October - Love That Face

This is my favorite picture right now. When I look at it, I can smell his sweet baby scent and feel his soft baby skin. My cousin Quinn is a doll and a ham and sweetheart. I'm fairly certain that even when he's a grown man with children of his own this is exactly how he will look in my memory.

October - Carved for Attention

Friends, fun and a LOT of pumpkin guts...a night well spent.

Week 27y- Nap or Watch the World Go By

We took Owen on his first vacation when he was 3 months old. And this year we took a 3-month-old Dane on vacation as well. Things we learned: Two kids are more than twice the work, go one place and just stay there, naps are our homeboy. Both boys did really well. We have great travelers, I'm guessing in part because we start them when they are 3 months old. Dane hates for people to eat, and Owen would rather play with an iPhone than do anything else in the world, but other than that, we had a great time. We often think of finding a little place by a beach and living the beach bum life. But for now, we'll just take our once-a-year foray to someplace tropical.

Week 26ish - And Two Become One

M's cousin got married. The music was late '90s-early 2000s fare...so, AWESOME! The couple used a quote from When Harry Met Sally, their vows talked about cuddling up to watch Step Brothers and there was a man without a shirt dancing at the end of the night. All in all, a good wedding, I would say.

I was listening to their vows and the sheer joy and simplicity of them were flooring. I remember when it was that easy. A phone call, a glance. When the work of being together wasn't work at all. But marriage is work. Worth doing, but work nonetheless. They've got the right idea. Connect, cuddle and laugh a lot. And every once in a while, strip your shirt off and JUST DANCE!

Week ... 25? - Two Sets of Hands are Better Than One

My mom has a picture of me playing with Play Doh with my grandpa. In a little box somewhere there is a village of Play Doh people going about their lives with their little wheelbarrows and their donkeys. All made by my little hands and my grandpa's big ones. My mom is passing down the same memories to Owen. He doesn't really get it yet, but he loves the attention and likes to play with Grama. He likes to take all the Play Dohs out of the containers and roll them flat and then try to stuff them back in the containers. He loves the pink one and won't go near the black one. I'm always curious about what these little interests will turn in to in terms of real-world skills, and likes and dislikes. For now, I'm just enjoying watching them play.

Week 10 - Welcome to the World Zoey

My "art" and my life are one. And while most of my pictures are the captured moments of wonder with my own kiddo - soon to be kiddoS - there are moments that belong to someone else that I'm just happy to be a part of. My baby brother-in-law has had a big year...married and now a kiddo of his own. We were so honored and giddy to be invited to meet our niece Zoey Mckenna just hours after she was born. She's a doll...serious, soft and kind of loud for such a little thing. We adore her already and it's only been a few days...heck we adored her the second we saw her little newborn face.

Week 5 - This Teeny Little Piggy Went to Market...

Two tiny little people filled up a great big space in my heart.

Week 4 - Got Ya Covered

My cousin, seen in the picture from the week before last, is having TWINS! This has been a source of great excitement in my family. And because she thought she might be done with kids and these two were a fun surprise, I know that they are extra special. Also, since I'm pregnant as well, it's been a fun shared experience for us. Belly bonding. She had a shower in December, but I was up to my ears in Xmas and exhaustion, but I finally got to make her the gift I wanted to give her all along. I made blankets and burp cloths for each of the babies. It was a fun way for me to say "welcome to the world little ones, we're so happy to meet you!"

Week 2 - Backyard or Bust

My cousin is expecting twins. She's in for an adventure. And I was so proud and honored that she let me be a part of it by shooting some maternity pictures for her. It was a challenge. She's on bedrest, so we had to stay close to home ... which meant ... home. I'm not a lithe as I used to be, which is saying a lot because if there's one thing I'm generally not it's "lithe." My kid was running around, her husband was brewing beer, her kids were running around, the DOG was running around...it was wild, but you'd never know it to see the serene look on her face here. I think she was thinking "come out, come out whoever you are!" We are all very excited to meet the new babies and I'm excited to share her pictures with her.

Week 1 - Big Shoes to Fill

There are moments that need to be captured and Owen trying to walk in his daddy's shoes is one of those moments. It was sweet. The light was bad, the angle was worse...I barely got three shots off before he got distracted, but I got it! This year is gonna be about family. Lots of babies being born in our family, ours included, and I think the camera will be trained on the littlest members of our little clan.

December - Another Completed Project

I just finished editing my friends' family photos. This was one of my very favorite shots. And although I'm the only who loves this vintage filter, I love the way it looks like this (don't worry, I made it regular color and B&W for their mom). Have you ever seen two more cherubic children? Except for mine, of course, who looks like an angel, but oy.

December - Spanning Generations

Owen and his grandpa - "Grumps" - spend some post-Xmas frenzy downtime checking their iPhones. Who knew an almost 2-year-old and a 66-year-old would bond over...iPhones?! I'm pretty sure they're facebooking each other, too.

December - Bonding With the Babes

Editing Day 2: A special moment of super fun between mom and daughter.


And because it's obvious dads have them too ... another tender moment.

December - Fun & Photos With Friends

My friend, Erinn, asked me to take some photos of her family. Like moms everywhere, she's rarely in pictures as she's usually the picture taker. I was happy to do it and really just to spend time with my old college friends and their great kiddos. It was a fun afternoon of me trying to coax the sun out from behind the clouds, trying to coax smiles out of two little ones at the same time, and trying to coax a little ease out of a dad who wasn't quite comfortable in front of the camera. It was good to be outside, to be moving, to be with friends and to be doing something I love to do.

December - Christmas Came Early

My niece will be spending Christmas with her dad this year, so my sister-in-law threw her an early family Christmas. She handled it marvelously for a 3-year-old. There was lots of excitement, but also a lot of thank yous and some genuine glee at her gifts. We'll miss her this Christmas, but it was fun to share in her special Christmas Day.

I'm doing a friend's family pictures tomorrow and I'm really really nervous. I've shot friends, I've shot pictures. I know I can do this, but as always, something about capturing someone's moment, someone's family, someone's loved ones makes my stomach feel a little yucky. I love to do it and it will be lots of fun just to be with my friend and her family, but it still gives me the jitters a little. Don'tletmefuckthisup, don'tletmefuckthisup...

September 18 - She Shoots, She Scores

Saturdays are Soccer Days now. My cousin is the player in front. She scored two goals in a row, we were so proud!

And if you have a keen eye, you realize that I used Soccer Saturday shots for three days. I'm trying to keep up, I'm trying, I'm trying!

September 17 - Armed and Ready

My family doesn't go anywhere without our arsenal of cameras and lenses. This is my cousin, she's having TWO babies. Maybe we should name them Canon and Nikon.

September 11 - Red, Blue and Goal

Ok, so we've learned I'm not a sports photographer. My cousin Ella (center and looking right at her wildly loud cheering section) had her first game today and she scored her first goal! That's her score in the net. She was proud, we were proud, the coach was proud. It was very exciting. The whole thing was kind of fun. I liked getting out in the sun, hanging with my familia and the kids were super cute. Ella's team, the Blue Diamonds, held their own against the Fire Barbies.

Now a fun story about my family. We are a kind of subdued bunch. We laugh, we enjoy each other, but there is no dancing on tables, fights or raucousness of any sort. When I graduated from college, my whole family - and I mean my WHOLE family - came to Las Cruces to see me walk. So as I was sitting on the floor, I kept seeing this wild, waving, LOUD family to my right at the top of the stadium! They were shouting and cheering and I was REALLY jealous, because I was sitting there wishing I had a wild fun family like that. So after it was all over and we were on the big field talking, I said "where were you guys sitting?" and they all looked me like I was smoking crack and my mom said "we were at the end of your row, all the way up...you had to have seen us, we were cheering REALLY loud! You were looking RIGHT AT US!" Um, yeah, that was MY LOUD, cheering, wild family! I was so proud.

September 9 - And We're Back!

Obviously, I didn't take this picture. I woke up to find my mom was here, taking pictures and cleaning my house. While I was sick, Owen and I did a lot of this. I'm happy to be back on my feet and thank you everyone for making sure we were alive and still taking pictures. I missed you, too!

August 14 - Birthday Bowl

It was Ella's brother's birthday, but she had a great time bowling and she looked so darn cute. I can't believe how big she looks here and yet there are times when she's still a baby to me.