I learn a

new client

has been blog-stalking me

for ages.

when she knows

our styles

with match

perfectly.

and I love traveling

to meet new families

and capture

these precious first moments.

meet grant.

he’s really lovely,

and so are his parents.

knew each other

in high school.

she now has a

gorgeous,

God-fearing family,

and she asked

me

to capture them together

as her son

turns one.

it was quite the

honor.

Carter’s mama knew she wanted to be out in a field with pretty light, and Carter braved the coldest morning the of year thus far for the session.  He loved the tall grass and my chair…he was so sad when I packed it up for the day.  He could not have been sweeter for the last session in his year.  It’s been a honor capturing his first year.  Thank you mom & dad…I just love you all.

Last night I got the chance to do something I don’t usually do.  I had a senior session.  And a senior boy at that.  I’ve known his mom for years (I used to teach at the school she works at) and I actually had this handsome guy in class when he was a 5th grader and I was student teaching.  I. am. old.

Dylan is fabulous.  Funny, smart, and definitely knows what he likes – the color black ranks high on the like list.   He’s got an awesome car that earned him a special picture in last year’s yearbook, a classic he worked to restore with his dad.  It was such a fun session…thank you thank you!

Tonight I met Ethan.  After months of communication with mom.  Doctors visits for Ethan, and the birth of my little guy kept us from meeting until now, but he was certainly worth the wait.  I knew I was going to love this session even before I arrived – after all, little boys named Ethan who were born in December hold an extra special place in my heart.   And this sweet 21 month old didn’t disappoint.

Ethan was born with a heart condition called Transposition of the Great Arteries and Ventricular Septal Defect  Basically the aorta and pulmonary artery are on the wrong sides of the heart and have to be switched back via surgery.  He had his first surgery at 9 days old, spent his first month of life in the hospital, and had a follow up surgery at 4 months old.  For all intents and purposes he is a normal toddler, but mom & dad and all those who know kids with TGA are acutely aware of just how fragile life is.  He’ll likely have follow up surgeries down the road to replace valves – could be next year or 10 years from now – there just isn’t anyway to know for sure.  So keep him in prayers, okay?

Thank you mom & dad for spending the evening swatting mosquitoes, wrangling your toddler, and allowing me to document your family.  It was an absolute honor.

more information on beads of courage

Sweet Knox has a gorgeous head of hair, a doting big brother, and the longest legs!  What fun for me!  Congratulations M family, he’s wonderful!

Tonight I had some holiday (yes, that’s right, I said holiday) mini sessions.  Some pretty cool families came out to see me.   Just wanted to share a few from my early session – it was approximately a million degrees with the humidity, and this sweet family didn’t complain once – note the long sleeves and jeans!  I hope your evening at Six Flags was fun, thanks for coming out!

She was one of my first baby planners, and he’s one of my newest.

There was pretty morning light, and amazingly decorated bedrooms.

It was the perfect welcome back from maternity leave.

(super size sneak peek ahead…)

Jase had mommy and daddy pulling out all the stops…dancing, singing, the hokey pokey, you name it.  Dad even went outside to play peek-a-boo and do jumping jacks through the window while I got images of Jase on the bed.  Um, Jase may have been a little scared at first when Daddy poked his head around one of the window panes…

All that hard work on mom and dad’s part paid off though…there is a gorgeous gallery coming their way soon!