Ironically enough, I first met Mom and their eldest about 5 years ago…the first time I did my Back to School mini sessions…which reminds me…I should dig those pics up because I know he was absolutely adorable during that photo session. I was sad to hear they were moving to Washington state, though maybe a tad jealous of their cooler summers ;-). Earlier this summer, they embarked on an EPIC road trip across the country and I was honored that a family photo session with Pinkle Toes Photography was one of their included stops. We got to do the first part of their photo shoot in lovely park during a gorgeous sunrise. I know we were nice and toasty at the time (and not in a wonderful way), but in going through the images, honestly it didn’t even look like we were even in Austin. My absolute FAVORITE image from that series is HERE. And then, we got to stroll over to get a bit more of the colorful, urban side of Austin to round it out.

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!

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You guys! Remember HIM??? Well, he’s almost ONE now and we marked this wonderful milestone early one morning under a glorious sunrise. He was so easy-going and full of smiles and cute expressions as he played around the Airstream (trying to get the tires, lol) and then when we plopped him down into the unruly, but photographically awesome garden. ‘Lil farmer ;0). Hope you have an awesome birthday, little man, and your parents have done a fantastic job during their first year of parenthood! Favity fav!

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!

Our first attempt at capturing their adorable little baby bump was met with quite the challenge. I had been watching the weather *all* day and was starting to see the storm chances increase greatly right at the time we were supposed to start our photo shoot at Mueller Park in Austin. So I had the bright idea of moving the session up a few hours…to beat the storms. And instead, THIS happened. We waited, and waited, and waited…I mean, we were already there…everyone was already made up and looking gorgeous. Finally, it looked like the storm had cleared, so we ventured out. We hadn’t even taken 10 pictures before it started raining on us AGAIN :-(…just out of nowhere! Fortunately, we were able to kill some time in Lick Ice Cream, but we still had to wait and wait and wait some more. I have to say, the soon-to-be big sister held on as long as she could and was quite the trooper, but when the sun finally did come out that day, we had already lost our window and we had to call it. Even I was surprised to find we actually were able to get quite a few fun images on our first day, but I was glad everyone made it back AND there was no rain on the second day:

Favity fav is HERE. I’ll be seeing this beautiful family *very* soon when their new baby decides to make an appearance!

She took my breath away when I saw her again for the first time in a few years. She’s not a baby anymore. She’s a bright, spirited, energetic, sweet, giggly, adorable, caring, HEALTHY little girl! She has probably been through more since birth than many grown ups experience in a lifetime, but she has overcome every challenge thrown her way. And she has the beautiful scars to prove it. She is a sweet heart in more ways than I can count and it is a JOY to know her.

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 were barely able to squeeze in this maternity photo session in the GORGEOUS Texas bluebonnets before their precious baby made his way into this world. And, we happened to hit this field right at peak season with perfect temps and a perfect sunset to go along with it. Another FAV HERE. I hope that every year when the wildflowers come out, they’ll remember this time of anticipation and excitement over the miracle that was about to grace their lives ;-).

Speaking of whom, would you like to meet him?

Yes…he is *really* cute and I very much look forward to getting my hands on him again soon to properly appreciate his squishiness ;-).

Words are not going to be able to do my feelings justice on this concept shoot I collaborated on with some very, very dear friends last summer in Kansas. First of all, these beautiful young ladies are the three daughters of my talented photographer friend, Carol. While I have “known” them online for years, this was the first time getting to meet them in person and you are simply not going to find a more confident, self-aware, kind, friendly, polite, smart, creative trio of sisters anywhere. Not only were our models gorgeous, the styling and setting were breathtaking! I couldn’t believe the magic contained in my sweet friend Janie Jones Photography’s place! To be able to peek inside her non-stop, creative mind, how she puts seemingly incongruous pieces together so artfully…it really is quite an incredible thing to witness. I absolutely loved going back through these images, reliving the memories and the sights and smells and feels from that afternoon and that trip as a whole. I love you, my Beans! [Another fav HERE].