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 ;-). 

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.

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 😉

So anyhoo, some things you should know about HIS one year photo session:

• Those boys have tons of energy, but are as cute as can be. Duh.
• Could not believe we were able to get the first pic. Could not believe it.
• Loved the pic of little guy driving…he’s like, “I got this. No really. I got this.”
• The pic when baby boy is smiling at me while mom rushes in to keep him from crawling off the bed? I die. 
• The connection mama has with her boys…especially her Valentine’s Day baby is tangible.
• Another example.
• When dad could actually play, his music was really, really good. What a joy to listen!

Well, we had hoped that we’d be able to spend some time outside for his newborn photo session, but that day happened to be rather cloudy and drizzly and somewhat chilly. We opted for spending time cuddling up indoors and it worked out beautifully (love the dramatic and moody lighting that helped create). But lo and behold, it warmed up a little and the rain paused and we took a short little walk down to the dock outside. I honestly had never even been to this part of town before…never even knew it existed…and I tell you, if I lived there, I would never leave. Also, if I had two adorable baby boys like this beautiful mama, I probably would never leave either. Especially if I could do THIS all day…

Thank you again, to my dear friend Leah for trusting me to take care of your friends while you (we?) anxiously await the arrival of your new little one ;-).

That little baby boy was just as perfect as he could be! Laid back, easy going, didn’t make a fuss. His big brother, on the other hand, is super duper fast and you gotta be quick to keep up with him. The best part of this session was right after we had finished up with all of the family pics and began to work on baby bro’s individual shots. Big brother didn’t want much to do with the shoot up until that point, funny enough, but when he saw his little brother getting all of the attention:

It was actually pretty sweet because when he decided he was ready, he motioned for us to put the baby in his arms. Precious! Just precious! Baby brother’s reaction to all of this fuss can be found HERE ;-).

Bless his little heart, mom had brought him the most beautiful set of balloons to use on his session. I ADORED the colors and they just complimented his bubbly personality so well. But…helium floats. And right in the middle of doing those awesome shots of the whole family walking up the hill, we lost our beloved balloons. Fortunately for all of us, it was probably only me who was the most heartbroken, but I did not cry ;-). Little man, instead, was happiest when he had a cup full of Cheerios. You can see in most of the images toward the end, his little chipmunk cheeks were stuffed full. He was irresistibly cute!!! (Another fun shot HERE).

Each of these families will receive a FREE Pinkle Toes photo session! Congrats to these families and thank you to everyone who participated and voted. I love looking at how these come together year after year. (In no particular order, these are the winners from the popular vote, judge’s choice, and random drawing).