A sweet little redhead named Ruby

An old friend of ours called last week to ask me to take pictures of his new little girl.  Of course, I had to say yes.  So I got to meet her today, and I have to say, she is absolutely gorgeous.  And she hardly made a peep.  Hmmm....this might not be so good for me.  Because now I really want a little girl.  :)

I mean really...can you get any cuter than this?!

Where Love Can Lead You.

I've been thinking a lot about when and how to post about the newest addition to my little family.  You wouldn't think it would be very hard--take pictures, post pictures, say a few things about how cute he is, DONE!  But I've had such a lot on my mind since his birth, every time I've sat down at the computer to do just that, it hasn't felt like enough to do justice to how much it all means.

I mean, I'm a wedding photographer by trade.  I do almost any type of photography, but weddings are definitely my specialty.  I'm drawn to romance.  I savor every sweet moment shared between two newlyweds as I chronicle that day for them.  But the wedding day--however iconic in a person's lifelong love story--is just one day.  Its the life that happens after that is the most important.

As I rocked my baby to sleep last night I thought a lot about how hard it had been on me to bring him here.  We'd tried for a second baby for quite a while with no luck, and when we did get pregnant, his due date landed right smack in the middle of my wedding season.  It pretty much cut out my two most profitable months--last year they accounted for at least a third of my entire years profit.  Last year I did eight weddings in the same time period where this year I did one (and that was only after a long consideration as to whether or not I would be up to it.)  Besides the logistical nightmare of trying to figure out how to make that work, my body slowed down to a point I hadn't experienced with my first baby.  Every ache and pain was enhanced, the fatigue became consuming.  It was hard to imagine what it would be like when the pregnancy was over while I was in the middle of it.

And then I had him.  And he was perfect.  He was ours.

Another part of our family that we didn't even know we had been missing.

And it strikes me every time I look at him, and at his sweet big brother, that this is what it is all about.  These two little boys...they are our legacy.  They are our love story made real.

When we married six years ago, I never could have imagined this future.  I have always dreamed big, so sometimes I get lost in the day to day comings and goings, the new crises, the stresses and challenges.  The little things.

Jamison yesterday.  Food coloring is not finger paint.

But it is perfect in its imperfection.

So here he is...

And I think...this is where our love has lead us.  And it is beautiful.

The Cowdin Kids...sneak peek

I did a big family session for the Cowdin Family last year, and was lucky enough to have them contact me again to do a session with the grandbabies only...with the addition of this precious little girl!  And as you can see, they come from a stellar gene pool...don't know if you can get much cuter than these little guys! (and girl). She's gonna have some fun keeping up with these two. :)

Baby Luke sneak peek

Here's one of the sweetest little guy I got to work with tonight...isn't he adorable?
PS...found out I was for sure having another little boy today.  So it was extra fun to work with this beautiful boy!
Love him!

The Sandberg Family sneak peek

The second session from today our weather condition was rain.  And then more rain.  And then snow.  And the sad part is, we were originally scheduled for Tuesday, but switched it to Saturday because of the weather (which of course cleared up just at the time we were supposed to be shooting but weren't).  We got a lot of family shots before the weather made a turn for the worse (thick, wet snow) and then ducked into a tiny shop that was kind enough to let us photograph baby Julia in a back corner out of the weather.  Loved how it all turned out...

  

Kayson's First Birthday pics...sneak peek

It's hard to believe that we go from a newborn to this in one year.  Amazing.  Isn't this guy a doll?  Such a fun night tonight on the extremely busy Lagoon Park trail (seriously, there were like 20 photographers there tonight!)   Can't wait to share more, but since I just took 'em today, this will have to do for now! :)

The Hodson Kids

This was an unforgettable session!  The Hodsons are family friends so I was so excited when they asked me to do some pictures for their newest addition and a few of their girls as they were going back to school. (I try not to pressure my family and friends to hire me, so its always a treat when they do!)  I cannot be more pleased with how these turned out...what great models!  Plus our crooked little house (err...shed) was so fun to use as a backdrop, even though a new litter of kittens the girls found inside proved to be temporarily distracting. :)

Ever been this excited to go back to school?

Me either. :)

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A sneak peek for the Cowdin Family

Such a fun night with the Cowdin Family!  A family full of sons (and two awesome daughters-in-law!) with two of the sweetest grandbabies ever.  And they were boys too!  I couldn't help myself, besides the mainstay big family shot for the sneak peek, I had to post one of each of these baby boys.
aDORable.  That is all I have to say!

Their cheeks! Their eyes! Their lips! I swoon... :)

Baby Sam sneak peek

This is my newest nephew!  I drove with my family down to Price to visit him and his mommy, daddy, and big brother yesterday.  It was so nice to see them, though I have to say...taking pictures of babies is deceptively hard.  And involves a lot of pee and poop.  A lot. :)  But worth it, of course!

Isn't he a doll?

Baby Jocelyn

Baby Jocelyn is such a sweetheart!  I keep telling myself I'm not ready for another baby...and then I meet little ones like this and my iron will starts to crumble... but can you blame me?  She's a beauty.  And big sister Kathryn and big brother Mathew (remember them from the ice cream shoot in november?)  wanted in on the action too.  Cracks me up...Kathryn tried on both the baby bunny ears and the angel wings from my newborn stash.  had to get a few shots of that!  And Mathew, noticing the baby was getting all the attention, dumped out an entire bucket of legos and toys right where were setting up the baby stuff.  So I did what any mom/photographer would do...I made him lay in the pile so I could take a picture!  It is always those silly moments that make the memories...no photo shoot or wedding day goes "perfect," you just have to embrace those silly mishaps and recognize that your life wouldn't be half as interesting without them!