Well, I’ve been a busy little bee lately.  And very happy about it, too!  A smile always comes to my face when I get an e-mail from Kelly about taking Clara’s next set of photos.  I just love love love seeing her grow & change each time I visit…and she’s not even mine!  This is why I love my job:  I get to meet new people, invest in their lives, capture meaningful moments for them, & in the end, come out with friends!

You might remember Clara from her Halloween/6-month photos.  Well, she’s gotten even bigger & cuter!  It’s almost Christmas & Clara is as well dressed as ever, plus she is crawling, babbling, saying “uh-oh”, and she smiles at me! (a little)  Besides Clara’s uber cute & stylish outfits, what I really enjoyed this visit was a book she had.  It’s “T’was the Night Before Christmas” and upon turning each page Clara is read the story by her grandpa on a recording!  How cool is that?  So whenever she wants to hear his voice she just opens this book & he’s there, reading to her!  I want one for my girls when I’m away this coming March in Ethiopia.

Thank you again, Kelly, for inviting me in to your home.  And it was good to see you again “Grammy” and wonderful to meet Clara’s daddy too.  The smiles she gave when you came ’round were priceless!  Enjoy Clara’s first Christmas…

This is actually my second time photographing Jackson, it’s just that the first time he was still in his momma’s belly.  Sam & Justin participated in my “Bare Bellies” party back in the early Spring.  And now….ta da!  Jackson has arrived!  He is actually 4 weeks old TODAY!  Can you believe it?  He seems like such a big fella, but then when his daddy holds him, he seems so tiny!

Sam & Justin invited me into their home this past Saturday to capture some shots of “Jax” before he got too much out of the sleepy newborn stage.  Well, let’s just say he wasn’t too sleepy.  He ate before I came, ate when I was there, and still was determined to be awake!  He sort of half fell asleep and tried to fake us out for a bit, but his Popeye peeking gave him away.  But oh, he is such a gem!  I could just sit and look at his little boy hands, & feet, & nose, and ears all day!  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to finally meet you, Jackson.  Your mommy & daddy love you very much, I know, and are glad you’ve finally arrived!

Enjoy!

Big yawn!

Having a quiet talk with Daddy.

Finally asleep on Mommy.

Taking his first elephant ride!

Madelyn has been my neighbor since before she was even a thought in her mommy & daddy’s minds.  She came in to this world almost one year ago, and to celebrate the occasion, we went to Downs Park to snap some photos of the birthday girl (and mommy & daddy, too).

Maddie’s mom wanted to get one shot of her for a photo birthday invitation.  I thought, “Oh, that’s cool.”  But when Colleen told me about her idea of a collage of photos surrounding the “one photo” I thought, “Whoa, that’s an awesome idea!”

Well, we found “the one” shot, plugged it in to an invitation, and then agonized over finding only 12 more photos to surround it.  Maddie has been such a blessing and light in her parents lives that it was hard to pick only 12 photos representing their best year ever.

Here’s a sneak peek at their photo session and, if you’re good, and scroll all the way down, you can peek at her invitation too.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!