beautiful boys

I was blessed with two absolutely adorable boys.  They keep me busy, and they fight and argue, and they get dirty, and they are momma's boys.  Alexander is into guns and dinosaurs right now.  He watches shows about Dinosaurs, and shoots them on the TV with his guns.  Owen is into swords, dinosaurs, and technology.  He hits TVs with his sword and screams at you until you give him a cell phone or tablet to play with.  He is addicted to Instagram.

They are wild and noisy, but they are also beautiful.

being a kid

     My parents used to always make fun of me for dressing weird.  I would wear things that had no business going together.  Plaid with stripes.  Kitties with stripes.  Whatever I could find.  Now as a mother, my own daughter comes out of her room 90% of the time in something totally ridiculous.  But I play along.  She asks 'mommy does this match?'  I say 'uhh...it matches enough.'  Translate as...'we have nowhere to go today so it's fine if you wear that around the house.'
     Something hit me the other day when I asked my daughter if we could go outside and take some pictures and she didn't want to change clothes.  We spend most of our lives dressing ourselves to be appropriate for different situations.  Dress shirts for work.  Jeans for grocery shopping.  Longer hems for certain places, different bathing suits for different situations, certain shirts for different buildings.  Black goes with white, brown goes with cream, red goes with navy, stripes go with solids, plaids go with...well...nothing. Stockings for dance -but no skirted tutus, sneakers for school, uniforms for work.
     Our lives are based around wearing appropriate and put together clothing.  If we don't match we look crazy.  But there is one exception.  Children.  Some parents get smart early on and let their kids dress themselves however they choose when they are young, but at a certain point we re-take control and explain why it's not ok to wear a jasmine costume to the grocery store.  Kids are typically born with a confidence that says 'I don't really care what other people think of what I'm wearing' and unfortunately, they are forced out of it.  We have to fit in after-all right?
     I say we let kids be kids whenever we can.  If my daughter wants to wear a leopard print tutu with rainbow striped leggings, a my little pony t-shirt, and a scarf in the summer...I let her.  She can pretend she's a rockstar as she often does, and I can smile and laugh.  We'll save the matching outfit for tomorrow when we have to go outdoors.  Let your kids be kids and let them dress themselves in ridiculous outfits whenever you can.  After-all...it's fun, and makes for great blackmail when they are a 25 yr old fashion editor at a magazine.

a baby some smashed cake and a bathtub -louisville baby photographer-

Cake smash sessions are a favorite of mine.  You never know just how a kid will react to having an entire cake placed in front of them.  Some look at you like you're crazy.  Some dive in face first.  Some daintily dip their pointer finger into the icing for 5 bites and politely say 'i done.' (like this girl's kid)
This little guy is quite possibly the fourth cutest baby I know.  If I have more kids he'll move down the ladder...but we're going to say that won't happen so I think his spot is secure.
I photographed this little one's birth photos and have since helped teach his momma how to photograph him on their own.  I was excited when she asked me to photograph his first birthday!  So without further 'adieu'   I give you...a baby, a cake, and a bathtub.

time flies when you start out only 20 inches tall...

oh the FACE!

Again with the FACE!

whatever you want kid...a pony? a car? a jet plane?   DONE! (daddy will cover it)

Daddy needs to get his own cake though.

Surprise and a skyline -louisville engagement photographer-

So any girl gets excited at the prospect of an engagement.  Even if we don't know the people, we sit at a ballgame and see them on the big screen and get excited.  We see them on talk shows and our heart skips a beat.  We have all seen it happen somewhere...a guy gets down on one knee, the girl covers her mouth in shock, and you hear 'will you marry me?' 

So imagine my thrill and excitement when I received a phone call asking me to photograph the whole process!

Fast forward 2-3 weeks (because I had to WAIT) and I arrive at the chosen location, early, nervous, excited!  

A few moments later and the special couple pulls up.  He escorts his lady on a walk and he and I exchange casual acknowledging glances.  

Fifteen minutes later they return...

 take your time man!  ;)

squee!  it's happening!

If you couldn't tell...she said YES!!