Up first – my VERY favorite!

Daddy and his girls – awwwwww!

And, believe it or not, Savannah fell asleep for a few minutes…… so we pretended she was a newborn!

As if it’s not enough to have a new baby in the house, Kate & Beau’s first “child” (AKA fur-baby) has been breaking out in hives, so Dad had to leave a little early to get her to the vet.  It’s all about teamwork right?

Here is sweet Charley  – I hope you enjoy!  (Love this little hat that mom brought!)

And here’s mom, dad & baby – gorgeous!

Doesn’t she look so tiny in the little baby bed???

Charley was a great model – she slept almost the entire time.

A Quote:  Sometimes a headache is all in your head.  Relax.  ~Hartman Jule

Something Personal:  Family Portrait Session.  How do those three words make you feel?  I think for most, it strikes a chord of fear, or maybe even terror, right?  As a photographer, I always try to minimize this feeling for my clients (especially the husbands) by letting them know we are going to have FUN — and I promise we will get some great shots.  I promise!  So, what is it that makes a family portrait session so stressful?  Well, I had mine on Friday afternoon (with the wonderful Lisa Phillipson) and although I went into it very relaxed, by the end, I was stressed.  I had talked Jeff off the ledge that morning – something like this: “Relax, whatever happens is fine.  Just let the kids run around and have fun.  We’ll all just have fun and if it’s not perfect – who cares!”  I think it worked, because he was pretty calm and cool for the entire 90 minutes.   We were ready on time, the kids took naps and had something to eat, there wasn’t any traffic…… things were off to a great start.  I picked a cool location that I had wanted to try – and the only bad news was a high of 91 degrees for the day.  The first five minutes were great, the kids were calm and we all stood together and got a couple family shots.  I’m convinced that it’s during these short quiet times that my kids are scheming in their minds and planning their “great escape” – then they’re OFF!  It then became the normal scene with a family of four (with a toddler and pre-schooler), chasing kids, trying to keep them together, trying to get them to smile (HA!), all while dressed up, sweating, and wearing fall clothing and 3-inch heels (just me in the heels of course).  I was dripping with sweat and had a blister on my toe – and snapped at Kylie when she was blowing spit bubbles during what should have been an adorable family picture.  Lisa was great, and very relaxed.  She made funny faces, jumped around, and even brought out Elmo to get some giggles from the Jakester.   When we were done I was exhausted and I felt guilty about snapping at Kylie (although the spit bubbles really pushed me over the edge), and I wondered (like everybody does) if Lisa had gotten even ONE shot with everyone looking remotely happy.

She did.  Here’s proof. 

This picture was well into the session so we had already taken off the kids’ matching clothes (Jake was really suffering in a shirt AND sweater vest) and we had intended to just take some cute pics of the kids at this point.  BUT, they were both happy sitting on the stools (eating some bribe candy), so Jeff and I jumped in for a pic.  I love it!  Lisa was kind enough to share a handful of images with me right away, and I love them all.  In hindsight, it was all in my head (well, the part about me sweating was real), and the kids did great and so did Jeff.  Only I, the photographer, was stressed out.  Man it’s hard to be on the other side of the lens!  Thanks Lisa, for capturing my family in such a beautiful way.  I can’t wait to do your pictures…… you have 8 days left to prepare! 

Something funny: On the same theme as family sessions, I thought I would share a funny outtake from a recent one.  This session with Jennifer and her family was a BLAST!   Zach and Olivia are older than my two kiddos so it’s a little easier to get cooperation.  I have found some interesting ways to get some giggles out of this age – one of which is the tongue competition.  Sometimes I’ll ask them (on the count of three) to stick out their tongues as far as possible so I can see who’s is the longest – a recipe for LOTS of giggles – but in this case it might have gone a little too far!  I’ll let you use your imagination as to what might have happened in between these two photos. 

Something interesting: Without going into too much detail on my thoughts about industrialization, chemicals, auto-immune disorders, and my overall fear of what’s happening in our society right now — I just wanted to share something that I think is helpful.  For me, it’s a little step in the right direction for my kids.  I do the best I can to make good choices for them with the information I have.  Here is a link to a shopping guide from the EWG that includes the “dirty dozen” and the “clean 15″ — which are the fruits and veggies with the highest and lowest amounts of residual pesticides on them.  Click for the Shopping Guide.  (There’s even an iPhone app)!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Jo mentioned that her family enjoys doing an affirmation board every week.  She said they discuss what they want to work on, goals, improvements, etc.  We didn’t talk in too much detail, but it definitely got my mind rolling.  I told Jeff tonight that I thought something like this would be a great idea for our family.  What a great way to have the whole family buy-in to each other’s goals, whether it be working on please and thank you, or appreciating the little moments in life that we so easily skip over.  Hmmmmm, I’m going to have to give this some more thought for sure!  Thanks Jo!

Without further ado…..  the handsome big brothers!

And, the real star of the show – baby brother Ethan! 

Love these two!

I love this one with Ethan and Mom.  He is such a cuddler – he even let me cuddle with him for a while.  * happy sigh* 

A quote:

To the outside world we all grow old.
But not to brothers and sisters.
We know each other as we always were.
We know each other’s hearts.
We share private family jokes.
We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.
Clara Ortega

Something personal:  This is about my Kylie-Bear.  My first born.  My willful, creative, intelligent, beautiful, pain-in-the-booty daughter!  On Saturday she was bouncing off the walls – I mean REALLY bouncing off the walls.  Every two seconds I was snapping at her to “stop this” or “don’t do that” or “go to TIME-OUT!”  It’s a horrible feeling, and I always find myself trying to figure out why she’s acting so crazy and wondering….. will she ever be my sweet Kylie again???  I will admit,  I usually feel like I’m the cause of any ill-behavior of my children (maybe I’m parenting wrong, etc, etc.), so wouldn’t it seem normal to feel like I’m also the cause of their GOOD behavior as well?  Not usually the case for me.  Why is it that we (as parents) find it very easy to see what we are doing wrong, but have a much harder time seeing all the things we are doing right?  Am I alone with this thought?

Well, as I sift through recent pictures of the kiddos I see a trend with Kylie.  LOVE.  She exudes love – especially for her brother (and baby Ally).  She loves her dolls, her friends, her family, and even herself (only baby Ally is more pretty than Kylie (as per Kylie).  She asks to write thank you notes to everyone, for everything, and she keeps a picture of her bestest friend Ainslee by her bed so she won’t miss her.  I am hoping that Jeff and I can take a little credit for her loving spirit — but I think she was born with a great big heart. 

Here’s kylie protecting Jake while watching a show.  It gives me peace to know they have each other.  I imagine them having lots of conversations about their “crazy” parents someday!

And this is the sweet face that greets me every morning at 7am — and the same sweet face I kiss each night.  Her eyes are full of love, hope, and happiness.  She teaches me something new about myself every single day – and I am grateful.

Some favorites:  Since I basically did “something I love” above, here are a couple sites I love to visit.

Macaroni Kids (Smyrna/Vinings/Marietta) – you should sign up for the newsletter and like her facebook page.  Michelle is AWESOME and her Thursday newsletter is such a handy resource filled with all of the fun family-oriented things coming up for the weekend.  PLUS – she has a dining guide with all of the kids-eat-free and family-deals at area local restaurants.  If that isn’t enough – she does FABULOUS giveaways on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis.  I won a free season of treatment from the Mosquito Squad (worth more than $600) and have been enjoying it all summer!

Renee & Jeremy – love, love, love their music!  You can visit their site and download a free song (and buy their albums).  If you have browsed my galleries then you’ve already heard some of their fantastic songs!

Mila’s Daydreams – oh my gosh – amazing – you have to just go see it for yourself!

A Peek:  One of the most important things I wanted to do for my customers when I relaunched my business is deliver beautiful artwork that is READY to be displayed.  When my customers order gift prints, each one will be carefully matted and wrapped individually.  If you haven’t found a frame yet, you can still display your new artwork on a simple easel for everyone to enjoy!

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!   (Mine will be much happier when our AC gets fixed!)

I absolutely love these first two images – the sun dancing around and glowing on the whole family.

Just look at those freckles on Zach – I could just squeeze him!  And sweet Olivia – more interested in the animals, fish and bugs than me. 

*gasp* this picture gets me all emotional.  So cute!

I should tell you that Jennifer is REALLY good about taking pictures and documenting all of their family adventures on her blog - you should check it out!

Without further ado, meet Mr. Beckett!

Proud Papa and Mama!  Dad is very into baseball and I love that he brought his glove to use in some pictures.

Can you see the little smile on Beckett’s face?  I swear he was grinning almost the whole time!  And beautiful mommy – she doesn’t look tired at all right??

After Beckett ate, he was WIDE awake.  Mom said he usually stays awake for a while so we just went ahead and did some more pictures.  Usually I do this pose when the babies are sleeping, but we gave it a try “awake” and I think it’s adorable!

I really love these first two images – especially the close up.  As a photographer I can guide people (or pose them) but when things happen naturally, those are always the best images in my opinion.  Dad was looking at mom, mom was looking at Anna and Anna was looking at me with that silly tongue – adorable!

See what I mean – joyful – even when we put her in the bucket!

It was getting HOT fast, so we went inside for a couple more tutu shots.

And since mom said she likes the “vintage” style images that I do – here’s a special one for her…. 

See what I mean by in love?  So sweet!

The nursery was so cute – and already stocked with wonderful books for Miss Charley!  One of my favorites…..