I already knew these guys were awesome parents when I first worked with their family back when their eldest was a few months old. And now they are awesome parents to two sweet, beautiful little boys. I totally dig their style and laid-back nature. We had such a fun time at baby N’s newborn session…he made the cutest little faces! I love that we wore big bro out, too  ;-). Check out my FAV photo HERE and then my close 2nd HERE!

Side note: Clients and future clients – may I highly recommend getting a professional to do your hair/makeup for your photo session like this mommy did? Katie at Modern Muse Beauty does a fantastic job and honestly, it takes SO much pressure off of you before your session. Especially if you have small children…especially for a newborn session when you are trying so hard to get ready AND get a little one ready AND you are running on zero sleep. You can book her HERE – just select Pinkle Toes Session as the service needed and Katie will get in touch with you.

I love it when I get the chance to work with families year after year and follow how they and their children grow and change. Since before even big sister was born, I’ve photographed this beautiful family, and now they’ve added a sweet little red-headed angel to their nest. Congratulations, you guys! She’s so perfect! [See one of these images with a change in focus HERE.]

Those are the words that come to mind when I recall the afternoon I spent with this family not too long ago. I loved everything about this session. I loved the carefree nature of it all. I loved the wind-swept hair and beautiful freckles and gorgeous giggles and the love…the love of ranch life…the love of family. The sun betrayed us because we could have played all night.

My favorite mom + daughter pic is HERE.

A funny one that shows baby girl’s reaction to a fizzy drink HERE.

Another fav larger HERE.

Funny story: way back in June I was in the airport trying to fly out to Charlotte for a workshop. Of course, my flight got cancelled and I was a bit vocal about it on Instagram. Next thing I know, this lovely blonde walks up to me and says, “Are  you Pinkle Toes?” WHAT??? She had been standing in another line ready to board when she saw my post on Instagram! How cool is that???? It was so neat to chat with her that day and I was really honored when she commissioned family portraits a little while later. Small world 😉

Words that come to mind when I think of this session: joy, giggles, motion, dance, childhood, beauty, love, wonder, curls, dimples, jump. Thank you guys so much for an incredible session! What an joy to get to work with you in your home!!! Lovin’ this mommy/daughter portrait HERE, too. And my absolute FAV HERE.

This session completely embodies why it is so awesome to have your family photo session in your own home! I love that we had the opportunity to capture them…in their environment…a place where they spend their time and play together and do things together as a family. These are the kinds of images their kids will look back on years to come and say, “I remember when my daddy would play blocks with me,” or “That was my favorite book my mommy would read to me over and over.” Lucky boys, indeed! (Oh, and here’s my fav in black and white).

It’s good to pass the time in the hospital right now with putting together blog posts featuring adorable little babies. Like this lil’ nugget for example. He was such an angel the whole session and I adored his great array of fun expressions. He might not be good at poker, but he could very well become an actor! Still lovin’ this one  of him and his mommy, too.

Note: If you haven’t been following, I am currently with family in Houston to help provide support to my sister and her babies. Please understand if I am not able to return e-mails or phone calls quickly. Right now, time is pretty limited and I squeeze in a few things here and there. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and very happy, happy thoughts. I think they must be doing something 🙂

I worked with her brother when he was just a wee babe 6 years ago and it was such a blessing to get to work with her now! Is there anything better than seeing the bond between a big bro and his baby sister? Reminded me so much of how my oldest was when his baby sister was born. Another fav of mom and daughter HERE.

Another one of my family lifestyle photo sessions (in Austin) last year. I felt like I could relate so much to the mommy of this family: super busy, two energetic boys, a sweet baby girl to complete the picture, and just plain, all-around quirky family fun (see what I mean?). I love that you can see mom’s joy with her amazing life in every one of these images!

I know I will want to update you on the past few weeks and I have a LOT of blogging to catch up on, huh? But like my daughter says when I ask her how to eat an elephant, “…just one bite at a time.”

So, let me begin with this family…my last family photo session of 2013, as a matter of fact. These boys couldn’t have been any sweeter or more fun to hang with

I will be posting many more images from the last part of 2013 over the next few days, so stay tuned to the blog.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break and that your 2014 is off to a great start.

In spite of what my daughter might have everyone at her preschool believing, it was NOT to photograph Michelle Obama ;-). But it was close ;-). A looooong time ago, I had a session scheduled here in TX for none other than Rachel Brenke–author and The Law Tog. Right before we were scheduled to do her session, she found out she was expecting, so we decided to wait a little bit and make it a maternity session. Fast forward a few months after that and it turns out, she had to move to NoVa! Amazingly, we were able to work it out so that I could come up there (during busy season, even) and I’m sooooooo glad we worked it out.

She coordinated her session so beautifully…not surprising since she’s a photographer. And I can’t even believe we were able to get all four of her children in the same frame! This precious baby boy is fitting in quite nicely with his family and he is obviously very loved. It was amazing how he was equally alert and sleepy. He made me look like I had planned it that way ;-).

Now, I hesitate to post the next series of images because Rachel *might* kill me, but I’m just gonna go with it. I present to you, the many faces of Rachel Brenke:

Hmmmmm. Even when she’s making a silly face, she’s still adorable. Now how does she manage that????

And on that note, I leave you all to have a Happy Happy Happy Thanksgiving! I’m not going to dwell on all of the things that have gone wrong this year and instead, I will be more thankful than I’ve ever been in my life for my family, my friends, my health and their health.

XOXO,
Michele