Tear...

Baby Sammy has hit his ONE YEAR mark already. WOW.

It hit me a few weeks ago when I was at the park with his mommy and I looked over and watched him climb up and slide down the slide. I knew him when he was in his mommies belly! awww I honestly choked up and felt a huge sense of joy, hope, love... but sadness too! The first year flies by so fast! Stay tuned for his final Bebe' Collection session, but this is what we have for now! I will recap his first year soon!

Love you Sammy!

John & Ginger... ENGAGED!

I have waited a long time to do this engagement session... the great thing is... good things come to those who wait! I LOVE so many of these photos from this session!!!

I kept thinking how in the world am I going to narrow it down to just a few... after much debate and just picking my absolute favs... I finally narrowed it down!

The first thing I noticed about this couple is how much fun they have together! It's so refreshing to have a couple to photograph who are just perfectly comfortable and connected with/to each other... I didn't have to give them a lot of direction... just let them be who they are!

After doing this session, I am now completely, anxious, excited and CANNOT wait for their wedding!!!

Thank you guys for the opportunity to meet up with you while you were in town this weekend, it was an absolute joy finally meeting you in person! I knew we would hit it off, but never expected such a perfect fit! Enjoy your sneek peek... the rest of the proofs will be up VERY soon!!!

Passion

The one thing that came to my mind as I was editing this session is how much passion this dad-to-be had for his wife, her budding belly, and the little one inside of that belly who they are anxiously awaiting!

I can't look at this photo without it thinking... WOW... now that's PASSION. I couldn't love the story this photo tells anymore. I honestly didn't even have to ask him to close his eyes. Dad... you are a total rock star!

I absolutely LOVE photographing expecting parents... there is so much, hope, love and joy in each of these and the glow that we all talk about with pregnant mommies... Kristine is no expection she was absolutely stunning.

The most fun part to this session is; Mom and Dad don't know what sex the baby is. Also, to top it off... they are not revealing the names they have picked out yet until baby is here! Oooh does that create some fun suspense or what?! I can't WAIT for this newborn session! We made her belly look like a little present! cute!?!

Bryon and Kristine, thank you so much for your flexiblity with your session. What you don't see in the pictures is that my 3 year old was home while we did this session and our dog... who is lost without his partner (see this post for why) was totally stubborn and in our way nearly the entire time. I really appreciate your patience with that senerio! I owe ya big time. You two are going to make amazing parents. This little baby is one lucky little boy or girl!

Do they remind anyone else of Ryan & Trista (yes, from the Bachelorette)?!

SO MUCH JOY

So coming off from one of the toughest weeks of my life, I got to go hang out with this sweet sweet little family.

I was still a bit on the emotionally exhausted side when I was on my way to this photo shoot, but I took a couple of deep breaths as I exited my car and went to meet them at their home. I have had this session scheduled for months and was really looking forward to it. Most importantly, they did NOT let me down... these little guys had smiles that were completely contagious!!!

When I first met Nathan... the little blonde guy, he kind of gave me that, ugh, don't talk to me scowl and turned into his mommy... why do I share this??? Because it was right then and there I realized how this little guy was going to be... VERY similar to my 3 year old... turns out they are about 8 days apart. It was great fun to go "play" with someone so similar in personality to my Carson and just totally enjoy him! It was kinda like being on the outside looking in! It only took my little buddy Nathan about 5 minutes to warm up and then we got some fun smiles like this one. You just gotta know the tricks with little guys like this... they like to do anything that involves going fast and pure silliness too!

Meet Colin... something about Colin that spoke to me immediately was his gentle little spirit. Colin's mommy mentioned to me that Colin has something similar to Autism, although not Autism. However, this was why it was so important to me to do this session and why I was really looking forward to the session. I knew that I had to get some images that really captured who this little 6 year old sweetie is. His smile is so vibrant that I feel like it must light up the world. I feel more enriched having just met him for the brief time that I did. The only way I can describe it... something about him just reaches out and touches your heart... he doesn't have to communicate with words. It's definitely done with his heart, at least for me that's what I felt.

I absolutely adore this family and I literally only spent roughly an hour with them. Thank you guys for such a great session. It was honestly completely refreshing after such a tough week in our lives. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity!

Allie! Senior Rep!

Meet Allie. She is such a sweet girl and was up for absoultely anything.

She's a busy girl and involved in all sorts of activies, work, friends and family... you name it! I especially love it that she works in a little coffee shop in her hometown of Tecumseh... what a fun job, I always thought being a coffee barista would be so much fun. Thank you Allie for workin' the camera! You did such a great job and your outfit selections couldn't have been better!

If you know Allie, be sure and ask her how you can get free wallets with your Senior 2010 session!

p.s. My new website will launch VERY soon... Im so ticked at blogger because it really does something to your pictures... takes color and quality... YUCK! Blogger, WE are NOT friends for that very reason!

Ellie!

LOVE HER!!!

Twins Storyboard

Several posts coming...

but not tonight. We have had a VERY hard past 24 hours.

Without going into detail because it's just too hard, our dog, Zoie, was killed by a car in front of our house on Friday night. We are pretty sure she was chasing a bird and it's race weekend and we live right by Michigan International Speedway so the traffic increases significantly on our road on race weekend.

Needless to say, we are all DEVASTATED. It may sound a little drastic that it has affected all of us so profoundly... but we are just coming off of the week that my grandma was diagnosed with malignant brain tumor. This scenario after the rough week we have had just felt like a slap in the face. It's left holes in our hearts.

Thank you everyone who let me move my schedule around for your sessions. We will get through this difficult time I know, but it sure doesn't make what we are feeling right now any easier. Kenedey is beside herself, she's the major animal lover in our house and my heart hurts so bad to see her mourning.... I just want to take the pain away from her. :-(

Thank you everyone for being so patient. We sincerely appreciate it. I promise some great pictures coming very soon. Allie, I promise it will be worth the wait.

I love when they come back!

I first met this adorable little family last fall for extended family photos. I have had the opportunity to photograph them a total of 3 times know. I cant help it but I am amazed each time I see them how much they each have changed! Kyle, their mom, must get sick of me saying things like, "omg, look how much Emma's hair has grown, and Owen, he's gotten so much taller, and then Megan... she's walking already?!!!!"

I am so blessed to get to do this job and watch families grow and change... it never gets old! Anyway... Little Miss Megan (you might remember her as a winner in our February contest), is turning ONE.YEAR.OLD. ALREADY!!! She is getting around so well and is such an easy going little girl! It was a challenge to get some good shots of her face because she was all about discovering everything around her! She has these beautiful long femine hands and was pointing to and touch everything... SO sweet.

Her big sister Emma is absolutely stunning! She has those (for lack of a better term) sleepy, soft and gorgeous eyes. I just love to photograph her... she has such a innocence about her and the camera gravitates towards her! She will be starting Kindergarten this fall!!! How fun!

Big Brother Owen is an amazing big brother, it's not uncommon for him to plant kissess on his little sisters and everytime I see him, he is so gentle and loving with both of them. He carries around little Megan like she is his best little buddy... such a fun relationship between all of them. I have a feeling mom might say it's not always that way... but let me tell you... everytime I see them... it's consistenly that way. I so enjoy watching their love for each other.

It was wonderful meeting up with you all the other day. It was just what I needed after a stressful day at the hospital with my grandma's recent cancer diagnosis... so THANK YOU for just being you! I don't think I can express how thankful I am to have this creative outlet... it really does give me a great sense of hope and peace!

Happy FIRST birthday Megan!!!

Regaining composure...

So if you know me, you likely know that the day to day of my family has been turned upside down over last few days....

Without going into further detail here just for times sake head on over to: www.strengthformimi.blogspot.com and you can read what has transpired. If I haven't returned your phone call, email or posted your sneak peek I promise its coming.

To top it all off, my phone is really acting strange. Every time I call someone I can hear you, however you can't hear me. It's not consistent either. I am very sorry for the inconvenience. Please know I am working to restore normalcy around here!

Thank you for your patience.

Carson's "best girl"

I am sure if you check in on this blog now and then you will recgonize Lauren! She is my cousins' little girl who is very near and dear to my heart! We LOVE having her around and Carson is so sad everytime she has to go home... for days it seems. He calls her his "best girl"! Cute huh? When he wakes up everyday, he wants to know if Lauren is out there, meaning in the living room!

Isn't she stunning? I think a modeling contract is in order for this little beauty... any takers? any modeling agencies out there?! LOL

Photo Scavenger Hunt

I've been looking for a little challenge photo related... not anything too intense, but preferably fun!

Well over at this fun blog: www.sweetsauer.com She has one going on! If you are interested in joining... check out her link for details...

Here's the list:
1. A View from Above (looking down)
2. A Macro Shot
3. Laughter
4. Relaxation
5. A Celebration
6. A Sunset
7. Sun/Lens Flare
8. A Bridge
9. A Shadow
10. A Garden
11. A Park
12. A Street Scene
13. Signage
14. A Summer Activity
15. A Summer Treat
16. Earth
17. Air/ Wind
18. Fire
19. Water
20. Something Vintage (pre-1980)
21. Something Made of Glass
22. Something Made of Wood
23. Something that Floats
24. Something Railroad Related
25. Something Round

Stay tuned! Thank you Kristy for hosting! Looking forward to the fun!

Class of 2010

Check out the reflection in those glasses!!!

Nope, that title is right... I know the class of 2009 is just graduating, however... it's time for Senior Reps. This Carissa who will be a Senior at Columbia Central and she is one of my Senior reps!

If you or someone you know is interested in being a Senior rep, we are offering some pretty awesome perks this upcoming year, but the trick is this: Rep sessions must be held before the end of July to get in on the goodies and freebies! Contact me at the number or email listed on the blog if you are intersted!

Here's a few of my fav's Carissa! You did a WONDERFUL job with your session! Hope you like!