Her Sisters
Nadia’s best friends in the whole world are her sisters; older sister, Sophia and younger sister, Bella! Nothing makes Nadia light up more than the mention of her sisters. When I asked her about Sophia, she just beamed and said, “She’s my sister!” With baby Bella, she just wanted to love on her and squeeze her tight, never letting go. It’s so sweet to see how much Nadia’s sisters mean to her! How awesome is it to have a best friend sister on both sides of you!
Ants In His Pants
That was the theme of Xander’s seven year session! I don’t know if it was because he has to sit still all day at school, or if he was just getting excited because his birthday was just around the corner. Maybe it was just because he is a seven year old boy! All I know is that he did not stop moving! I would have mere seconds to capture an adorable expression, and a great look, before he was looking away, rolling away or just dropping his head.
In the end, the constant movement, the banter back and forth and the relaxed atmosphere, resulted in the true Xander captured forever in photographs. Laughs, funny faces, pensive looks and the adorable, dimple smile shows Xander’s fun loving, relaxed, sometimes a thinker, goofy, high energy personality!
“This”
At three years old, Ilena has more than enough energy for all of us! She was spinning, jumping, dancing…basically moving the entire session. If she held still, it was for a second and then she was moving again!
Ilena’s favorite answer, that I probably heard over 50 times, was “This!” She’d be striking a pose, or spinning out of control, or holding her head to the side. I’d ask, “What are you doing Ilena?” Her response “This.” It was so matter of fact, that I could not help but laugh. Every answer was “This.” Then she would keep right on doing “this” whatever it was!
I could not help but smile at Ilena. She was in her own little world, but she was having the time of her life. She would say things to crack herself up. She would fall down and laugh at herself. She informed me that her head doesn’t come off! All good things that every three year old should know and be able to laugh at!
Anybody else see a Mini Sandy?!?
Rock Star
In celebration of turning six years old, Madeleine got to wear her “rock star” outfit for her session! Complete with the sassy, black, knee high boots!
Madeleine is at the stage where everything is a dramatic pose! With every click of the camera she was twisting her body, tilting her head, squinting her eyes…doing everything she thinks makes a great photo. This results in a great challenge for me. I have to keep her talking, moving, relaxing and out of those extreme poses.
Of course, in line with her rock star outfit, I even let her have some fun with posing, and boy was she striking them right and left. But in the end, I ended up with the best ones…the ones that show her beauty, her uniqueness and Maddie as a six year old!
Mister Fix It
At the age of four, Carter’s true loves are his drum set and his bike. Although what he really wants is a blue and white, big, loud, super fast motorcycle, but for now, I think he’ll have to settle with his black and red super fast bike!
Mommy brought these favorite items with her to Carter’s session, which of course Carter was very excited about. I got to see his drummer skills and his bike moves! He was very excited to “play”. Even asking me if I could babysit him after the session while his mom went shopping.
We had a great time, laughing and playing, but my favorite part is his fixing drive. He would be in the middle of drumming, and say “Wait, I have to fix this”. He would put his sticks down and fiddle with a knob on his drum set, and then fiddle with another knob. Then he was back to playing, and not a minute later he was fixing something else. He even did it on his bike, “Wait, I have to fix this”. We took lots of breaks while he fixed things! I think he might be one of those guys who is curious how things work. As he gets older, I can definitely see him taking things apart to figure out how they work and to fix them. It will be fun to hear the stories!
No More Teddy!
Ardyn & Eli have been coming to see me since they were 18 months old. At their 18 month session, I brought out a teddy bear in an attempt to get participation from Ardyn. Ever since then, Ardyn has remembered exactly where Teddy is kept and will not participate unless she is clinging on to Teddy with all her might. Teddy made an appearance in their family portrait at age two, he got hugs and kisses at age three…even if you can’t see him, he’s there somewhere!
This year, for their four year session, I was determined to keep Teddy hidden. I went so far as to remove the cabinet where Teddy lives from the room. Wouldn’t you know, Ardyn did not even ask for him! She was all about performing for the camera - from spinning, to cheesing, to striking poses. It was the Ardyn show!
Of course, wouldn’t you know, Teddy has been replaced by Blanket. Eli did not have the best of mornings, and was not into the session like his sister was. So, to get participation from him, out came his favorite blanket. Every once in a while, we were able to get it away from him, but for the most part, just like the Teddy, it is in there somewhere!
Eli definitely wanted to challenge me that morning, but we pushed through, and blanket or no blanket, we still captured some adorable images with some great Eli expressions!
Wild Woman?
Izzy is a pretty shy and reserved little lady. Her five year session started out like all her other sessions - she was calm, reserved and quiet. I start asking question after question to get her to relax and open up to me. Though I do have to say, some of her answers this year were very interesting!
Her favorite animal is the snake! Eww! She’s already a mathematician genius! She can add, she can tell me what number comes after another, she can count in Spanish…very impressive! Her favorite princess is Sleeping Beauty. AND she’s a burper!
As the session progressed, she slowly opened up and relaxed more and more. By the end, she was a wild and crazy woman. Moving this way and that way, laughing at me and hiding from me - making me laugh and smile right back at her!
Being Real
I love the realness of being a kid. There is no trickery, no deception, no falseness. It is the “What you see is what you get” mentality.
During Parker’s session, Mom and Dad went to the other room, so Parker and I could work one on one. Afterwards, Dad said to Parker “Did she make you smile?” Parker replied with, “Yes, that’s her job.” Just matter of fact, no ifs, ands or buts, that’s her job! What a great answer!
That is how he was the entire session. I would ask questions and I would get real answers! It was great! Parker and I had a blast talking about animals, sports and a little bit about girls, though he would not admit to being interested yet. We just relaxed, talked, joked and had fun!
Blooper Reel
I couldn’t resist…I had to post the bloopers from our family craziness session!
In the middle of the session, AJ figured out how to take his arm out of his sweater. He completely cracked himself up, and the girls were more than entertained by his new found talent!
The Poser, The Rock Star & The Blur!
Family Craziness
In my head, as I was preparing for the family session, I figured my biggest challenge was going to be little man, AJ. He is 16 months old and should be at that stage where he does not want to hold still and it can be difficult to keep his attention. Boy was I wrong!
AJ was a rock star! He was smiling and giggling, sitting in place and looking at the camera. I could not have asked for anything better from him.
Now, his two sisters on the other hand, that was a different story. I can assure you that I was exhausted by the time they walked out the door. Gabriella, the middle kiddo, would not hold still for anything. She turned, she twirled, her dress was up, her dress was down, and she refused to look at me. She would always look just to the side of me.
Madeleine, the oldest, is in that stage where she thinks she knows what looks good. It’s a painful, forced, unnatural smile along with an awkwardly cocked head. I had to work super hard to get her relaxed and natural looking.
We take all that, the rock star, the blur, and the poser and put them all together, and what do we get…pure craziness! But, with a little bit of magic, lots of patience, and many, many clicks…it all came together!
