It’s rare that my sister AND her hubby get to come home – so we grabbed a few shots of their little family!!

Jack Jack – I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! Samm & Xavier – I love you guys too!!

We didn’t think my brother would make it home for the holidays this year – but he did! His wife stayed in Ohio and worked but he brought the kiddos out for Thanksgiving!

On Wednesday night – Thanksgiving Eve – Jared & Fitzy were in Cleveland for a BASKETBALL game!! They stayed at the Westin and had a GREAT time!

BUT – my controlling momma heart was kind of FREAKING OUT a little!! I wasn’t able to really breathe until they pulled in the driveway! WHEW!!

They got in a little after 2 on Thanksgiving and grabbed a plate of food and then opened Christmas presents!!

COUSINS!!!

Enoch 5 – Fitzgerald (who is asking to change his name to just Fitzy) 7 – Rowyn 7 (soon to be 8) – Jack 3 (so close to 4) – Judah 6 – QUITE THE CREW!

That’s only the 23rd gun to add to their collection!!

Rowyn wants to be an ARTIST!! BRING ON THE PAINTS & CANVAS!!

Judah – have you been noticing his faces!! They are the best!

Jack calls me Daniel – and Samm loves it! It IS pretty adorable!

SO MUCH CHRISTMAS!!

My sister is OBSESSED with the poop emoji – so my dad got her a special gift – PASS THE POOP!!

And every year we have to line the kiddos up and get the NEW picture – they are growing TOO FAST!!

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving with our families!!

This is the THIRD year I’ve taken photos for Becca & Macy & their family!

If you haven’t noticed – it’s been a VERY VERY rainy season! The day we scheduled photos – after rearranging the farm chores – it called for LOTS of rain. It rained all morning – BUT – miraculously – in the early afternoon – it stopped!!

We still made sure to get some in the barn – because that’s their life!

COUSINS – I LOVED growing up with cousins!!

The last time I saw this sweetie – she was BRAND NEW!!

Growing up on a farm – they will have the BEST childhood!!

Aren’t they so sweet!!

SWEET SWET SISTERS!!

THANK YOU for asking me to come photograph your ever-growing family! See you in a few months to capture all THREE of your babies!!

My sister came home for a long weekend in October.

We had an eventful Saturday – making glass pumpkins – going out for pizza AND Iron Kettle Pumpkin Farm!

Her hubbie wasn’t able to get away from work – but we needed some new pictures of Jack!

He’s gonna be FOUR after Christmas – CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! FOUR! I seriously feel like I was JUST driving to NJ to be there for his birth.

I love that one!

His one front tooth is longer than the other – significantly longer – it’s ADORABLE! I LOVE IT!!

That Fitzy guy & Jack – they are kindred spirits!

Jack recently started speech therapy – he has quite the speech delay. Fitzy was in physical therapy when he was about 16 months old because he wasn’t walking yet. Jack walked late too.

My sister. She is calmer – gentler – more patient – much more chill than I am. Less selfish. She doesn’t have an agenda she “needs” to complete everyday.

She has literally soaked up every single moment of motherhood that she could.

Anyway – back to the speech therapy. She also made an appointment to get him into a child development specialist – with a RIDICULOUSLY long waiting period. MONTHS & MONTHS.

She had that appointment on Halloween – or right near it. She called me – and said – she said that Jack is on the Autism spectrum.

I listened – which is hard for me – something I am constantly working on. I asked how she was. Good. He’s a great kid. He’s gentle. Calm. Chill.

We had talked about it a while ago – years ago. The way he handles things – that’s the best way I can describe it. He’s so specific.

We’ve watched Jack while Samm & Xavier went out to dinner – once. He knows his trains. He is pleasant and sweet. Gentle and loving. The only time there’s any issue – when he has to share something or when something doesn’t go the way he wants – which is pretty normal – and not just for toddlers!

Fitzy is VERY specific about times. Being late – unacceptable. He lined his toys up. Sorted them. OVER & OVER & OVER again. Jack lines all the things up – always.

Enoch gets VERY obsessed about sorting his basketball cards. He was VERY obsessed with Red – she’s a bully – she pushes the other cows around.

Jack is considered very high functioning on the spectrum. I told my sister – I can’t say I’m sorry to you. Because there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s not broken. He doesn’t need to be fixed.

Some things are going to be harder – YES. BUT SO MANY THINGS ARE HARDER ALREADY. Life is pain. But there is so much beauty from pain.

He IS amazing. He WILL be amazing. And his mom and dad ARE AMAZING!! And remember – AMAZING means so many different things. We have to change OUR thinking.

AREN’T THEY ADORABLE!!

EVERYONE wants to hold the baby!

I can’t believe this peanut is ONE already!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for asking me into your lives year after year! It’s such an honor to hold your memories in my hands!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE coming back to families year after year?

BECAUSE I DO!

And I LOVE when the kids are already warmed up to me!

The baby and the oldest – the bookends.

SO SWEET!

AREN’T THEY A GORGEOUS FAMILY!!

DAD & HIS GIRLS!!

Those boys – they have to stick together!!

I LOVE THOSE SHOTS! BLURRY & ALL – focus isn’t everything!!

Stay tuned for the rest of their session! I’m working on taking LESS pictures and having a few less favorites to show you – but it’s not working out too well!

The boys LOVE G & Pa – and they REALLY love it when Jack can be there too!

That last week in JULY was heavenly for them!

That picture on top – PURE JOY!

LOOK AT THAT BIG GUY! These babies – they need to SLOW IT DOWN!

G was NOT home when she said she would be – so we had to call her. And I love that my sister has our mom in her phone as MY MOM!

BABY KITTENS!!

DO YOU SEE HIS FACE!! He wants a kitty or a puppy SO VERY BAD!

I mean – LOOK AT THAT FACE!

SO SAD!

Enoch was WORKING OUT HARD!!

We visit my parents quite often and I rarely take pictures with my REAL camera!

BUT – I decided to take an INSTAGRAM BREAK for the month of July and it’s forced me to actually take REAL pictures of our lives!

I am an artist with a camera in my hands. THAT IS IT!

BUT – Enoch thought my chick was pretty good – mine is on the left! His is on the right – with a little help from me!

And some fruit – again – NOT AN ARTIST WITHOUT A CAMERA!!

This view looks toward the East – sometimes the sunset reflections are just as pretty as the sunset itself!

We had a small fire – we used to have BIG fires – with a few friends!

My parents live in the house that my dad grew up in – we moved here when I was nine.

This picture window holds SO MANY memories!

LOOKING IN & LOOKING OUT!

I’m sure you’ve read about my friend Trudy. We met when I went to college in Philadelphia. She was my RA and took me under her wing. I was so very homesick and she was so very supportive.

I transferred after one semester but we stayed close – thank GOODNESS for email and IM – in those days!

Trudy lives in Virginia about 7 hours away. When I got married – she was there. When she got married – I was there. But that time – I was IN the wedding AND photographing it. So – my friend and fellow photog Megan Hampton came along with me. Fitzy was 6 months old and Megan was pregnant with her first!

Jared and I met Trudy and her husband in Lancaster three years ago – but – she has TWO sweet boys now and I haven’t met them.

Megan and Trudy have stayed in touch over FACEBOOK and we messaged one day that we should meet halfway – in Gettysburg – at a place called Land of Little Horses!

Monday morning we piled our 5 kiddos in Megan’s van and started our 3 hour tour!

This guy – he has always reminded me of Fitzy – and seeing him in person – made it all the more true!

He is such a sweet pumpkin!

I mean – LOOK AT HIM!!

And this little pumpkin – she is SUCH A DOLL!

It was an UNBELIEVABLY hot and humid day. But when you make plans in advance THREE HOURS AWAY – you keep them!

THOSE BOYS TOGETHER!! OH MY HEART!!

That guy lounging on the bleachers – he is cut from the same cloth as my Enoch guy.

It’s absolutely wonderful having a friend like Megan who I love and respect who happens to have a son just like mine.

I can text her – tell her my frustrations about the stubbornness and the dedication of that sweet boy and she very much understands.

BROTHERS!! 13 months apart!

Typically the horse rides are outside – but thankfully they decided to hold them IN the arena!

We saw a horse that could ADD and stomp out the answer with his hoof!

This guy – he wanted to take this little horse home in our car! ALL THE LITTLE HORSES actually!

THOSE CHEEKS!!

Trudy and her boys left mid-afternoon – because as you mommas know – wrangling a one-year old and a two-year old in nearly 100 degree weather is EXHAUSTING and the kiddos get EXHAUSTED.

We hung out for a little bit to pet some horses!

He is very seriously trying to figure out how to smuggle those 2 horses home.

This guy loves his animals too!

This guy does NOT do well in the heat – but we made sure to stay hydrated and take lots of shade breaks!

ONE LAST PICTURE before we make the drive home!

And one stop at RED ROBIN to fill our bellies! YUM!

Megan – thank you for being adventurous and awesome! I LOVE YOU!

Trudy – thank YOU for making that trip with two kiddos – LITTLE KIDDOS! YOU ARE AWESOME!! I LOVE YOU!

WHAT DOES YOUR FRIENDSHIP LOOK LIKE!?

I have to remind myself to take pictures of MY family sometimes!

Pa ALWAYS pulls his pants up WAY TOO HIGH!

He also thinks it’s funny to put his GROSS feet on people!

OH GOOD! ANOTHER NERF GUN!

Do you SEE the look on his face?! It almost makes me want to get him a kitten. ALMOST.

That little hand holding that big hand – his favorite guy!

Red is getting old! We are hoping for some new babies on the farm SOON!

She’s really the BEST cow out there!

E wanted to go on a bear hunt – but PA mentioned that he has a LOT to learn until he can actually go hunting. He talks non-stop and NOT quietly!

Enoch LOVES jellybeans! And he REALLY loves bean-boozled! But he almost always eats the gross ones! YUCK!

We brought the cousins in for the gross “test-your-luck” game!

THAT CHEESY SMILE!!

Those crazy boys! They are growing WAY TOO FAST!