Sweet Family...

I'm sure you want to hear all about Chicago. I have stories to tell and pictures to share. I promise it will happen soon. I have some Chicago mommies that are anxious to see some pictures, so I must take care of them first.

I started my shooting Saturday at Don and Debbie's house. They have a little guy who just happened to be born on my birthday. Let me tell you...he is a hunk of lovin'! Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm boy crazy. This guy just adds to that craziness!! 

Of course, I got my screaming baby shot. I am liking these so much! Luckily all of my babies have cooperated lately!

Don and Debbie are such a great team. They are so considerate of each other and so much in love. Reid is such a lucky guy.

Don and Debbie, thanks for welcoming me into your home and sharing this special time with me!

Tool Time

I'm starting to have some nightmares. I dream that my house is falling in on me. All I'm left with is a pile of wood and screws. This is the reason.

Jake has gone screwdriver crazy. He unscrews toys all of the time. Today he announced, "I got the double A's out!"  At the end of a day, I am left with a toy pile, a screw pile, and a battery pile. He's not so great at putting stuff back together! I put everything back together in the evening, so he can start the unscrewing process again the next day. I know what you are thinking...take the screwdriver away! Let me just tell you...sometimes I need a break. I have a business to run. I have work to be done. It's just easier to hand over the screwdriver and deal with the consequences later.

Did you notice which hand he is using? I think he's finally chosen a side. He's been kicking with his left foot since he started to walk, but he was switching hands all the time. I've noticed that he only uses the screwdriver in his left hand, so I think he is left handed like his Daddy. The pediatrician asks me all the time if he's chosen a side. It was beginning to worry me that he hadn't. Cross that worry off the list! Here's the problem. Every time I cross one off, I add two more!

Jake had a great first day of school today. He couldn't wait to get out of the door this morning.

Getting a first day of school picture was challenging. For some reason, Jake will not look at my camera. Why is it that I can get other children to look at my camera, but my own won't?

He got into my car in the afternoon with that same smile. It was a good day.

I'm heading to Chicago this weekend with my Mom, Em, Jake, and Izzy. I have 3 shoots there on Saturday. Cross your fingers for me that we'll get a little break in the weather, so we don't have to do everything inside. We're going to squeeze in some shopping. Keep those fingers crossed that Jake will cooperate. We'll definitely make it fun for the kids, too. I will have lots of cute pictures to share when I get back.

I had another quick studio shoot in my home today.  I wanted to get a few more shots of Sam, and Ginny wanted some scale shots.

One of my favorite shots that Kelly Manno got of Jake when he was a newborn was a screaming shot. I hope Ginny likes this one as much as I do.

By the way, I just wanted to add a big thank you to those of you who visit here. When you leave a comment, you just make my day!

Andrea, Lauren, and Matthew

I spent some time last Friday evening with this family. Their gorgeous home and yard were the perfect setting. Do you think their Mom would let me bring other clients over?? 

I could shoot Andrea every single day and never get tired of her gorgeous eyes. She is just so striking! Thanks for being a good sport, Andrea!!  I am sure you had much better things to do on a Friday evening.

Lauren is such a natural beauty with a sweet personality.  She was a great poser.  I love that! She never tired of having my camera in her face.

I don't want to embarrass Matthew by going on and on about how cute and sweet he is.  But..he is!  I loved how natural he was for my camera.

Thanks again, guys! Hope you are as happy with the results as I am!!

I can only imagine...

We went to Jake's Open House last week for preschool. As soon as I walked in his classroom door, I cornered the teacher and explained a few things about Jake. I was explaining potty habits and the fact that he tends to come out of the bathroom naked. I wanted to prepare her. I've been working on him to lower his pants instead of taking them all the way off, but I'm not having much success.  Then I proceeded to corner the Friday enrichment teachers and give them the low down.  I can only imagine what they are all saying about me now. I'm sure they think this kid is an only child. Seriously. Any other mother would surely have chilled out by the time the second one rolled around. Not Ang! I'm still micromanaging. Who cares. I waited a long time for this little man. They are going to have to listen to what I have to say about him!

He had a great time at the Open House. He really seemed to enjoy his classroom.

His favorite area was the science area. They have tons of  bugs that are individually displayed in sealed containers. Later he told me he wanted to go back to play with the animals sometime.

Kate linked me to this picture on Facebook. I loved it! I loved that she would take the time to do it! I love that big smile!

She's home today just for one night. We are taking her to her favorite restaurant for dinner.

New life to celebrate...

I was so excited to do this family's newborn shoot. They are neighbors and friends of ours. Our boys play outside together. This one made me a little emotional, too. They brought Sam home from the hospital on the day that Kate moved out of our house. After I put their slideshow together, I got teary while I was viewing it!

Ginny looks completely amazing. She is so soft spoken and so in control. She's an inspiration to me. The big brothers are so full of fun and energy...they were ready to entertain me. Andrew is such a proud dad. Sam...oh...what a hunk of love he is. He was sleeping when I got there, and I hated to even disturb him. I hope he took a nice long nap for Ginny after I left.  Here are a few of my favorites.

I'll share the slideshow here, too, since it made me so emotional. This is web quality...not full resolution.

Jake has already announced that he wants to play with baby Sam RIGHT NOW. It won't be long, Jake! They grow too quickly.

Happy 5th birthday to the big brothers!!!

So silly...

This guy makes me laugh all the time. Here he is sporting two pairs of sunglasses. That top pair has a Buzz Lightyear image on each lens ( in case you are wondering about that reflection).

He always gets the papers in the morning with Daddy. He loves using the wrappers as boots.

Jake usually doesn't nap, but he did not make it through Monday afternoon. He actually fell asleep sitting up in a chair in my bedroom while watching a movie. By the time I ran downstairs to get the camera, he had fallen to the side with his face buried in the leather. He fought me when I tried to lift him up and carry him to the bed, so I just readjusted him instead.

It's sweet to see these feet still. They are usually in motion!

Yesterday I made homemade chocolate chip cookies for Kate's first day of school. This tradition started with my mom. She always had cookies waiting for us after that first day. I started it with Kate when she was in preschool, and college was not going to get in the way of our tradition. If she had gone away to school, you better believe I would have shipped them!

I packed Jake and Izzy and the cookies in the car to head to school after her morning classes. She looks great and seems so happy. That makes me happy, too!

She got in a bunch of extra kisses to hold her over until the next visit.