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The summer has finally officially begun, and we began the week with two new clients, both celebrating new arrivals!
First.. the anticipation… some lovely new clients with an amazing house (including a rooftop pool!) that set the stage for some stunning maternity portraits!
Later that day, the arrival! A fun family with two adorable boys.. both bright and bubbly, one a little more bouncy and one just as sweet as a baby should be!
Sunday was a crazy busy day last weekend… after the birthday party (see below) all day on Saturday and then a super fun fundraiser for Kelcy (see above) Saturday night, I was EX.HAUST.ED. But.. I had a day jam-packed full of fun new faces and visits with old friends.. too much fun to pass up, so rest would have to wait!
I began with a big family session in Dallas.. grandparents, moms & dads, and three two year olds! Yes, it was just as busy as it sounds! But the girls were so cute, and the weather could not have been more perfect.. it was a great way to start the day!
After that I met up with a family I have photographed many times over the last five years and this session in Las Colinas was no exception… they are always so sweet and fun, and give me so much to work with that I want to keep going and going! This time we had an interesting twist.. they didn’t want to stop either! Even Cooper, the sweet three year old, kept asking “Can you take my picture again?” It was so heartbreakingly precious… I would have stayed if I could!
The next session was for some new friends in Fort Worth, who were so sweet and excited for the session.. can’t help but get excited too! The girls were the same ages as my two youngest, so we hit it off right away! And OMG did I mention their eyes?! Simply stunning.. I couldn’t stop myself from taking LOTS of close-up shots of those bright blues, especially contrasted by their darling freckles… faces with such character make me giddy as a photographer!
Finally, we ended in Grapevine with a family I have photographed many times, this time with the addition of their cousins! So a total of six kids, four of them three and under… yes… that’s what I said.. but surprisingly, it was a very smooth session. Sure, a little chaotic, but never out of control, and just a fun, happy chaos.. the kids were all so sweet and well behaved, and by the end my cheeks hurt when I left from smiling & laughing so much!
This sweet girl belongs to an old friend, and I was absolutely thrilled to be able to capture this most precious age for them! She was just about the easiest one year old I’ve ever had.. made my job a dream!
How’s this bright & shiny face to brighten your Monday morning?
I make no secret about the fact that I love third babies. They are, as a general rule of thumb, the most easy going, best sleepers, and all around cuddliest babies to be found. This might be true also of fourth and fifth babies, but I’m hoping to never find that out first hand, so I’m sticking with the third theory. 
I also have never shied away from professing my love for girls. I was a girly girl, my favorite color is still pink, and the three little girls who occupy my house and heart are just about the greatest little people I could have imagined. Again, I’m sure I would feel the same had I had any boys, but I didn’t… I had my girls, and I love girls to pieces.
And so, I ask, what could possibly bring me more joy than to find out that one of my most favorite clients was expecting another baby.. yes.. their third.. and yes.. third GIRL!?! I’m pretty sure they could hear my squeals all the way from Ft Worth. Every baby is a blessing. But a third baby girl in this amazing family? A guaranteed rock star!
Sweet Lily Kate did not disappoint.. she slept through all of our poking and prodding, through four diaper changes and eight yards of tulle.. not a peep! Big sisters were as fabulous as I knew they would be.. appropriately fascinated with her tiny toes and soft head but also just contained enough to keep from bouncing her off the bed in excitement.
And mom? Totally chill, totally relaxed, and looks totally amazing! Yes, people, she *just* had a baby!
I wish I could post more.. I wish I could post them all! But i have to leave a few suprises (like the perfect family shot!) for when the gallery is ready. Congratulations all, I didn’t think your family could be any more fun, but it looks like you’ve finally outdone yourselves!
Ok not so much on the bushy tail part.. but it made for a cute headline!
Session yesterday wtih an incredibly sweet family.. gorgeous nursery full of light… adorable baby girl I could not WAIT to photograph. Oh, the plans I had. And yet, how long am I going to work with children before I come to understand the basic fact: kids ALWAYS have plans of their own!
And this baby girl.. oh her beautiful bright eyes.. that WOULD. NOT. CLOSE. We swaddled, and fed, and cuddled, and fed, and swung, and fed, and even tried the old carseat on the dryer to mimic driving vibrations trick.. NOTHING. I am not exaggerating when I say she was laughing at us. If only you could have seen that little smirk we got every time we’d peel back the blanket, certain she’d crashed by now. Oh, the expressions on that one!
That’s not to say we didn’t get plenty of great wide awake shots… and some amazing stuff with mom and dad. And yes, after nearly three hours, she did pass out in the end.. giving me about five minutes to capture a few precious curled up in a ball sleeping shots. Just not the shots I’d planned.
But apparently I need to learn, I’m not the one whose plans really count! Besides, I can’t imagine a better quality for a little girl to have than the assertiveness and confidence to speak her mind.. and march to the beat of her very own drum!
I’ve already showed a lot of this sweet baby but I couldn’t resist sharing this one… have you ever seen a two week old who smiled so much? I swear, every time she heard the click she smiled.. as if she were enjoying it!
More things to be happy about.. our caption contest! Thanks to everyone for the entries.. I asked an impartial party to judge (the mom & dad of these cute kiddos!) and after giggling quite a bit at all the answers, their favorite was this one:
“Women!” submitted by Kristy
Kristy, please email me with your address so I can send you your prize, either a gift certificate for $50 with me or $25 to starbucks! And thanks to everyone for playing!
We’ll start a new contest next week.. until then, maybe we can manufacture some sunshine with some happy vibes!
Just one week old and already.. scrumptious. Sweet baby Elisa is the newest member of a family I love dearly.. her mom and I have been friends for as long as I can remember, and I have been counting down the days until this little girl’s arrival. The good news is that she is an absolute dream.. sleeping well (as well as you can expect from a newborn!), eating well, and everyone swears she never cries! (I’ve heard that one before, but I also didn’t hear a peep during our 2.5 hour session!)
The bad news is that I got a new lens the very day after we took these pictures, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to come back again very soon and play some more!
Congrats guys, she is perfect!
for newborns! We are seeing quite the boom of fresh little December babies, with two just this week and two more on the books for this week…so much for the end of the busy season! But with sweet little faces like these, who could resist?
Both of these baby girls have big brothers who I also saw as newborns, so it was doubly fun to see them all grown up!
Not much time for eloquent words today.. still have about a million tiny details left to wrap up for holiday orders and I should probably shower at some point… but I don’t want to wash the sweet baby smell off my hands!
This is the family who inspired the “watch them grow” game last week.. I returned to their house last month after almost five years to see this darling girl all grown up (but with the same laugh!) and meet her absolutely enchanting baby brother!
The last month of blog posts has been very wordy and light on the pictures, so I’ll save you my sappy poetic waxing about how touching it is for me to watch a family grow, how I think of all of these little ones as my own children, and how excited I was to see this family again and find them to be just as gracious and fun as the last time. Nope, none of that… just the pictures!
Hello faithful bloggers… so sorry for the gaps in posts lately.. look for lots of catchup sneak peeks in the week to come.. starting with this gem from a cutie I first featured months ago when she was just a bump in her mommy’s belly and then as a gorgeous, peaceful newborn. She’s grown into the most expressive little girl with these sparkling blue eyes… can’t wait to share some more!
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.. such a wonderful taste of the summer to come!
