Once there was a girl

who had a new pink hat.

She loved her pink hat.  It matched her pink sunglasses….

It even matched her pink hair.

She was a girl that could be sassy, serene, silly.

Sometimes, when she was thinking, she would hold her hands just like this.

She was contemplative.  Sometimes quiet.

Sometimes… not.

But one thing was for sure.  She took her mommy’s breath away.

Again and again.

And again….

Her mommy looked into her daughter’s big brown eyes, and with just the briefest glimpse, everything was right with the world.

Everything.

Sometimes, when her mommy looked at her, she saw a little girl.

But with just the slightest shift in perspective, she would realize that her little girl was growing up…

…into someone amazingly beautiful…

…with a depth behind her eyes that always took her mommy’s breath away.

And while her mommy loved watching her daughter grow into such an amazing big girl…

…she still was a little sad.

When the girl with the pink hat realized that her mommy was sad, she felt sad too.

“What’s the matter, Mommy?” she asked, peering earnestly  into her mommy’s eyes.

“”Oh, sweetie,” said the mommy forlornly, “will you still love me when you’re older?”

The girl looked directly into her mommy’s soul.

And started to giggle….

And then really started to laugh laugh laugh!

“You’re so silly!  Of course I’ll always love you, Mommy!” she said sweetly, hugging herself.  “Always and forever.”

“Do you promise?” the mommy asked.

“Yes, Mommy.  I do.”

And the mommy and the girl with the pink hat lived happily ever after.

This age is a perfect age for a session for your growing child!  They are learning to express themselves as they begin to emerge into the person they are becoming.  If it’s not obvious, I love photographing this age and would love to help you freeze your child at the age they are right now.

And in case you don’t know what this Life Stories thing is about, I’m participating in a blog circle with other amazing photographers from around the globe.  Every month, we share images about our own family.  It’s a chance to be sure we’re taking the time to capture our own moments.  I am honored to be part of this amazing group and am happy to send you on over to Taryn Lisa Photography’s blog!  Read her story and then follow her link to another photographer.  Follow the links all the way around, and you’ll end up right back here.  It’s a big ol’ picture fest!

You can follow me on FACEBOOK.…

It’s been a busy month for me.  As the deadline for this month’s Life Story began encroaching upon me, I had to make a decision: spend a ton of time shooting and then editing pictures of my children playing OR spend that time just playing with my children.

I chose the latter.

As a photographer, I see it as my job to document their lives.  And believe me, they are WELL documented.  And in my endeavor to tell the perfect story, capture the perfect image of the perfect moment that just so happens to be captured in the perfect light with the perfect clothing, I sometimes lose sight of the simple fact that my children want to spend time with me.

And while I love doing these Life Stories and hope to have the time to do a “real” one next month, this month, I just didn’t want to take the time to tell the full story of anything.

I just wanted to spend time with my kids.

And so I did.

So, what I’m sharing here is just some of the pictures I captured this month.  Not a full story of any one event… but just snippets of our month.

We biked.

We waited for friends to arrive.We went to the library and read book after book after book.

I found my daughter immersed in cat books.

We swung.

We played in the sun.

We went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

We hunted for eggs, played with cousins, and laughed with family.

We ducked.

We played tennis…

…it was hot.

And we hugged.  And we loved.  And we laughed.

So, there you have it.   I suppose it IS a life story of sorts.  The story of our month.

If you are not familiar with this whole Life Story thing, well, I hate to say it, but you’ve been missing out.  It’s basically a blog circle…start here, and follow the links at the end of each blog post to continue the circle!  You can get a full description of what it’s all about right HERE.  And if you want to see some of the other ones, you can go over there yonder to the left, click on the Categories tab, and then click on Life Stories.  It’s been a fun project for me this year, and I’m happy to be part of such a wonderful group of photographers who are participating in this with me!

Speaking of wonderful photographers, up next is Audrey Frantz of Kentiga Photography!  Follow all the links at the end of the post until you end up back here!  Thanks for visiting!

You can follow me on Facebook right HERE.

 …

I have an interesting story of how this photo shoot came to be.

Over two years ago, I was scheduled to fly to a photography workshop when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I canceled the trip, called the airlines, and got a voucher number that I could use within a year. In my distraught state, I just threw that voucher number into my desk and forgot about it. I found it right before it expired and ended up booking a ticket to Portland to visit and shoot with some amazing photographer friends. On my flight back, I sat on the plane and edited those photos on my laptop. Unbeknownst to me…

someone was watching…. (insert ominous music here)

She liked what she saw, and by some sneaky moves that I still don’t quite understand, she found out who I was (I’m guessing I watermarked an image?) and a year later, she contacted me to do this session.

That’s cool, right?

And gosh am I ever glad she found me, because her family is amazing.

They all came together from different parts of the country to celebrate the littlest guy’s 100th day birthday, a Korean tradition.

Here are some of my fav’s from the session.

I am really close to my family and it was wonderful to watch all of these guys interacting. The comfort and love that family brings is like none other.

Both the kiddos had fallen asleep on their way to our session. When this sweet little three year old started to wake up, I couldn’t resist grabbing a picture.

Seriously…I love this family.

It took him a while to warm up, but gosh, it was worth the wait.

I really was tickled when the sun came out and little baby E woke up.  I love that he is so chubby that he has a dimple on his forehead.

Isn’t he a little angel?

And my favorites of the day were the last several shots fired.

Mother and daughters.

So much love….so much energy….so much laughter….

I had a wonderful time with this family. Who knew that a ticket voucher, almost lost, would be the reason for this session? Pretty dang cool.

Thanks so much for looking! You can follow me on Facebook, if you like, and I always appreciate comments.  Have a wonderful day!…