18 months old and 2 weeks old - and doing so well

I was so impressed with big girl T - she is just starting to figure out this big sister thing, and she's doing a great job of it. At only 18 months old, she's only had a couple of weeks to get used to her new brother S, and she was really wonderful with him:


First of all, though, isn't he a handsome devil? I also love the quilt in this shot - cool leaf pattern!


And pretty girl T:


I feel like this is the picture I wish I had of myself just after my 2nd was born. Shanna (mom) looks so sweetly welcoming as big sister crawls across the bed toward her baby brother. I always feel like I'm telling my older daughter to be careful of her sister. I want Shanna's expression to be what my girls remember of me instead!


Shhh, baby brother. I'm trying to watch Handy Manny.


Scout's honor, I haven't retouched any of these pictures. Doesn't Shanna look amazingly well rested for a mom of two under two?


I love the expressions on the girls here:


So wonderful to meet you guys! The rest of your pictures are coming soon.

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And baby girl makes five

I went to college with both the mom and the dad in this family, and I was so excited to finally meet their three beautiful children last week.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to meet them!  Here's the gorgeous baby A with her pretty momma:


All three cutie pies together:


And I love this family moment - it's so real and active.  These guys had such energy... and I feel like this photo really shows it.


Here's daddy with his baby girl:


And Daddy with his boys on the swings:


But give a hose to a three year old, and he WILL attack you.


No question a five year old will too.  :)  It was so fun seeing you guys!  I loved our shoot and can't wait to show you the rest of the photos.

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Welcoming a boy into the crew

I've been taking pictures of these guys since big girl A was just a babe (do I start too many blog posts this way? I'm sorry, I just LOVE this part of my work - seeing babies grow)...

But we saw the arrival of little sister R, and various xmas photos along the way... and now big boy B has grown and grown and I finally got to see his cuteness this past weekend.  Look at the grins on the three of them!



Since we were mostly celebrating B's arrival with this shoot, we got to spend some special quiet time taking pictures of just him (his tongue and hair are the best):


And his big loving sisters can't get enough of him:


Some quiet mommy time:


And giggling Daddy time:


And a little non-traditional family shot.  The girls had to show me their dance moves.  They've got style! :)  Can't wait to show you the rest of the pictures.  It was wonderful to meet your little guy, thanks for having me back :)

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A visit from Milwaukee

I was so happy to find out that these guys were visiting from Milwaukee and wanted a photoshoot while they were here. Little tiny baby J isn't quite 3 months old here, and her big brother B is a big boy of two. Aren't they so sweet together?


But see, when you're two, you don't want to stay lying like that for long :) J thought B's rollaway move was pretty cool.


Ever fascinating, these babies...


And a moment cuddling with mom:


We also got some sweet individual shots of each of the two cuties:


Giving us some grins:


And we had a great time playing outside too - B showed me his bubble maker...


And his grandpa's sprinkler system, which was every kid's dream:


Everywhere he went, sprinklers appeared out of the grass. What's better than that on a hot August day? So great to meet your cuties, Keri and RIck. Hope to see you again on your next visit!

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Popsicle calm

My friend Mary talks about the magic of popsicles, and their elusive power over her children. She calls that time after you hand your children the popsicles, when all the crying stops - she calls it "popsicle calm". I love it, because now I think of it every time I use popsicles to save the day at my house.

Now these guys didn't really even need popsicles to fix a bad mood or anything, but they were just so incredibly cute with their melty messy faces.


Don't you love the drips coming down sweet P's elbows (on the left)?


Love these giggles from all:


Momma and her boy:


Daddy and his girl:


Hugs all around:


I have to admit I love breakdown pictures - it's terrible of me, I know. But it's so great how quickly they come in and out of these kinds of breakdowns. I don't remember what big boy B had done to the poor maligned P here - but she was better quickly, don't worry.


And this next one is my absolute favorite. An unexpected, wonderful moment - when the postman arrived with the mail. Can't beat the tush, and their pup lined up waiting patiently too.

Great to see you all!

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Nearly 2 and recently 3 = boundless energy

Here's Mr. Nearly Two... isn't he adorable? I've been taking pictures of these guys since before he was born, and this time all of a sudden he'd gotten so big!


And here's Madame Recently Three.  She was all about her Belle Princess dress - just adorable.


As he climbed up on some shelving - mischief!


And as we did last summer, we had to go outside and play with the hose with these guys.  It was just a requirement - they have too much fun out there. And Mr. Nearly Two is sooo agreeable when his sister turns the deluge on him:


Luckily she doesn't mind getting wet either.


Why is drinking out of a hose so fun?  Not sure, but it is, I'll give him that.


You guys are awesome - it was wonderful to catch up and see you.

Almost there...

This little one decided to give his/her parents a kick as we were taking some pictures on their couch - I love these expressions :)


And this lovely mama Erin asked, as I was leaving, if I thøught the line below her belly button (a.k.a. linea nigra - which, yes, I had to google in order to figure out the spelling) would show up in the photos. I gave her my usual answer to this question, which is, "Oh, I can edit it out if you don't like it..." and I loved her response... "Oh, no, I'm hoping you will be able to see it. I think it's cool. I feel like it looks like a seam." :)


Love this:


A fun laughing one:


On the back deck:


And this one I've seen done, I can't remember where, probably BabyCenter.com or somewhere... and so had Erin. She described it to me, and I knew what she meant. I don't usually bring props, but she said she didn't have blocks for her baby yet -- come on, no blocks?! poor child is going to be needing those momentarily! :) But I said no problem, I'd bring some of my daughters' blocks for this shot. But then when I went digging through the toys, I could only find one B block. So I brought a lowercase d, and promised her I'd fix it in Photoshop. Gotta love digital photography!

What a fun shoot! Great to meet you guys. Can't wait to meet your little one in a few weeks.

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