Cuteness Award

Every couple of months, Lover and I get that age-old, super annoying question; when are you having kids? While I try not to get irritated about it, after four years I have come up with some snotty little comebacks for the people that just won't back off. :-) That said, I do try to be civil, and I patiently explain, over and over again, that it's not that we don't want kids, it's just that we're not ready for kids. This goes over much better in Spain, where couples typically get married in their mid twenties, and wait to have kids until their thirties. But, we live in America, and Americans love to "do it now!" (Did anyone watch 24, back when it was good and Jack Bauer was constantly yelling "DO IT NOW!"?) so we have to put up with the constant questioning.

Anyways, one of the reasons that we are in no hurry to have our own kids is because we have a whole passle of adorable nieces and nephews. Whenever we need some serious silly time with a bunch of soft skinned toddlers, or  some snuggle time with a little baby, we just hit up the brothers and sisters who have so kindly provided for this need. ;-) There are a lot of not-so-cute kids out there in the world, but none of them are among our nieces and nephews.

Just a little while ago, we spent a great evening with four of our little family members, hanging out a fun kid's play place, and snapping some cute shots of them in the gorgeous light of the setting sun.

This guy is the oldest. He makes sure to keep everyone in line, and he has the privilege of being the very first grandchild so you can imagine how great that was. He just started losing his baby teeth, as you can see here.

Next up is the little brother, this guy is a barrel of laughs. He is the goofiest kid I know, but most likely the sweetest as well. For a while his favorite thing to do was rhymes. You'd ask him, "what rhymes with window?" His answer "finnow". Hilarious.



Getting a nice calm smile like that is a rarity. More often than not, these are the faces he's making:

Then, we have their little sister, who looks exactly like her mom did growing up. She's sneaky like her too. (JK :-) Is she not the most adorable little girl?

I love her little flowery dress. It made her look like such a little lady.

Sweet girl. The baby of the family is another pretty little girl, who I photographed last fall with mixed results. She was cranky last year, but this time she was in a perfect mood!

She is so cute. They call her the little bean, and  I always think she looks like a baby elf. Either way, she is so sweet and adorable.

Munching on some clover.

And then she found a pretty flower. :-)

The two sisters together. I hope these girls grow up to be best friends.

And the brothers - they're both in school this year! When did they get so big?

And then a few of the four of them all together. As you can imagine, this part was mayhem. :-)





So there you go. Adorable cuteness, available whenever we need a baby fix. :-)

Wildflowers and Little Girls

This is shaping up to be a busy summer for my photography! Between all of the shoots, and our normal busy life, and my family being home from overseas, we have a bit of a hectic schedule. But I wouldn't have it any other way! The day before my brother's wedding I went over to a friend's house to take some pictures of their girls for a surprise Father's Day present. We did a few at the house, but then walked down a couple of blocks to an open field that was filled with wildflowers. I've been itching to do a shoot in a field of wildflowers for over a year now, and I finally got my wish! I loved the little outfits that the girls were wearing, and the way that they were so distinctly different, and suited to each girl! :-) They were good sports about the pictures too, in spite of the heat and not being fans of having their pictures taken!

I had so much fun on this photoshoot, and the best part is that I got to go back and see them again, as they just added a little baby boy to the family! Congratulations, and I cant wait to meet little Jude!

Jon and Steph's Engagement Pictures

Two of my favorite people in the whole wide world got married just two weekends ago. I canNOT believe that my little brother is all growed up and married now! And, I am beyond excited to finally, after decades of waiting, have a sister! Steph is the sweetest girl, and she brings out the very best in Jon. They flattered me by asking me to do their wedding pictures, and I was thrilled to do them! We carved out some time in the very busy pre-wedding schedule to do some engagement pictures, and had a blast doing them. Here are some of my favorite shots.

Aren't they so cute?

There was lots of laughter. :-)

We went down to the rose garden, and the light was absolutely beautiful. It made for some very romantic shots!

They were so willing to do anything I asked, which is always a lot of fun!

So pretty

Love this one

So cute!

They are going to be so happy together

All in all we had a great time, just like we did the day of their wedding. Wedding pics to come soon!

Makayla's One Year Pictures

You've seen this pretty little girl several times before, and this time we were documenting her first birthday! It's hard to believe that just fifteen months ago we were doing a maternity session with her parents! Makayla was in a great mood today, so we got lots of cute captures. She really enjoyed playing with the frosting on her cupcake. but she wanted nothing to do with eating it!

Smiling Teenagers

I did a family session a few months ago for some good friends of mine. They have four smart and funny kids, three of which are teenage boys! Needless to say, I was a little nervous about getting good shots of a bunch of teenagers, who typically do not want to mess around with having their picture taken! But, these kids were champs and we had a blast. We used Wendhurst Castle as the backdrop, and had some fun with some silly poses, as well as some nice family portraits. :-)

Little Girls in Springtime

The first year program with this pretty little girl is drawing to a close. Makayla just turned one year old this month! These pictures are from her 10 month session. We'll be getting together very soon for her last session! I can't believe how time flies! Makayla was teething at this session, so we had a little trouble getting her to smile, but she is a beautiful girl and the pics still came out great!