Big sister Faith is in Gentry’s dance class. She is such a sweet little thing and it was so fun to see a different side of her! She is so focused and quiet at dance but was happy and carefree at the session! She was a dream to work with – listening well and having fun with what we were doing!

Her baby sis Ariah is Huntler’s absolute FAVORITE thing about having to go to dance every week. He takes along his stuffed reindeer and shoves it in her face constantly! He ADORES her!! She is normally so happy and full of smiles but she wasn’t quite sure about what was going on at the session! Her smiles were few and far between but we did manage to capture a couple of them!

I love this next shot!! Faith is very much into dress up and pretending and was so cute in her twirly skirt and beads!! I love the motion I caught as she was spinning around! What a true moment in childhood!

And little Ariah, still not super sure what in the world was going on!!

And one last shot of them together…sweet, sweet sisters!

Charise,

Thanks for loading up the girls and making the trek to meet me!! I know Ariah wasn’t her typically happy self but hopefully I managed to capture a little bit of who she is!

The truth of the matter is that life doesn’t always play out like that fairytale we envision when we say our vows. And while we may not always be where we pictured ourselves years ago when daydreaming about the future, that’s okay. That’s life. That’s real. Do I love it here? Of course not. Would I pack up and move tomorrow if Chris said we could? In a heartbeat. Am I sad for my kids because I know what they are missing out on not being close to cousins and grandparents? You bet. But will my heart break and tears fall freely when the time comes to say goodbye to our life here? Without a doubt.

When we moved here I made a promise to myself that I was going to get us involved. I was going to join a playgroup and we were going to make friends and meet people. That was three and a half years ago. That playgroup and the people we met? They are more than just people – they are friends. Forever friends that have given comfort. Friends that have provided encouragement and laughter. Friends that have shared advice on everything from the best doctor to directions to the new Carter’s store. Friends that have had babies. Friends that have closed the chapter of their life in Arizona and have moved on yet still stay in touch. Friends that see your faults, listen to you whine and yet still love and encourage you anyway. They are the constants in my life here {other than Chris and the kids of course!}. They are the bright spots on dark days. They came into my life at a time when I really needed them and I will forever cherish the place they hold in my heart because of that.

Meet Lindsey {and her man}! She is one of those friends. A forever friend. I remember the day I met her like it was yesterday. It was a Valentine’s playdate at my house – 2007. She showed up looking all cute and trendy with her bowl full of strawberries, a toddler holding her hand  and a baby on her hip. I can’t believe that was over three years ago. I can’t believe that day I made a friend whom I love and my kids adore. Lindsey gets it. She gets that our family is what seems like a million miles away and I can’t get back there fast enough. She knows how hard it is to be pregnant and miss your mom. She understands…wholeheartedly. I love that about her.

And Lindsey, if you do not have this image printed big and hang it in your home, I am going to do it for you!! I LOVE THIS MOMENT!! This is exactly why I love this gig – freezing real life snippets like this for people to look at and remember long after they have passed!

Lindsey and Bobby aren’t from Arizona either. They moved here from California –  she left behind her family too. Her mom. Her sister. Her dearest friends. Her life. Sometimes you don’t have a choice…I get that. But she too made the decision that they were going to meet people, to make friends. They were going to make the most of their life here because that is all you can do. Shortly after we joined the playgroup, she joined the same one. One decision. One simple decision that has created a friendship that will last a lifetime.

I had fun shooting Lindsey and Bobby! I RARELY photograph adults so it was something new and different. And easy! Oh my gosh! It is so easy to take photos of people who listen and cooperate without having to bribe with candy or a trip to Toys R Us after the shoot!

These two  have three beautiful kids…Jakob, Aiden and sweet Lucy.

Jakob and Huntler were in the same preschool class last year and while they knew each other beforehand, they grew to be good friends over the course of the year. But when Huntler returned for another  year of preschool, Jakob moved on to kindergarten. He is sweet and shy…much like Huntler. He rolls with the punches and is low maintenance. He enjoys school and is soaking up all of the new knowledge like a sponge!

And then they had Aiden! Their Aiden is the equivalent to our Gentry. Cute as a button but ornery as all get out! This little guy gives his parents a run for their money numerous times a day! Personality just exudes from his little body! He is so candid and real…

And eight months ago tiny little Lucy joined the world and won the hearts of her parents and adoring big brothers! Happy, adorable, petite little Lucy girl!

It’s been so fun watching these kids grow up! Jakob wasn’t in school and in a few short months he’ll be starting first grade. Aiden wasn’t even one yet when we first met him and now he is four. Lucy was just a dream and now she is here. It is amazing how much has changed and how much we have all grown in the last three years.

When my mom gave me this vintage white bowl at Christmas, I had a vision. A vision that involved a baby girl and strawberries! I had no idea how it would all play out and it was admittedly a bit more challenging than I had pictured {I’ll blame that on my large stomach and inability to get up and down in a timely fashion!}, but it was fun to bring an idea to life!

Little Miss Lucy was VERY interested in the strawberries…she couldn’t shovel bites in fast enough! And her outfit? Well, about two minutes into this set of photos it was gone! But the thing is, it was okay. I know Lindsey well enough to know that she would be able to just roll with it…that a few strawberry stains weren’t going to be a big deal! And they weren’t! Lucy girl was so focused on the strawberries I had a terrible time getting her attention for a few photos! In most of them she is far more interested in the strawberries and hanging out of the bowl to get them than in having her picture taken! But I did manage to get this one!

And this next one? It just makes me giggle. Laugh out loud really. Because it is Aiden. It is 150% orneriness and personality. LOVE it!

And of course a few of the fam! I will be perfectly up front and honest here in saying that this is the first time I have ever shot more than four people at a time! For some reason I have just never had any more than that involved in a session. It was challenging for sure…but I love a good challenge from time to time!

I kid you not when I say this is the first frame I fired off at our session {other than the one I took to check my exposure and get my settings right}. FIRST SHOT = FAVORITE SHOT.

And then we changed it up a bit! I promise Bobby’s eyes are opened in this one!! His allergies were really bothering him and I felt so bad! {Note Aiden and his ornery grin!!}

Lindsey {and fam!},

Thanks for meeting up with me for a fun family session! Thanks for humoring my ideas and letting me experiment with your family. But most of all, thanks for being such a good friend. I meant every word I said – while I can’t wait to move back to Kansas, my heart will break when it comes time to say our goodbyes. You have been such a great source of strength and encouragement in our journey out here and I am forever grateful our paths crossed. Big hugs!

Enjoy your photos!

Tucker ROCKED at our session! He was so good! And he listened so well! And the smiles he would flash? Priceless!!

I love these two! I cropped them opposite because I think they would be so cute hanging one above the other!

As we rounded a corner and this bike rack came into view, I almost let out a little squeal of excitement! What a FUN element to work with! And so boy. Oh so boy.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this black and white one!!

The little guy does have some serious faces too…

And this one just makes me smile for some reason!!

We ventured up onto a hill during our time together too! For anyone interested, I started shooting in “evaluative” metering mode but when Tucker was way too underexposed because of  all the backlight, I switched to “spot” metering and had MUCH better results! I love it when I take the time to think things like that through and experiment a little during a session! That one decision made all the difference in that entire series of photos! And it took all of three seconds to do!

I LOVE this light!! For real. One of my personal goals is to get out of the open shade and start shooting in light more often! Now that I see the results first hand, there is no holding me back!!

And a couple with mom! Tucker is going to be a big brother this summer and his mom looks AMAZING. Seriously April, you look great!!

Dad wasn’t actually planning to be in any pictures, but I sort of insisted that he get in on just one!

Thanks Tucker and Co for taking a little bit of time to hang out with me the night before you left! It was so nice to meet you all and I wish you all the best! Good luck this summer with the birth of Baby #2!

Thanks so much for making time to do photos while you were in town!!

Ahhh Kenley. Her mama warned me that it would be tough to get lots of smiles! She was right – but the ones we captured are darling! And her little tongue sticking out? Well that is just a bonus!

No smile here, but I love a serious face just as much as a smiley one!

And then it was time for a wardrobe change. I.LOVE.THIS.OUTFIT!! The photos do not even come close to doing it justice as there are all sorts of rhinestones and bling adorning this little number! If you look really hard you can see them! So, so cute. And glam.

A personal fave of mine. I can totally see this one printed really big! The retro feel I adore. The loose curls. The toddler walk. The bits of dust and dirt on her jeans from sitting on the ground. And the feet. Ohhhh the little bare feet. Mid-step. On her way to do bigger and better things than take pictures! Love this moment!

From her serious face in this photo you can’t really tell, but this little girl LOVES her daddy. We were having the hardest time getting eye contact out of her, let alone any sort of  a smile. And then her daddy made it over. She lit up and was so excited to see him! I love to see those connections. The recognition. The unconditional love. Capturing those moments are what this is all about for me. When I look at this photo I see love. But I also see strength. Look at how big and strong Billy’s arms are in comparison to Kenley’s little body. And his tanned skin next to her pale face. What a story this photo tells…

As a mom, I don’t love being in photos. I love taking them, but being on the other side of the camera isn’t really my thing. Yet, I know with 110% certainty that in 30 years when my kids look back on images from their childhood, they will cherish the ones of us together. I am their mom, their only mom. Katie…the same is true for you. I know you weren’t jumping for joy at the thought of having your photo taken, but think of how much these will mean to your family…now and years down the road.

These next two? Ummm….LOVE. I mean LOVE LOVE. I look at these and tears come to my own eyes. Yes, I am a pregnant and emotional mess, but what sweet, tender moments these are. I love how it feels like Kenley and Billy are the only two around in this image. I love the stadium lights in the background. I love that no matter where life takes this family, they ARE a family. They stick together. They share in each others highs and lows. They love.

Katie, I love this shot of you and your girl. I hope you see it and remember our time together that night on the baseball field. I hope you remember Kenley as she is right now. I hope as life moves you from one state to the next, you cherish the good times and learn a little something from the bad. I hope you cling to each other and your love to carry your family far.

It was so nice to meet you all! I hope that next summer finds my own family in Kansas City and gives us the chance to meet up again!

This last one reminds me of an old time magazine cover or something! I had so much fun playing around and editing it to feel retro! And don’t even get me started on what a sweet moment it was! LOVE!

As I was thinking about this family and what I wanted to say, bits and pieces of that poem danced through my mind. These guys are here for a reason. Arizona isn’t their home, far from it actually, but dad’s work brings them here every spring. I can relate to that part of their story. But while we stay here, they will move on. They’ll travel about and at summer’s end, they will return home. I think of them and their story and I wonder how many friends they have made and connections they have formed. I think of all of the places they have been and the things they have seen and done. But mostly I think about the people – the people who have come into their lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. I find the whole concept quite fascinating really. {There is the sociology major and psychology minor coming out in me!}

The dynamics of these two littles reminded me so much of that of my own two! Sweet, caring, doting big brother who adores his little sis. Sis, who loves her brother, also loves to assert her independence and opinions and quite possibly may rule the roost as she gets a little older! It was so fun to watch them together – to see the roles they took on as they interacted with each other and their parents.

Meet Caden. Big brother. He is three and a half and was SUCH a trooper! He listened perfectly and did every single thing I asked him to. Maybe he can come hang out with Gentry for a few days and teach her a thing or two?

And Miss Aubrey. Little sister. She’ll be two at the end of the month and I could not believe how well she was talking! At one point Caden sat on her lap and she said, “Caden, get up. You’re too heavy.” So adult-like coming from such a little person! Aubrey made me work. She wasn’t flashing smiles left and right so the ones I did manage to capture took some work!

I absolutely LOVE this next one! The pout. The bare feet. Everything about it!

And of course a few of the kids together. Easier said than done! The image I posted the other night was pure luck! As much as I wish I could claim it was perfectly set up, it wasn’t! I was just shooting away hoping to capture something worthy of a frame!! Kids are so unpredictable and each one has a mind of his own! However, I am loving these next moments as they are real life. That’s me – my style. Real. When you are two and three and a half, you aren’t supposed to look at the camera for every single shot!

Another personal fave is this black and white shot! What a sweet moment!! And a smile from Aubrey!

A few more of Caden! He was such a little explorer, checking everything out!

Sooo loving this shot of him!! So serious, and pouty!!

And a few more of Aubrey…

Couldn’t you just squeal out loud at the cuteness of this little one in this outfit? OH MY! An Etsy purchase by her mama…one complete with the ruffle bottom pants I am currently obsessed with!

And a couple more! Oh how I love siblings sitting beside each other and snapping their legs! And Caden’s prayer hands? Too cute for words!!

When mom scheduled this shoot, she set it up for the kids…Aubrey’s two year photos and Caden at three and a half. They just had family pictures taken before Christmas so the focus was all about the kids. However, I couldn’t resist when I saw this moment. I hope you don’t mind Carrie, but I love it!! And you are gorgeous! As moms, I think we tend to do the vast majority of the picture taking and are rarely on the other side of the camera! Hope this is one you’ll treasure for years to come!

Thanks again for taking the time to meet up with me while you guys are in town! Your family is beautiful and the kids were such a pleasure to photograph! I wish you all only the best of luck in wherever the future takes you!

On that note I am back to sifting through the images!

{Please ignore the non-centered images! Chris did some work on my blog and one of the not so great things is that now my pictures won’t center! We are working on getting it resolved though!!}

Meet Lincoln. I am pretty sure he is every bit as ornery as he is cute! He looks like he is cooking up something in that mind of his, doesn’t he?

I am also pretty sure that he adores his mom and dad just as much as they adore him!

I had a wonderful time at this session. Lincoln was the chattiest, happiest little guy and was a total rock star when it came to listening to my crazy ideas and then following through! He tried really, really hard to give me lots of shots with the best four year old “cheese” smile he could muster up, but when I brought up things like transformers and school friends, he totally let loose and let his real smile shine through. And isn’t it a sweet one?

And a serious face every now and then too! I LOVED how Rachel dressed him for this session! He was super stylin’ in his layered look! And that scarf? Well, let me just say that I came home that very night and ordered Huntler the same scarf with a matching hat and mittens. And maybe an orange sweater too. Maybe not. You can be the judge of that one!

When emailing back and forth with Rachel in regards to this session, I knew that my gumball machine would be the perfect prop to tote along! I have had it for months now and have been waiting oh so patiently for a little guy just the right age to come along! Lincoln was definitely that little guy! I had an idea in my mind of how I wanted these images to look even before I took them…they had to have that vintage flair.

And this next one? One word: LOVE. It is quite possibly one of my all time faves. Ever. I can assure you it will be seen again on my website! I also would LOVE to try to recreate it with Huntler and Gentry both. I giggle as I type that…the odds of that happening are slim to none, but lucky for me, this gumball machine just so happens to be at my disposal, as are my two favorite kidlets!! Then I want to blow them up big and on canvas. But for now, back to Lincoln. Is this shot not amazing?! And the orange gumball peeking through his hand up there? Fab little detail I couldn’t have planned if I had tried!

Of course we did a few more with mom and dad too! As you can tell, I was totally feeling the black and white on some of these! There is just something so captivating about black and white photographs in real life moments for me. I can’t really explain it, but you’ll notice that a lot of the more candid shots I edit will be black and white…love the timeless feel!

And this next one…it is slightly out of focus and not quite as sharp as I wish it would have been, but it is such a sweet moment that I just had to edit it! I adore how Lincoln is looking up and has that genuine smile on his little face!

And one more black and white image to finish it off! If you would have seen me trying to capture this one you would have had to have laughed! I was shoved back in a corner as far as I could get and was bent over at one crazy angle! But I managed to get the shot!

Sam, Rachel and Lincoln…thanks for making the drive out to meet up with me! It was so nice to meet you all! Have a wonderful holiday season!

Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t fanned my Facebook page yet, here is the link! I am trying to keep my “personal” page just that, personal. Real life friends and family only! And although I haven’t been too great about updating the fan page, I promise to make an honest effort!

Mom and Dad, enjoy this little peek of your little man!!