Like these ones:

I love me a crying baby. I can’t help it.

Big sis is the best!

My *favorite* type of family shot. Real, loving, close.

These eyes… sigh….

I love these next two snuggly shots:

I think I might be super hilarious to babies… I’ve gotten several smilers lately! 

Nothing melts me like a strong daddy and a tiny baby.

And a gorgeous mom with perfect hair giving snuggles.

First, the little bun

and then… announcing… the amazingly sweet and sleepy and calm little Gino!
He’s a happy baby.

The cutest toes, with a little character (the overlap).

I adore this little family shot:

He didn’t sleep the entire time… He did wake up to poop on dad, pee on his favorite toy, and lose his bellybutton thingy. It was a pretty eventful day for the little guy~ you can kind of tell by the look on his face that was all part of his master plan to rule the world. He’s got one household down.

We almost got rained out… but instead we just got a little bit of a rainbow.

Even the doggies dressed up for the occasion!

He is one lucky little guy, with parents who love and adore him and each other. Total love-fest.

Love make me really happy.

Not an easy feat, considering they had three kids under 2! But they take it all in stride. It was so much fun for me to watch how much they cherished these children.

I’m pretty sure if he had the verbal skills, he’d be saying: Mom… he’s touching me!

You know I love me a good slice-of-life shot that shows how things REALLY are:

Are these the yummiest-looking little piggies ever?

The pink princess:

I think it has to do with my baby going to first grade. I’ve tried to pretend like he’s just one step out of babyhood for as long as I can. But there’s just no denying it. His face is skinny. His little recess-induced monkey bar hands are tough and calloused. He reads. He writes. He eats his lunch at school with his friends instead of with me.

I know that time has passed for me. I’m ok. I’ve been so lucky to have four beautiful babies.

But I think that fact makes these newborn sessions even more precious and fun!

This sweet baby is the first child of my first bride and groom. So I’m practically an auntie!

I loved this session. Got some snuggles, smelled that sweet newborn baby head, touched those soft fingers and cheeks, then went home and slept all night! I miss those early days, but not TOO much.

I’m finally caught up on sleep after sleeping for nearly a whole weekend. I highly recommend returning from a big trip on a Friday morning so you can spend the rest of the weekend recovering before you’ve got to actually get back into your schedule. (and, if you’re lucky like me, you might want to sleep a bit on Monday and Tuesday and why not… Wednesday as well!)

Tonight Shelby and and I went to one of our favorite bookstores, Hicklebee’s to meet a favorite author, Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games series. We’ve met some of the most amazing authors there… we feel like it’s such a treasure to have a real old-fashioned independent bookstore where every employee is absolutely passionate about children’s books. Anyway, we saw Sophia’s teacher from last year. She said she still checks my blog all the time, so I decided I better make sure that next time she looks, there should be something new! (Hi Mrs. H!)

So… in the spirit of international travel, here’s a session from an international family! They are currently living in Ethiopia… mom is a diplomat. SO cool, huh?

Such a beautiful, proud mama!

I love these days of the family bed. (at least for nap times, I didn’t sleep well with babies in my bed!)

I was going to say they’re going to be amazing parents, but I already know that they are! (baby session up next!)