Sweet preview

This is Kailaya. And I can't wait for you to see more of her!

Baby Katelyn

This beautiful family is the Raymond family. Little Katelyn was only 2.5 weeks old when I got to take pictures of her and her parents Christin and Dan.
Christin and Dan had great suggestions for things we could do for Katelyn's pictures. These with Dan, Katelyn and Dan's military helmet are some of my all-time favorite pictures. Also, this one below was their idea, too.

The Raymonds had this little picnic basket that we fit Katelyn into. I still need to collect some good baskets, bowls, soft pillows, hats and blankets to use on my newborn shoots. I also saw this adorable little doll cradle at Ikea that would be SO CUTE to pose sleeping newborns in.



Katelyn was awake for the majority of our session, which lasted three hours! She took teeny little cat naps but was such a trooper for so long. We were hoping she'd stay sleepy so we could pose her a bit more but this alert little one was much like my own sweet explorer -- she wanted to see everything we were doing. Look how alert and focused her eyes are at only 2.5 weeks old!



Oh, how I miss snuggling a newborn!

Oops, how'd this one sneak in here? :) I just adore these! We took these in Katelyn's room. The green on her walls was so pretty and worked wonderfully as a background in these.



Aww. Think she feels safe right there? :)

Pure bliss.





















Christin and Dan had tattoos on their ring fingers under their wedding rings. There's a D on Christin's hand and a C on Dan's hand. Isn't that a fun idea? I love this one, of the two of them basically holding hands as they cradle their firstborn.

Staring up at her daddy...

In Katelyn's nursery.

Christin and Dan, thank you for welcoming me into your home and introducing me to your sweet daughter. I loved all the ideas you had for your pictures and it was truly an honor to take Katelyn's first pictures!

Baby Eva

I had the privilege of meeting Baby Eva and her mom Jo and dad Vinod. I use the word "privilege" because it truly was. This family was so kind and thoughtful. Their interactions were so sweet to watch and Baby Eva was SUCH a happy baby!
I would estimate that Eva smiled approximately 94 percent of the time I was with them. She was so happy and her little grin was just contagious. You couldn't help but smile when she looked at you.
We started the session out at Jo & Vinod's home, which had several things in it that reflected their Indian heritage. The lighting in their home was a challenge for me and it made me realize how much I really do want an extra camera body -- one with a little more power to shoot at high ISO's for better results in low-lighting scenarios. Even so, Baby Eva was so cute that we were able to get some adorable shots.



Vinod and Eva loved playing together. He was especially fond of tossing her gently up into the air and I could see why. She giggled so well every time he did that. It was always a sure-fire way to get her to grin that beautiful baby grin.



Hi there, Eva! She was a very curious baby and I could tell immediately that she was very sharp. She was so observant and when she looked into your eyes, it was obvious this girl was studying everything about you. It almost felt like she could read my thoughts. Good thing all I was thinking was, "You're so cute, little one!" :)

Jo wanted to get a few pictures of her and Eva in traditional Indian attire, complete with the bindi (a symbol of beauty, associated with feminity and sometimes with marriage) between the eyes. When Jo first put the bindi on her daughter, she was so moved. She told me that the first time she'd worn a bindi was at her own wedding -- to see her daughter wear one at such an early age was touching and emotional for her.



Look at all of that hair little Eva has! My daughter at 18 months has probably a third of what Eva had at six months. :)

The whole family hanging out in their dining room at home.

Something about this picture is so striking to me. It's not a perfect photo and I usually go for the smiles, but something about how pensive father and daughter looked as they were waiting for Jo to join us outside just got me. Eva was so content just sitting in her Papa's arms.

She was also pretty comfy being held by Mom, too. :)

We walked to a nearby park to get some more family shots and Eva quickly showed signs she was ready for a nap and pretty much done with posing for the camera. So we tried to work quickly.

Vinod was ready to interest Eva with music and videos from his MP3 player. That bought us some more time to play. :)

Then, this is what happened on the walk back from the park:

Then, after we got home, this:

Jo and Vinod, thank you for letting me take pictures of your sweet girl. Thank you also for taking care of ME before I left your home and sending me off with lots of chocolate and snacks to munch on during the drive home. I so look forward to meeting up again with you soon and having some more fun out at the park!

Sister & brother

These are some of my favorite pictures ever! Mainly because these two cute young adults are part of my history. I've known Elizabeth and Brendan as far back as I can remember. We lived one house away when we all grew up in a little cul-de-sac in Renton. When I got old enough, I started babysitting these two and that's when our history together really began.

Elizabeth and Brendan were the CUTEST kids. Always polite, always cheerful, always ready to run up and give me hugs. Both of them. They both had unique personalities and as brother and sister, got along together really well. They were so easy to babysit because they minded so well and we all had so much fun together.

The only sad thing? Yeah. See below.

Pretty much I have to say GO COUGS, GO COUGS, GO COUGS! When Elizabeth graduated high school in 2006 (after being an awesome yearbook editor, just like me!), she chose the University of Washington. Brendan just graduated this year and what college do you think he chose?

Yep. I love these kids but NO ONE looks good in purple. :) (Clearly, I am a Washington State University grad.)

I'm proud of both Ebie and Brendan. Elizabeth's gotten really involved in her sorority and has chosen Informatics (basically a study of the relationships between people, information and technology) as her major and loves it. Brendan has always been an AWESOME student as well and I know he'll go on to accomplish great things in college too.

Aren't they cute?

I cannot bring myself to understand how Brendan grew from a quiet little towhead to this handsome college student. Seriously! He's 10 years younger than me and Elizabeth is eight years younger, but I feel with them like parents must feel of their children when all of a sudden they seem to blink and be looking at their babies as adults. I'm always amazed at the mature things both Ebie and Brendan say and accomplish.

I can only hope my own children get along as great as Elizabeth and Brendan do. They laugh at each other, tease each other, trust each other with some appropriate secrets and encourage each other.



You might not be able to tell here, but these are two tall cats. Like, six feet tall. I come up to Ebie's chin or something like that. And for so long it was pretty cute because Brendan was always shorter than Ebie. Not anymore!



They both have been waterskiiers since they were wee little ones. I'll never forget seeing their teeny life jackets and skis in their family boat back when I used to babysit them. Now they both wakeboard and Ebie is on the UW Waterskiing Team. I'm sad to say that I've never actually gotten to see either of them on the water, though! I'm not so much a water sports girl. :)



I love you guys. Thanks for asking me to come up to campus and spend some time with you. I hope your mom enjoyed her pictures (the two wanted to take these for a birthday present for their mom). I also hope Uncle Rich (their uncle is a photographer!) approves of how I portrayed you two! :) Keep in touch -- don't ever stop calling me and keeping your big "sis" updated on what's going on in your sweet lives!