Goodness gracious these two have some BEAUTIFUL children! I remember the day she told me she thought she might be expecting again. I remember the day I heard they were having TWINS. I remember big brother coming in for his holiday mini session in December and wondering where in the world his mommy was!? His daddy told me she was on strict bedrest (due in Feb) and I felt so bad for her. I remember the total shock and surprise when I got an e-mail from mom that she the babies ended up being born *that very evening*! I remember being overjoyed and completely overwhelmed with worry for them. I remember seeing the first pictures of the babies posted online. I remember hearing that they finally got to come home. Sigh.

And that is where we picked up: just a few days after both babies were brought home. These two (actually, all three of them) could not have been more adorable and amazing. It can really go either way when you mix a toddler and a newborn together…it’s even more unpredictable when you’ve got a toddler plus TWO newborns, but big brother was incredible. So loving. So caring. And wanting to be part of all the action and dote on his little brother and sister. And check out that nursery! Mom laughed when she pointed out that all that time on bedrest, she had nothing to do but explore Pinterest. I kinda want to wrap myself up in that wallpaper ;-).

Two more favity favs can be found HERE and HERE. You won’t be sorry for indulging in a little bit more of their newborn wonderfulness.

We sure did have a lot of plans for our session, but Mother Nature had other ideas. What was supposed to be a lovely spring day, turned into a rather chilly and wiiiiiiiiiindy March afternoon. The wind made it sooo tough for us to hear one another and to keep the hair out of our faces (LOL), but it was quite perfect for the awesome wind chime collection mom had brought for her baby girl to play with.  And she sure looked like an angel in that lovely cream chiffon dress by the creek. I think I could have photographed her all day in that dress if the weather had been a bit more cooperative. This was a different side of L than what we’re all used to…she usually has boundless energy and a million things she needs to do. This particular afternoon, we were privileged to get to capture the sweet, clingy, lovey, “I don’t feel well and I just want to snuggle up with my mommy,” side of her. And I think that’s quite a lucky thing to be fortunate enough to get that on camera, too. [Another fav HERE].

I’m sorry to be blunt, but Gerber’s got nothing on this little beauty! She defines all things that are cute and adorable and snuggly and baby-like and she does it with the determination and grace and drive of a fighter. Her scar makes her even more beautiful than she already is and it was an honor to get to spend some time with her a few weeks ago. Personally, one of my most memorable and moving photo sessions ever. {Another fav HERE.}

Was this really back in January? It truly doesn’t even seem like it was that long ago. What a FANTASTIC workshop group we had here and if it looks like we were having a blast in these pictures, it’s true…we did! Our in home newborn session demonstration was a dream and can you even believe the smile on that precious baby girl? (see it bigger). And, of course, there’s one pic not shown here. If you want to see that one, you’ll have to go HERE.

We had an equally amazing photo session with our family in downtown Austin later that evening:

Quick story: a workshop attendee asked me to demonstrate some poses with people lying down, so we had mom + daughter lay down on the ground for us. I asked them to get a little closer and they ended up with the worst forehead bump:

OMG! I felt soooooooo bad, but at least we all had a good laugh (cry?) over it.

And, some more fun random pics from the workshop:

Goodness me! What a talented and fun and smart and witty group of ladies! Each time I would open up a folder of pics sent my them, my jaw would just hit the floor. Man they rocked it! Check out their sites here:

• Kami Friday Photography – NH and Northern New Englandwww.kamifridayphotography.com
• The Life in Your Years Photography – NYC, Westchester County and Southern Connecticut http://www.thelifeinyouryearsphotography.com
• Little Branch Photo – Houston, TX – www.littlebranchphoto.com
• Paula Scherr Photography – Edmonton, Alberta Canadawww.paulascherrphoto.com
• Caroline Martin Photography – San Diego, CAwww.CarolineMartinPhotography.com
• Photo Jolie – Dallas, Texas www.photojolie.com/
• Laurie Herrera Photography – Dallas, Texas www.laurieherreraphoto.com

The ONLY workshop I have coming up with openings is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in August. That is it. I know many folks have requested to be on wait lists for St. Louis and Charlotte, but that list is really long :-(. Oh, did I mention that we are planning a MAJOR Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop reunion in New York City in Spring of 2014? Very excited about that…loads of fun activities are in the works as well as a charity project. (Check out my post from Chicago’s reunion last summer…that should give you an idea of the whirlwind to expect ;-). 

They are no strangers to the Pinkle Toes blog, but this session was a little different. This time, it was just the two of them. Goodness gracious their eyes are amazing and I just LOVE how she always comes up with the coolest, hipest wardrobe selections. And who else can wear pink lipstick like that?! Also, can you believe the height he got on that jump? Craziness. Another take HERE. Love, love, LOVE!

His daddy is into canoeing. So, we revived a tradition started when his sister was just a few days old and carried through her first year. So excited to do the same for him! The rest of his session was just fun, fun, fun. He was quite the patient little guy as he was passed from person to person and even hung out with his big sister while she loved on him. I adore this family. It’s been my honor to work with mom and dad since before they were parents all the way up to these newborn photos of their 2nd child. I think that might be my favorite part of my job. Watching families change and grow over the years. Nothing quite like it in the world! {Love this pull back by mom!}

Finally on the blog!!! Yay!!!! This workshop was the perfect way to kick of 2013! On day one, we all got to finally meet and chit chat and had fun playing with sunflare and headshots. After a laaaaaaaate night 😉 it was early to rise for an amazing in-home lifestyle newborn session demonstration:

Later that afternoon, we headed into downtown Austin to experiment photographing a family in an urban setting:

It was so crazy…it was sunny, sunny, sunny all day long and then wooosh! All of a sudden, in true Austin fashion, the wind picked up and the sun disappeared and we were out in the elements like Nat Geo photogs ;-). By the by, you should know that I don’t believe I’ve ever worked with siblings who were as connected and fun-loving as those two cuties were. They made me look really good that day. A little too good 😉

I present to you the Pinkle Toes Graduating Class of January 2013! Sharp looking group, huh? When you get some time, I highly recommend you check these ladies out:

• Sabrina K Photography Pearland and Houston, TX: http://sabrinakphotography.com/blog
• Captured by Chrissy in McKinney, TX: http://capturedbychrissy.com/blog
• Beth Fenwick in San Francisco Bay Area, Redwood City, CA: http://bethfenwick.com
• Claire Hill Photography in  Houston and The Woodlands, TX:  http://www.clairehillphotography.com/blog
• Leslie Clawson Photography in Frisco TX: http://www.leslieclawsonphotography.com
• CK Design & Photography in MA http://ckdesignphoto.blog.com/
• Dear Ellison Photography in San Antonio, TX and surrounding areas: https://www.facebook.com/dearellisonphotography

Sadly, I don’t have any more workshops coming up in Austin (no room in my schedule ;-(). If we missed you, you can always chat with me about the Toronto, Canada workshop this August (very much looking forward to that one…my very first visit to Canada!) or if that’s too far for you, maybe we can talk about online mentoring.

See? Told ya. Here’s another one that made me say, “Awwww.” Our photo session had to be rescheduled and rescheduled and rescheduled (once because of a football injury resulting in the scar above his eye 😉 and as fate would have it, I’m SO glad we had to wait because otherwise, I would never have gotten the chance to photograph these two together. It wasn’t that long ago when I had the privilege of taking his sister’s senior pictures and now here we were, a few years later, back on South Congress to capture another monumental milestone for him (and his mom ;-). Senior portraits are always a little bittersweet to me: I LOVE working with subjects who actually stay where you tell them to stay (LOL) and it’s always a fun shoot, but I always picture myself in this very position in just a few years…watching my own children having their senior portraits taken and I can’t help but get a bit choked up at that thought. Thank you, Marianne, for (unknowingly) paving the way for me and for letting me see just how amazing parents can nurture and help develop AMAZING young adults.

Ah, yes! I forgot I wanted to show you these fun behind-the-scenes images his mom took during the session. You can check those out HERE. Did I mention that I LOVE pull backs?! Love it!

Okay gang, for whatever reason, all day, the sun was shining and it was fairly warm but the second we got together to do our photo shoot in downtown Austin that afternoon, the wind kicked up and a front blew in and it…was…c-c-c-c-old!!! Mr. man put up with about as much as he could handle and we finally just had to call it a day. He was an amazing sport and I learned three very important things about him that day: 1) He loves his soccer ball and 2) He LOVES his mama and 3) He LOVES when his daddy reads to him about New Orleans! (Another favity fav HERE.)

P.S. Gee, thanks, mom for turning me on to Kendra Scott that afternoon. You wear it well. And now I do, too, much to my husband’s dismay 😉