A few weeks ago we held our 2nd annual Santa Portrait Charity Event at the Silver Spoon children’s boutique in an effort to collect Toys 4 Tots.  We had an amazing response and collected over 200 toys!  We are so appreciative of everyone who participated in this event, as well as the Silver Spoon for providing the perfect location and the most amazing Santa.  There are far too many portraits to include in a blog post, so this is really just a teaser (and if case you weren’t aware, the first darling little girls are ours…:-).  To see all 188 portraits visit our Facebook page here.  Enjoy and Merry Christmas–Ho! Ho! Ho!

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!

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!

We were thrilled to get to work with the Fore family this summer on 2 separate occasions–for their maternity session and then baby K’s newborn session, which ended up being closer together since he decided to make his entrance over 3 weeks early!  Since the sessions were so close together we decided to do a fun post with images from both.  The maternity session was a blast and we just loved working with them, and we’re always thrilled when there are awesome tattoos to show! 🙂  Fast forward to sweet baby K…he was seriously one of the cutest newborns ever!  I could have just stared at him all day, especially since he didn’t make a peep during his session (another bonus of getting them when they’re brand-new).  We’re looking forward to seeing the Fore family back for their 2 other Bebe sessions over K’s first year….stay tuned!

Meet the Mitchell’s, one of our favorite Sac-town families that came all the way to San Diego for our beach sessions!  I was so excited the day I got the call from Katie telling me they were going to plan a trip to San Diego around the dates of our sessions. Now, I’ve mentioned before that the weather wasn’t exactly ideal for these sessions; it was windy and pretty chilly, especially considering everyone was dressed for summer!  Having been there and freezing myself, I just have to recognize what troopers everyone was during their sessions, and especially Katie.  By the end of their session, James noticed that her lips were turning blue, but not once did she complain or mention being cold.  Now that’s what I call commitment to getting the perfect family portrait!  (and I just have to mention their awesome clothing choices….the girls’ dresses were a home run, thanks to the Silver Spoon!)