Our New Addition

It's amazing how quickly time passes...but this time I have a great excuse! Mike and I have spent the last 10 days traveling to Ethiopia via 2 days in Rome to meet OUR SON for the first time! We were there to meet him, love on him, and appear in court as a part of our adoption proceedings. It was an AMAZING trip and one that we have written a lot about here. We are home now but are hopeful to be returning within the next 4-8 weeks to bring our boy home. Now we just wait for the US Embassy to clear our file and confirm an embassy appointment that will make him an official US citizen. We covet your thoughts and prayers as we wait!

I hate to do a post without a pictures so here's one of me and my son! I'm in love! (We can't post pictures of his face until we travel to bring him home)

To read more about our adoption journey you can find our posts here:

www.darlingjourney.net

My first session of 2011 was to photograph this precious newborn baby boy. His mama was on top of things and we had talked about the importance of photographing within the first 10 days in order to get the best possible images. I believe he was 10 days old exactly during his session. He slept so wonderfully for us which is one of the best reasons to photograph so quickly after birth. Newborns are much more cooperative when then are in the milk stupor. He was quite a big boy and was doing so great when I met him. His family is head over heels in love with their new addition.

I love those precious baby details....

Precious soft skin and fat rolls...

His older brother is in love and is so sweet with "his baby."

I believe there is a lot of staring going on in this house....

A family of boys is just right.

The little.

And the big.

These were all processed in black and white at the request of mama. I love the timeless look they create!

A Special Family

One of our trips in December included a stop in Oklahoma to visit my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew. We have wanted to do a family session for awhile now but our trips are usually packed full and our session gets put on the back burner. That ALMOST happened this time but we weren't going to have anything to do with that. It was cold and really overcast but we made a short session happen....and I love the results!

My sister has always had an eye for fashion and I love the choices she made for their clothing. It all coordinated so well together. Her littlest wasn't thrilled about the cold but there is just something about these images that speak to me. It's real life...not everyone is ALWAYS happy, but everyone has their moments.

See, he's really a mama's boy and it was a little better once he got to her.

This little girl LOVES her daddy though....she also LOVES her Uncle Michael. (Don't ask me why she calls him that when EVERYONE around her says Mike, but she hasn't deterred from it in over a year.) I try not to get my feelings hurt when they call and she asks for him. :) What can I say...she has good taste!

I adore these of my sister and her husband. We sent the kids inside and they got to snuggle for a few minutes!

This little girl loves being a princess so when we framed it that way she was happy to be in front of my camera....she just posed away. Patrick, you better beware...she's gonna be a cutie!

I'm really not trying to be biased to her....it really wasn't a good day for the little guy. Funny thing is last time he was the one hamming it up...maybe next time they will BOTH be funny for me?

Celebrate Adoption Session

I had the pleasure of photographing this family shortly after they arrived home with the precious son. We met at their home and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon. They were already bonding beautifully and it was such an honor to witness this family of five meshing together.

Just a few from our session together......



I think the kids are pretty happy!







LOVE THIS!!!!!


and THIS!!!


No doubt....this family will bless their son and their son will bless them! A match made in heaven!!!

Catch Up Post

I have been incredibly negligent with this blog. The holidays hit, we got a life changing call, we traveled to see both sides of our family, and now we have been trying to get our mile long list done before we traveled across the world next week. We are ecstatic to be reaching this point in our journey but I don't want to forget some the amazing families I photographed this past fall.

This session took place on a rainy, dreary Saturday. We did the best we could given our circumstances but everything turned out great! I always love seeing this family!












This little beauty is now 6 months old! We were blessed with a gorgeous day and had LOTS of fun photographing this little one's personality. Her mama always makes great clothing choices!! LOVE these outfits!









This little cutie is 8 months old and gave us lots of fun personality!!! She made me work for her smiles but rewarded me when I was really funny. I love the colors and light from her session!






LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!! One of my FAVORITE images from this fall!!!




I don't get to photograph older kids very much but I absolutely adore it when I do. We love this sweet girl and it was so fun to photograph her on a chilly Sunday afternoon.







After a reschedule for a family emergency we were able to do a family session for this great family. You can tell they are a close family....my favorites from this session were the family images.









I have had the privilege of photographing this family MANY times over the last few years. I have loved watching their daughter grow up. She is a spirited child and so much fun to be around!




She loved exploring and was on the go!



One of my last sessions of the year was this family! We had to reschedule several times because the weather didn't cooperate but finally were able to battle the wind and capture some great images. Here is a storyboard we designed from that session...I thought it turned out great!

Merry Christmas

I have so many more sessions from this fall that never made it to the blog. Our life has been consumed with preparing for traveling to Ethiopia and getting orders out before Christmas....Look for lots of fun on the blog in the coming weeks!

In the meantime...our Christmas Card this year....

Celebrate Adoption Session

These sessions are quickly becoming my favorite! It's so fun to see a family that is on a similar path that my own family is on and get to capture their new family images. Since we still have not gotten to travel to bring our son home, I get to live vicariously through these other families that are becoming great friends. We had heard so much about this family...and finally had a chance to meet. We have lots of things in common and it was great to see their family in action.

I recognize it's no small feat to get four boys and yourselves ready for pictures! Everyone has to have the right clothes, their hair done, be in good moods....and they were all still smiling! They rocked it! We finished everything we needed to photograph in less than an hour....and got some AMAZING images!

They brought their fourth baby home 6 months ago but you would think that he had been there forever! He fits right in and none of the kiddos are lacking in the personality department!

Check out this STUNNING family image!

One of just the boys....PRECIOUS!!!


The two that are responsible for this crew! Aren't they cute? I love the few minutes that we always take to grab couple images at family sessions...so important to remember how you fell in love and why you're still in love (not to mention the gorgeous color on the trees)!!!


Onto the kiddos.... He was so funny! Full of laughs....and he would blow me a kiss! Melt my heart!


Love those two front teeth! Couldn't resist this one....


And his brothers... Little guy on the left was 2 and couldn't get enough of the camera. He would tell me when I didn't have him do a pose that I asked of his brothers. The big man on the right is the oldest of the crew....he is super sweet and sooo helpful with his brothers!

Look at his BLUE eyes! I haven't touched his eyes in my editing....it's all natural! He's the second in line and he was so mature...but has that boyish curiosity!

So I can't end this without sharing this next one....I told you the little guy totally fits in...and ADORES his brothers. If they were going somewhere he was not going to be left out! He wanted to be right there with them!


Thanks again for allowing me to capture these moments in your life! Such a blessing to capture these images and meet new friends! I think our boy and yours will be great friends!


If you know a family that has adopted in the last year or is in the process of adopting, tell them to give me a call to set up a session with a complimentary session fee!