We took a bit of a gamble selecting the date for his First Birthday photo shoot, hoping that there would be at least a few sunflowers out in Austin by the time his session rolled around. Boy, did we win that bet, as this year we have been treated to a beautiful display of sunflowers.  Whenever I do these kind of milestone photo sessions, I intentionally don’t go back to look at the newborn photos until it’s time for me to blog the First Birthday images because I like to be surprised and wowed by how alike and how different babies can be from their first photo shoot when they were just a few days old to a whole year later. Mr. F was an absolutely ADORABLE newborn baby, there is no denying that. Looking back, yes I can see some of his features in his newborn photos, but my oh my, is it possible that he has gotten even MORE adorable over the course of a year???? His eyes are positively stunning (I remember we had to work very hard to get to see his eyes when we did his newborn photo shoot, lol) and that pout? Well, I can’t imagine anyone ever being able to tell him no for any reason. And he’s such a *good* kiddo, too. That’s the most fun part…getting to see a personality emerge over time. What a joy to see such a happy, healthy, handsome baby turning into a happy, healthy, handsome little boy!

To be honest, I can’t believe we managed to pull this one off. We got together in the wee hours of the morning for our annual summer family photo session in an effort to catch the sunrise and beat this awful Texas heat. I knew I was in trouble when I got to my car in the dark and drove all the way out to their house (about an hour) and my windows *still* were foggy from the humidity. Yikes! I intentionally kept my camera in the way back of the van so as not to make my lenses too cold otherwise they would never defog when I needed them.

When I got there, we found the spot where we thought we would catch the best light (nailed it!), but I made the mistake of wearing flip-flops and was slipping all over the dew-covered grass. So, off went my shoes and I prayed I wouldn’t step on anything pokey (I’m NOT a barefoot person at all). Just as we got the twins settled on the that gorgeous red sofa (which can be quite challenging when you have two very active little girls!) and we were ready to bring in big sister, she managed to find a fire ant mound, bless her little heart.  It’s times like this when I wonder why in the world I still live here in Texas.

BUUUUUT, you know what? It came together. Everyone rallied and we were able to get all the necessary birthday photos on that lovely red couch in spite of it all. I was WAY impressed with the patience of mom and dad (I know you have to be when you’ve got three busy kiddos) and their patience helped *me* to relax. We were even afforded the opportunity to switch gears to do some more casual photos at their favorite park. Of course, these are always the times I like best…when I get to kind of sit back and watch families play together and just enjoy being a family.

I truly was amazed watching them all in action. Twins ain’t easy, that’s for sure, and it never feels like you have enough arms. But these parents are doing an incredible job and it has been my extreme honor watching this family (and these beautiful girls) grow each year!

But these boys do ;-). I cannot say enough wonderful things about my time with this family. For starters, they are AUTHENTIC and FUN and the boys loved to smother their mommy with bear hugs and kisses. Add to that the fact that mom let them wear casual clothing for their family photo session that still reflected a little personality and perhaps a bit of team rivalry in their household. And dad just got right in and played with them, even when we stumbled upon an abandoned game of tug-o-war. And then there were the capes…oh the capes!!! It was like those boys completely transformed when they put them on and my heart melted. These are the photo sessions that memories are made from.

Her story is not mine to tell, but you can learn a number of things about Samantha in these images:

1. She LOVES her son and he ADORES her.
2. Her faith and strength have been tested in ways I could never fathom and yet she has come through with flying colors…almost as vivid as how she colors her world.
3. She has a fantastic sense of humor.
4. And sense of style.
5. And sense of who she is and is not.

I don’t have adequate words to express how beautiful my time with her family was to me, but it I hope she and K know it was 100% my honor to get to see them in their element. One of my many favs HERE.

I’ve admittedly fallen behind on my blogging as of late, but I thought no better time to pick it back up than with this awesome vintage, Texas-inspired family photo session we did not too long ago. The old pickup truck belongs to their grandfather and I was so glad to see it come along for the ride that evening. It not only provided an amazing backdrop for the images, but it is authentic to their family which makes it all the more special. The girls were so giggly and had us all cracking up throughout the session. But it was also great to get more introspective images like THIS one, too. {Behind the scenes shot by mama HERE}.

It’s yet another one of those bittersweet moments when I realize I’ve been working with these children since before two of them were even born. Their family photo session this spring was a pretty big milestone as they were marking the time before their firstborn leaves for college and I honestly get choked up just thinking about that…not only for his mom and dad, but for myself as I know I’m going to be facing that in just a few short years. I don’t know why I did this to myself, but I went back and looked through images from some of their earlier sessions and gah! It was heart wrenching to see how quickly the time has passed and how much these kids have grown–in particular the eldest three (as they were the ones I met first all those years back). I think mom and dad should be incredibly proud of the super people that have raised/are raising and their baby birds leaving the nest, one by one, are going to be super grown ups. [Random fav image HERE…she reminds me of Lana Del Rey for some reason].

Side note: if you are going to be visiting Austin and need a place to stay, might I suggest their awesome red barn???

When I pulled into their property and spotted those amazing yellow flowers, I was just hoping everyone would be game for a photo session among them. And when I saw their perfectly color coordinated outfits and we were blessed with incredible light, I knew everything had come together just for us that evening. How I loved being treated to some pretty fantastic guitar playing and singing by big sister–my jaw quite literally hit the ground when she started up! And then the little sis ran around and twirled and was so eager to make bouquet after bouquet for her mommy. They’ve got a good thing going with their family and it’s been an honor to watch this happen for almost as long as I’ve been a photographer. In fact, the baby girl in picture #4 here (with the DEER!) is their eldest 😉 if you can believe that? Yup…still has those same amazing eyes ;-).

They may not realize it, but I teared up several times during this photoshoot for these two sisters in the stunning Texas bluebonnets. I couldn’t help but to think how lucky these two are to have one another and how lucky I am to have my own sister so close to me. The older sister is getting ready to graduate and go to college and both of their worlds are going to change so much. But at least they’ve had their childhood together and I hope that they will continue to maintain their precious bond well into adulthood and beyond. THIS pic was a special request by their mommy and I knew I was going to love it the second I took it. How did the light know to form that halo around their heads together like that?

And what do you know? Turns out today is National Siblings Day!

We wanted to do something colorful and fun for their family photo session this time, so I thought these spots in Austin would do just the trick. We were pleasantly surprised to discover some new options to add to the mix and they were the perfect “models” to do so! I love how fun and effortless they made it look and how they jumped right in to use our “props”…like this one HERE.

The great thing about this family is that there is virtually no “posing” required on my part. They just do. They are themselves. They play and have fun and make one another laugh out loud and invite me along to document those interactions. I’ve been working with them since (quite literally) the very day the youngest brother was born and spending time with them feels a lot like spending time with my own family and I am very grateful to be in that position after all these years. Very grateful, indeed.