…but until then, let’s take a look at some of their maternity pictures we were *barely* able to squeeze in before baby #3 (yes…that’s right…#3) made an appearance ;-). We shot these just before Valentine’s Day and I loved that she chose those awesome red skinny jeans and that we got to tie in my favorite little heart umbrella. Don’t miss this image HERE.

I am pretty certain you will recognize this gang from my blog over the years. Funny enough, a few days after we finished up THIS session, I got the cutest text from Tracy:

So, I guess that was a maternity session you just did.

Aughhhhhhhhhh! How incredibly exciting that they were going to add another to their photogenic and loving little brood. They are such amazing parents and it was so touching to see how little man’s big brother and sisters doted on him non-stop. LOVED this family pic HERE and this ONE is probably my fav from the session.

Thank you again, Tracy, for this wonderful honor. I could not be happier for you guys!

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 🙂

There are 34 entries in the running to become the 2013 Pinkle’s Pic of the Year. These images were selected by the clients themselves for your consideration to become finalists. Here’s how it works:

ROUND ONE – NOW thru midnight central on Feb 5th

• This year, you will have THREE chances to vote!
  1. The poll below
  2. “Liking” your favorites on this official Pinkle Toes Instagram page (to view all of the entries, search the hashtag #pinkletoesPOY13Round1).
  3. “Liking” your favorites on this official Pinkle Toes Facebook gallery
• You can vote for more than one image AND you can vote in ALL of these three places, but you can only vote one time.

On Feb 6th, 10 finalists will be announced here and on Facebook, selected as follows:

1. The top TWO images from this online poll.
2. The top TWO images from the official Pinkle Toes Facebook gallery (if already selected in the online poll, we’ll move on to the next image)
3. The top TWO images from the official Pinkle Toes Instagram page (if already selected in the online poll or Facebook, we’ll move on to the next image)
4. TWO images selected by a panel of professional photographer judges
5. TWO images selected by me. I may even throw in a few surprise images just for fun.

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.

Pinkle Toes Photography will be closed Dec 20-Jan 12 so that I can step away and spend some long overdue time with the fam. I will not be checking/answering e-mails or phone calls or other messages during that time and I apologize for any inconvenience. But if I’ve learned anything during this tumultuous year, it’s that time with family and friends is fleeting and not guaranteed, so I’m going to make the most of it. On that note, I wanted to leave you all with a little treat to wrap up the year…a compilation of photos from ALL of the families and babies and children and seniors that I’ve had the extreme honor of working with this year.  Thank you all for being a hundred points of light during even the darkest of times for us. You have each touched my heart and I’m so lucky to know you.

XOXO and Happy Holidays,

Me

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

She now headlines my campaign for all newborn photo sessions to be with older newborns (4-12 weeks old). Seriously, I could not get over those beautiful, bright blue eyes and her peaceful nature. And we even got some fleeting smiles. Pretty amazing session. I loved it! My favorite family image is HERE. And another one from the tree is HERE.

While big sister is already quite the star on the ol’ Pinkle Toes blog, it was clear at the newborn session that baby sister is well on her way along the same path. What a sweetheart!!!! Truly, she was an angel and put up with us so sweetly the whole time I was there snuggling with her ;-). OMG, you do NOT want to miss this little behind-the-scenes pic of what mama had to go through in order to keep big sister happily playing along ;-). And don’t miss this nursery pic!!

A few weeks ago, I got to spend a beautiful morning with this little cutie pie. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE working with newborns that are a little bit older than that golden “10 day rule.” Rules were made to be broken anyway and I quite enjoy the level of comfort, ease, and interaction you can get with a baby that’s just a little bit older and parents that are just a little bit wiser. For what it’s worth, I totally dug mom’s sense of style and I’m just going to have to have her decorate my whole house someday. See my favorite image BIGGER.

Whenever I do a newborn photo session, I always think back to the maternity pictures…especially for first-time parents. It’s fascinating watching a young couple become their roles and witnessing all of the excitement that comes before a baby arrives as well as the newly found love after baby is born: