this is lilah bird and she is cute as a button.  i’ve been photographing her since she was a tiny baby – she always arrives dressed hip-as-can-be and ready for her picture to be taken.  can you tell?

when i think about quitting photography – these are the types of images that reel me back in.  honest, loving and fresh.

britt got her fancy holiday dress today.  she wanted to wear it immediately and of course my first thought was “no…wait, it’s only november…you’ll get it dirty, you’ll rip it, you’ll terrorize that poor dress…and then what?”  then i realized how ridiculous i potentially sounded.  so i forced myself to say “of course.  wear it!  have fun in it!  feel good it in for more than one day.  feel like the beautiful four-year old that you are….”  besides – who needs to save “fancy” for just one day?  and i’m sure glad i did or i would have never had these pictures.

britt had picture day at preschool the other day.  i told her to put on something “fancy” – in our world, that means something interesting and NOT a soccer jersey.  so britt came out with this ensemble and i was impressed.  i thought she looked like a very small adult in a funny sort of way.  i asked if i could take her picture and so she jumped up on the bench and struck a pose.

at our recent mini-shoot we brought a box of hats for the kids to test out… in particular, this little cutie had fun with our happy hats….sweet girl!  for lots of fun hats, check out Lisa’s Mini Mad Hattery!

Of all the things that surrounded my mom as she grew up in her childhood home, it was a particular chair that she loved the most.  The chair was moved around our family and out my mom’s grasp – it was never “hers.”   All she wanted was that silly chair – it actually became a family joke.  Recently, the chair unsuspectingly came back to me.  My mom’s long, lost chair that she loved.  So now it sits in my house, reminding me of my mom and showing up in my photo shoots!  It may look like any other chair to someone else – but to me it’s a slice of my mom’s love.

Yesterday Lisa and I photographed nine families in three hours for one of our mini shoot sessions – whew!  Miss Sienna was one of my first subjects of the day – I have photographed Sienna since she was a tiny baby (along with her two brothers).  I was amazed at Miss Sienna today – growing so quickly, so many looks and so gorgeous!  She has a new baby brother and by the looks of it, she loves him to pieces.

i am feeling a bit sappy.  britt gets her tonsils removed tomorrow.  i am hoping and praying that it works and that she won’t be sick constantly.  so today she is happy.  and so am i.  britt has a new witchie-poo hat that she wears around.  she also has a new friend “ezzie,” the witch (short for esmeralda – but she can’t say it, so ezzie it is).  she’s obsessed with witches and halloween.  she can’t get over that very soon she will get free candy.  and lots of it.  so i bribed her with popsicles this evening.  yes – more bribery.  i’m falling into bad habits.  but i bribed her with popsicles since we have bucket-loads of them in anticipation for tomorrow.  i wanted pictures of her happy.  in her hat.  with ezzie.  feeling good.  i have these to look at tomorrow and know she will get back to this place.  and wanting candy once again.

This was the first time I photographed this family – we were meeting for a quick Mini Shoot.  When the three sisters walked up to me, I would have bet they were gliding an inch or so off the ground.  I was mesmerized by them.  They were quiet, well-mannered and quite amazing to photograph.  The word I would pick to describe them is “serene.”

here i go again…cheating.  i’m reposting images from my photography blog – hope that’s OK with you!  here are some cute pictures of darling isabella from our mini shoot session.  isabella is also know as “peanut pie” in my mind (her parents don’t know this!).  when i met her i wanted to call her “peanut pie” – she’s just that, a cute little peanut and sweet as pie.  isabella will always be peanut pie to me.