Lucky {Friendswood Texas Baby Photographer}

This is one lucky little dude.

Is he stunningly beautiful or what?!  Those lips.  That hair.  Oh man, he is a heartbreaker already!

He actually joins a whole family of heart breakers as the 4th son of some of my very good friends.  I’m actually having a hard time coming up with words to describe the specialness of this family, which, as you may know, is pretty weird for me.  I always have words.  Just ask my husband.

But the A family is amazing.  They are loving, Godly parents and have been entrusted to raise up 4 boys.  There is not a doubt in my mind that they are perfect for the job.

Mr. N. didn’t want to miss a single thing, which means we got lots of wide awake shots.  I love seeing those big, beautiful brown eyes.

I love a snuggly little burrito baby.

I love those pursed little lips!

Thanks for being so adorable, Mr. N.

New Happy Place

Our family pictures arrived in the mail the other day, and I was so stinkin’ excited about getting them on the mantel!  For quite some time now I’ve had a super boring mantel: two candles flanking either side of a glass hurricane.  It was fine, but I definitely wanted to add more personality to it.  So yesterday, after dropping Camryn off at mother’s day out, I headed straight to Hobby Lobby to find the perfect touches.  I still might add things here or there (there were some candle sticks I really wanted but they were not 50% off this week.  You know how hl is…everything goes on sale there eventually!  So I’ll just wait and see if I still really want them once they are half off.)

Now, when I walk in my front door, this is what I see:

A little closer look:  The photos on the wall are 11×14’s in 16×20 frames.  And I realize that they are crooked.  After I took these pictures it became glaringly obvious to me.  I have fixed it because even though it’s subtle, I knew it would drive me nuts!

The two smaller pics.  The one of the kids is a 5×5, and the family one is a 5×7 matted in an 8×10 frame (that I found on clearance for $3 because the little standy part is broken off the back.  Score for me!)  I was so antsy to get these photos in frames that I printed them right on my home printer.  The photographer in me was totally cringing at that move, but from far away, I don’t really think you can even tell they were printed at home on cheap-o photo paper.  Gotta love that!  I do plan to order quality prints for the frames soon. 🙂

And one more look.

I’m just so pleased with it.  Even Derek noticed right when he walked in from work.  And that’s saying a lot because, let me put this gently…Derek isn’t always the most observant about things like photos and hair cuts and new outfits and the like.  But he noticed and even complimented it!  Made my day.

P.S. Please excuse the lack of blog banner.  I keep meaning to make a new one…I know exactly what I am going to do, but I keep getting distracted by things like decorating my mantel and playing around on Twitter.  I had actually forgotten about how naked my blog looked until Derek mentioned it last night.  Again, I was proud of his attention to detail. 🙂

Say it with me: Beautiful! {Friendswood Texas Family Photographer}

As soon as I saw this sweet family, one word came to mind: beautiful.  Their children are beautiful, mom and dad are beautiful, and after just a short time together, I could see that they aren’t just beautiful on the outside.  They are beautiful on the inside, too.  Full of life, love, smiles, laughter, and fun.  Oh, it is such a joy to meet families like this.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times.  Five year old boys+me=FUN!  I love, love, love this age!  It probably helps that I have two boys of my own just about this guy’s age.  I always have lots and lots to talk about.  And my R2D2 impressions are always a hit (which is honestly a nice change…I think my own boys are totally over all my antics!)  Isn’t he just so handsome?  And he’s got a big ol’ personality to go right along with it.  He’s got the whole package!

And sweet little sister.  She just turned one.  That tutu…oh man, I loved it.  Miss B. was a sweet little busy bundle of energy!  I loved watching her toddle around, still just a little unsteady and with Frankenstein arms in full effect.  I loved how she explored every little detail in the world around us, from the rocks, to the leaves, to the cracks in the bridge, to the other people at the park.  The world is hers to discover.  And I loved how she would break into the biggest grin every time she laid eyes on her mama or daddy.  She is one loved little girl, and something tells me that she is going to love back just as fiercely.

And finally, the sibling love.  Can you feel it?  Brother is loving on sister, sister is maybe just a touched panicked about it but smiling because she knows her big brother has got her back.

Thank you so much, S family!  I can’t wait to share the rest!

Letters from Connor

Before Christmas, Connor’s class learned how to write formal letters.  Thus began Connor’s letter writing craze.  Sometimes he writes letters of apology.  Sometimes it’s an invitation.  But they are always entertaining (well, to me at least!)

For example…

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year I would like a Harry Potter skateboard.  I think I deserve it because I’m doing really good in school and I have agood grades and my mom thinks it’s a good idea.  I want it because I’m getting tired of riding my bike and scooter.

For my family this year we would like Sorry Spin.  We would like it because we like to play board games and regular Sorry is boring because if your ten minutes into  the game and you have one more guy to get home and there’s no more sorries in the deck and spaces to get your last guy home and the next draw you do you get eleven no one can stop you.

For my school this year I would like extra recess.  I want extra recess because when we get out we barely get any time to play before my teacher blows her whistle.

Sincerely,
Connor

I think the paragraph about Sorry is the best.  So much detail in one run-on sentence.

Dear Logan,

How are you?  I wanted to give you a present.  I hope you like it.  Do you remember when we wanted to sleep in my room?  Maybe we should do it today. You could sleep in a sleeping bag.  Do you want to sleep on my bed or on the floor?  I can barely wait!  I love you!

Aw…brotherly love.  Brotherly sleep over.  Too sweet.

Dear Logan,

I am sorry for punching you.  I lost control of my hands.  Maybe we should get separate seats again.

Love,
Connor

The classic apology.  For some reason, it’s incredibly hard for C to keep his hands off of Logan while on the bus.  And the losing control of the hands part?  Totally my line.  He’s been listening!

Dear Logan,

Tomorrow do you want to sleep in my bed?  We could play bed tricks.  Bed tricks is where you do a trick on the bed and name it.  Or we could play action figured or anything else in my room or your room.  We could also play the store game or the obstacle course game outside.  Use mom to respond.  I love you!

Sincerely,
Connor

At the bottom of this letter, in gray marker and in precious 5 year old handwriting are three words.: And love Logan. Something tells me I need to hang on to this letter.  I should pull it out on those days when they cannot even be in a room together without fighting so I can remember that they really do love each other and love to play with each other.

I’ve also saved one other letter, written last year.

There is no one quite like a brother.

cute as can be {Clear Lake Texas Baby Photogrpher}

You’ve seen Miss L on my blog before, back when she was 4 months old and again at Christmas when her whole family joined in for a mini session.  She just keeps on getting cuter and cuter!  It doesn’t get much better than an adorably chunky, happy 9 month old.  We started the photo shoot when she was fresh from her morning nap, and this was one of the very first pictures I snapped.  I knew right then that we were going to have a great time and come away with some happy and fun photos!

The whole family has these amazing blue eyes.  So beautiful.

This picture just makes me smile!  L is such a little ham.  She struck this pose and held it for quite awhile.  I could barely snap the picture because we were just cracking up.  L knows how to work the camera and make everyone smile, that’s for sure!

After some inside photos, an outfit change was in order so we could take a few outside in their backyard.  L continued to bring the happiness and the smiles.  She loved being outside!

After awhile, she did let her more serious side peek through for a bit.  Her cheeks…oh, her cheeks.  They are some of the most kissable I’ve seen! 

I left this photo shoot smiling, and I don’t think I stopped for the rest of the afternoon.  Babies definitely have that effect on people.  How lucky I am to have a job that makes me smile so very much.

The H Family {Houston Family Photographer}

Meet my friend Leslie and her beautiful family.

I met Leslie 5 years ago when I moved to Houston and became a part of a playgroup via my sister-in-law. Five years ago, there were 5 moms and 8 kids in that group. We met every week and those women were my lifeline. We grew and grew over the years maxing out at 9 moms, now with 26 kids between us (and in just a few weeks there will be 27 kids!) Now that we all have school age kids, weekly playgroup is a thing of the past. We do still try to get together for a girls night out around birthdays, but I can’t even remember they last time we were all together with all of our kids. But it doesn’t really even matter because that group will always be very near and dear to my heart. They made my move to Houston so very easy and I have been so blessed by their friendship.

Leslie and I tried to schedule a session back at Christmas time, but we just couldn’t make it work.  So January it was!  We had a good time at our session, catching up, playing, and exploring while trying to stay out of the mud.  After the more traditional pictures, I called the big kids over for a sneak attack.  I always love the expressions on these pics!  I think  T just about knocked his dad to the ground.

Miss C. will be turning 2 at the end of the month, so we went ahead and took some 2 year old pictures.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…I love photographing 2 year olds!

Isn’t this next one funny?  Miss C did this all on her own.  She was totally striking poses all during out session.  She is just too cute!

Leslie, thanks again for the fun session!  And, more importantly, thanks for your friendship over the years!