And just for fun, here are a couple of turtle shots. The first one was bigger than a dinner plate! The second was just a regular sized turtle, of which there were dozens.

Then, six months later, this:

So cute!! Then, just the other day, this. Without even realizing, we created a nearly identical copy of that first image, only with Dad this time rather than Mom.

But now, Emilio has a baby sister. Meet Emma.

And here’s a new shot of Emilio. He’s definitely developed an ornery streak!

And for two reasons: 1. I think outtakes are fun, and 2. Just to prove my comments from above….

You can thank me for sparing you from seeing Little M spitting up all over her Maw Maw (that’s grandmother for the uninitiated).

Jessica, your girls give me a workout, but they are adorable and so much fun!! Can’t wait to see them again.

I came to this little guy’s house to photograph him nursing for my nursing project. However, Mom wasn’t ready yet and I just couldn’t resist this face. Can you blame me? You won’t recognize him, but he last graced the blog here as a newborn. He’s 6 months old now, and has changed quite a bit. I just couldn’t stop giggling as I was taking these pictures. He’s just so dang cute! I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them!

While, shooting seniors is definitely my most favorite thing to do, I do have interests and even great loves outside of photography. One of those is the nursing relationship between a mother and her child. I have nursed 6 children for a total of 10 years 9 months. And I suppose if I wanted to pad that a little, I could include an extra 2 years since I was nursing twins for that long. Don’t they each get to count for their own two years? Well, maybe not. Either way, it’s obvious to those around me that nursing is important to me. So, for my first personal project, I’ve decided to create a calendar of nursing moms. Because in addition to the importance of nursing, I think NORMALIZING nursing in our society is important, too. It seems we can’t go a week without hearing about another mom who was asked to leave or cover up or go to the bathroom to nurse her baby. It seem the more developed the country, the more the society eschews, normal, natural things. When fashion dictated that girls wear pants riding so low you could see way too much, we saw it enough that we all got used to it. Now many people don’t think twice about seeing much more of a woman’s skin than we did 15 yeas ago. If people saw enough moms nursing out in public, while going about their normal lives, perhaps, soon society would become immune to the sight and get over it.

I realize this may not be a popular view with every visitor to my blog, but I’m ok with that. I think it’s important that people know who they are visiting and who they are hiring.

Explanation out of the way, here are some way cute kids whose moms volunteered to participate in this project. These are the first three of a total of 15 littles who will be happily nursing for me. Well, with one small exception. Evie was simply too busy checking out my house to sit and nurse long enough to get a photo of her. But that’s ok. I’m patient and we’ll try again at her house. Where she should be bored since she lives there.

I just took this picture today as part of a family session. I just started going through the session and this image jumped out at me and I just had to share it. These girls are just this kind to each other all the time. They are also just 2 or the 5 children in this family and they all treat each other this way. This whole family was just a joy to photograph and I can’t wait to get the rest of the session done!

Outside pictures will be taken at Crystal Lake at the boathouse. I took my family’s fall pictures there last October and loved how they turned out, so that’s where we’ll go. Here are some samples of those portraits.

If you prefer that studio look, and many people do and that’s fine, here are some samples of what you can hope to see of your student. At this time, I have white, brown, gray and black background available. You’ll have to choose ahead of time, so be sure to take a good look to help you decide.

And just because he’s so stinkin’ cute (yes, I admit, I may be a little bit biased), I had to include this picture of my Ian. He walked in just as I finished doing a quick shot of Hannah so you could see a brown sample. He’d just gotten up from his nap, but wanted me to take his picture. So I did.

Now that you’ve read through all my jabber, and had a good look at my sweetie, here are the important details. Portraits dates will be May 6th and 7th. The 6th will be the outside sessions and the 7th will be the studio sessions. After I get an idea of how many people want which type of session, I will announce times. You’ll get those by email.

If you are interested in having spring portraits done of your home schooled child, and their siblings, fill out the form below and I’ll get you added to the schedule. If you are not a home school family but are interested in something like this, let me know and I’ll add you to my mailing list and let you know when I’m doing mini-sessions that will include you.

Click Here to download the price list for packages.

[contact-form]

Mom wanted just a couple of shots of her girls in their adorable Easter dresses. No problem, right? Well, an incredibly windy day, paired with this little lady who was NOT interested in having her picture taken at all, proved me wrong. But, since I’m just not a fan of uber posed, almost fake looking shots, I was ok with this. This is how she felt in this moment, and it was captured.

But then…..

Look at how much she loves her little sister. So sweet!! This is my favorite shot from this mini session. And really, who could resist this precious little one?

And one more, because, unlike her sister, she was quite content to pose for me.

I can’t wait for our summer “bikini” session!!

Mini sessions are special offerings throughout the year. If you are interested in being alerted to when there are occurring, you can either subscribe to my blog and see the announcement there when it comes out, or drop me an email and I’ll add you to my mailing list.

This little gal simply could not have been cuter. Look at those eyes! And her eye lashes are totally to die for! She wasn’t really impressed with our attempts to photograph her much of the time, but she came around and realized the lime light is right where she belongs! Good thing since Mom has plans!

These two princesses gave me a run for my money, that’s for sure!! They each chose to wear these beautiful white dresses for their pictures. Mom wasn’t too sure at first, but I think they worked perfectly!

Little Maya is actually quite a happy little girl.  She just did that serious face so nicely! I used TRA’s Dirty Pictures on that image. I just love that plug in!

Thanks, guys, for a great session! Your girls are just beautiful!!

This is Michael. You may recognize him. He’s been around here before. He was not at all interested in having pictures taken today, but he did manage to give me this totally “lookin’ like mom” pose. There’s no denying he’s yours, Rebekah!

Gabriel, unlike his brother, was quite happy to have his picture taken. Isn’t he just a doll?? He’s probably not as familiar since it’s been a while since I’ve photographed him.

Here is their cousin. He came along for a few shots, too. I swear this boy could model! Just look at those eyes! I was very happy to meet Hunter, and very happy with the shots I got of him, even if I did have to do some bargaining.

This is Ryan and Lisa. They are so sweet together. Ryan is getting ready to go away for basic training, and they wanted some family pictures before he left. Well, really, before he got all that hair shaved off! They were a lot of fun, and their adorable children certainly showed lots of personality. I had a hard time picking just a few favorites for the sneak peek, so there are several here!

I just love feet pictures!! I couldn’t help but include this one.

This is Kiera. She is one special little girl. She was born very premature. I can’t remember how many weeks, but I think she was about 30 week? Jen will correct me, I’m sure. Anyway, she had a really long first year of life. So did Mom, for that matter. But look at her now! She will be 4 this summer and is just beautiful! Not one single hint in her face that she was a preemie! I just liked this shot of her so much, that I had to devote a whole post just to her! Thanks for coming to my house today, Kiera!!

I know the calendar says it’s Spring, but the weather doesn’t seem to have a calendar. It’s the third week of April and today had a high of 48 degrees!! Lots of cold rain and wind, too. Ick. Makes me really glad I scheduled this year’s home school session indoors! Here are the 15 cuties I photographed today. They were so much fun!

Thanks again for coming out!

Home school portraits!! That’s right. It’s that time. Last year I did it outside. The weather was so unpredictable and it was cold and very windy. Made for some difficult shooting situations. I decided to forego the difficulties this year and just do them inside. However, I didn’t have any samples to show, so I invited a home school family over to fulfill that need for me. Actual home school portrait sessions will be April 20 and 21. Be sure to let me know if you want to participate!

I first saw Emilio 6 months ago when he was 3 months old. We did his newborn session then because he was born 3 months early. He was cute then, but now he’s just irresistable!  Just look at those eyes! I could just get lost in them!

I just love these two as a set.

Here they all are:

Seriously, who could look at this little girl with all of that hair and not smile???

She is just simply beautiful. I about can’t stop looking at her!

This didn’t work out quite like I’d planned. I’d hoped she’d give me a look similar to above, but she just wasn’t very happy about all of this. I still think it’s an adorable image.

This is a fun shot. If you look closely, you can see her mother reflected in her eyes.

Here are Grandma and Grandpa. They are a wonderful help to Mom and Dad. This is a Chinese tradition that I could really get into. Having help with the new baby! I just love her expression here.

Here’s everyone, Grandma & Grandpa, Mom & Dad, and Olivia

You have a beautiful family and it was such a joy to be a part of your baby’s very special day!

Here is my oldest. She’s nearly 16. Wow. That’s so hard to believe.

Here is my tomboy. She hates having her picture taken and it’s always a fight to get her into the mood. But, I ended up not just with one I could live with, but one I really like!

Here is Thing 1. And let me say, after having two girls, these guys really do qualify as Things!!

And here’s Thing 2. It’s hard to look at them and imagine they are twins!

Here is my little princess. Actually, the picture I took of her at this session didn’t really show her to her best. It’s the little one. A few days later, I took one at home that really is more “her.” So, even though it doesn’t match the set, I think it’s the one I’m going to frame with the other kids. Or maybe I’ll put the matching one in the group display, and print the other one to hang somewhere else. First, the one with the other kids, and second the one I like better.

And along came Thing 3. Dr. Seuss didn’t write about him. It was too scary for a children’s book. This little guy is a crazy, fearless, daredevil!! He’s also quite ornery. Can’t you tell from that smile? Yes. He thinks he’s smiling in this picture.

I couldn’t end the session without some group shots. Well, actually, I started with these. You can tell it’s early because my cranky girl refused to smile.

Fortunately, in this shot, it didn’t matter if she smiled or not! This will be going over our fireplace.

That’s it! It was a very quick session, but we got everyone done! Oh, and just ignore the fact that my title contradicts this last image. They really do have shoes!

Just a little ps: I LOVE that my new blog allows me to show images bigger!