This photo shoot was a bit bittersweet.  I photographed this Mama when she was pregnant the first time around and have thankfully been able to continue her journey as the family expands.  I have photographed many women over the last couple of years but she has impressed me the most as she has had to serve and protect both her toddler and her unborn child alone while her husband has been serving our country overseas.  She has shown strength and perseverance and thankfully very soon she will have her whole family together again.  I look forward to photographing them together as a whole family and hopefully I get to do that before this little one is born.

I am so enjoying watching this little one grow.  He is sitting up and his smile matches his dad's exactly.  The other night we wandered the streets of town and attempted to avoid people running into us as they stared at their cell phones - seriously it was chaotic.  But the sun was out and it was a beautiful night for a family / 6-month shoot. 
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to continue to document your family and I hope that you continue to watch little J. grow and be able to do more and more throughout the coming months and years.

As a mother of two small children sometimes doing newborn sessions is difficult.  I do not want to risk the health of the newborn and I also need to be there for my children when they are sick.  Because of this I unfortunately had to postpone this newborn session from happening at week three to week eight.  So we went ahead an planned a lifestyle type session.  I enjoyed this session because the home had so much life and character to it.  This mom has obviously put much thought and time into decorating and making this house a home, which was nice to see since in this type of community making these houses into "ours" is sometimes a daunting task.  This couple had so much love for their little girl, I loved watching them interact and to dote on her. 
Congratulations on the birth of your girl and I am sure that your next station will be amazing and I wish you all the best in the days and months ahead.  And once again thank you for your patience with me. 

This sweet little girl is turning one and we celebrated by going for a gorgeous walk on the property that they are living on.  I oohed and aahed at the long grass, trees, streams, and bridges and so wished that all my shoots could be done here.  But alas I will take the one that I can get.  This girl stood so well and tried to take a few steps to come and figure out what I was doing behind the camera.  We had a lovely morning and I am so glad that I had such a nice time with this beautiful family.  Happy birthday darling girl and I hope that this next year is a wonderful one.

This little beauty and her head full of hair were supposed to be photographed a week earlier, but we postponed due to some health issues.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do her shoot, and even though she was a awake a bit for the beginning and didn't want to sleep in the end I was able to get some lovely shots of this snuggled up little girl.
I hope things smooth out for this little family and I wish you all the best and that you soon can get into a routine that works well.

When I was contacted about this shoot I was asked to find something local that would show some of our surroundings.  So I went with my standby, because really what shows the local culture like statues and a beautiful old building?  Mom wanted her daughter to be able to look at these pictures in the future and to be able to see some of the neat things she grew up around - and plus she added a little bit of her own cultural heritage to give it that special touch.  We had fun running around and looking at ducks and doing all sorts of things that two year old kids like to do.  It was a good time and hopefully when L. is older she will say "look what I got to experience when I was little!"

I photographed one of my favorite families this last weekend.  I've been working with them for the last couple of years, so they know what to expect from me and I of them.  This shoot was a little different because I wanted to catch more of the love within the family and the love they have for each other.  I was helping capture memories for them to hold close.  It was lovely listening to them sing together, watching J. dance, and them loving on each other.  I hope that these moments caught will bring light in future days.

This weather has been once again pretty much horrible but thankfully instead of stressing about it all day this family offered the chance for me to come into their home and take pictures to help celebrate little P. turning one.  It is obvious that much love and thought has been put into setting up the rooms and I love the details.  Thank you for allowing me into your home and letting me spend an evening with you all. I hope that P. has a wonderful birthday.