After I don’t even know how many times we had to reschedule (rain, birth, rain, etc.), we finally got to have our session for this sweet angel. She was so beautiful–like make you stop and catch your breath kind of beautiful. And we could not have asked for a more beautiful day for our session. Sometimes, I think things have a way of working out for the best.

[And how fortuitous that a very generous client happened to bequeath that ROCKIN’ pink car to me yesterday? A million thank you’s!]

We’ve been planning to take the kids out to Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls for some time now and I’m so thankful to my friend, Karyn, for pulling this trip all together for us. It was drizzling most of the day, but no one seemed to mind. The lush berry fields were so beautiful and oh, how lovely it was to watch my kiddos pick berries, pet the baby goats and donkeys, run around and play tag, and just enjoy a break from the chaos at our house right now (more on that later).

Some snaps from today:

But I really enjoyed watching my baby girl explore. She hasn’t really had a chance to venture outside like this since she started walking (our land is pretty wild) and I’m going to share a little secret here: the child does not eat fruits or vegetables. My boys were usually pretty good about this, but she just won’t touch anything green or good for you. She has refused to eat every strawberry ever offered to her, but she went WILD over these! The very first one she plucked off the bush and plopped the whole thing into her mouth, juice dribbling down her chin. She was unstoppable! She was crazed! After about 4 or 5 of ’em, honestly, she looked like she had killed a pig. She was the funniest thing ever stealing strawberries out of everyone’s baskets and giggling her new word for berry, “Ber! Ber! Ber!” over and over again.

I love this girl. My little strawberry shortcake.

caught my eye, but probably because I’m a sucker for cool flare. M, thank you sooooooooooo much for hanging in there tonight. I know it was challenging for everyone, but we stuck it out and I’m so very glad we did.

Somehow, in spite of the rain, we managed to pull off our Xpressions sessions yesterday.  It was a blast exploring the wildflower terrain, but little did I know how much I’d be paying for it today. I’ve never really had allergies before, but with a wildflower season like this, it got me really bad…I can hardly breathe today! I hope my brave, beautiful clients are all faring better than I am. 

What about this couple up there??? Could she be ANY cuter??? Loved the colors in their clothing (which HE picked out…go dad!). So as these two are just getting started on their journey into parenthood…

…this little lady has built up quite the portfolio with Pinkle Toes Photography. A trip down memory lane here and here and here.

And then there’s this little angel who is almost the same exact age as my baby. I know many of you are still waiting word on the angel tank…it’s coming, I promise!

I must admit that I get a little misty when I think it was almost a year ago when he made his entrance into this world. And you’ll definitely want to scroll down to the bottom of this famous post. 😉

And finally, these two (three?). Oh, that adorable basketball belly! We had such a blast yesterday!

[As with all Xpressions
sessions, these images have only received basic edits to enhance
contrast, but no retouching. If you’d like to do a mini session with me,
we still have two openings left for our next Xpressions
sessions in May.]

Finally. My turn to take my kiddos in the bluebonnets. I’m so blessed. If only I had a fireplace to hang this over… (or toss it into)…

MK and I hit it off instantly. Even via e-mail, I could already tell that I liked her spunk and sense of humor and down-to-earth approach to birth. At our meet up beforehand to discuss the big day, she told me she had no pre-conceived notions about how this birth was “supposed” to go.  It wasn’t just talk. She really meant it and I could really appreciate that mindset.

So the morning of their baby’s birth day, I got a text from her letting me know that her water had broken. Awesome! Perfect! The timing couldn’t have been more amazing since I had only been able to cover her birth on a standby basis (she was due pretty much at the same time as this little guy.) The day moved slowly but steadily and by the time I had gotten to the hospital, things were looking great. Dad was a tremendous support to his wife. Her family had made it into town to welcome the birth of their first grandchild. We were all so excited to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. It was all coming together even better than planned.

And then suddenly, the whole plan changed and everything started to move so quickly…too quickly to keep up with swirling concern, confusion and emotion. And it was at this point, I truly realized how glad I was to be able to be there to click away and capture it all…especially those things that mom would have missed otherwise…