“Her smile beams like sunshine, which fills our hearts with love.”

~ Birgit B

The bond among these three is quite evident.  I had a super fun sesh with these fab ladies!    Mia is so beautiful, and her eyes smiled several hundred times during out shoot, and I loved it!  What a special little girl.  Both girls are just radiant and have the best personalities!  Aren’t their eyes gorg?  I was so happy to be able to have a special Mother’s Day session for this amazing mother.  She is so very caring and loving–it was special to watch her with her girls.  Thank you for a fab-u session and for making the drive!  Enjoy your sneakie peekies!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

~Winston Churchill

I am soooooooooo excited to announce the 2009 winner of the Giving is Awesome contest. If you’re new to my blog and have no idea what Giving is Awesome is, head over to THIS post for more details.
It was so difficult to choose just one from the pool of SO deserving nominees, but after much deliberation I am thrilled to share with you the winner. One of the nominations came from Charlotte Tanner. Her entry pulled me in from the first sentence and by the end had me in tears over the courage of the winning family.  I’m happy to announce that her nominee, Eric, is the winner of $1200 worth of custom photography! Eric and his family have kept an upbeat outlook despite a year in which their three year old son was diagnosed with a severe form of multiple sclerosis, his wife was found to have cancer and endured subsequent surgery and treatment, and the grandmother who raised him passed away unexpectedly.  Charlotte describes his amazing courage,

“The strength he possesses to keep everything together in spite of such adversity amazes me that he can still keep a sunny disposition and hope.  Giving the gift of photography would give a moment in time of their sucess of a family to be brave together and love each other.  I believe it will give memories of their family and bring joy to their family to keep…”

Eric and family, congratulations and an early Merry Christmas to you.  Your courage and perseverance are shining examples of the human spirit and I absolutely cannot wait to photograph you. For taking the time and full heart to recognize Eric’s strength, Charlotte also wins $225 worth of photography.  Thank you for all of you for being bright spots in this wonderful world.  Thank you so, so very much to all that took the time to nominate the shining stars in their lives.  It means so much.  Merry Christmas!

“When you love your children from the moment they begin, you yourself begin all over again, in them, with them, and so there is something more to the world again.”

~William Saroyan

These are some of our dearest friends.  They are such beautiful people with such beautiful souls, really.  We met at a mommy’s group when our boys had just turned a year old.  Sometimes I feel we are leading parallel lives.   Our boys are six weeks apart and are such good buds–Jack always talks about his “Lukie”–and we welcomed our daughters into the world a mere seven weeks apart.   They were who we entrusted Jack to when I left him for the very first night in his life when I went into labor with Addison.  It is such a special thing to have someone who is experiencing all the same joys and challenges of motherhood as you, at often the exact same time.  It was a true pleasure to capture the love they have for one another and to photograph these two little beauties.  Jack is smiling at the computer screen right now, telling me, “Oh, there’s Lukie and there’s…”  He loves seeing his buds.  Thanks for your friendship, and thanks for a great session…oh and a yummy dinner afterwards!    Love ya!