A few weeks ago I met up again with Arybella and her mom for Arybella’s 9 month photos.  She’s becoming a blondie!  You can see her 3 month photos here and her 6 month photos here.  So fun to see how much they change in that first year.  This girl always makes me work for some smiles, but I love her serious looks, too.  She’s pretty much adorable no matter what she does.  :)

As the day after Christmas is winding down, my house is finally clean again (well, cleaner than it was after Christmas morning). The recycling bin is full, the leftover cookies are disappearing fast, and the kids are still on their Christmas high from all the late nights and presents. We spent the day playing with their new toys, making room for all the new toys, and making a huge pile of items to bring to GoodWill (had to get rid of stuff to make room for all the new goodies). I took most of December off to enjoy time with my family, get my holiday shopping done, and take a much needed break. I did schedule a few sessions this month, and now that Christmas is over, I’m ready to get back in the swing of things! First off – getting caught up on my blogging. Starting off with Claire’s 9 month session. Love the pig tails!!! The weather lately has been beyond awesome (I’m not one who was hoping for a white Christmas – I’m totally fine with a 40-50 degree brown Christmas). There was a tiny bit of snow on the ground for this session, but we still managed to get outside for a few family shots. Even Bruno the boxer made it in for some pics! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday – looking forward to 2012!

I always love seeing this family. I met Ethan about a year ago when he was just a week old. Now he’s one and on the move! Unlike his 6 month photos seen below, his plan for the day did not include sitting still for pictures – LOL! We were still able to get some adorable shots, and it was even nice enough to go outside for a little bit! Can’t complain about this fall/winter so far. I wore my flip flops to drop the kids off at preschool yesterday. Can’t say that happens too often in December!

Enough talking – here is Ethan! Some photos from his newborn session, his 6 month session, and his latest session at 1 year.

And I had to include this one because his expression cracks me up. I think he was about done with me at this point.

I finished up with Leela’s session a little while ago, but I am finally getting around to posting some photos.   You might remember her from her newborn photos (seen here).   She has already had a few haircuts since then – more than my almost 3 year old!  This girl has some awesome hair!  I fully expect it to be down to her knees at her 6 month session, pending no further haircuts.    She was so full of smiles, and I loved all of her different outfits.   We had so many cute photos that it was hard to choose which ones to post, but these are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

I met up with Brynn for her second session (her newborn photos can be seen here) at four months old.   She is still a peanut, but man, this kid is totally adorable!   Poor girl wasn’t feeling very good, but you can see form the photos that we were able to get a couple of smiles in with the more serious looks she was giving me (the get-that-camera-out-of-my-face-and-give-me-my-tylenol-and-blankie looks, as I like to call them).   I think my favorite photos from our entire session were the ones where she was just quietly resting in mom or dads arms.  Nothing seemed to make her happier, and you can tell Julie and Dave are just smitten with her.   Can’t say I blame them.

Grab yourself a drink and some popcorn – this is going to be a long post. I met Angela and Justin in August 2010 when they contacted me about doing maternity photos. I had never done a maternity session before at that point, so I was pretty excited to try something new. Angela was stunning, and these are still some of my favorite maternity photos. Fast forward a month later and Harrison was born – one of the cutest little guys you’ll ever meet! I still remember his newborn session very well – he was happy, but that boy did NOT want to sleep. Justin went out and got us some dinner (since we seemed to be in this for the long haul), and Harrison decided to pass out as we were taking a break. Once he fell asleep he was OUT. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had another baby sleep quite as soundly as he did. He turned into a squishy little ball of sleepy baby and we were able to get some awesome photos!

Next time I saw Harrison he was 6 months. Sitting up and all smiles. You’ve probably seen photos from his 6 month session posted all over my website because he was just so happy and full of great expressions – I had a lot of favorites. Fast forward another 6 months and I was taking Harrison’s 1 year photos already! He was on the move, and checking everything out. Still cute as ever, and his mom has THE best taste in clothes for him – I just love his outfits! Another awesome session, and hopefully there will be more to come in the future. I’ve had a great time working with you guys and watching Harrison grow up throughout the year. He just keeps getting cuter and cuter!

Enough talking – here are some photos! A couple of my favorites from each session. Enjoy!

Ashlin was my last full outdoor session of the year. Kind of sad to see the end of shooting outside for the year (except for those few who don’t mind braving the cold Minnesota temps), but I couldn’t have ended it with a better session. Ashlin was just shy of her 1 year birthday when we met up, and she has got to be one of the cutest little girls I’ve ever seen! I just loved her outfits, and check out those blue eyes! I’m just finishing up with the editing from this session, but wanted to post a couple of my favorites so far. Enjoy!

I’ve been friends with Brekkin’s mom since college, and was so excited when she asked me to take his 1 year photos because I hadn’t seen him since he was a newborn in the hospital. Man, how things change! He was crawling all over the place, checking out the leaves (and the acorns, which were apparently delicious), and exploring all the fun stuff you find when you’re outside – so fun to watch! And how could you look at this face and not smile – isn’t he cute!?!

Just finishing up with the editing on this guys session, and I had to post a few.   I don’t know why, but I always get the babies with the rock-star hair.  Isaiah is no exception.  He may not have had the most hair, but I just love how wild it is!  You can’t tell in these photos, but he has the most beautiful eyes, too.  Might have to post some of those later, but here are a few sleepy ones for now.  And if you’ve followed my blog for very long, you can probably tell by now that I can’t get by without posting a macro shot and at least one black and white shot when it comes to newborns.  Didn’t want to disappoint.  :)

ETA: OK – I didn’t make it very long. Here is one with his eyes open. I just love his little smile here.

I can’t say enough about this family – I just love them! I’ve had such a great time getting to know them all over the last year. I’ve been taking Tyler’s photos every few months since he was 3 months old, and he has got to be one of the most expressive babies I have ever known. You can probably see a lot of his wide-eyed expressions and big smiles in older blog posts. He’s always such a happy guy with a big smile on his face. And the rolls! You can’t tell as much now, but this guy had some awesome baby rolls!

Below is a little collage with one photo from each of his first 3 sessions (3 months, 6 months, and 9 months), and then his 1 year photos below. It’s crazy how much they change in that first year, but it’s been really fun to watch him grow up and see all the changes along the way.

and I could resist posting a couple more of my favorites from his 9 month session – the look in that first one totally cracks me up!

And Tyler at 1 year – still smiley as ever.