Happy 6th Birthday Bean!

To my sweet Bean,

Six years! Seriously, SIX YEARS?!?!?!!? The time has gone by all too fast. You have grown into a beautiful young girl, with a heart that is tender and loving. You love structure and consistency, and struggle with change in anything. I love your independence and your will to do things your way and solve your own problems...but I also LOVE your dependence on me still. Dependence to calm your fears, and quiet your heart. Dependence to give you snuggles and make sure everything in your world spins around smoothly. God gifted you to us as our oldest, and I love your leadership for your siblings. You truly are a gift to us, that we don't take for granted. We thank God for you and all the laughs you have brought to our family, and all of the silliness that we are able to have with you. Thank you for being such a good "guinea pig" for your dad and I as we continue to learn how to parent you and your siblings, and how to raise you up to be a God loving young girl.

I love you more than you know...
Love,
Mom

I Love...

...that Bean LOVES having her own room. She picked out the colors, loves her bedding, keeps it organized, enjoys her reading corner and spends time dancing in front of her mirror. She loves it so much, that she wanted her birthday photo session in her room.

The sign above her bed was saved from the fire. It was "cleaned" but it has remnants of soot and smoke stain if you look closely. She didn't want to get a new one!

But, even with loving her room this much, it isn't enough love to make her sleep in her own bed at night. You see, since the fire last August, the girls started sharing a bed (Queen) in the condo. We moved back home at the end of October, and I think she spent one night in her room. She told us, "Cakies really needs me to snuggle her at night."

So, since then, they have shared Cakies' (full) bed. Every night. Every night before I go to bed, I find the two of them smashed and smooshed together. Sometimes in the middle of the bed, sometimes way out on the edge. And sometimes the snuggling gets so snuggled that Cakies falls out of bed. Hmmmmm...I am wondering who really needs the snuggles. I love it, and I don't care if they share a bed until they are 25! :) Happy Friday!

Bean and Facebook

Are you a fan? Follow along on facebook to see sneak peeks sooner and catch up on any happenings!

And, because I am WAY behind in posting pics of my sweet soon to be six year old...I will put a couple here today! She makes my heart melt...

...and her heart melts easily. One of the things I love is her sensitivity. She feels others "feelings" and is so caring. When she knows she has done something wrong or has hurt someone's feelings (like her sister's), she is so utterly sad. Her eyes well up, and is instantly ready to apologize. She hates to disappoint anyone, and is friends with everyone. My sweet girl...getting so big.

Hope you are having a good day!
***Sneak peeks from two sessions coming soon***

I Heart Faces - Angle Challenge

So this one I get to "kill two birds with one stone"! :) Bean will be turning 6 a week from tomorrow (I know, seriously, where have the last 6 years gone?!?!?!?!), so in honoring her birthday, I am going to post an image a day here of my sweet Bean. And, I am entering it into the "I Heart Faces - Focusing on Angles" challenge.

I would like to also post one thing that I also "love" about her with the image each day. Today, as I am typing this, she is in the family room sharing and playing with her sister Cakies. I LOVE that Bean is an incredible big sister. She is patient with her siblings, includes them in everything and is a best friend to them. I love watching the sibling relationship develop, grow and deepen more and more each day. I pray it continues for their lifetime, because I personally know that a strong relationship with a sibling (siblings in my case) is one of the best things here on earth.

So here is the shot...taken on an angle...of my little Bean in her bedroom. She asked if we could do her "6 year old session" in her room. She picked the outfits, and of course, and hairdo too! Love her independence and confidence...but I will probably write about that another day! ;)

For more cool angle shots, click on the link above!

A Picture Perfect Precious Newborn...

This newborn session was unbelievable. Baby "O" was absolutely perfect. He is beautiful, with precious little lips and soft, wrinkly skin! On top of that, he snoozed the whole time! I got a few peeks of his eyes, but only when we were moving him, and then he would settle right back into his comfy zone and zonk out! It was so much fun! I got to use a few new props, and then on top of that, he has a super cool room. I am including one from his room in the peaks! Andrea and Chris, it was wonderful meeting you and spending time with your precious newborn! Enjoy the peaks!

Love this shot...

So precious...




Sweet little piggy toes...




The new newborn hat... :)




This one is so sweet. He is laying over his daddy's shoulder, and his hand looks like it is signing, "I love you." Love little hands!




Love that you can see the mirror reflection in the background of this one...




Perhaps my favorite from the session so far...and that is another one of the newest newbie props!




He just dangled there so innocently...

That is all for now! Have a great night!

Baby S...

Three months old, and oh so beautiful! I love, love, love sessions that take place in client homes. Some of these shots are of Miss S in her cute bedroom and her parents room. Home sessions put the mom's and dad's at ease, allow for a quick feed if needed, and just work out great for little ones! The pictures in her room are unique to them because it is HER room...can't say enough about home sessions! I will say, it was a very, very, very dreary day that day, but the lighting still worked out in their home...which made me happy!

Here are some peaks at this precious little lady...

So far, my favorite picture from this session. You all know I love feet, so that is one reason I am in LOVE with this shot. But I also love that you can see her cute little face looking up at her bear and smiling and talking to him...so sweet!

My Butter's Best Bud...

How is that for an alliteration? :) Short on time tonight, so I am going to be short on words...but, I LOVE this little guy! His smile melts my heart!

Here is big boy, one year old, Mr. E.!

Facebook...

Okay, so I finally brought T.R. Armstrong up to speed in the Facebook world...click here to become a fan and follow along...I must say though, my blog will probably be updated more often than my FB page...maybe!

Senior Session - Lincoln

This was a little bit different senior session. It was done mostly indoors. Typically, we get a few headshots inside and then head out. It was opposite of that for sure. I am very pleased with the shots that we got indoors. It stretched me a bit more to think of different posing, different props (you know, not little kid ones!), and I am excited about the results. We did get to outdoors for a brief bit. It was very cold, and had snowed 6 inches the day before...on top of about 10 inches that was still on the ground. The snow shots are pretty sweet too!

Now, this senior girl, Miss J, is a beauty. She has a gorgeous smile, and is as sweet as can be! It was so fun to have a session with you J! I hope you enjoy the peeks...I will let you know when the gallery is ready!

One of my faves from the session...love it in black and white!

Snow...and lots of it! :) In fact the park we were going to go to hadn't been plowed, so driving in it would have been a pain...thankfully K had a back up idea!

An abundance of editing is on my plate right now...but I am going to bed none the less! I am all tuckered out! Have a great one!