Birthday portraits are fun for mom, child, and the photographer! It’s great seeing how little ones grow & change into such strong independent little people. This mom had a mission. She wanted to capture Anisa with several interesting backdrops–I should note there were quite a few cool doors involved. She also came prepared with a few items: chalk board-loaded & ready to go, a bright green chair, a pink cowgirl hat (every little Texas girl needs one of these!) and a whole lot of attitude. I brought a few things with me….a fun little vintage case and a necklace/bracelet set of Lola’s that would perfectly compliment Anisa’s outfit. We had a bit of a girl’s time in the car as I played a few of Anisa’s favorite artists via my ipod. We could have spent hours doing our own thing, but we had to get back to reality: it was Sunday…a school night. Therefore bed times & reading were on the agenda. Anisa had a wonderful time, felt like queen for the day & mom has some great shots of her little angel growing up in front of her eyes. Another year to a mom and child=new accomplishments, new teeth missing, and looking forward to new adventures. Good luck Miss Anisa-I hope year 8 is more magical & enlightening than ever!

I always wanted twins…of my own & twins to photograph. After having a child of my own & learning how hard adjusting to one can be I can’t imagine my life with twins. Can you imagine the shock & excitement of learning you are pregnant with twins?!  I know how shocked I was to learn I was having a girl. I thought for sure the doctor was wrong. Why would the sweet Lord give me a girl? I am not a girl-y girl so I assumed I would have 2 boys. WRONG!

But Michele’s news was ‘twins’…and twin girls! I was thrilled when she contacted me for a family portrait session. The girls were so much fun! Hearing them call for each other…adorable. Seeing Michele in action was amazing. She carried them both at *one* time (they are 18mths old). Moms do what moms need to do to make a happy family. I know this…but she made it look effortless. Kudos Michele!!

Birthday portraits are a great way to celebrate another year with your sweet angels. The child feels like King/Queen for the day & mom is thrilled to have individual portraits that show off the inner spirit that makes the child so special & unique. Noah just got his first pair of cowboy boots & wanted to incorporate them into our photo shoot—giddy-up! We added ‘Mr. Bones’ as my son likes to call the cow carcass seen in 1 or 2 of the photos…for the record I am not a fan of having a cow carcass at my home, but my neighbors ‘gifted’ the carcass to Max & who can take a boy’s cow head away?! My neighbors will receive a ‘gift’ of their own when their daughter is old enough…maybe a nice drum set? I haven’t decided just yet. The day of the shoot I had a specific vision in mind for the shoot. As luck would have it…we had to find a new location due to a sketchy truck driver (enough said right?). When I was growing up I loved reading the series The Boxcar Children. I was hoping to find a boxcar & instead found this ‘front car’ or engine. We also made a new friend…who allowed us to board the train. I’m not sure who was more excited me, Noah, or Noah’s mom. We will all have the memory of that day….exploring the train was the icing on the birthday boy’s cake!

I met some adorable, full of life children and am so thankful for the experience! Photographing children is so much fun…it’s so relaxing & honest…once they realize they can be themselves & that you’re not going to make them sit uncomfortably they open up & have a great time. I just love it!

I could go on for days on how cute these little ones were…but I’ll let you take a look & let me know what you think

The first day it rained…but we started with the infants so all was good! The infants HAD to (per school regulations)to be photographed indoors…little blobs that they tend to be : ) Love the blob stage b/c you know they can’t go far…until they figure out how to hunt you down with their new dragging & army crawling skills. My kids never did the army crawl, but I’ve heard about it. Max crawled like his pants were on fire…Lola drug her body anywhere Tucker (our yellow lab) was laying…no crawling for her. More photos to come….

I was so excited to receive the call ‘we’d like you to do our preschool photos. Are you interested?’ Yeah! I had a blast! I needed 3 days to get all ~300 children photographed, but I did it! I may have arthritis in my shooting finger, but it was well worth the fun! The kids were so adorable & so willing to do anything I asked of them. We all had a great time!! I’ll do a gradual reveal…this sweet friend was just a doll! She loved posing for the camera & the camera smiled back!

Children are good for adults…my 4 yr old, Lola, asked me to pull the car over so she could ‘smell’ the blue bonnets. Sometimes we get caught up in our ‘to dos’ that we don’t stop to smell the roses (or in this case blue bonnets). Children grow up so fast & I think we should all slow down and take it all in (Yes, I know ending a sentence with a preposition is a no/no-but for me it works!). A neighbor asked me if I was 30 years old–I choked & then laughed uncontrollably! I’m 2 years shy of 40 My guess is playing football, chase & basketball with my kids has her fooled! I hope to keep my kids young & full of life as long as possible & in turn maybe I’ll fool the neighbors  a little while longer!

When an old colleague of mine contacted me to do her family portraits..I was honored! I’ve known this friend for over 10 years so seeing her sweet babies was a thrill. AND seeing her true love was great too! Amazing how time flies & little ones enter & change our lives in such a special way that only children can. Her sweet babies were so much fun to photograph. I was on the run the entire time & loved it! Her explorer son told me all about different trucks: fire trucks, front loaders…what is a front loader? <grin> He was on the move…swinging on bars, running into his mother’s arms-such a great photo…’mom’ asked me not to post photos of her OR their names due to her profession. Her sweet baby girl kept me in stitches! I love her straight legged walk…like she’s a soldier marching. Her eyes captured & stole my heart. I could hug on her for days…if she would allow that. I can’t wait to photograph them next year! Seeing the kids grow year to year brings me so much joy. We should surround ourselves with things that bring us joy—thus my desire to buy more cameras/lenses/studio equipment-HA! Seriously, sweet friend (you know who you are) thank you for bringing joy into my life by letting me photograph your wonderful children.

Girls just wanna have fun! AND we did….she’s a hoot! She lives in Arkansas & loves horses. I loved her eyes & free spirit! Photographing children is so much fun because they still know how to have fun and not worry about what others think-love it!!