my sweet boy

being born into my family guarantees that your life will be well documented. most people think that as more children are born into a family, the fewer photos the latter children will have. not so in my family. the more kids i have, the more photos i take! my newest little guy, zaxby, has already had 6 photo sessions, and he is barely 12 weeks old! poor kid. i caught my oldest, zane, whispering to him during one session - "if you just be calm and relax, it will be over soon, zaxby." hahaha!

sadie is one!

it can't be possible that this beautiful girl is already one! i remember watching the updates from her birth on facebook, and i'm pretty sure it couldn't have been a whole year ago! wow! she is just as cute and sweet now as she was during her first session. love her!

the fabulous doerings

this family is one of those families you just want to be around. the parents are hilarious, and the kids are just cool. i laughed so much when they were over. i'm glad the kids brought their instruments because when they changed out of their "mom-made-me-wear-this" outfits and into their "cool" shirts, they become more themselves. i love the way jc (the other brother) is playing his bongos and just looks cool. and eli (the younger one) is so proud of his playing. i just loved it all. and when nathan (the dad) started playing his harp... kidding!! but, they really were a super fun family and i was definitely impressed with the musical talent. enjoy your sneak peak!

baby benjamin

i love first time parents - especially when they are layed back like this mommy and daddy. it is so apparent in babies with relaxed parents because the baby is always so chilled out. check this little sweetie out. he went completely with the flow. he really did not want to go to sleep, but we still managed to get a few fake sleepy shots. he even did the "hard" poses at the end while fully awake! i never thought i'd get a baby to cooperate that wonderfully. baby benjamin is welcome back anytime!! and doesn't he have the sweetest little mouth on earth?? he's one i could have photographed for days - and i think he would have let me!!

living in cardboard

my life seems to be close to being overtaken by cardboard and cardboard boxes. at least three times a week, i receive deliveries in giant cardboard boxes. each box is then full of pieces of cardboard. these are nice boxes, don't get me wrong. and, i'm grateful that my lab takes so much care when delivering my shipments by shrink-wrapping them, bubble-wrapping them, and then sandwiching them in cardboard. but, i have so much cardboard in my house that i could have a very large bonfire in the backyard fueled exclusively with cardboard. there are actually columns in my house constructed out of stacks of cardboard boxes. it's not exactly my decorative style, but what else can i do? i'm constantly trying to come up with uses for all this cardboard because it seems suck a waste to just pitch it.

i remember a time in my life when cardboard boxes were exciting. my sister and i loved it when a cardboard box came into the house! laura and i would spend hours with that box, constructing just the perfect amount of magic with it. we'd build spaceships, train cars, & treasure chests. best of all were when the giant boxes would appear. in my mind, i remember these boxes as if they were as big as a refrigerator. i can't remember where these boxes came from, but there huge. at one point, we had several of these large boxes. when we were little (and probably still now), i was a bit bossy with my baby sister, so i made all the plans for the uses of these boxes. (i'm sure she loved that.)

well, the moment these giant boxes entered our house, i developed a plan. (perhaps this is where my interest in design and architecture started.) like the project manager i was destined to be, i began hashing out the logistics of how we'd use these boxes. we spent hours on them - cutting doors with working hinges, cutting out windows, & decorating them to be buildings in our town. i'm sure if you asked laura, she'd say i was the construction manager of the project and she was the lowly laborer, but i'll never admit to that. ;)

once the construction phase was complete, laura and i had a perfect cardboard town residing in our basement. our mom let us bring down our big wheels to the basement, and we pedaled all through our perfect town. we loved it. we'd cram ourselves in those buildings with our cabbage patch dolls and care bears and play together all afternoon. it was truly fun. and it was truly magical.

so, now i'm thinking maybe i need to send my boys down to the basement with a stack of cardboard boxes and let them have at it. i doubt their town would be half as cool as our's, but they might surprise me. actually, maybe i should just head down there with them, sporting my hard hat. i'm sure they could use a construction manager.

lady in red

so yesterday, i got to photograph a beautiful lady. she wanted to have some photographs taken to give to her husband. i do about a handful of these sessions each year, and they are some of my favorites. i think every lady should have a photo shoot of just herself. we are all so wrapped up in our kids and our husbands/wives and life in general that we forget ourselves. i am absolutely guilty of it. anymore, i consider it a big day if i change from pajama pants to jeans. these ladies i meet that come in for sessions enter the studio, and i can see the nervousness on their faces. the nerves are justifiable - i would be nervous too! i get self-conscious when we take family photos, much less a photo of myself! i do my very best to make these ladies feel comfortable and to make the session fun. i would say i succeed. by the time we finish the session, everybody is laughing and chatting and having a great time. these sessions are a total confidence boost and very empowering for the "model." i am thinking about offering portrait parties for girlfriends to get together and let me photograph them. it really is super fun, and i think a group of ladies would have a blast! maybe one day, i'll even allow myself to be the model... i wish i could show you the images from yesterday's session, but they are a gift and i don't want to ruin the surprise! i am positive her husband is going to be completely wowed, and i know for sure that she is going to flip out when she sees how beautiful she is.

mama's little angel

oh, little crosby girl was just so pretty and sweet. she barely cried, and she actually smiled for me a few times. she's only a month old too!! i was impressed. her big brother, koen, did great in his part of the photo session too - i can tell he loves his baby sister tons. i always love the relationship between a brother and little sister. crosby's mom is completely in love with her too, as was i! she wore her hairbows and hats (& a tutu) so well! i could have photographed her for the whole night!

you make me smile

i am positive that if we looked up the word "beautiful" in the dictionary, there would be a photo of this sweet girl, sadie. look at her - she is perfect. and she was eager to share her smile - oh i loved it! and it would appear everybody loves sadie - her mom and dad both came for the session, along with her granny. her granny has known me since i was born, and more than likely changed my diaper at one point. sadie's great-grandma, ruby, was also my mamaw's best friend. mamaw and ruby were neighbors for somewhere close to 40 years - they raised their kids together and somewhat grew up together themselves. ruby had her own key to mamaw's house, and we'd often just find her letting herself in. our two families are kind of one combined family. it's pretty cool. as i was editing sadie's photos, i kept thinking about ruby and how proud she would be of her family. i am sure she is looking down at sadie and smiling just as big as sadie's mommy and granny and daddy in all these images. enjoy!

me and my girls - part I

this session was great! the middle daughter goes to school with my oldest son. i've known sweet jayme since she was in first grade when her and zane were in class together. every year since then, i hope and hope that they'll be in the same class because i love jayme, and i love her mom. so far, first grade was the only year... but this weekend, i got to photograph jayme, her two sisters, and her mom. i had so much fun!

i have a special love for single moms with daughters. my mom raised my sister and i by herself for a few years, and i realize now that i am a mom how hard it must be! plus, i know how tight these girls are going to be as the years go on. there is no bond like a mommy and her girls.

so, here are the images we captured saturday of jayme and her sisters, jillian and jessica, and their beautiful mommy, janet. (did i mention i love the fact that janet chose all "j" names like i chose "z" names??)

me & my girls - part II

i like candy (part II))

this is reese's section!!

i like candy

this family is very special to me. i was able to photograph the mom and dad's wedding (four years ago!!), and then i was able to photograph their first daughter, reagan, when she was born and through the past two years. last month, reagan was lucky enough to gain a baby sister - reese! these two will be best friends someday, i am sure. we all know how i love it when newborns come in for photo sessions, and when i get to play around with bows and hats i am even more excited! reese did not let me down. she was a bit worried at first that she was going to miss something, so she held her eyes open as long as she could. finally, after about 2 hours, she gave in and took a little nap. it worked great because i was able to play with reagan in the meantime. reagan is so cute. she was quite the poser right off the bat, and then she caught on to the bribes she could rake in for smiling. by the end of the session, i'm pretty sure she'd made about $5, an entire pack of gum, a box of scooby fruit snacks, and the ultimate prize of the day - a red heart sucker (from my personal stash that my boys don't even know about)! it was so worth it though. her smile is just the cutest! we got some great family shots (using the sucker bribe), and she even kissed her sister a few times for me. all in all, it was a great season, and i was so happy to get to hang with heather and sean for a bit. enjoy the images!!

here comes the sun

seriously. has this been the longest winter on record? now, i enjoy snow. i actually LOVE snow. it reminds me of when i was little and we lived next door to my best aunt patty and my cousin nick. since we lived so close to each other, nick was always more like a brother to my sister laura, and i. the 3 of us played outside every day, and when it snowed, we had even more fun. the three of us would set up huge sled runs between our yards. aunt patty loved snow too, and she was always outside playing with us. my mom would be inside mixing up the hot chocolate.

we would stay out in that snow for hours. one year, we set up this fabulous run - seriously, it was olympic worthy. it started at the top of nick's front yard, which was a pretty steep hill that aimed downward to his driveway. there was then a small strip of snowy land that separated his driveway and our driveway. after crossing our driveway, the sled immediately flew down another steep hill that was our front yard. well, this particular year, i got the brilliant idea to pour water on the run and make it even slicker. we were flying down that hill. on a good run, we would slide all the way into the neighbor's yard! those were fun days.

we would sled for hours until our fingers and toes were totally numb. aunt patty played outside with us the entire time. i don't recall anybody shoveling their driveways too quickly either. my mom and aunt patty purposely left snow in the driveway for us, i think. some of my best memories are those snowy days sledding down the hills when we lived next door to aunt patty and nick.

during all this snow this winter, i have wished my aunt patty was here to help build great sled runs and my mom would be inside making the hot chocolate. the best hill for my boys is our driveway, and i purposely don't shovel it so that they can sled down it. i'm not sure my neighbors share my excitement, as they are up before the sunrise most snowdays to snowblow their driveways. it kind of makes me sad. snow days allow us all to be kids again, and the longer the snow is on the ground, the longer those days of childhood stay with us. so if you come visit me after a snow, don't expect a plowed driveway, but you can expect a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream.