some of his favorite phrases now?

if he wants to pick a fight with you he puts up his dukes and says “wanna go?”

when he falls down {100x a day}  he assures you and himself with “okay?”

he’s not sure about most foods.  he takes one bite of yours then offers it back.  but he definitely is a fan of cookies. aka “cuckoo?”

when he needs something from his mommy or his daddy he’s pretty sure they are both named “daddy?”he’s an animal lover “bishy, horchie, kee-kee, ducgy?”i can’t admit that i’m his second favorite aunt. let’s just pretend my name is too long so he prefers his aunt “kayy?”

if he has a fetish it’s definitely with shoes “chew?”he’s super smart.  he already knows how to burp on command oh and he knows his “eye, noh, mouw, hand?”when he wants to hold his cousin bronx it’s “babeeeee?”

and of course, “bye bye luh you!”

{kisses borey borey boo boy! la la from aunt bridgey!}

**fyi, this back to school setup is available for back to school sessions for those of you looking for a modern alternative to traditional school portraits! **

Joshie has the coolest parents.  his mom and i go way back actually, we just didn’t know that until she booked me, as a complete stranger, for Josh’s 6 month pictures.  as i was wrapping up the session, she sent me a facebook request so i could post a sneak peek for her.  she asked how i knew a mutual friend we had, and from there we discovered that we had gone to school together in 2nd grade.  she actually got the leading role in our christmas play that year and i was secretly crushed because i thought i had it in the bag.    but now, all is forgiven because she and her husband have a cute little boy she lets me take pictures of, and they are big fans and supporters of my work.  as always, thanks for that!  on the first day of august, we got together again so Joshie could be the star of his own first birthday session. mama said she didn’t expect any smiley pics, Josh is just a serious kid.now i won’t say that i won him over, buti do have some sneaky tricks up my sleeve and i’m a bit of a smile ninja.  oh, and his mama does a mean elmo impression.   in the end we ended up with plenty of grins.

he kinda-sorta skips everywhere rather than a boring old walk.  it’s kinda-sorta the cutest thing ever.  baby swagger!happy birthday J, and congrats mama and daddy on your first year as a family of  three!  can’t wait for the next milestone…

to boys and sweat and giggles and bashfulness and pure feel good smiles.  happy summer to you all.

 Noah-Cayd-Avery

i’m quite sure i’ve never been more impressed by two parents.  i happily expected sheer chaos from this shoot.  one year olds are crazy enough in singles.  the fact that we enjoyed such a seamless session together blew my mind.  i don’t recall a single tear or tantrum.  with the three of us there, we each had only one to tote from spot to spot and i was blissfully exhausted by the end.  when they told me that they both work outside the home on opposite shifts and it’s usually just one or the other of them home alone with the gang, i couldn’t believe it.  Andy gave Leah all the credit for keeping them on a tight predictable schedule.  i can’t tell you how much i admire you guys- Leah, for even being able to carry three babies for those long months in the womb, and then to look as gorgeous as you do on top of it, and the pair of you for making such an amazing team.  you inspire me.  it makes me so happy to see a happy marriage, and when you guys publicly acknowledge each other’s hard work and express your love and appreciation for each other on facebook it’s so refreshing and uplifting.  i’m so blessed to have met you.  thanks for choosing me.sleepy eyes we wore them out so much that they could hardly keep their eyes open to enjoy their first cake

happy birthday, happy birthday and happy birthday.  and a hug for you each!

all my love sweet boy.  xoxoxo.  and one more x.

first up is sweet 6 month Jacob.  i really don’t love shooting indoors except for newborn sessions.  actually i loathe it… but Ohio’s weather is wonky and sometimes magic comes from being pushed out of your comfort zone.  we will do a real family session outdoors when it’s consistently warm, but he was only 6 months old once so here’s what we came up with!  he showed me some of his favorite toys, we danced around the kitchen and tempted the kitty with treats.  all in all, it was hard work but so worth it.  i would give anything for some classic pics of me with my girls like this in just diapers and smiles.

cara, i can’t wait to hook back up with you guys and see what he thinks of the great outdoors.  looking forward to our next session!

**if you all are wondering, my own baby boy is coming along quite nicely.  approximately 80 days left for him to grow from his current 2.5 lbs chinese cabbage size to my perfect little real live cabbage patch doll at the start of august.  for now he is busy practicing his tae kwon do moves out on me so he has a chance against his senior yellow belt sister when he arrives  **

i’m sure i’ve already said this, but ayla was one of my first preemies and there’s really no proof of it left other than those sweet images we captured when she was a peanut.  look at all that delicious baby belly and plump rolls!  very impressive she was more into the strawberry than the cake {girl after my own heart}  

have you ever seen a more precious, perfected, pout??i’m pretty sure this one of them together is my very favorite.  gina is dear to me.  she is gorgeous and inspiring in so many ways.  she lost her mom when she was young, and to see her with the baby girl she always prayed for is overwhelmingly heartwarming.  gina’s love for our family is shown daily as she diligently packs my girls’ lunches for school, full of healthy organic food, and love, and occassional sweet notes.  this means more to me than anyone knows, and gina, i hope you understand how appreciative i am of the time and effort and care you put into it all.  to be able to give back to you with frozen moments like this is JOY for me.  

lots of love, a forever friendship, and a sweet baby girl who brought us all together.  thank you birthday girl Ayla Joan.

Thanks for sharing your girls with me Jen.  It’s always a pleasure to see you guys and I can’t wait ’til Hannah calls me by name   See you when it gets warm!

*p.s.*

***************BABY BD UPDATE!!!***************

IT’S A BOY!!! WE COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED AND CAN’T WAIT TO MEET HIM AT THE END OF THE SUMMER

sensitively trying to hold back a smile she says to me, “mama, i’m not your baby anymore.”  maybe to her, losing top teeth was the deadline.  i’m not sure where it came from but i wasn’t having it. 

“what do you mean you aren’t my baby anymore?  you promised you would ALWAYS ALWAYS be my baby,” i replied, followed by my guilt inducing puppy dog face {which i learned from her}.

“ok mama, i’m kind of your baby… but i’m big now.  no, i can’t be your baby.” 

i responded with funny melodramatic fake crying which of course was my comedic cover up for mixed emotions, ranging from pride that my girl is so smart and grown to sincere heartbreak that she didn’t want to be the baby.  i wasn’t having more babies. and besides, a deal is a deal  we went back and forth, with her giving in to be my baby, then taking it back as her sensitive heart got to her…giving in again as she saw she could use it to bribe me {i’ll be your baby if i can have another cookie} to finally deciding that independence tasted even better.

in curious retrospect, i wonder if this moment was God preparing my heart for our suprise baby to be.  or maybe this moment was the motivation for my ovaries to spring into action and fight past our birth control that had worked for 7 years.  either way, she AND briella will always be my babies, whether they embrace it or not.  of course a mama is happy that her girls are healthy and confident, and to be needed all over again by a new baby on the way helps ease the sting.  now let us all pray for the new baby who will be smothered by me AND it’s two shorter mom/sisters who are exuding maternal instinct and excitement from their pores as we speak.  poor child may never learn to walk.

for now, let me brag shamelessly on my 7 year old.  as you may or may not be aware, my girls got burned out on having the camera in their faces pretty quickly.  as i went pro, they became pro at dodging my lens no matter how sly i thought i was.  in the case that i was relentless {for example, i HAVE to at LEAST do their birthday shoots} they became expert negotiators.  negotiations for the following shoot lasted 5 weeks.  so to be precise, here is my 7.1 year old. funny how her usual whine of “stop takin my pitchurrrr” turned into a hambone’s “what about this pose?!  hey mom look at this…”  hollywood vogue-ing ensued.  i was pleasantly shocked and clicked away before it passed. 
oh.my.gosh. seven is full of unapologetic vigor.  unjaded confidence.

brooklynne is my sensitive thinker.  it’s like i can actual see the wheels in her head turning sometimes.

she is part tae-kwon-do super hero, part girly girl.  sugar and spice as they say.

ask and she will tell boldly educate you, “tae-kwon-do means the way of the hand and the foot”.  she says so in THE cutest lispy voice that has ever uttered those words. ever. i check my facts on the internet. 

she also will complain about the silly no hat rule at school and say, “but i’m a fashion guhll” in the way that those who can’t quite pronounce R’s say ‘girl’.

my heart jumped when this one ↑ came onto my editing screen.  how old is she??!  i think she looks just like me!  {please don’t shoot my self-esteem w contrary opinions here.  i know she favors daddy but if i can dream of being a fraction this beautiful it’s gonna be a good weekend} what? {seriously guys, she has my eyes and none of you can take that away from me!}

mmm hmmm.  this is what teeth look like when you are seven.  and proud!  can you keep that healthy self image please?  thanks.

sweet pea grin.  you can’t fool me.  you’re not all the way grown up yet.

how about we tone it down a bit so i can be sure you are still my baby little little girl.  insert innocent playtime with american girl doll.

she IS the self-proclaimed “funny one in the fam-i-leee” so let’s hope she doesn’t lose her sense of humor about this next one at her wedding slideshow.

model time ↑

and

 i don’t like this hat or hair and i’m done time ↓

↓ mama’s favorite ↓

↓ daddy’s favorite ↓

↓ sister’s favorite ↓

and brooklynne’s favorite ↓.  this was actually a strict part of her negotiation.  she spent half the shoot asking, “now can i do the pic of me and juliet’s feet??”  hilarious.  someone seems to have picked up on the newborn+family foot shot trend.  color me proud. 

thanks for letting me be THAT annoying mom who thinks her kids are the greatest today.  i will return to my regularly scheduled obsession over how adorable yours are with the next post.  have a fabulous weekend!!

She gets so much lovin from her Mama and Auntie and DeDe.  I think it’s really beautiful and empowering to see all the girls together, three gorgeous generations.

i’d say one is old enough to rock the TTD trash the dress trend right?

and after all her hard modeling work she got to celebrate with her first birthday cake!

it’s all so delicious i think i might melt.  yummy light, yummy cake, baby pearls, baby blue eyes and baby chunk rolls.  i.can’t.stand.it

. 

ok, my favorite candids??  swoon.  mama kissed icing off her Jovie girl

and Jovie girl kissed her back!

and then as we treaded back to the car, chilly and exhausted and i glanced over my shoulder and this was my view.  it’s like you can see how full Lauren’s heart is with her precious sleepy birthday girl snuggled in her arms.  it might be my favorite real moment capture ever. 

It was a pleasure working with you girls.  Thank you for making me pause my crazy week to appreciate that life is SO  incredibly beautiful.