What a sweet session to end my year on!

I've had such a fun time photographing Maeven this year, and though I know her Mom was given a hard time for how many sessions she had for Maeven, I think she was very wise. Babies change and grow so much in the first year, and a photo session every 3 months is totally normal. Plus, you can never have enough photos of this sweet little doll! She's such a happy little girl and so adorable. She wouldn't flash her signature smile, but we got some little grins out of her. It's fun to see how much she looks like her big brother. I can't wait to see how she's grown by the time I see her next!

That's a wrap, everyone! One week from today I'll be cuddling my own little baby girl as we welcome her into our family, so I will not open again until spring. Keep a lookout for the 2018 Calendar of Availability in January to book your sessions early! Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Blessed Christmas, and a Joyful New Year! Thank you to all of my clients who made this year so amazing. I am thankful for you!

I first worked with this couple years ago when they were pregnant with their oldest. They became my first recurring clients, and we did monthly photos for their son's first year. I've worked with them several times since, but it was the first time I had the opportunity to meet their little guy, and how those handsome boys have all grown! They did such a great job of posing and smiling and having fun together, and their oldest acted like we still take monthly photos. He's a natural...they all are! What a wonderful honor to photograph this gorgeous family and to spend time with them again .

Sometimes kiddos are unpredictable.

Trust me. I know this. I have two very active daughters and one on the way, and they do not like posed photos whatsoever. Rarely do they smile, or look at the camera, or even sit long enough without screaming to participate in the photo. And the thing is, you just never know when it will hit. You don't know when something will set them off to make them shut down and refuse to smile.

But often posed photos are not the most endearing, the most heartfelt or the most genuine.

This adorable little girl was not having it.  Her gorgeous mom picked out the perfect outfits, was fully prepared with treats and music, and the family is beautiful and so sweet, but Little One just wasn't feeling it. And that's okay. Because I think this became one of my favorite sessions ever. I love the colors they chose, how Mom and Dad didn't get upset, but rather stayed calm and embraced the session as it was, how each image is more about a genuine connection.

Kudos to parents who stay calm. Goodness knows I rarely stay calm when my own kids won't pose like I want them to for photos, and then they completely shut down. When the parents just go with it, it creates such a different feeling and helps the child to not be averse to photo sessions.

And we caught that sweet little girl's smiles in between the playing and dancing and hugging, but the smiles were real and authentic. I've wanted to do documentary photography for a while, just as I do with my girls, but many clients prefer the posed. Frankly, I would LOVE to have a photo session with completely candid, real images of my family and me just being us and all of the little details that go with it. We didn't plan on a documentary session, but let's face it, few things in life with kiddos goes as planned! :)