…I’m pretty sure I’m just going to go ahead and move in with their family ;-). I mean, come on! Look at all of that adorableness up there! Plus, I totally dig their decorating style!

And so much LOVE here!

But also plenty of giggles.

And energy!

And this sign…sigh.

But the icing on the cake for my case to move in with them is…

…jumping into the pool, fully clothed…mom and dad, included!

YASSSSSSSSSSSSS!

That was rad!

The full family game of chicken was also fairly spectacular.

As well as this moment above AND THIS one HERE.

I definitely think I would fit in perfectly with them. Hang on a sec…be right back…

(scroll down…)

OH, YES! I totally blend!!!!!!! What do you think, H fam? Will you have me? 😉 I can be there in 20 min.

It is ALWAYS bittersweet to meet up with my newborn clients to do milestone sessions, and celebrating his half-year birthday was no exception. It’s crazy to see how he is so different yet so much still like himself at his newborn session. His mommy warned me that he was already exhibiting signs of PCS (Photographer Child Syndrome) and smiles might be tough to get, but we were all happy to see that he only needed some snuggles from mom or dad and he would gladly smile for a few pics. My favorite one is HERE, but I do also love the pic of the crazy goose stirring up a little trouble in the water ;-).

I have known this family for.ev.er (since their eldest son was a wee babe) and I have loved every chance I’ve had to play with them. But I must say that this particular session has been my absolute favorite to date and here’s why:

1. It was at home (duh. You all already know how much I go giddy for lifestyle photo sessions at home).

2. The boys are so much fun! They really have come into their own and there is so much personality and spunk and vitality…they inspire me.

3. Those. Curls. My word!!!!!! I could have stared at them all day. LOVE.

4. Mom and dad = so chill. I love that they went with whatever direction the boys took us in during the shoot. And they loved and snuggled and played with the boys. And didn’t bat an eye when I asked them to get into the pool with the boys.

5. The underwater portion of our photo shoot. Oh man! This was a blast! SOOOOO many favs, including THIS one.

Yeah. It’s not hard to see why I loved this shoot so much!

You truly cannot go wrong when you #1 let your family photo session take place at your own home and #2 you let your boys just be themselves and do the things they like to do. It creates an opportunity to capture their childhood in such a real and authentic way…an invaluable gift to give your children that they may not fully appreciate until years and years down the road. These boys are beautiful, yes, but their smiles are genuine because they were genuinely having a wonderful time and the love is visible because their parents were so incredibly relaxed. And then you add the underwater photography and yup, perfection all around. Check out the black and white version of one of my favorite color images blogged HERE.

…were definitely our sunshine on a VERY cloudy day! As I watched the skies grow darker and darker, I didn’t think there was any way we’d be able to pull this session off without it pouring on us. I was incredibly impressed with how cooperative the boys were and I think they understood the urgency of our photo shoot that day. Absolutely gorgeous family with gorgeous smiles to match. My favorite moment HERE.

I love that she greeted me at the front door in her mommy’s heels. I love that we got to hang out at their home and just do the things they like to do at home. I love all of the snuggles that took place (especially THIS one). I love that the sun came out for just the last few minutes of our time together. I love red hair. I love freckles. I love mom’s necklace. And I love that she wanted to do this session for the three of them (well, four counting the pupster). What a special thing to have captured…the love between a mother and her children.

From Mama, herself:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… I have two ridiculously amazing kids – Jackson (7) and Kennedy (4.5). We have a rescued Boxer named Teddy Roosevelt. Collectively, they are my presidents and we live in the White House that just happens to be brown.
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? The past year was full of challenges for us all. I had a medically necessary hysterectomy, my grandmother died, our first family dog died suddenly, and my ten year marriage ended in divorce. As the wedding pictures came down, I decided that wanted to do a session like this to fill our home with photos of our recomposed family. It’s up to me to set the tone for this next phase of life, and I want my kids to have prominent visual reminders that we are still the happy, silly, loving family we have always been.
3) Where was your session held and why? Our session was held at home – partly because of yucky weather, but it turned out perfectly.
4) What did you like about your session location? My kids were relaxed at home and had fun showing Michele all of their favorite things.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? I loved that Michele never asked us to do anything that felt unnatural or staged. She went with our flow, even when my kids got seriously silly, and that made for the most authentic part of the whole session.
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? I was definitely worried about getting the house “camera ready.”
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? I bake and the kids love to help me in the kitchen. I decided to incorporate that into our session, and I’m glad I did, but I should have saved the chocolate batter for the end! I was wiping the kids’ faces right to the very end!
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Relax! Michele’s got this!
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? As an amateur photographer, I’ve always admired Michele’s style. I knew she would give us a fun session and amazing images.
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? I hope they’ll say that these images are evidence that, even in our most difficult time, we were full of joy and love. I hope these photos reflect what I most want them to know about life in general – we can’t control what happens to, but we can choose how to react and move forward, and that makes all the difference!

Oh, wait! *I’m* not saying goodbye to Austin…but I am sad to know this family is. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to work with them a couple of times during their short time living here and it was my honor to help them document their life in this wonderful city. I know they are probably busy packing right now, but I hope they get a few minutes before the big move to see these images that will hopefully commemorate Austin for them and their children.

I definitely hope they never forget how much fun they had here…

at the gorgeous parks.

Always remember those big, blue,

beautiful Texas skies.

The wildflowers, sigh.

Golden sunsets.

Oh, yes, never forget the grackles 😉 and yummy treats!

Doesn’t THIS look tasty?

And magical sparkles in the water.

Most of all, never forget that no matter where you are, home is where you are loved.

I wish you all the best on the upcoming move and come back and visit Austin any time, y’all (I had to throw one in there ;-).

{Hair and makeup by Katie at Modern Muse Beauty}

So, I always swore I would never be one of *those* people who does yoga. I was never going to be one to chant, “Ommmmmmm…” doused in patchouli while standing on my head in some contorted pose in a room full of other people with peaceful minds and who are already connected with their inner selves and only dine on lettuce cultivated in their own back yards.

Well guess what? Lo’ and behold, I am more like one of *those* people now than I ever have been (well, except for the patchouli…I don’t think I’ll ever like that scent ;-)) and surprisingly, I am totally cool with that. I’ve discovered yoga to be a very necessary part of this movement to become a better me. I think it was about a year ago when I had my first real big-girl yoga class at Modo Yoga in Austin and I was absolutely terrified walking into it. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to do most of that crazy stuff, I already knew I was terribly inflexible, and I thought for sure I’d burst into giggles when it came to the part where we were supposed to hold hands and chant. It turns out that there was nothing crazy in that class at all and while it was definitely challenging and got my heart rate up, I was so thrilled to see that I could at least try everything in a comfortable and safe and encouraging environment. In fact, I was so invigorated, I may have been slightly disappointed there was no chanting ;-).

All my life, if I couldn’t be THE best or perfect at something, I didn’t want any part of it. Same with yoga: I’ve always been so afraid of failure, I never gave myself a chance to try. I’m learning that yoga is a practice, and there is no measure of success or failure…your practice is *your* practice and it changes each day. After practicing yoga for a year, I *still* fall out of tree pose every now and then, I still am scared of crow pose, and my hips still require a great deal of attention to help them open more. But, oh, I’ve had SO many wins throughout this practice, I could never go back to life before yoga:

• I can sit cross-legged on the floor now. I’m sure most people take this for granted, but seriously, I haven’t been able to sit on the floor comfortably since I was child and this is a huge deal to me.
• My HUSBAND actually comes with me to class!!! You all…this is unreal for me to even type this out. Our hot yoga dates have been so good for him and for us as a couple. Never in a million years did I think he would ever attend a yoga class and it’s an even bigger miracle that we get to go together.
• I can do a wheel, what????
• I can do camel pose (most of the time) without feeling like I’m going to pass out (what’s up with that sensation?). I can’t quite reach my feet in camel yet, but I’m working on it.
• I have so much more awareness of where I’m carrying tension and can apply techniques I’m learning in yoga class at any time to help release that tension.
• I can turn my head to the right AND to the left now. Finally, I’ve worked out the strain that I’ve had in my neck forever it seems.
• Combined with barre, yoga has helped cure my once debilitating shoulder pain.
• It’s made me a better runner: building up a tolerance to lactic acid, stretching gently and effectively, and getting my mind to support my body and my goals.

My greatest win with yoga has been with calming my anxiety. I can arrive at class so worked up about the challenges I expect to face during that day, I pretty much want to crumble. But then, just a few minutes into class, I’m already less tense. And after an hour of sweating it out, I leave class with a tremendous sense of calm. No, it’s more than that…it’s acceptance with where I am as a human being, forgiveness, gratitude, and filled with love and excitement for life.

As another birthday present to my Pinkle Toes clients in celebration of 10 years, I want to share this yoga experience with you. I’m very excited to announce we are teaming up with Modo Yoga to host a Pinkle Toes-only class on June 17th! If you are a past or upcoming client, I invite you to join in this class. New and experienced yogis alike will find Modo Yoga to be fun and challenging and accessible to all abilities. Bring your significant other and have your own hot yoga date. Maybe we’ll make some bicycle blender concoctions after class 😉

First priority will be given to past/current Pinkle Toes Clients. About a week before the event, we’ll open it up to anyone else who wants to attend. I am soooooooooooo excited to get to practice yoga with you and maybe even introduce you to something that can change your life for the better just as much as it has mine. Namaste!

I want to send out a huge thank you to my friend Jody with Jody Mack Photography for taking these beautiful pics when we were visiting Charleston, South Carolina this spring. I wanted so badly to document these changes in my life and she did a phenomenal job! Thank you, my friend!

[This is a follow up post to the blog series about changes I’ve made to improve my overall quality of life. Part 1 is HERE.]

I met them a couple of years ago when they were expecting their very first baby. They had planned this lovely “babymoon” in Austin and oh, my goodness, it was like we chatted forever about so many things after we finished our session. I love when you get to feel a connection like that to a family. Naturally, when I saw them again for holiday pics at the end of last year, I was ELATED to learn they were expecting again. She mentioned in passing that they thought it might be twins, so I kinda fell on the floor when it was confirmed a short time later. I mean, can you EVEN believe there are two babies in there???? My favorite maternity portrait HERE. She was positively glowing when I visited them a few weeks ago. I cannot get over how amazing and happy she looks thanks to some inspiring health changes. And it’s been such a wonderful thing to watch them on their journey to parenthood and now into twin parenthood. They are going to do amazingly well and big sister is going to LOVE those sweet babies so much. I cannot wait to meet them and of course hold some twin babes again ;-).

[Wordy, but worthy. Back story first, then be sure to scroll down to the bottom to read up on the Pinkle Toes special event at Pure Barre Cedar Park last week!]

It was early Feb 2015 when I nervously walked into my first class at Pure Barre in the hopes of having that same euphoric experience as my dear friend Leah. After 55 minutes in that class (of which I was barely able to do anything), I shakily walked out of that studio, collapsed in my car, barely made it home and pretty much stayed in bed for the next several days. I had nightmares about that class every night. Unfortunately (fortunately?) for me, I had already signed up for a month of classes, so I reluctantly returned. I can’t say that I liked my second or third class much better. But I was determined I was going to stick with it and give it a chance.

Let’s back up a little bit. After enduring very difficult and sad years for my family in 2012 and 2013, I can say now that throughout 2014, I was lost. That’s probably the best way to describe it. I was going through the motions day to day, numb and not in control of my joy. I just didn’t want to or even know how to live life after so much sadness. I felt like a zombie. Certainly, there were many bright spots during 2014–the greatest of which being the birth of my nieces–but I cannot say that I lived that year to the fullest. I was starting to feel very old. I would get out of bed each morning, tired and achy, not sleeping well at night because of the tremendous amount of pain I was in from my back, neck, and shoulders. I guess I did something during a photo shoot once that pulled or twisted my back and the hours at the computer seemed to be making it worse and worse. I was feeling desperate…like my clock had started counting down. I had this silly dream of running a marathon the year I turned 40, but here I was at 36, feeling 50 and thinking it could only get worse from here. I had zero desire to do anything really. I ate everything all the time. I spent a lot of time at my computer or in my bed. I was trying to be all of these things…a mom, a wife, a business woman, a human…but I wasn’t doing any of them very well at all.

I remember on January 1st, 2015 agreeing with my sister that something was going to have to change. She and I both started back on Weight Watchers and I honestly believed that would be enough to change my lifestyle. I was NOT the kind of person who would go to the gym. I was scared of exercise. I knew it would hurt and I knew it would be extra difficult for me because of all of the extra weight I had been carrying around. But when Leah showed up at my house in Jan 2015 for a photography project we were working on together and she was HALF the size she used to be and completely radiant and happy and healthy, I told myself if she could do it, then I could, too.

And with Leah’s gentle encouragement and support, I gave barre a try. I wish I could say that I was instantly in love with it like she was (you can read her story on her blog), but I can say that I DID start to notice changes in my body very soon after recovering from the initial shock and soreness ;0). I need to take a moment to say thank you to one of my most favorite Barre Tenders, Kari. I’m not sure she’ll ever comprehend how much her guidance and patience helped me embrace the shake and stick with barre, even when sometimes, I felt like just leaving in the middle of class ;-). She is an incredible teacher for sure!

After doing barre consistently for a bit over a year now, here are the seemingly small milestones that are a big deal to me:

1. I can touch my toes. Silly, I know, but I have never been able to touch my toes. Not even in high school. When I first started barre, I could reach to my knees and that was about it. Now, I can touch my toes and somedays, reach even further!
2. My shoulder pain is all but a distant memory. I finally worked the muscles enough in my back, arms, and chest to release my shoulder blades and that is pretty much like a whole new lease on life for me. For a while, I hate to admit that I was dependent on sleeping medications trying to escape from that constant shoulder pain. I did NOT want that in my life. I am beyond thrilled to have finally moved past that.
3. I will never forget the first day I held the plank for the full 90 seconds without coming down on my knees!
4. I’ve always liked my arms/shoulders thanks to the heavy lifting of camera equipment, but now, they are *really* toned.
5. I lost my love handles! Buh-bye.
6. I lost my cankles! Buh-bye.
7. I kinda actually like my backside and legs for the first time…ever. EVER!

Now, just because I’ve reached a few milestones and I’ve gotten better at the barre, it doesn’t mean I still don’t have goals and it definitely doesn’t mean it has gotten any easier by any stretch of the imagination. I happen to be a very goal-oriented person and this journey to a stronger, healthier, happier self is absolutely guided by SMALL, reasonable goals. My next barre goals are:

1. To be able to do REAL pushups. I’m getting closer, but I’m not there yet.
2. To get all the way through thigh sprints without a single break (I’m not even close to that yet ;-).
3. To be more graceful during seated core work ;-).

And now on to the AMAZING Pinkle Toes-only class we had at Pure Barre Cedar Park!!!! Where do I even begin? It was so overwhelmingly FUN and challenging and beautiful and happy and exhausting all at the same time. I was grinning like a kid in a candy store looking around the studio at all of the eager faces ready to take on a new challenge.

I was truly amazed that:

1. Each of these ladies actually took time out of there very busy days to come to class.
2. Some of them were doing barre for the first time and ROCKED it.
3. They were still smiling after class (the group pictures prove it).
4. AND, with their generous donations, helped us contribute $1000 to the Melanoma Research Foundation in memory of my husband’s brother, Jim.

Speechless, really. Even when I got home that afternoon and tried to tell my husband all about it, I kept getting choked up. What a joy to get to to share this passion with so many of my clients and friends AND raise so much money to help battle a disease that scarred our family deeply.

So, THANK YOU Rebecca, owner of Pure Barre Cedar Park, for being so willing to do this with me and teaching our class in a way that was challenging, but still possible for everyone in the room. Thank you for letting us hang out with you in the studio and for your support of the Melanoma Research Foundation. I am proud to call you a friend!

THANK YOU to my sweet client-friend, Gay, for creating those delicious and adorable custom cookies for the event!

THANK YOU to Elizabeth and Jackie from EDJE Activ for donating one of your awesome barre shirts as a door prize!

THANK YOU to Gloriana from Kitchun for the delicious No-Grain-Ola to fortify us after class!

THANK YOU to Katie from Modern Muse Beauty for donating to the door prizes and for being one of my Barre Besties for sure!

THANK YOU to my friends, my seester, and my clients for rising to this challenge and for being so generous with your time and donations. Thanks for letting me honor YOU as we celebrate Pinkle Toes Photography’s 10th Birthday this year!

If you are a past or upcoming Pinkle Toes Client and you missed your chance at the barre with me, don’t despair as I have several more special events coming up around town. The next one is going to be announced on Instagram *very* soon, so you might want to make sure you follow me there.