors down from them back in Vancouver. How he knew this? Kevin's bright green 1950 Ford Customline in the parkade.

The boys have grown up together. We've had tonnes of playdates, communal dinners, and outings over the past 3 years and they are now attending the same pre-school together. It has been a pleasure to be able to share support with such a kind and fun-loving family throughout these early parenthood years. If only we had knocked on one another's doors back when these little guys came into the world, we would have had it made! Those long lonely days with a crying barfing infant, the first out of my friends and family with a baby at 25-26 were a challenge. This is why the first thing I tell a newly pregnant person is to FIND FRIENDS THAT ARE PREGNANT NOW. You need that support! You will need that company! End Rant.

Oh well. Clearly the stars knew we were meant to be friends, having given us another opportunity here in Tsawwassen! Thank you guys for your generous donation to this cause and for being such wonderful friends! Thank you for everything!