Luca, Trace, Stuart & Maelin

I couldn't wait to do this session of cousins!  I had the pleasure of taking maternity pictures for Sunnie and Stuart back in July, and if you remember they had not decided on a name for their soon-to-be son at the time.  Little Stuart was born on September 13th, and is absolutely ADORABLE!  Sunnie told me that her sister-in-law was also expecting and mentioned having pictures of all of the kids together, but we had to wait for sweet baby Maelin to make her arrival.  Maelin, who looks just like her mother, was born November 1st.  She has the sweetest little cheeks!  The older of the cousins are Luca (who is 4) and Trace (who turned 3 soon after our session).  The boys were complete naturals in front of the camera, and followed directions perfectly!  They both truly smile with their whole face and I love their twinkly brown eyes.

Grandmother Janice joined us the day of the shoot, and I am so happy to be able to provide her with some pictures of all 4 of her precious grand-babies!

Taylor ~ Pigg Wedding: 11.11.11

11.11.11: This is the date that not only will Doug and Leann Taylor remember forever as the day they said "I do", but also the day that I will always remember for having the opportunity to capture the images of their special day ... my first wedding! :)  I met Doug and Leann through another couple in our Sunday School class at church.  Leann contacted me several months ago about taking pictures for their wedding, and I must admit that I was nervous.  Once we began discussing the details and I found out that she was planning a small ceremony, I felt like this would be the perfect opportunity to get my feet wet in the "wedding pool".  The 7pm wedding had a peacock theme (ABSOLUTELY beautiful!) and included Doug's son Zack and cousin Michael, Leann's best friend Barbie and nephew Gaven, along with Maggie who is the daughter of the couple responsible for introducing me to the Bride and Groom.

Leann was so easy to work with, and looked stunning on the big day.  Her bouquet (which she made herself) was gorgeous!  It included a "T" for Taylor, a picture of her grandparents, a bracelet that was her grandmother's, and the necklace that her own mother wore on her wedding day.

Doug, while quiet for much of the time I was around, looked amazing as well (the perfect compliment to the beautiful bride).  He, along with Zack were naturals in front of the camera.

The beautifully decorated reception offered a delicious "potato bar" with all the fixin's, and lovely peacock themed cupcake tree in lieu of a traditional wedding cake.

Doug and Leann, I am so grateful for your faith in my ability and willingness to be my "guinea pigs" for lack of a better term.  I wish you both MANY YEARS of happiness! 

The Mullins Family

I was so thrilled to get a call from Sharon wanting to schedule a fall family shoot.  I had the pleasure of meeting her and her two girls Makenzie and Savannah last fall, but this year I was able to meet Johnny and Cameron as well. :)  They are all so easy going and a lot of fun to work with.  You will notice that Savannah is wearing a hat in the majority of the pictures (which I think looked SUPER cute on her), but in a couple you can see the remnants of a recent cruise .. I think she wears braids equally as well. ;)

Josephine Just Because

Shepherd recently started Pre-School 3 days a week, which is giving Josephine and I a lot of time to spend together.  I have really enjoyed having the one on one time with her that I had with Shepherd before she was born, plus Shepherd is loving school!  Today I just LOVED what Josephine was wearing (I wish I had the whole outfit in my size), and Josephine LOVES Starburst, so I took the opportunity to bribe her with a couple pieces of candy for a few pictures.  She has the sweetest, funniest and most mischievous personality!  I love her to pieces!!  

 

The Johnsons LOVE fall!

I haven't put a post up with my own children since Easter, so I figured it was time. ;)  We absolutely LOVE this time of year, and recently took the kids to a local dam for some pictures.  I will have to admit that I was a little frustrated while we were there because they weren't cooperating and standing where I asked.  It is becoming harder and harder for me to crouch down to their level for "the perfect shot", and them moving all over the place only made it worse.  I finally just gave up trying to get the perfect beautiful fall background and just let them do what they wanted.  I am actually still very pleased with how they turned out.  

Stuart & Sunnie

Stuart and Sunnie are such a sweet couple, and super easy to work with.  They are expecting a boy in mid-September, but have not decided on his name yet.  Sunnie REALLY wanted to have maternity pictures taken, but it took a little while to get Stuart on board.  He finally said he would go for it as long as they could have the pictures taken at their good friend Charlie's land.  Sunnie said that Charlie is the one responsible for getting her and Stuart together, and very special to both of them.  The 300 acre property was breathtaking, with picture perfect settings everywhere we turned.  It was so hot outside, and the rain that came about an hour before our shoot made it nice and muggy, but they kept smiling. :)

I wish them both the best of luck in the last few weeks of Sunnie's pregnancy, and with their upcoming move to a new home!  Looking forward to hearing what name they choose and meeting their sure to be precious little boy.

 

Johnson Baby #3!

My husband Alan and I are both the oldest of two children families.  Having come from such families, this is the way we always pictured our own family to be.  We found out we were going to be parents on June 8th, 2007.  Our son Shepherd Logan was born on January 31st, 2008, and we experienced a love that we didn't know existed.  Time passed, Shepherd got a little older, and we decided that we were ready for baby #2.  One June 8th, 2009 we found out that Shepherd was going to be a big brother! (yes ... exactly 2 years after we found out we were expecting the first time).  Josephine Abigail joined us on January 29th, 2010.  That same love we experienced two years earlier just multiplied and became even stronger.  We felt so very blessed to have a son AND a daughter!  Our family was complete.

It has been such a joy watching the two of them grow together for the last 18 months.  The love they have for each other makes my heart melt, and seeing them interact has been one of the greatest joys of my life.  With both of their birthdays being so close to Christmas, we have tried to make June 8th, "Found Out Day" a little special.  Basically it just gave me an excuse to get them a little present :).  June 8th, 2011 rolled around and Alan joked that it was time to find out we were pregnant again.  We were in agreement that we were happy with 2, but little did we know that despite our best efforts, I really was pregnant with #3.  It wasn't until June 20th, 2011 that we found out God had another plan for our family!  I have to admit that I was shocked/terrified/overwhelmed, and a little sad that our "Found Out Day" had been changed.

With both Alan and I being the planning/organizing type, this new information was almost too much to process.  It took me a couple of days to be able to even call our parents/sisters with the news.  (As a side note, my sister Alixe and her husband David are also expecting!  Alixe is due January 23rd with my first niece/nephew.  I am so hoping that having a newborn of my own will not put a damper on my first experience as Aunt).  

Having now had 3 1/2 weeks to get used to the idea of being a family a 5, we have accepted God's plan and are excited to enter this next stage of our lives.  We have even enjoyed talking about baby names once again :).  (Another side note, we decided before we ever had children that if we had a boy he would have my initials, SLJ and a girl would have Alan's [who is actually Jeffrey Alan] JAJ.  Again, I love the fact that we have been able to do both.)  We plan to keep this tradition going and have come up with a few names that we really like ;).

While I will admit that I am still terrified at the thought of having a newborn just weeks after Shepherd and Josephine turn 4 and 2 respectively, I am trusting in Him and reminding myself of Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  I know that a year from now we will not be able to imagine our lives without this new little blessing, and I am so very thankful.

I love the picture with this post of Josephine wearing her "Big Sister" shirt for the first time.  I just hope she is still this happy about it in February. ;)

Kayla - Class of 2012!

I met Kayla, her mother and two younger sisters on Thursday evening to take Kayla's senior pictures.  They live in Morristown, so we decided to meet in Jonesborough for the session.  Kayla is a gorgeous girl with a contagious smile.  She was a little shy at first, but started to loosen up toward the end of the shoot. :)  I was so happy to have the chance to take such important pictures for you Kayla.  Best of luck on the coming school year!

Brain & Jackie

Brian and Jackie are such a cute couple!  I took their maternity pictures on Memorial Day evening.  It was miserably HOT, and Jackie's due date was only 3 days away ... can you say trooper??  They brought along their beautiful dog Gainer to be in some of the pictures.  I have been wanting to do a maternity session, and I am very pleased with the shots we were able to get.  I wish them all the best as they prepare to welcome Brian III any day now! 

EASTER!

We went back to NC for Easter Weekend!  It was a FULL weekend to say the least.  More than just being full of things to do and places to go, it was full of family, friends and love.  Here are just a few of my favorite images of the 900+ I took.

Daddy's boots...

My husband's mother kept a pair of his cowboy boots from when he was really young and gave them to us when Shepherd was a baby.  By the time Shepherd was able to walk, his foot was too wide to ever wear them :/ ... Josephine however has tiny little skinny feet and they fit her perfectly!!  I decided last minute while Shepherd was napping to take Josephine outside and shoot a few pictures of her wearing her daddy's old boots.  It was REALLY windy, and our quick little photo shoot ended when it started to rain, but I absolutely LOVE some of the pictures I was able to get!

Avery's 1 year pictures

Avery turned 1 on April 4th, but we decided to take her 1 year pictures a little early so that Tiffany could have some printed to show at her party.  Tiffany made a cake just for pictures that was delicious!  Avery didn't come close to eating all of it during our shoot, so we all got to have a slice when we were finished. :)  I still can't believe that she is a year old, and how much she has changed in the few weeks since the pictures were taken!  More visible teeth and walking!

Birthdays!!

Being from NC originally, and having all of our family still live there, we decided to have the kids' birthday parties at our old church.  In the future they will have a truly combined party, but since it was Josephine's 1st we kept them more separate this year.  Josephine's party was "birdie themed" and from 2-4pm on one side of the fellowship hall.  Shepherd wanted a "Thomas birthday" and his was immediately following Josephine's on the other side of the fellowship hall.  All in all it went great, and the kids had a wonderful time :)

I also included the invitations I made for each of the kid's parties :)  

The Johnsons back in Jonesborough

I took pictures of the kids in Jonesborough TN when Josephine was 7 months old, and decided then that I wanted to come back for their birthday pictures.  Josephine turned 1 on January 29th and Shepherd turned 3 on January 31st!

The little white hat and coat that Josephine is wearing in several of the pictures was actually given to ME on my 1st birthday from my grandparents.  I had no clue that my mother had held on to it for all of these years, and when I was pregnant with Josephine she gave it back to me.  I have had it hanging in her nursery ever since waiting for her 1 year pictures. :)

Tis The Season!

I decided to go with grey and pink for the kids Christmas outfits this year.  I LOVED Josephine's little dress, so of course had to find something for big brother to wear that would coordinate for pictures. ;) 

Having just gotten my new camera at Thanksgiving, I was eager to play around with it, and what better to take pictures of than Christmas ornaments!

New Camera!

Up until this point I have been taking all of my pictures with a Canon Powershot. This is considered to be a "bridge camera", as it bridges the gap between a point and shoot and a SLR. It has a better zoom than a traditional point and shoot ... but doesn't have the ability to change lenses. Around Thanksgiving I upgraded to a Nikon DSLR and I love it! I now have two lenses and much more versatility. With the holidays, frigid temperatures and my kids' birthdays I have been pretty tied up ... but I am looking forward to getting busy again in the studio and especially outside when the temperatures start to rise.  Keep checking in!