Precious Baby "B" {A Newborn Sneak Peak}

Precious newborn baby "B" and her mommy and daddy came for a visit at my house today.  I LOVED having a fresh-from-heaven, 17 day old, newborn in my home again!  There is nothing like that wonderful baby smell and all of those sweet little sounds.  After a diaper change and a full little tummy, this little princess slept through the entire photo shoot.  Delight! 

Audrey, thank you for allowing me this awesome blessing~I loved every minute of it!  Enjoy your sneak peak!

I like both the colorful and the vintage....I couldn't decide so I posted both.

I love this tutu...every little princess should have a tutu!

Her first pair of designer heels...oh my how sweet!

This one is so angelic:

The Fantastic "F" Family Grandchildren

Tonight was soooooooo much fun!  I had the blessing of photographing some of the coolest grandchildren ever, as a surprise for their grandmother...shhh, please don't tell.  We want it to be a secret! 

The moms did a fabulous job picking out and coordinating all of their clothes.  I LOVED that they were not all in the same color but the colors they chose complimented each other so well.  Way to go moms!

After they all arrived, I had to giggle when one of the moms commented that it is no wonder they hadn't taken family photos in such a long time.  Family photos are hard work, especially for the moms.  But, I think their hard work was totally worth it and I hope that they will agree.

Fantastic "F" family, enjoy your sneak peak.

Sorry, had to post this one.  I know it will not be "the" gift picture...but on a Friday this picture is a gift itself, don't you think?

The end for now.  Y'all have a great weekend!!!

Guess How Many Pictures I've Taken?

Did you know that you can see how many "miles" your camera has on it?  Really, you can see how many pictures your camera has taken over its lifetime. All you have to do is upload your unedited, pre-photoshop, image to a place like http://www.flickr.com/.  You can check your EFX which tells you what your camera settings were for your picture and how many total images your camera has taken.  It's best to set your EFX to private, so only you can view your information because your camera can also store your location. 

Anyway, I have been blessed to have my BGC (big girl camera) for less than 2 years.  Can you guess how many pictures I've taken with it?  Come on, play along, please!

Mr. Incredible guessed 8,000...and he was wrong.  Rachel guessed 10,000...and she was wrong too.  In only 19 months, I have taken...drum roll please...17,000 pictures!  Wow!  Can you believe that?  17,000 pictures...gracious that is a lot! I knew that I liked to take photos, but wow!  Have I really edited 17,000 photos??? Surely not!

Here are a few senior photo shoots that I've taken lately....I love seniors!  Especially, this senior.  This is my Rachel, my amazing senior daughter.  She and I saw this red door a few weeks ago and decided it would be so fun for another one of her senior photo shoots.  I love the red door with her black and white:

And this is one of Rachel's best friends, Caroline, who is also a senior (I posted a few pictures from her senior photo shoot on Monday).  They have been friends since preschool.  I love the purple flowers in this picture, don't you?

And one more picture of Caroline near a pond.  I just finished her senior photo shoot gallery and uploaded it today  I hope that she likes her senior pictures.

I have a fun photo shoot to get to so I'd better run.  I'd love to know how many miles your camera has on it too.

Storyboard Ideas

Photography season is in FULL swing!  And I am loving every moment of it.  If you are still wanting to have your family photos taken before Christmas, please call or email me today!  I have a few dates left.  Lately, several of my clients have been asking about storyboards. 

What are they?  They are simply a collage of photos that tell a story.  I can add any photo from your gallery, any text, and any background, texture, or color and they come in numerous sizes. 

My storyboards can be ordered 2 ways:  1 as a print with a matboard backing or as a "standout."  The main difference between the two is that standouts come ready to hang on the walls much like Jaclyn's beautiful family portrait:

To give you an idea, here are two of my latest storyboards that I created as ideas for Laci:

I love storyboards...and I'm hoping my clients do too!

Sweet Caroline's Senior Photo Shoot {Sneak Peak}

Sweet Caroline....cue the the Barry Manilow music...is one of my senior reps this year at the big city to our west.  We have tried to get together to take her senior pictures a handful of times and finally the timing worked out for both of us. 

Miss Caroline is one of my Rachel's very best friends.  They have known each other since their preschool days.  She is like family to us.  In fact, several years ago, when we had the rare blessing of getting Hannah Montana tickets, she skipped school with my girls and we made the trek to Austin and it was so much fun.  Do you remember that, Caroline?

This girlie is headed to Texas A&M, like Joshua (previous post), to join her big brother and sister.  Caroline, I hope your senior year continues to be full of awesome memories and joy and laughter.  Enjoy your sneak peak:

Rita "P"'s Family {A Sneak Peak}

Rita and I have been messaging each other back and forth trying to find the perfect day to schedule her family portraits.  I have known Rita since before my Rachel and her Joshua were born...having babies so close together kind of bonds a friendship for life.  Both of our babies are seniors this year {sob}.  We finally found the perfect day, in between band competitions and tee times, for the photo shoot, and wouldn't you know~ it rained!

We were scheduled for 8:30 this morning and it was DARK outside.  We ended up pushing it back 30 minutes...and then 30 more minutes and finally the morning dawned and what a glorious morning it was. 

The boys were good sports as we traveled from location to location.  Rita, thank you for the fun of this morning and for being flexible with the time this morning; I hope that you enjoy your sneak peak!

Joshua will be attending Texas A&M next year...and because I love this family.... that is the ONLY reason I am posting this horrific A&M sign on my blog!  Okay, maybe it's not horrific, it's actually a  pretty cool sign, but I feel compelled to say Sic 'em bears!!!!!! 

We nearly needed the Kleenex box when we started talking about our children going off to school!

I saw this cool module builder on my way home from school the other day and it seemed the perfect backdrop for some pictures:

 Don't tell Joshua, but his parents are kissing in the background...yep!  They've still got it!

Ya'll have a blessed weekend.  I'm off for a senior photo shoot!

Aaron's Flag Football Game

My youngest nephew is playing flag-football.  My Hannah use to play flag football with the boys...7years ago!  Back then, she was the only girl on the flag football team.  I remember her first game very well.  A punk boy looked at her and growled and told her that only boys play football.  And my no-fear child became a bit reserved on the field that day. And that broke my heart...so I came up with a new strategy.

We talked about what that boy said to her after the game was over...and then I encouraged her to always do her best.

I say the word encourage because, I became that mother. 

I told her that I would pay her a $1 for every flag that she grabbed and $5 or maybe $10 (I can't quite remember now) for every touchdown that she made.  The twinkle in her eyes returned.

And the next game she grabbed every one's flag and scored 2 touchdowns...and then my bank account was never the same.  Ha!  It was a great flag-football season for Hannah and her team.  I still have her itty-bitty football cleats tucked away in my hope chest.  She learned that year that girls can play flag football too...but better yet, that punk kid learned it too!  ;-)

So, back to my youngest nephew.  With photography sessions abounding, I had a rare evening where I could go watch him play.  I took my BGC (big girl camera) along for the game.  His eyes lit up when he saw me...okay when he saw my camera.  From that moment, it was game on!

Isn't he cute?

I like how he forgot that he was playing flag-football...I think he wants to be like his big brother and tackle instead:

Here is the team having a little pep talk from their coach.  I think it went something like this, "We don't tackle; we just pull flags!" :

 My nephew got to kick the ball, and even though his daddy was talking to me, I still captured the picture:

 He ran after every flag...hard work!

 And then his moment finally came!  The ball was on the ground...Aaron saw it, scooped it up and ran with all his might for the end zone!  Way to go Aaron!!!!!!

 And no one captured his flag:

 And he knew it.  Look at his face...delight!

 And then he got to play quarterback just like his big brother:

It was a fun night watching flag football again.  I miss those days...but basketball season is just around the corner....24 days to be exact...not that I'm counting the days or anything. Ha!

Ya'll have a great weekend!