Mi Amore

It goes by so fast...























To get himself around, he rolls over and over and over. Goodbye little newborn!

Three little men

When we first arrived in Tennessee this summer, everyone who met us kept asking- do you know the *D* family at church? We didn't. My oldest came home after church one day and said- "I really want to play with this boy in my class. Will you puh-leeeease meet his mommy?" It took us several weeks of attending before I put two and two together that the boy he so badly wanted to play with was from this family. All three of our boys are exactly the same ages- and only 4 weeks, 2 weeks and 8 weeks apart, respectively. And, they were brand new to the area as well. It's been a match made in heaven for my boys! I was thrilled to capture their personalities and we had the perfect weather for it the weekend before Thanksgiving. Yes, it HAS taken me that long to get these blogged! Three kids, one being a newborn, two holidays, and a husband frequently out of town. Phew.

Although it always helps when I know the people I'm shooting, it reminded me why I don't try getting a picture of all three of my boys together very often. ;) The middle one, with the lighter curlier hair, even told his mom he would not smile and would only walk like a penguin... or something like that.

Boys and sticks tend to be like magnets with one another.


Looooved the outfits that their Mom picked out. So cute!





Sniper shot ;)











Can you guess what his name is?


Here's the youngest- I think he was four months old here.











Maybe this is his penguin smile?!


My 3 year old was very concerned when he saw me editing these pictures and realized his friend was on the train tracks. He talked to me very sternly about not doing that again. Uh-oh. :D














Holly, I think you look GORgeous! When I was younger, I wanted red hair really badly. I think it's so stunning.


The shoot was over but I kept shooting. Of course. :)

It's officially winter in the South

I am happy to leave behind the months and mounds of snow in Wisconsin and celebrate this infrequent visitor here in Tennessee. We got flurries for two hours on Monday morning and that's the most snow I've seen since last April. I jumped at the chance to pull out my macro lens and capture the beauty. I posted these on my family blog the other day so I apologize for the duplicate posts lately for those of you who check both. These were just too lovely not to post here as well. I love to photograph.

Happy New Year!

My sister took this photo last night and I love it so much I had to feature it here for other photo-lovers to see!

And just today I remembered this photo I took last year on New Year's Eve and it never made it to my photoblog. We were in Coronado, California- driving along that stretch of beach that runs from Coronado to Imperial Beach. I had my camera out trying to capture the sights as we drove and the sun set over the ocean...

After we got home, I got on google to figure out what was next to the moon on 12-31-08 and found that it was Venus. The black at the bottom of the picture is the ocean and the sand dunes in front of it. I love how we were literally on the edge of the continent and I could see the night sky creeping up, chasing the sun away. I was thrilled to capture this through a car window while moving. Capturing pictures like these are why I love photography so much.

And of course I'm gonna close with "Baby New Year." I love the possibilities that lie ahead in a fresh new year. May you accomplish your goals this year and be a better person for it by this time next year!

Thank you friends and family for your love and support of my passion, for your comments and emails. I appreciate every single one of them.

Mr. Max

In all the Christmas madness, I almost let this opportunity pass me by. Thanks to a gentle nudge (or shove ;) from a kind friend, I have his three months photos to cherish. I cannot get enough of this little guy!

Love the drool on his chin 24/7


I love that he has this expression because he's looking at me!


Christmas tree lights in the background to remember he was 3 months during the festive season


I always need pictures of his toes!


And I love all of his different expressions. He looks JUST LIKE ME in this shot!


Love the chubby fingers that are always in his mouth






Like I said, I just can't get enough!

And he can't get enough of me, apparently. It's almost 2 in the morning. I've been trying to post these for the past 3 evenings but he has had other plans for me. He's been asleep approximately 1 hour so far. He only had one 2.5 hour nap today. Seriously... doesn't he know I need a little tiny break once in a while?!

Just one more

I just finished editing this little girl's session and found this one at the end. The session was over, our light was gone and she was feeding the ducks. It's a little grainy with the low light but something about it said- pick me! So I did.

Hello Nashville!

What a huge change it was to shoot in November in Tennessee vs. November in Wisconsin. Last November, I cut the fingertips out of my gloves so I could work my camera. And the sweet family I shot, pulled their kids in and out of a heated car just to get some pictures. We are having incredible weather and I LOVE it! I'll be able to shoot most of the year here and that makes me happy! The best thing about moving is getting to explore new areas and Nashville has taken on an entirely new perspective for me as a photographer. Last Saturday, it was 70 degrees and partly sunny and the perfect day for a session in the park with this beautiful little girl and her family!

Once upon a love story...

Last spring, my son's favorite song was Love Story by Taylor Swift. If we were riding around in the car and had to stop at a store, he'd ask if we could wait until the song was over before we got out. On the morning of his fifth birthday, I bought the iTunes video for him as he requested to watch it as soon as he got up.

One night, I was editing pictures and listening to Love Story on my headphones and I got this idea when the very first line of the song played.... "We were both young when I first saw you."


We were leaving Wisconsin soon and Brandon's very best friend, Sienna, was moving 1500 miles away from where he was headed. I hatched a plan, talked to her mom and we started looking online for costumes. The weather was bad during June in Wisconsin. I was pregnant, packing up our house and doing lots of photo sessions for other people. At the last minute, Sienna's family had to go out of town and we almost thought it wouldn't happen. Then, the night before we moved, everything fell into place. The weather was perfect and I was so happy.

Brandon was so excited about the idea and since he'd watched the video so many times, he had a plan to act out the video and he was REALLY into it. It was so sweet to watch. I've been sitting on these pictures for a long time because I had so many other sessions to edit and then of course, moved and had a baby all in the past few months. So RaQuelle, happy birthday to you- they're finally done!

Sienna's mom, RaQuelle, took video while we were shooting and we're going to put the video clips in with the pictures at some point and then add in all of their pictures from when they first met at Sienna's 1st birthday party to when we left Wisconsin four years later. If you haven't seen the video, go watch it HERE and you'll understand Brandon's plan in his head a little better when you see the photos!















































I love my little Romeo. Hopefully he'll meet his Juliet again some day. RaQuelle and Sienna, we miss you!




***If you have a second, leave a comment for Brandon- he'll LOVE them!

The friendly ghost

Maxwell is already six weeks old. He's smiling up a storm these days- especially at his Mommy! One of these days I'll start posting pictures of other people again. :)

The details

Here are a few more of Maxwell at 3 weeks old. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I want to photograph him all the time. But I'm exhausted and he gets older by the hour and the other boys aren't so cooperative to just let me shoot whenever I please. But I just L O V E having a newborn again- it's going by too fast!

One thing we have plenty of around here... lashes. My boys have beautiful lashes!

But toes are my favorite part of them all!

I have a few more of Max that I want to post soon and two other sessions I haven't gotten up on the blog yet. After my other two boys go to bed, Max just gets started for the evening. Let's just say he doesn't like to be put down between 7pm and 11pm. I'm missin sleep just to post this. So off to bed I go!