This is another one of those cases where clients have become friends. I’ve been blessed enough to experience so many incredible times with these lovely people…all the way back to when they were expecting their very first baby. I was even present at the births of their first two sons…both events to which I am forever emotionally tied. I will never, ever, ever forget those magical times.

And now we come to the caboose of their family…son #3, who is just as adorable as his older brothers and already immensely patient with all of the “love” with which they tend to smother him, lol! In fact, most of the time during his newborn photo session, I had to ask for less love from the big bros as I couldn’t see baby brother’s face, lol. I truly did enjoy watching these boys together, though. And mama…as a boy mom…is clearly worshiped by all three (well, four, counting her hubby) boys in her life.

Their grandmother has been present at each of their newborn sessions, too, so this was no exception. I just loved this candid moment snapped right before we had officially started.

See what I mean? Boy mom love!

 Gotta love those cute little newborn baby legs!

 I was trying to photograph the interaction of the three in front here, but the two monkeys in the back kept stealing the show ;-).

 So cute!

 I see sooooo much of his mommy in this pic!

 Love.

Of course, we had to revisit the infamous “family dinner table” photo now that they have a new addition.

 We were even treated to a visit from Buzz and Woody, who had me laughing so hard with their dance moves, I had a hard time keeping my images in focus!

I hope she doesn’t mind me posting this, but she looks so beautiful when she’s crying happy tears.

Yeah. I’ll say baby brother fits in quite perfectly with his family. Even during the crazy times like THIS ;-).

I’ve known these guys for a while. Like all the way back in the day when they were expecting their first son. I remember every photo session with them so vividly. I actually have one of big brother’s newborn images hanging up on my studio walls. And then, by the miracle of Facebook, I discovered that mama went to high school with my husband’s late brother and my connection to their family grew even deeper.

We documented this pregnancy last fall at a stunning sunrise maternity photo session on the rowing docks in downtown Austin. I was pretty certain there was a baby girl in there, but they were such good little parents in waiting until her actual Birth Day to find out! But yes, there WAS a girl in there and let me tell you, she. is. adorable! I give you exhibit A:

Of course, look at the rest of her family and it’s no mystery why:

This moment. Sigh.

And then these two moments. Sigh. Sigh.

We had some fun in the image above trying to re-create one of my favs from her brother’s newborn session ;-).

What a precious little gown!

Baby yawns are THE BEST!!!!

This ring belonged to her late great-grandmother who is also her namesake. The blanket belonged to her daddy as a baby. Things like this just make me beam!

And then check out another one of my favs from her newborn session and why.

Guys, your family is gorgeous, yes, but more than that. It is full of love and good humor and down-to-earth-ness (yes, I made that word up just now) and I love getting to chat and catch up with you each time I see you. My heart is full of happiness for you on the arrival of your daughter. She is perfect!

Actually, let me clarify: I’m pretty sure you are going to see his artwork and creations in movies someday. Meet one of the most creative, bright, engaging, talented little boys for his age. His enthusiasm for the things he loves is contagious and he is *very* serious about his work as a sculptor, creator, and animator. He also loves to explore and ride his scooter (you HAVE to see this) and I will admit to being ever-so-slightly physically tired when I got home after trying to keep up with him that day. But that was all worth it. He let me into his world and that is not a privilege I take lightly. Thank you, L. And never forget the words to this song, “That slug is banana, B-A-N-A-N-A slug!”

That I have been “working” with these little sweeties since they were in their mommy’s tummy. I remember her maternity session so vividly…she was so tiny…so lovely and I couldn’t believe there were two babies in there (her belly is featured in one of my portfolio galleries, but you’ll have to guess which one). And then I remember the day I officially met the girls, some of my favorite newborn images were taken at their newborn session (I do believe the adorable toes in the fourth image HERE belong to them) and then I remember a cute little vintage session in downtown Georgetown to celebrate their 1st birthday and then playing in a park at sunset to commemorate age 2 and now here we are, THREE years later and I feel like I *know* them. And it makes me equally proud and wistful to look back on all of those images we’ve taken over the past three years. And it makes me excited to have this little “preview” of my twin nieces. These girls are such bright little bundles of happiness and joy and spunk! Loved getting to play hide ‘n seek with them and their mommy (probably my FAV image HERE ;-).

Oh, and while we’re on the topic of spunk, how about this little outtake from their holiday mini session:

On that note, I am finishing up the last round of holiday minis starting Friday! It’s not too late to snag a spot, *if* you can make it Friday morning as Saturday and Sunday are totally full. Drop a line and I’ll get you all the info you need to know. I can’t help it that I’m just a teensy bit excited that there’s a light at the end of the holiday tunnel (that started in August) and super duper thrilled with all of the images we’ve taken at the mini sessions so far and the BEAUTIFUL, wintry holiday cards I’ve helped my clients create. They are turning out just amazing!

For the past couple of years, this family has graciously traveled to Austin for their family photo session, but this year, seeing as how they welcomed the “caboose” of their family, it was my turn to pay them a visit when I was in Houston last month. It was pretty cool to see that this very colorful mama has an equally colorful home, FILLED with happy pictures of her bubbly family! She is such an inspiration to any photographer who also happens to be a mom because oftentimes, we are so busy taking care of printing everyone else’s photos that we don’t take the time to print our own. I should have taken pictures of her displays because wow! She did an amazing job creating them.

Of course, the real star of the photo session was their brand new baby boy. He. Was. So. Good. I guess he is already pretty used to his brother and sisters bouncing around him and he wasn’t phased one bit by our little photo shoot. He fits in perfectly and it’s quite impressive that his older siblings have welcomed him with such love and affection. By the way, how anyone can look that good after just having had her FOURTH child is beyond me. Like I said, an inspiration!!

While I know this photo session was about baby boy, THIS might have been my favorite little moment.

Most of my days are spent photographing families in Austin, but every now and then, I get the chance to work someplace new. This time, it happened to work out that I would be in downtown Houston just in time for a photo session with these kids and their parents and it.was.awesome! After spending most of their days in suburbia, their family snagged an amazing condo overlooking downtown Houston, with an incredible park as their backyard. Well done! While I was a tad nervous navigating traffic to get there, it was such a privilege to get to follow them around while exploring downtown Houston and I’m so glad we decided to hold their family session there instead of trying to make Austin work.

And how about that view from the kids’ bedroom???? Yeah. When I first arrived I knew that I absolutely wanted to end our photo session there at sunset. Bingo! (Another fav from that last series HERE).

she thinks I dread her family session every year, but honest truth, I do not. Sure, her kiddos have a lot of energy and sure I have to stay on my toes to come up with ways to keep their focus (for example, this year, I drew a mustache on my face with a marker; I did NOT however check to make sure it was washable before I did that, but turns out, I was safe), but I LOVE working with them. I especially loved that we came back to their home for this session. The place where everyone feels comfortable and relaxed and the kids are in a familiar environment already filled with things to entertain and contain ;-). I love the quirkiness of our sessions and the personality that comes bursting out of their children…they can’t hide it. They are 100% themselves, 100% of the time and that’s actually quite refreshing.

Most of all, I love the tender moments we are able to catch, supposedly in between shots…the way baby girl started stroking her mother’s cheek and snuggled up full force into her arms. The pure concentration when big brother was writing his name at his desk. The way they positioned themselves around the kitchen island for a mid-session snack. The look of pride when dad got the sweetest little kiss on the cheek from his daughter. This sweet face contemplating dance moves to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it And at the end, looking through all of their family albums from the sessions we’ve had together over the years and being completely enthralled with how little they once were.

And that’s what I love about working with the Parks family. And I hope they and ALL of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, taking time to unplug for a bit and reflect on all the things (more importantly people) for which we have to be thankful.

xoxo,

Michele

{Once again, mama looked gorgeous, with only a little help from Modern Muse Beauty. Oh, if only I could pull off that awesome lipstick!}

It’s been years in the making and I’m so happy to see this family settled into their newly completed dream home! It was amazing to go back and explore their land…the land where they had been planning to move forever it seemed and for this photo session, that dream was a reality! Those girls need wide open spaces for sure and they have such bright and energetic little spirits that fill their new home with JOY! One of my favorite moments HERE.

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The first weekend of my 4th Annual Holiday Mini Sessions was absolutely amazing! {Did you catch this awesome behind-the-scenes pic???}. We will pick back up the weekend of December 5th. The good news is that this is the perfect way to get your family photos taken care of next year and still squeeze in a few Pinkle Toes pictures just in time for the holidays (and holiday cards). The bad news is that I have only 3 openings left for the next round, soo….

I mean seriously, could this little guy be any more adorable??? And when mom showed me his fox sweater with his matching fox lovey, I just fell over. I’ve been working with these guys since big sister up there was a newborn, who actually looked very much like this little guy at that age. It was very cool to see her embrace the role of big sister and dote on her little brother the way she did. And he was such a champ for his first official photo session! It kinda looks like maybe he was posing for us ;-). Inspired by one of my favorite newborn images from a while back, we did THIS, too. (Remember our maternity models from the Austin photography workshop this summer?)

Once again, a family photo session at home gets me all warm and fuzzy feeling…especially since it happened to be quite chilly the day of their session and we were all thankful to be able to spend most of our time in the comfort of the indoors! You may remember this beautiful family from their ultra colorful maternity portraits we did in downtown Austin earlier this year. It was so much fun for me to come back and finally meet their new baby girl this fall! Those big blue eyes and that gorgeous gummy grin totally did me in! Love this candid moment, too, during a little exercise to get everyone warmed up ;-).