Hollering, Headbands & Hugs

A fellow photographer friend recently posted about the crazy experience of trying to get all three of her kids to look and smile at the camera, and boy could I relate. I had experienced the same situation when I took these. For whatever reason, I find it more challenging to photograph my own children, than other people's children. Most likely it's because other people's kids don't know me, so I'm new and mysterious, whereas my own are on to me and my photography tricks. :) To get a decent shot of all three of them together I find myself hollering out their names repeatedly, singing, jumping, and playing "Simon Says", just to get them to look in my direction! And without fail, one or two will look and laugh, but one will not. Baaahhhh!!!! (That's what I feel inside in those moments!) Haha... but persistence pays off. And so does having Josh behind me to sing and dance as well. ;) Dads make photos way more fun.

I've been working on some fun new little craft projects (I'll blog them next week), and one thing I had done was make Selah a new headband. I love how it turned out! I got the idea from a headband I saw on Pinterest. I made two flowers out of fabric and one out of felt and glued them on. I think it's so cute on her.
Selah was really excited to wear it right after I made it, but then not even 5 minutes later she was done wearing it. When I asked her why, she said it made her ears "scratchy". (I love how kids describe things). I could understand, because when I was little I didn't care for headbands either. They hurt my head. So this one may not get much use afterall, but that's ok.

I love this shot. {heart}

And lastly, Jude gives the best hugs! Happy Monday!

Benjamin Gabriel

Someone is half a year old already!! I can't believe how quickly our little man is growing up. He's sitting up now, will start solids this week, and loves to roll around the floor seeing what he can reach.

If there's one thing about Benjamin that stands out the most, it's how joyful he is! He wakes up with a smile on his face, looking for snuggles, and family to interact with. Each morning as I attack him with kisses, I tell him how much I love him.

Oh my goodness, I'm so blessed by this boy!













We love you bug!!

Fabulous Find

When Selah switched to a big girl bed (after her toddler bed) we bought her a new mattress and just put it on the floor, since she has a tendency to roll off the bed. We figured it was the safest option for her at the time. :) In the meantime I've been watching and waiting for just the right bed. I've looked online, peeked in a few stores, and have watched Craigslist for several months. I had a specific style of bed in mind, and planned on painting it a fun robin egg blue once I found it... or possibly a very light lavender-gray. I could picture then end product/look in my mind. :)





I was thrilled this week when I came across this beautiful antique bed on Craigslist, that's completely unfinished. Just beautiful wood, and it totally appears to be hand carved! The sweet gal I bought it from said that her mom bought it at an antique store 25 years ago... it came in a pair and her mom stained/finished the other one and never used this one. But now that I've got it home and all wiped down I'm kind of in love with it's raw, unfinished look and feel a little guilty at the thought of painting it. So I'm going to have Josh set up her bed, put on her bedding, and see how it looks. What do you think? Paint it a fun color that matches her bedding?

I love this job

I had a blast tonight photographing Amber & Tony's beautiful family. The lighting was perfect, their company so fun, and their kids were so sweet (they reminded me of Jude & Selah two years ago... oh what a precious stage!)

Here are a bunch of my favorites. :)









Miss Nia stole my heart! What a darling girl - so happy , and am I'm pretty sure she thinks she's three like her big brother. :) She's fearless and feminine, smiling wherever she goes.



Isn't Jacoby about as cute as they come?! I love his smile! He's such a fun little guy, so adventurous and independent. Three is a great age!















Amber and Tony, it was wonderful seeing you guys again! Thanks for allowing me to capture this sweet season in your lives!

Gettin' Crafty...

A couple weekends ago we were at the Farmer's Market and I bought four "re-usable ziplock bags" that a mom was selling. I really liked them and we found ourselves using them a lot. So I googled a tutorial on how to make them and pinned it to my pinterest page. Then a week later went and found my fabrics, utility fabric lining for the inside, and velcro. I had a lot of fun making these new "zip lock bags" and the kids had fun helping me too. They've essentially become our new snack bags. I've run them through the wash, or sometimes will rinse them by hand and set them out to dry.

This gray one I made for my dad for his birthday and put two Throwback glass bottle Pepsi's in it. A couple days later we headed off to spend a week at the beach so I packed a lot of our foods into these bags too (like rice, pasta, etc). We've bought a handful more of fun fabrics since then.

Selah's my great little helper. :)

Mr. Benjamin gives the BEST smiles!

And just for fun, the kids wanted pics with daddy this evening...



Happy Monday!

Familiar Faces

I love getting to see clients year after year. It's fun getting to watch their children grow up and change. I was looking forward to seeing Karen and Brian, and their son Garratt again. They're always so easy to be around and enjoyable to photograph. Garratt is going into the 3rd grade this year and was so much more grown up to me in just the one year since I saw him last. He's such a sweet kid!
Aren't they a beautiful family?






oh so sweet...













Allie, a very talented photographer and friend of mine is starting her own photography business. I'm so excited for her! She's interning with me this summer, so you'll see her pop up on my blog from time to time, and if you have a session with me, then you'll most likely see her there too! Here's a shot of her in action at this last session. :)

A Few More...

As promised, here are a few more from this great family shoot! :)