I'm getting ready to head out the door, but wanted to get some sneak peeks up for this family from Saturday :)  

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting brand new baby Samuel. Since he hadn't slept for a few hours before I arrived, mom and I thought for sure he would fall asleep easily....but Sam was totally awake and alert the entire time. Like some previous newborn shoots, I was able to sneak in a few "looks like he's sleeping" pics ;)  Big brother Jimmy was silly and excited during the shoot. He just turned 3 and isn't quite so sure of the new baby taking over his house....but he is such a sweetheart with a contagious smile :) Soon enough these 2 boys will be the best of friends....I just know it :) 

I wish I had gotten both of Jimmy's gorgeous eyes in the shot.....but I was lucky I got this one since he's quite a crazy guy who was running, jumping, hiding, etc the whole time ;) 

Rockin' mama and her 2 baby boys......

Jimmy said he didn't want to take pictures.....but he couldn't help but to keep peeking his head out to check on us....and then to do a quick sniff and see if his brother was stinky ;) 

P.S - A huge HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my wonderful husband Mark! Today marks 7 years of marriage for us!  My plan for today is to edit just a little bit more (and get tomorrows blog post ready) and then take the rest of the day/evening off and enjoy our anniversary :) 

A few months back, Rachel of goldenshop sent me an email asking if I would shoot a few photos with some of her products for her business cards, site, etc.  Some of you might remember the adorable birthday hat that Rachel made PJ for her 4th birthday party.  Well of course I said yes! She makes amazingly adorable stuff, took time out of her already hectic and crazy schedule to make a custom hat for PJ's party, has done custom items for celebrities like Halle Berry and Joely Fisher!, AND she's a totally hilarious sweetheart with a super cute kid ;) There's no way I would have said no!  Rachel had mentioned that she loved the look of the teal tub and suitcase that I had shot with PJ earlier in the year, so I added those items and then brought along some other things that I thought would be cute. Since her shop is called GOLDENshop.....I really wanted to get that "golden" light and vintage/antique feel. Here are some of the shots from back in July.........

As I was shooting, PJ ran out and started asking me to take pictures of HER wearing the hat.  Typical PJ move. When I WANT to take photos of her, she's a big pain in the butt (no folks, I DON'T have the easiest kid to photograph even though you might think I do LOL), and when i'm NOT trying to take her pics, she wants a piece of the action. I guess from now on I need to do the whole reverse psychology thing ;) Anyway, here's miss PJ with the hat on........

goldenshop does a TON of huge custom orders, so if you'd like to order something for a birthday, holiday or other event that is on a time crunch, ORDER AHEAD to be safe! :) 

Last week I decided to take PJ to the Birch Aquarium since The New Children's Museum is closed temporarily while they get new exhibits up. Since we are members of the the Children's Museum and they are closed for a month, we are able to go to a few places (including the Birch Aquarium) for FREE until they re-open :)  Anyway, I picked up PJ from school one day and we headed to the aquarium for a bit. I hadn't been there since my niece and nephew were little (so AT LEAST 5-10 years ago), so I had completely forgotten what it was like. Unfortunately, it was much smaller than I remembered (but perhaps I was mistaking it for the Long Beach Aquarium?). We were done in less than an hour and in all honesty, you can see the same (and MORE) stuff at Sea World ;) Oh well....it was worth the trip since it was free, but yeah, they'll need to expand or something in order to compete with Sea World. 

I almost didn't bring my good camera with me since I didn't want to lug the extra weight around (those lenses can be brutal), but then I remembered that my poor neglected "nifty fifty" (which is a cheap little lens that is roughly around $120 - $140 - Canon 50mm f/1.8)  hadn't been used in AGES (more like once or twice EVER). So yeah, I popped that little lens on and decided to see what it could do.  Surprisingly it did pretty well for a uber cheap bargain lens. Here are a few shots from our short visit.....

Believe it or not, this isn't the first session i've done recently where the family plans on using some photos for their holiday cards this year. Some people think it's crazy to even think about holiday cards in August or September.....but there are plenty who get it done early so that they aren't rushing around during the already busy holidays trying to schedule an appointment, get photos taken, get cards made, addressed, sent out, etc. Well this family is not only set for holiday cards, but they are set for Halloween as well since mommy brought along their costumes for a few pics at the very end of the session. Some may call this all crazy.....I call it smart! :)   Sofia (the eldest) is pretty shy and wasn't really a fan of having her picture taken......but little sister Ava was ready to take pics even before I was :)  Luckily I was able to get some giggles and real smiles out of both of them :) 

We got a little crazy ;) ......