First Field Trip

Cami started at a new school this year, and while we miss her old school, it’s been a great change for us.  The new school is less than 5 minutes from my house, and it’s been pretty life changing to not spend 30+ minutes on the preschool commute.  On Friday, Camryn went on her first official school field trip to the local pumpkin patch.  She is so funny in social situations.  Anyone who knows Camryn knows she is not shy and quiet, but when she is in big groups, she turns into this shy and quiet little thing.  I think she’s like Derek in that way.  I know for sure she isn’t like me in that way!  So while she didn’t run around like crazy with most of the other kids, she did enjoy story time and snack time and walking around with me while I took a bunch of pictures of her.  And that suited me just fine.  Y’all know I love to take pictures!

I took this picture when we first arrived at one of the little photo spots they have set up.  Can you see her shy little smile?  We had a cold front come through the night before the field trip and I was excited to dress her in some of her fall/winter clothes.  And I was even more excited that she didn’t fight me on the outfit!  Of course, I wanted to pair her outfit with these super cute brown mary janes, but in the end, I decided it wasn’t worth the battle and crocs won.

After walking around and posing on pumpkins, she found a few other fun games to play like hide and seek…

And she played run like a maniac

And jump like a superhero.

And just before we left, she asked me to take a few photos of her with her new build-a-bear affectionately named Cami Daddy, which I think is a clear indication of who her two favorite people are.

And speaking of the build-a-bear, it’s just another example of the benefit of being the youngest and the only one at home with me all the time.  The other day, we went to the mall so I could look for a few things at Loft during the 40% off everything sale.  And then, for no other reason except she asked nicely and I thought it would be fun, we made a spontaneous trip to build-a-bear.  She’d been in there one other time and picked out one of the miniature already made bears.  I thought she might do the same thing, but no.  She’s figured it out and wanted the whole kit and kaboodle.  She picked out the pink bunny, we put a sound in it, and even got her an outfit and some accessories.  I’ll be the first to admit that Camryn gets a little spoiled.  It comes with being the baby of the family, I think.  Just ask my little brother.  Actually, what he always says is not spoiled, blessed.  I guess you could say Cami is blessed to be not only the baby, but also the only girl.  It’s not a bad spot to be.

Photogenic {League City Texas Family Photographer}

Get ready to feast your eyes on a couple of the most photogenic children ever!  In my experience, 6 year old boys aren’t always the most willing photo subjects.  Now, at that age, I can usually get them laughing and smiling and having a great time.  But J showed up to our shoot with his smile ready!  This was one of the first pictures I took of him, and even at the end of our time, he was just as handsome.

J happily held his little sister and flashed us his amazing smile while we all worked to get Miss A smiling.  It must be in the genes, because she gave us this.

Of course, looking at their family photos, I would definitely say that it’s in the genes.  They were such a great family to photograph!

As important as it was to get family photos and photos of J, the real star of the show was their sweet not-s0-baby-girl who recently turned one.  She had the cutest outfits and was such a great sport during all the outfit (and bow) changes.   Nothing could bring her down!  She is such a happy girl.




During her very last outfit, her adorable Halloween costume, she decided it was time to show her more serious side.  I love it just as much as her huge happy grin!  She is a beautiful little girl.

Thanks so much for the great session!  And for having such adorable and easy going kids.  My camera loved them!

Class of 2012 {Friendswood Texas Senior Photographer}

Saturday was a great day for a lot of reasons, and one of them was definitely getting to spend and afternoon in Galveston with this beautiful girl and her family.

She is my first official senior of the class of ’12.  And she was senior perfection!  Beautiful, spunky, relaxed, and armed with an arsenal of cute clothes, accessories, and shoes.  I simply love photographing seniors!

M has a gorgeous smile, but she can also rock the serious face.  I have a deep appreciation for that skill which probably stems from the fact that I cannot for the life of me take a good photograph with a serious face.  But M sure can!

But then, she can switch right back to that gorgeous smile.

And another serious one because I simply could not decide which one to share!

And one more sneak in one more of her outfits.

Yes, it’s true.  I love seniors!

Thank you so much for hanging out with me, for traipsing all around, and bringing your personality to our shoot.  I loved getting to meet you and your family!

Houston, we have a problem {Houston Family Photographer}

If you live in Houston, I think this past weekend will go down in history with one word in mind: mosquitoes.  After 6 months of barely any rain, we finally had a great storm about 2 weeks ago.  Well, apparently, mosquitoes have a 2 week incubation period because the mosquitoes are out in full force.  It’s like all of the mosquitoes that we should have had over the past 6 months all hatched on Thursday and Friday.   They are swarming.  It’s the kind of outbreak where you end up with a dozen in your car just in the loading time, and bugspray almost become necessary in your home because so many fly in when the door opens.

I think y’all get my point.  It’s bad.  It’s definitely not good conditions for an outdoor family photo shoot.  When this family and I arrived at the location on Saturday morning, we almost bailed and rescheduled.  Even armed with tons of bug spray and those off clip-on fan things, it was still just about unbearable.  But, you know how much effort goes into getting a family of 5 photo ready on a Saturday morning, so we pressed on.  And, somehow, even with some tears, lots of mosquito swatting, and a half a bottle of bug spray, we came away with some great pictures.

We did end up cutting our session short, and we’re going to meet next week to get some more photos of the girls.  I can hardly wait!  They are so beautiful, fun, and sweet.  I’ve been taking pictures of  L since she was 4 months old!  It’s been so fun to watch her grow and become a full fledged toddler.  And she has definitely made her arrival into toddler hood!  She is so busy.  But I love it, and truly enjoy this age.

Middle sister had the hardest time with the mosquitoes.  They would not leave her alone!  It must be because she is so sweet.  But she’s definitely got a spunky side, too, and that is something I love to see.

And big sister is in that great early elementary stage.  She’s a great big sister–so very sweet and easy going.

Thank you so much for hanging in there on Saturday, and I can’t wait to y’all again soon!

she’s got the moves

It’s no secret that I love to shop for (and with) Camryn.  Girl clothes are just way too fun!  Now that she’s older (i.e. super opinionated about every single thing), I usually either shop with her or show her pictures of the things I like and see what she thinks.  Maybe giving her so much control is going to come back and bite me someday, but for now it works.

So today when the doorbell rang and we found a box of clothes I ordered last week, we were both pretty excited.  She loves to get packages.  I mean, who doesn’t, right?  We tore into the box, and she immediately wanted to put on one of her new outfits.  Then, because she knows me, she asked me to take a picture of her.  This is what happened over the course of about 60 seconds.

And my personal favorite, as a grand finale…

She cracks me up every single day.

Creative {Clear Lake TX Family Photographer}

I love it when one of my clients has an idea for a photo and then it totally works out.  This was one of those cases!  My friend Erin liked the purple chair that I used a few weeks ago and wanted a set up with the chair and the added touch of a chandelier that she has for her daughter’s room.   I wasn’t sure that we would be able to pull it off, but I think they really turned out cute!

I was so glad that Erin wanted some family photos along with photos of her kids.  This was their first time to have photos taken since they’ve had their kids!  J is going to turn 4 in a few months, so it was definitely time.

But I always have to capture just the kids, too.

I just love it when creative things work out, and this was totally one of those sessions.  I loved every second of it.

Connections {Houston Family Photographer}

One of my favorite things about this job is meeting fun new people.  You know what’s even better than that?  Re-meeting someone who I crossed paths with many years ago.  When Jennifer contacted me, I immediately thought her name looked familiar.  After a little facebook stalking (c’mon,  you know you do it too!), I saw that we had several mutual friends in common from college.  So I pulled out my trusty college yearbook, and sure enough, there she was.  We’re now officially facebook friends, and I think the next step is real life friends.  I loved getting to reconnect with her, and meet her husband and her precious (and I mean precious) baby boy.

See what I mean about that sweet baby?  If that face doesn’t make you smile, then I think your heart must be made out of stone.

As much as I loved hanging out with sweet baby G, he really wasn’t the main focus of our session.  Well, he was, but it was really all about the family photos.

But let’s face it.  He’s really the star.  I just love watching moms and dads with their firstborn babies.  I really shouldn’t say firstborn only, because every child is so special and the love just pours out.  But there is something special about that heart-bursting, gut-wrenching, firstborn love.

Something tells me that Mr. G soaks it all up and loves every bit of it.

Jennifer, it was so great to reconnect with you and meet your sweet family.  I’m serious about the whole real-life friends thing.  Let’s do lunch soon!

Just be sure and bring that precious baby along so he can grin at me some more.

Show me the love {Houston Mini Sessions}

Yesterday, I had my first day of Houston mini sessions. I had a fabulous time photographing some beautiful and fun families! Up first was this group of 4 kids. With two boys and two girls from two families and ranging from age 11 to 4, I was admittedly a tad bit nervous about it. But they were seriously such an amazing group of kids!

I loved getting to catch up with these two.  I’ve known them for about 4 years through the preschool my kids were in.  Our kids aren’t in the same school anymore, so I sure am glad that I get the chance to see them for pictures!  They have grown so much (and lost a few teeth) over the past year!

This was my first time to meet these two.  They were so sweet to each other, even though they admitted to fighting sometimes.  Judging by this picture, I find that hard to believe.

It’s so neat to see see how different families connect, and there was something extra special about watching these 4 kids with each other.  Although they weren’t born into the same family, the love that brought them together has made such a special sibling bond.  I’m so glad I got to experience it.  It was a great reminder about the power of family and the power of love.  These four kids are so lucky.

Mini Session Sneak #2 {Houston Children’s Photographer}

I was super excited about my second mini session in the metroplex.  This sweet little guy belongs to one of my friends from high school.  We haven’t seen each other since high school (13 years ago…eek!).  But through Facebook we reconnected a couple of years ago.  We’ve talked about getting together, and I’m so glad that we finally made it happen, and that I got to meet her son.

M is smack dab in the middle of my two boys, which means we could carry on a great conversation about Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  My knowledge of Commander Cody and Boba Fett certainly comes in handy with the under 10 crowd!

In the short amount of time we spent together, I could see what an amazing kid he is.  He is so, so sweet.  For example, when I asked who was his best friend, he said his mom.  As a mama to boys, I love that answer.

Whitney, it was so great to catch up with you.  I’m going to do my part to make sure it’s not 13 years before we see each other again!  Thanks so much for waking up early (sidenote…it’s hard for me to even type that since our session was at 10:00, but at only 7 years old, M has already learned the art of sleeping in!  I am jealous and wish my kids would pick up on that life skill!)  Anyway, thanks for coming out.  I loved getting to see y’all!