We had our annual little mini family shoot for my parent’s Valentine’s Day card, and it was just surreal to see all of these grandbabies really starting to add up. Just as my parents absolutely lived for my sisters and I growing up (and still do), they are just as devoted to their growing numbers of grandchildren.  All girls of course, one of these days someone is going to have a boy and none of us will know what to do!  It’s amazing to see families grow in this way, and I pray each and every day that our own little family enjoys the same love and longevity over the years.  Love you Mom and Dad!

I’m trying to make it a point this year to take the time to photograph my girls doing everyday things. I know I don’t have the time or energy for a 365 project, but picking activities here and there to photograph I can do.  These girls LOVE their baths, they could play in there forever.  They love each other too, which just melts my heart. Since all of this love is in the air, Happy Valentine’s Day!

Merry Christmas from Emory and Finley!  I actually shot these on Christmas Eve day, testing out the natural light in our new home and my new rug.  As usual, my girls were fairly unwilling subjects (Finley was a little under the weather in her defense), but I ended up with a handful of images that I just love – the bottom right in particular.  Because that sums up our experience.  Emory LOVED wearing her “princess dress” so she was hamming it up for me.  My babies are getting so big so fast!  I can’t believe that Finley will be 2 in a few months and Emory will be 5 just a few months later.  Love them!

Well, if there is one thing I’ve learned from attempting to photograph my own two munchkins in the last few months, it’s that I should probably stick to seniors and newborns.  Oh my goodness, these three images were the result of TWO separate attempts to get Christmas card pictures of these two crazy kids.  They may be a handful sometimes and incredibly frustrating to photograph, but those few brief smiles were so worth it.  Love them to the moon and back!

I forgot to share these in a timely manner, much like everything else as you can see, but these two were too cute to pass up so I”m sticking them in order with everything else!  It was SO windy on this day out at the ranch, but we did the best we could and got some cute shots of these stinkers.  Love these girls so much, and boy do they ever love each other.  They are best friends and partners in crime for sure!

My poor neglected blog, I am so sorry that I have allowed you to fall by the wayside.  As it turns out, running a business with a 3-year old and a baby is not as easy as it appears (and it never appeared easy, at least to me), and I had to let a couple of things go in the meantime.  BUT, now that the fall season is ramping up in full force and my kiddos are back in preschool, and I am bringing this blog back to life!  I’m hoping to catch up on all of the fabulous faces I didn’t get a chance to blog from earlier in the year, as well as keeping you current on what I’m doing now.  I’ve got some very cool new features to share with you and some fun events and partnerships in the works too, so stay tuned!  And just so you can be sure that time spent away from blogging was time well spent, here are me and my girls from earlier this year … love them so much!  Photo by the extremely talented Erica May!

If you haven’t seen what the always wonderful Tea Collection has put out this past year, you have truly been missing out.  Their latest destinations – Catalonia and Modern Mexico – have been stunningly beautiful, especially down here in Texas where we appreciate things with a Spanish/Mexican flair. I was lucky enough to team up with Tea again and showcase some gorgeous pieces from their holiday collection modeled by my own two beauties.  They are always my first stop when I’m looking for quality children’s clothing, especially for portraits.  As I’ve mentioned before, it’s so hard to find nice clothes for girls in that deep rich color palette that I want to see hanging in my home.  No matter the destination, I know that I can depend on Tea to have some wonderful options available.  I love the coordination in this first set of outfits – the colors are spot on.  The berry color on Finley and throughout Emory’s outfit adds a perfect holiday touch (hint, hint, you may be seeing a preview of our holiday card). 

Okay, I know I’m a little biased, but aren’t these girls so stinkin’ cute?!?

As always, I love their girl’s dresses – I’m a huge fan of dresses with leggings for both play and nicer occasions.  Speaking of leggings, I continually buy them and have to throw them out, even during the same season, because Emory is so rough on them – holes in the knees, busted seams, etc.  However, she has worn her Tea leggings from last fall through the spring and is still able to wear them this fall.  They honestly look as good as the first time she wore them, a true testament to the quality of the products they offer.

I was excited that this time around that I got to try out their baby girl’s clothes too.  They are so soft and comfortable while still utilizing beautiful patterns and fun details like the frill on the sleeves.  These outfits are currently my favorite thing to put on my sweet girl, and without being too gross, her spit-up tendencies have really tested this fabric in the wash – it has passed with flying colors.  There’s nothing more disappointing then having spit-up stains that I can’t get out of a cute outfit. 

The girls were starting to wind down when we got to outfit #2, but they held out for long enough to get a few sweet shots!  I love how these two outfits use the same pattern but still differ in style and coordinating features.  Perfect for sisters!  This particular pattern has great potential for coordination to other siblings and mom and dad too – just look at all of the options available for you to tie in! 

P.S. It’s been awhile since I’ve photographed one, but it is HARD to work with a baby who isn’t sitting up yet.  Phew!   

Here’s where you can get these gorgeous outfits:

Talavera Layered Dress

Skinny Stretch Leggings

Pava Real Romper

Wildflower Wrap Dress

Wildflower Layered Romper

There are so many reasons why I love the owner of Bella Ariana – not only does she make an amazing product and have tremendous customer service, but she is so gracious and flexible as well.  These lovely images of her Firecracker tutu were supposed to be done back in May, but those of you who have been sticking around awhile know that I was put on strict bedrest after the first week of May. I was so bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to get this shoot done, but Frances was so great about the whole situation.  I really hoped that these images would turn out awesome, and they certainly did!  My usually uncooperative model turned three in the interim and decided that having her picture taken was not that bad after all!  She loved dancing around in her pretty tutu and hamming it up for the camera.  If you know of a little girl who could rock a tutu, make sure to check out Bella Ariana on the web and on Facebook!  Thanks Frances!

Well, I do realize that this post is approximately three months overdue, but cut me some slack!  Doubling your kids is kind of crazy!   We welcomed our precious Finley Rose into our lives on June 28th.  After trying and trying to join us a little too early over the prior 6 weeks, she thankfully made it to 37 weeks and had a well-earned quick and easy entrance into this world.  She is an absolute angel, and we can’t imagine what our lives would be like without her.  She smiles …. oh does this girl smile ALL the time.  She has to be the happiest baby on the planet.  Her big sis Emory already loves her so much, and the feeling is mutual – if Emory let her, Finley would just sit and watch her all day long. Emory is already waiting for the day when Finley “gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and then she play with me!”   There’s nothing that warms my heart more right now than watching the two of them interact.  We are slowly but surely getting a handle on our new lives as parents of two, so thanks for your patience with my long silences and delayed replies to emails.  Here are Miss Finley’s newborn pictures, some of them with the help of my pal and very talented photographer Erica.

It’s been a LONG time since I entered an I Heart Faces challenge, and since I’m on bed rest I figure I don’t have much of an excuse to pass up this one!    Especially when I have the perfect image of my own little cutie to use for this week’s theme.  “From a distance” is about all she gave me on this night, but I LOVE how this image turned out.

To see more great entries, head on over to I Heart Faces!