Since it’s cold and dreary outside, we thought you all might enjoy a flashback to summer and warmer times.  At the end of summer we joined one of our favorite families in Lake Tahoe for a departure from our typical studio maternity sessions.  We first met the Ferrell’s for Heidi’s last maternity session with baby #3, who is now a darling 2 year old boy.  Fast forward a couple of years and they were back to document baby #4 (2nd girl) before she arrived in September.  We were thrilled at the prospect of a beach maternity session on the shores of beautiful Lake Tahoe.  The best part is that they trekked down hills and across boulders to get to a spot not completely packed with summer vacationers.  The kids thought this was quite an adventure, of course!  We had a wonderful time with them, as we always do, and the things that stand out in my mind the most about this session were Heidi’s willingness to try new things, and their ability as a couple to still connect and focus on each other as if this were their first baby, all while their other 3 children were on the verge of falling off rocks or jumping into the lake.  Meet the fabulous Ferrell’s (again)!

We first met Lindsey over a year ago when we photographed her with her husband and darling daughter.  We were thrilled when she contacted us to create something special as a surprise for her husband on their anniversary.  When we met to discuss what she was looking for and the vision she had for her session, the recurring theme that kept re-surfacing was “romantic.”  Fast forward to the day of the session; Lindsey brought clothing and accessories that perfectly captured the essence of what she had described.  Suffice it to say we very much enjoyed her session and willingness to trek into the stickery woods barefoot in order to capture the perfect image!  What a fantastic gift this album was for her hubby!

Meet the Diaz family, who brought their baby blessing, J, to us to capture his sweet newborn stage.  We’re so excited we get to see this family two more times during J’s first year, as they are another one of our Bebe Collection members.  I have to admit, our Bebe members have an extra special place in my heart, as I get so attached to these families and watching their little ones grow!  I’m always so sad after the 1-year session, because that means we most likely we see them every few months!  We’re thrilled to have met the Diaz family and capture baby J’s first year (and big brother’s affection for his baby bro!).

So, I’m sure you have noticed, but our blog-speed hasn’t been stellar lately–our apologies to you wonderful people who visit it regularly!  We’re right in the thick of our busiest time of year, not aided by the fact that James was in New Orleans teaching all last week.  Thus, the lagging blog posts.  Thanks to all of our patient peeps for who’ve been waiting!

Now that I have that off my chest, I would like you to meet the lovely Doss family (this is how behind we are….these images are from their first session a few months ago and they were just here today to see their next set of Bebe images!).  Miss A was a little older than most of our babies at her first Bebe session, but we didn’t mind one little bit.  She was super happy and full of smiles.  I do believe she’s a ballerina in training (see her perfectly pointed toe in the 2nd to last image).  This family was so easy and fun to work with, and we can’t wait for you to see her next set of images (you’ll have to wait a while, clearly…:-).

We experienced quite a baby boom over the past several months at the studio, and the Fleming family contributed to that trend.  We also saw another interesting phenomenon–babies being born so early that momma either missed her maternity session altogether or came very close!  Tonya was one of those whose maternity session actually turned into baby Z’s newborn session.  She brought him to us when he was just days old, along with big brother, to capture his tiny sweetness.  Z was such a good boy and gave us the treat of seeing him both asleep and awake, which sometimes for babies that new doesn’t happen (they just sleep!).  We’re looking forward to their next Bebe session to see how much he’s grown.  Meet baby Z:

We have photographed the lovely Martinelli girls on several occasions, but this was an extra-special session, as it was our first introduction to little Miss Kate, the newest addition to the Martinelli clan.  When I first got the call from Koren to schedule the session, chills ran up and down my spine at the news they had brought Kate home from China and were anxious to hang portraits of her in their home, so Kate could see she really was a part of this wonderful family.  I know Koren was a little concerned about how Kate would do in this new, unfamiliar situation, but as you can see, she acted like she was an old pro (I’m sure a little help from her big sisters didn’t hurt!).  We are always thrilled to see this family, and this was definitely a magical session for so many reasons.  Thanks Martinelli’s for entrusting us to create your family’s heirloom artwork!

We first met the Beard’s when they were still expecting Baby J (you might recall their maternity images with mama in Tim’s firefighting turnouts–so cute!), and we are happy to call the Beard’s our friends now, too.  It has been such a fun journey to document this special little guy’s first year +, but by far the best part has just been getting to know and spend time with them.  Tim & Melissa decided to carry the firefighter theme throughout their sessions, so some part of Tim’s gear was a part of every session.  I will not lie–we were a little nervous when Tim walked in with his huge axe at the last session, but it turned out to be such a cool part of this image below.  We are so thankful for the trust Tim & Melissa have placed in us to create their portrait art, and love the collaborative efforts they put forth for each and every session.

We met the Jenkins family over the summer, thanks to Brad’s dad who graciously gave Brad an Enchanted Images gift certificate for his birthday.  We are so glad he did, because what a lovely family we got to work with!  They brought baby B when he was brand-new, even though all that hair makes him look so grown-up.  Big sis was so sweet and cooperative in getting the important “big sister” images, and as you can see, Baby B pretty much chilled the entire time and let us do whatever we wanted–my favorite kind of newborn session!  We look forward to seeing the Jenkins back for B’s 2nd Bebe session in a few months….dying to know if he’s kept all of that gorgeous hair!

We met the DeStefano family thanks to Joel’s mom, who was the winning bidder on a session we donated to a charity auction.  We’re sure glad she was kind enough to give the session to her son’s family, because they were great to work with!  When kids this little are involved, they let us know how the session will go, and in the case, it was all about family fun.  The kids definitely responded to mom and dad, which is why we all loved this family image so much.  Meet the fun DeStefano family:

First off, sorry for the long gap in between posts here!  James & I were in Portland last week teaching and learning at an amazing conference called After Dark Education.  Thanks for bearing with us as we try to catch up–so hard to leave during the busiest time of year, but it was a great experience and we feel fortunate that we were invited to be a part of it.  Now, on to the fabulous Burton family!  We first met the Burton’s when big brother was just a newborn, and we were thrilled to capture baby sister’s entire first year.  This session was the culmination of their Bebe Collection, as Miss R turned 1.  When the clothing choices started coming out, our heads were spinning!  Chandah brought so many great options!  We were thrilled with the fun black & red combo for the family, and all I can say about the fluffy pink dress with the to-die-for headband is LOVE IT!  This is definitely an example of what to wear for your portrait session!  While we love the whole Burton family, I can’t help but gush about little miss R here and how darn cute she is.  She’s quite the serious baby but it was so sweet that the big smiles we got were when mom was playing with her–she knows who’s stocking her closet with all those cute outfits!