Hadley had graduated from All God’s Children preschool the night before these pictures, so this was a sweet opportunity to celebrate that milestone. Milestone sessions don’t stop just because your child turns one – there are all sorts of reasons to celebrate your child(ren) with a photo session. My own 14 year old son is getting a milestone session of his own soon (whether he likes it or not haha!), because he just finished 8th grade and will be entering high school next fall. Another client is planning a session with her daughter who is learning to play the violin.

Today marks the start of summer, and that has me thinking about all sorts of things. I caught myself lamenting about what kind of mom I am opposed to what kind of mom I thought I would be before I had kids. The difference is night and day, although I got one thing right. I was going to be a Martha Stewart/Pinterest master mom, doing all sorts of crafts with the kiddos and baking all the time, blah blah blah.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by rainbows, and now my daughter is too. I remember seeing my first double rainbows over the mountain tops in Wyoming while visiting family. I love running outside after a storm with Mackenzie searching for the rainbow. At our wedding, my dad and I danced to What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong – I wonder if she’ll choose the same song to dance with her daddy someday. Rainbows symbolize peace, hope and promises made by God. Who doesn’t love a rainbow!!??

It’s that time of year when the grass is getting greener, the days are getting longer and there are signs of rebirth and new growth everywhere. Spring is by far my favorite season. Everything feels like a new beginning, like each new life is the beginning of someone’s story. My goal at every newborn session is to portraits that will shape the story of your lives and provide a legacy of family history for future generations to treasure.

Children of creatives are always in danger of being talked into doing crazy things. A couple of months ago I got this crazy idea in my head for a “retro rainbow” photo shoot. I knew immediately who my muse would be. My poor kiddos suffer from PCS, a.k.a., Photographer’s Child Syndrome, in which the child(ren) of a photographer have been photographed so many times throughout their young life, they are no longer interested in smiling at a camera, much less even look at one. The. Struggle. Is. Real.

The most important moments of our lives, the ones we find ourselves yearning for just a moment longer in years later, are often filled with so many details that we want to remember, but tend to forget. Scheduling a Fresh 48 session means that even though those precious brand new details may fade from your memory as time wears on, they will be preserved for a lifetime via the photographs from your session. 

There are many reasons I love photographing family’s in and around their homes. Your home is where the majority of your memories are made as a family, so why not make your photographic memories there too? As you can imagine, photo sessions with 3 young boys comes with it’s challenges, but because we were in their “safe place,” the boys were able to play and run around comfortably, which allowed me to get so many genuine smiles and expressions. Photographing this family in their natural habitat has created even more special memories for this family to treasure.

You know how you see homes in magazines or Pinterest that you wish you could just move in to? You might think to yourself, “No one really has a home like that, and if they do they don’t live in it.” Well let me tell you friends, not only is Martha’s home one of those picture perfect dwellings that you dream of having, she and her hubby Glenn, and their 3 beautiful daughters, plus their dog Wrigley all live and make memories in this beautiful home you are about to see.

NILMDTS offers the gift of healing, hope and honor to parents experiencing the death of a baby through the overwhelming power of remembrance portraits. Professional-level photographers volunteer their time to conduct an intimate portrait session, capturing the only moments parents spend with their babies. Parents are gifted with delicately retouched heirloom black and white portraits free of charge.

Kristina and Ricky have the most adorable kids. Like seriously cute with their blonde hair, blue eyes and contagious smiles. They are neighbors down the street, and I have had the good fortune to photograph them several times throughout the years. Most recently, for Kristina’s maternity photos, modeling a couple dresses in my collection.