Megan Thurman Photography

This family booked a session with me after I took their oldest son’s photos at his preschool.  (And, by the way, this session took place back in March, when it was still surprisingly cool outside!  Oh, the blessed cool days…I remember them so fondly and they seem so long ago…)

Anyway, I was super excited about that, because look at this little cutie!

His little brother is pretty darn cute, too!

Which really is no surprise…such a super sweet family.  Loved getting to know them!  If I remember correctly, they were pretty happy when the little guy got is Texas Tech guns up!  Gotta love Texas colleges and their loyalties.  Good thing he didn’t throw a Longhorn or a Gig ‘Em…

Although I’m sure the mama love runs deeper than college loyalty.

In March of 2005, I was just about to have my second baby.  I was 25 years old, living 1000 miles away from all of our family, and Derek was working long hours to finish up his phd.  It was actually Derek’s idea for me to start a blog.  I don’t think I even understood what it was exactly, but soon enough, I took his advice and started writing and sharing.  For years and years, I wrote.  I wrote funny things, embarrassing things, and probably every once in awhile, some serious things.  It became a normal part of my week and my life.  Fast forward 9 years, and our life looks very different.  We’ve moved and added to our family again and again.  I started a small business.  Our kids grew, and while I thought that life with a toddler and a newborn was busy, I really just had no idea.  I look back and think that I must have had so much free time!  I scrapbooked all the time, wrote blog posts all the time, and taught myself how to take photos.  I’m so glad that I have stories and memories from those years written down.

I’ve realized something over the past month or so.  I really miss blogging.  Even after I stopped writing on my personal blog, I still shared sessions on my photography blog.  But the blog I kept up since 2005 fell to the wayside.  I realized this summer that it’s almost been 1 year since my last post, which basically means that I am not a blogger anymore.  When I think about all the fun/silly/cool/amazing things that have happened that I never recorded, it makes me sad!  I have gotten to a point where I don’t even blog sneak peeks for sessions anymore.  I made a list the other day of photo sessions to blog, and there are 17 families on that list.  Then I started thinking about other things I want to blog about that aren’t necessarily photography related.  Which posts do I start with?  What I want to write is more fun, personal, family kind of stuff.  But what I feel like I should write is more business-y kind of stuff.

Then it hit me.  Why in the world do I have two separate blogs?  My photography business is such a reflection of me, and my brand is me, so why in the world did I feel like I needed to keep it all separated?  That just makes it harder to keep up, makes me have to choose where and what to write instead of just writing and sharing.

Problem solved.  I have imported my entire 9.5 years of blogging archives into my business blog.  This is where I will write and share family stuff and professional stuff.  I’m super excited to revive the blogging!  I’ve missed it so.

And it feels good to be back.

I cannot believe that I have not blogged a session in over 5 months!  It’s not for lack of material, that’s for sure.  Ever since I switched my pricing structure to be simple and all-inclusive, I have simply been using my work time to finish galleries instead of blogging a sneak peek for each session.  But no more of that!  I love keeping this blog updated with my latest sessions.  I love being able to look back at all the sweet kids and families I’ve had the joy of meeting.

And I’m going to start with the crew, who pretty much embody the meaning of joy.

I think these four look like they could be siblings, but they are cousins–perfect stair-step cousins at ages 4, 3, 2, and 1.  Whew!  In our emails back and forth, one of their moms mentioned that they were the “active adventurer type” which is pretty much my favorite thing in the whole world.  Bring it on, adventurers!

Oh, but they were so sweet, too.  I can’t get enough of this little guys curls or the way he loves his little sister so well.  Sweet big brother–there is nothing quite like it.

What a precious crew.  I loved every minute with them (mosquitoes and all!)

 

If you live in Houston, you know that this was the weekend that winter decided to show her face.  Us Houstonians do not do cold weather well.  When the temperature drops to about 50, phrases like “arctic cold” get thrown around.  I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago before a different cold front arrived and the dj was going on and on about pulling out those sweaters and boots to prepare for the weather.  The high was going to be in the 60s!  In other parts of the country, that’s straight up shorts weather!

So when this weekend’s forecast called for lots of rain and temperatures in the 40s-50s, it wasn’t looking good for a session.  In fact, on Saturday we emailed back and forth trying to figure out when we could reschedule. I was going to be so disappointed!  I had done a session with this family over a year ago down in Galveston, and I was really looking forward to seeing them all again plus meeting their newest addition.  But, not a drop of rain fell until Sunday night, and a little chill in the air wasn’t going to stop them!  The girls were such troopers, and you would never guess that they were cold.

I think there is something so special about families that have all the same gender.  These girls are so lucky to have each other!  It was so sweet to watch them together.

Such beautiful girls, all four of them!

It’s no secret that I love to take unposed, fun, playful family pictures along with the more traditional ones.  With the chill in the air yesterday, I definitely wanted to get the girls running!  I think this picture really sums up life with four kids…a lot crazy, and a lot fun; so much laughter and joy!

And one last one to share.  Sweet baby E…she was so much fun!  Thanks, M family, for driving out for our session, braving the cold, and having fun all the while!  I’m so thankful that the weather held out for us!

It’s seems crazy, but sometimes I almost forget that my older brother lives just 20 minutes down the road.  It’s not that we aren’t close, because we are.  He is one of my heroes.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve looked up to him as one of the kindest, most loving, funniest, Christ-like people I’ve ever known.  I’m so lucky to have a big brother like him.  But you know how life can be when you’re in the thick of raising kids.  We’ve got separate lives, jobs, school, church, sports, and on and on it goes.  We don’t get to see each other nearly as much as I wish we did.  But even so, he is always there when I need him. I try to make sure I get family photos of them about once a year.  I’m pretty sure we missed last year, but other than that, for the past 3 or 4 years we’ve had a yearly photo session.  I love getting a chance to hang out with him and the rest of the crew.  I love my niece and nephews and my sis-in-law so much!

I love that they included their dogs.  Such a great family!

The baby of the family….he couldn’t be any cuter if he tried! He is the most photogenic two year old ever!  Every time he saw my camera, he smiled and laughed.  So cute!

The biggest.  J has grown up so much in the past year!  He will be 11 soon.  He is so smart, and really funny, too.  He reminds me so much of my brother. 

Miss K, the only girl.  She’s beautiful, and smart, and funny, too.  Just like her mama. 

Love these guys!  Such great kids, all three of them.

 

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it on this blog or not, but we moved to a new house about 5 months ago.  We love our new home!  One of the best parts is our neighbors.  It’s a close knit street with lots and lots of kids.  It’s pretty idyllic, really.  In fact, when we came to look at our house, one of the things we loved right away were the sheer number of kids outside playing.  At our old house, Camryn had neighbor friends (and we miss them so much!), but here there are kids of all ages.  It’s so fun!  I was thrilled to have to opportunity to take pictures of our new friends and neighbors.  And they were nice enough to be location guinea pigs!

Aren’t they so sweet?  I love this picture.

I love photographing brothers.  They bring the rough and tumble sweetness and I love it.  Can’t you just see how much these two love each other?  They are so lucky to have each other.  

This brother hug ended in a brother tackle, which is what happens 9 times out of 10.  But they come up laughing and smiling every time.

I’m so glad I’ll get to watch these two grow up over the years.

 

From the very start of this session, I knew it was going to be amazing.  These two were just the sweetest, snuggliest brother and sister ever!  They are just one year apart in age, and while I’m sure they have their moments of typical sibling rivalry, I have a hard time imagining them being anything other than 100% sweet and loving to each other.

When asked to give each other hugs and kisses, they dove right in.  I about died of the cuteness when this happened.

And when I told P to run and give her big brother J a hug, she did just that.  Look at the joy on his face!  So sweet.

These two were quite simply just so much fun.  I am convinced there is something really special about kids who are born just one year apart.  They don’t know what life is like without the other, and I think that bond is something even greater than the regular brother/sister bond.  They will go through life side by side.  What a gift!

Of course, I had to get individual pictures, too.  Miss P.  The hat…the sweet little grin…the little curls…it’s too much! 

And handsome Mr. J.  If there is one thing I love in this world, it’s three year old boys.  He’s such a little man-child, and I love it.   

I’m really borderline obsessed with these two and the photos we captured.  My husband can vouch for me that I came home from our session positively giddy.  If it wouldn’t be completely weird, I might just print their photos and hang them up on my own walls .  (I promise I’m not that crazy!  Don’t be frightened!)  I think you get my point. 🙂  It was a magical session with two magical little friends.  I couldn’t love my job more.

This family contacted me for a session with really one goal in mind: a good family photo.  With three kids, ages 4, 2, and 4 months, getting a good picture can definitely be a challenge!  There are definitely lots and lots of moments like this, which I actually love because this is real life right here.

You’ve got big brother, doing his very best to hold up baby brother but his real feelings about this whole hold the baby business are written all over his face.  By this point, the candy had come out (a little incentive never hurt!), and sister is happy as a lark about those sweet little tidbits!  Meanwhile baby brother is just as sweet as can be.  Third born kids are something special, I tell you.

But there are also moments like this.  I love Miss O’s little personality shining through here!  And big brother’s sweet little smile, and baby R’s little tongue sticking out.

And we got his one, too.  I wish you could have seen us trying to convince O to sit there in the middle.  Sometimes directing a two year old is just like herding cats!  But then once she decided to sit, look at what we captured!  Such a sweet, beautiful family.

I couldn’t help but take a few pictures of the kids by themselves, minus sweet baby R who had an unfortunate encounter with some ants.  Thankfully they didn’t bite him at all but left him without his sweet little Christmas outfit.  I’m really diligent about checking for ants, but somehow they found us!  I’m so, so thankful he didn’t get bitten by any of them.  I have a feeling putting babies in an ants would be bad for business!

Anyway, sweet little O.  She took a bit to warm up to me, but we played a few games and then we were old friends.

And the biggest of the bunch.  Four year old boys are the perfect mix of energy, sweetness, and fun, and G was no exception.  He is such a great kid.

Thank you guys so much for hanging in there through all the ups and downs of our session! I loved meeting you all, B family.

I look forward to my session with this family so much every year.  Way back in 2010, Sarah contacted me to come take photos of her then 4 month old daughter.  I think that was one of my very first sessions with someone who wasn’t a friend or at least a friend of a friend.  It was one of my first “google” sessions.  I can remember being so nervous about our session!  But Sarah was so easy to work with, and the little Lucy was an absolute doll.  I love that I get to see them every year now, and that I’ve gotten to see Lucy grow up from a little fuzzy headed 4 month old to a full-fledged preschooler!

Want to take a walk down memory lane?  Check this out! Lucy at 4 months, 2010 family session, Lucy at 9 months, 2011 family session (also known as the Year of the Mosquitoes), and 2012 family session.  I can hardly handle how much all the girls have grown up!  But they are still the same beautiful family, that’s for sure.

Lindsey is now a 4th grader, and is turning into such a little lady.  She looks so grown up!  And she has the most amazing blue eyes.  All the girls do, really. They are gorgeous!

I always have a soft spot in my heart for the middles, probably since I’m a middle, too.  I love that the first thing Lauren said to me this year was “Wanna hear something funny?  I’m 6, and I’ve lost 6 teeth!”  I love her.  She’s so much fun, and has also grown up so much since last year! 

I love this picture of Sarah surrounded by all her girls.  So beautiful, all 4 of them!

Every year, Sarah brings the cutest Christmas outfits for the girls.  Girls really are so fun to dress.

And the girls clearly DO love Santa.  This was the response when I asked who loved Santa.  I think I’ll take that as a resounding yes!

Reading back over this post, any editor would probably say that I used the word “love” too much, but I don’t even care.  It’s been such a privilege and a joy to meet up with them year after year!  I love it!

Last night was yet again another perfect night for a session!  This really is the absolute best time of year in Houston.  And I had such a beautiful family to go with the beautiful weather.  (Lucky me!  I have the best job in the world, I tell you!)

I love this next picture because it shows their fun and spunky side.  And believe me, this family definitely has a spunky side!  With two busy boys and a little girl that is equal parts sugar and spice, there is definitely lots of fun to be had! 

And there is lots of sweetness mixed in with that fun, too.

I took individual pictures of Miss D at her preschool a few weeks ago, and I was definitely looking forward to getting some more of her.  D is FULL of personality, and I love it!  She loves gymnastics, and was happy to give me some twirls in her new dress. 

But like I said before, she is equal parts sugar and spice.  I can’t help but share this one that shows her little sassy side.  I told her she could do whatever she wanted for her picture, and she busted out with this.  We were all cracking up at the little hip and head wiggle that went along with it!

And of course I can’t leave out her handsome brothers.  Both of the boys are cute as can be and have just the perfect amount of sweetness to go along with their all-boy-ness.  It’s a great combination (translation…lock up your daughters!  These two are the real deal.)

Thanks so much for the fun session, D family!