Can I tell you something about this guy? It was COLD that day – not terribly cold but cold enough!
He never complained. He almost always had that giant smile on his face!!
I asked him to show me his teeth – he wasn’t wrong! I just meant SMILE with your teeth!
BROTHERS!!
Patti – THANK YOU for coming to Mansfield and braving the cold!!
I hope to see you all again soon!!
Patti messaged me hoping for a last minute session with her sweet family!
Turns out – I’ve taken their photos before – her son & his family!
That biggest little guy – I photographed him when he was turning ONE!
THAT SMILE!!
That littlest little guy – he’s BRAND NEW!!
My niece is only 3 months older than Fitzy – so I’ve never really known what it’s like to be an aunt without my own kids!
But – watching my sister with Fitzy – it’s THE BEST!! DO YOU SEE HER GIANT SMILE!!
I love those closed eyes!!
Stay tuned for the rest of their session – and an outfit change!!
I met Mary Love when I started working at Phoenix! She’s a massage therapist and one of the kindest people I know!
AND SHE’S HAVING A BABY – a this point she’s HAD the baby!! She was BORN to be a momma!!
ISN’T SHE LOVELY!!
I was pretty sure we wouldn’t find a GORGEOUS spot to take photos – that still had leaves – but I was WRONG!
Do you SEE THOSE SMILES! I am so excited about this baby!! They are too!!
SO BEAUTIFUL!!
MARY LOVE – I am SO VERY HAPPY for you!!
You are absolutely GLOWING!! I cannot WAIT to meet this sweet baby!!
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!!
Stephanie messaged me on FACEBOOK – and I’ve been doing this thing recently – if I don’t know you – I message you back and ask if I do!
Turns out – she’s friends with my Aunt LuAnn and wanted to schedule a photo session!
Since it’s rained off & on & more on than off for the past 3 months – we weren’t sure if the weather would stay clear!
It stopped raining when we started shooting! PERFECTION!
They’ve NEVER had family pictures – that’s ALWAYS hard for me to wrap my head around!
STUNNING!!
SUCH A GORGEOUS SPOT!!
On the way to our last location – the rain & the wind started!
Do you know many – or ANY 12 year old boys that would smile and NOT be miserable during a photo session like this guy!? I don’t!
Turns out Stephanie graduated high school with my brother & her husband helped replace the roof on my parent’s house! It’s such a small world sometimes!
THANK YOU so much for asking me to take your FIRST family photos! I hope it’s not your last!
I photograph Viky and her family every December – in the spirit of CHRISTMAS!
This year we got together for some fall photos too!
I cannot deal with the cat in the background!!
PUMPKIN PAINTING!!
He happens to love Jurassic World too!
Viky – thank you SO MUCH for asking me to come spend the evening with you!
SEE YOU SOON!!
6 years ago I met Jessica & Chris to take their engagement photos – and 5 years ago – their wedding photos!
I recently met with them again – in the same place as their engagement & wedding photos – to capture their pregnancy!
Jessica wasn’t sure about keeping our session scheduled. It rained WAY TOO MUCH the second half of the summer and into fall – and the place where we wanted to do pictures was very very soppy & muddy.
We kept the session scheduled and prayed for the rain to stop and a GREAT sky. And I brought my mud boots!
I’M SO HAPPY WE KEPT THE DATE!!
SWOON!!
THAT TREE!!
When you’re waiting to be a momma – time NEVER moves fast enough.
THAT REFLECTION!!
THOSE SHOTS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE!!
THE PERFECT SKY!!
Jessica & Chris – thank you SO MUCH for asking me back into your lives to capture this MIRACULOUS time!
I’m so excited for you both! I can’t wait to see you with your baby in your arms!
I’ve been taking their photos for the past SIX years!!
They have such a GREAT backyard!!
Thank you SO much for asking me to spend the afternoon with you!
I meant to schedule our OWN creek exploring family photos this summer and then time got away from me! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!
So we scheduled family photos with Megan at the end of October. But it called for rain. So we called them off. Then it was clear. So they were back on.
While we waited for Jared to get home – I took the boys out to get some photos!
FIVE. My baby is FIVE!! TODAY – HE IS FIVE!! Doesn’t he look SO grown up!?
And that Fitzy guy – getting closer to EIGHT every day.
Fitzy took that picture of me – it’s PERFECT!!
And those ones – I LOVE THEM!!
Enoch took that one of me & Fitz! With Jared being a creeper in the background!
And Fitz took those ones too!!
It’s a good thing I have super long arms!
He just gets more & more handsome! And he currently has a beard – with spots of grey in it – SWOON!!
And a shot of our japanese maple tree! I LOVE having them line our driveway!
The rain rain rain came down down down after all and we had to cancel the session that day – as she pulled into the driveway!
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.
