We met the Hansen family for the first time last December at the Red Chair-ity Event at the Silver Spoon boutique; since then, it’s been nothing but great times every chance we get to see them. T’s big sis, Miss E, was one of our Cutest Kid Model Search participants last winter, and we saw Mr. T for his 2nd Bebe session a short bit ago. Mom brought him alone this time, and he was so good during his session that I missed almost the whole thing when I ran out just to pick Reilly up from gymnastics! It was a good thing that we captured his awesome hair-do here, b/c days later they buzzed it off thinking he was coming down with chicken-pox (ended up being a false alarm….but the new “do” was there anyway!). Love this sweet boy….love his wonderful family!

Near the end of Kayla’s consultation, she casually mentioned it would be fun to shoot next to an old VW bus. Again, trying not to laugh out loud I said “Well, that’s a tall order but if one comes up I’ll let you know.”

Ten minutes after she left I ran next door to talk to my neighbor who just happened to have an old bus in his garage and it also just happened to match Kayla’s dress she brough to the consult. He was more than happy to oblige.

Fast forward to the day of the session, Kayla arrived and our neighbor not only parked the bus right out front for her to see, he washed it sparkling clean. Kayla’s jaw nearly hit the ground and I felt like Kris Kringle at the end of Miracle on 34th st. Needless to say, this was a fun session and Kayla did fantastic.

Thanks Kayla for a great session and thanks Tony for the bus!

Miss S came to visit us for a second time, and we were thrilled to say the least. We met the Quick family last year at our Portraits at the Ponds event at the Silver Spoon children’s boutique, and later learned that mom works at our CPA’s office–what a small world! Anyhow, they brought Miss S a year older, and even cuter! Dad met mom at the studio for their session, and he was in charge of bringing all of S’s clothing mom had laid out. I bet you can see where this one is going! Yep, dear old dad left all of her clothes at home! Not to worry…this is what I was made for! I knew there was a reason I keep loads of cute stuff on hand at the studio…..just in case. In the end, the clothing didn’t even matter….okay, maybe the turquoise tutu mattered, but it was really all about S’s sweet personality and precious moments to be captured with mom and dad. ~Stefani

The gorgeous Gilly’s (as we like to call them!) have been coming to see us since they were newborns. We’ve become friends with this family and always look forward to their next session (they also have a little sis and another baby on the way…thanks for keeping us busy!). This time we went out and about to a different location to add some variety to their collection of portraits. Their mom always does such an awesome job on their wardrobe selection, which definitely makes a difference! We have always thought these kids could be models, and Miss R actually had her first gig not too long ago–you can see her in the current fall Pottery Barn Kids catalog! Way to go!

Reilly’s 7th birthday finally concluded on Monday with a party at the Roseville Aquatics Center with a bunch of her friends. We chose this venue for various reasons, but mostly because we assumed it would be hot and steamy as most Sacramento August days are known to be. Well, of course it was only in the mid-80’s that day, but it meant an almost empty huge venue for our party girls! The girls had a blast swimming, enjoying pizza & cake, and just hanging out. Crowd or not, our girls were always easy to spot thanks to their neon goggles (Reilly in the green and Teagan in pink). Thanks to everyone who came to help our sweet 7-year old celebrate the passing of another year and usher in the next!

I have known the Brubaker’s for a long time…well, technically, I’ve know mom (Stephanie) a really long time–since junior high! We photographed little sis during our Cutest Kid contest in January, and they loved her images so much that they decided to bring big sis for her own session. She’s 10 and was so cute…totally into what she wore, right down to her earings for each outfit. I love how these images capture so many sides of her, but my favorite (and theirs) is the first; it shows just a bit of little girl left…in some of her images she looked so much older and mature, but this first one shows there’s still some little girl left in her. I think that’s probably why they choose it, too (not to mention the fact that it’s just darn cute!). Such a cool age to capture!

When Stef asked me to put together some older photos of Reilly for her birthday blog post, I wasn’t quite prepared for the effect this would have on me.

Going through the photos from the last several years, I had a difficult time holding it together. I looked at the photos I took at dinner last night, then poured through a collection of familiar yet distant images of her from just a few years past.

When did this happen? Where did this time go? How can in seven short years am I able to not completely remember everything about her even with these wonderful photographs? I am constantly astonished at the cliche “It goes by so quickly” and how unavoidably true it is. I’ve heard this a million times and have probably repeated it as much, but still am not prepared for it.

Where did it go…

I hope her memories are as fond as mine of these times, and that they seem a lot longer for her than for me. And I hope, that with any luck, some of these photographs will help her keep those memories close.

Seven years…Miss T is really not that far behind and I’m not quite sure I’m ready for another toothless smile, or for “breafkast” to be pronounced right, for princesses to fall out of favor, for bubbles not to be fascinating, or for serious doubt whether or not Santa Claus is a viable source for presents.

And I will certainly never be ready for the last time I carry either one of them up the stairs to bed.

Until then, all aboard! Here is a blast from the (not so distant) past.

Happy birthday Reilly, I love you.

Meet the lovely Laura.

When we met to discuss her session, while talking about locations Laura suggested a friends place in Penryn.

“It’s got a 100+ year old house, a vineyard, old trees, horses and big open fields and-…”

“Yes, that will be just fine Laura.” (that’s me trying to tone down my excitement)

And fine it was. We arrived late in the day and things were just glowing. It had a very unique look and I felt like I was at some old English ranch. The next hour or two was just spent exploring this fine place and we made plenty of portraits along the way. Laura, wonderful job as always and thanks again for that experience.

James

Young G paid us a visit for his 2nd Bebe session a while back, and he was happy as could be, as are most of our little friends at this age. G couldn’t take a bad shot if he tried! We are especially grateful to the Cameto’s for sharing their sweet boy with us, as they have been coming to Roseville from the Walnut Creek area to see us since their maternity session last year. Don’t you just want to squeeze him?

Meet the McGargills! This gorgeous family decided to have their portraits made at a relatives house in Loomis. Stef and I knew this was going to be a fun session from the first time we met the M’s, but when we saw this location, we knew it was going to be special. Ponds, trees, swings, flowers, tractors…and a trampoline were a few of the things to catch our interest. The kiddos did great and gave me a much needed workout chasing them around. Thanks Heather & Andrew for such a great time with your family.