Priceless

Dinner at Panera; $15.00



For him........... Broccoli and Cheddar soup in a breadbowl

For me............ Greek salad

To share......... chocolate brownie



A trip to Borders; $24.00



For him..........Student Planner & How to draw really cool things

For me...........The Words and Inspirations of Mother Teresa, Dinosaur Foam Creations (for Roman), Teeth, Tails, and Tentacles - An Animal Counting Book (For McCoy)



A date with your thirteen year old son with time to talk and listen; PRICELESS!


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Lisa

This beautiful little girl and I share the same name, or names rather. Lisa Lorraine and her dad emailed me a short while back about our common namesake and to say hello.
This is Lisa with her Grandmother on her birthday. With three sisters of my own, I remember the Barbie stuff well (fighting over them and having fashion shows -right girls!) and I'm sure that Lisa was pleased with these gifts. It isn't anything we see in our house of three boys though.

Here you go Lisa! I hope you enjoy seeing yourself on the blog. Follow your heart and follow your dreams!

Ella

Snuggles with Mom and Dad. :) Ella has the prettiest peachy pink complexion.

Ella was unusually awake for almost the entire session. Andrea put her to sleep with some Mommy Voodoo Magic. More of Ella to come over the next year.

Maxwell

Surrounded by love - Max has a beautiful family. Our session was a gift for mom from her sister and I was pleased to hear it was one of her best gifts ever. Happy to oblige.

To make you smile

Couldn't you look at this face all day?

Baby Reagan is a fun one year old, on the go and full of smiles. So glad I can give these to you Courtney - hoping your gallery will make you smile as well and make up for your other "not so great" experience.

Happy

This post will seem random as I've had it sitting as a draft for a few weeks until I could get back to it and just want to get it shared.

Thanks Tonya & Doug for this beautiful handknitted hat for McCoy. So thoughtful of you - not unexpected though. ;)

He's a big boy with a big head - not uncommon in our family!

Thanks to everyone for all of the thoughtful gifts and cards. It means so much to us that you all would take the time and effort to do so for us. We appreciate everything.

WHAT A BUBBER!

One of my favorite images from Christmas.

I had a lot of fun with my clients these last couple of weekends. Newborns, one year olds, etc. Such beautiful children. Thanks for letting me into your homes and share some time with you. I hope you find your galleries to be as pleasing to you as they are to me while I'm editing. I'll be sharing them soon!

I've had to give up on catching up on blogging everyone from the past 7 or 8 months. With the moving and the new baby, it all got away from me. I'm now focusing on getting the site updated so check back from time to time to see if you recognize any little faces that belong to you.

13

It's officially official - we are parents of a teenager. How did that happen?

I'm actually really enjoying Drew growing into a young man. Our conversations are more complex and his personality, which has always been strongly evident, adds so much to our family.

This is of course the "I'm really too cool to stand here while you take my picture look, but what you don't see is the part of the thirteen year old that I really love; the part that likes pajamas days, to watch little kid shows with his brother, to be tucked in at night, and still lets himself be silly.

With these beautiful blue eyes, his heart of gold, and his confidence, it won't be too long before a girl tries to steal him away from me. TRIES, I said. It's a good thing I have three so when one leaves the nest I'll still have two baby birds to take care of. Even with a newborn, I am seeing the end to this stage one day.

Sometimes it feels like I can't wait to have free time, sleep in, and work without interruption but when I actually think of the house being empty - without their laughter, fighting, matchbox cars hitting the hardwood floor, footballs and basketballs being thrown in the playroom, hugs on the knees and neck, little voices asking for something to eat, saying "I've got to go pee!" and just generally calling "mom" all day long, I know I can wait.

How can you not love a kid who just wants a personal sized watermelon, rootbeer floats, a silly string fight in the snow, and to be allowed to stay up late to watch a bowl game and sleep in a tent in the basement for his birthday? With a birthday the day after Christmas, it's fun to do things differently.

The whole world in her hands

Isn't that the truth. It's what it feels like holding your little newborn baby in your arms. For awhile, the outside world melts away; or atleast you want it to. These fragile little people count on us for everything which can be overwhelming, but Amanda seemed to have it down pretty well with her calming voice and mom intuition with baby Claire.

Congratulations Amanda & Jeff!

My McCoy ; One month old

This smile melts my heart. It's a little less sharp then I would like, but with that bobble head going up and down and side to side and Roman right on top of McCoy and myself the whole time I was trying to get some shots, I was just really happy to catch this. He has such a sweet demeanor and I could look into these eyes forever (cross eyed and silly, or not).

Two weeks old............

No time for words; just pics. My McCoy - two weeks old this past Monday. We're getting to know each other, and we're pretty sure it's love.