Happy Birthday Isabella!

At the end of February I had the opportunity to visit my best friend since high school, Marie, her husband Mark and their daughter Isabella. I flew out to Washington D.C. to visit as Isabella was turning one! I can't believe it has already been a year since she was born - where has the time really gone? I have known Marie for over half of our lives now, and Isabella feels like my niece, not just a friend's baby. Even though we live half way across the country from each other, through some finagling I had the opportunities to also do Isabella's newborn and six month portraits. After doing both of those, it only seemed right that I finish the series so I flew out for a weekend of photographs and birthday celebrations.

We had to capture Isabella's first cake experience:



She actually seemed to have more fun trying to eat it with her feet:



During the weekend we took a stroll through downtown Old Town Alexandria to capture some family photographs as well. I loved the cobblestone streets with their interesting texture:





The brick in the area provided great backdrops for my beautiful friends as well.








We even got Mark in some of these photos - he had managed to escape me in the past two sessions.






Last, we took a couple of just Marie and Mark in this neat little corridor. What a darn good looking couple!



Marie and Mark, thank you again for having me out for the weekend. It is always such a treat to visit you. I can't wait to see you again!

The Zainy Twins

Zainy - what a great last name!!

Laila and Kai Zainy are the twin babies of Jolene and Heider. Jolene is truly one of the kindest people on earth and Heider can crack anyone up! Honestly, just a fantastic family. Jolene asked me to photograph the twins in early November (yes, I'm still playing blog catch up), when they were about six months old to get some photos for Christmas cards. I happily obliged her.

Laila and Kai are really just adorable. It was still nice weather out, even though it was November 9th, so we took a few outside first.





For some reason, Kai just loved the taste of his mittens.



Laila just played as cute as a button.



We then headed inside to take a few of the twins.




A couple of Kai - I can tell he is going to be devilishly handsome as he grows up, just like his Dad.




And a couple of Laila - who I know will be beautiful just like her Mom. I bet she is breaking hearts already with that smile.




Last, one photo of the family.


Thanks again Zainy family for having me spend the afternoon with all of you!

Introducing McKenna Griffis

Back to playing a little bit of catch up on my blog! I think one of my New Year's resolutions needs to be to get caught up and then stay caught up.

McKenna was born to our good friends, Justin and Jen Griffis, on October 28, 2008. I had the chance to do her portraits when she was about two weeks ago - still just so tiny. McKenna has this perfect little round head!









I always love doing the detail photos of the little one's hands and feet.






Justin is in the Marines, so we had to take a couple with his fatigues. In December Justin graduated from the University of Colorado and was commissioned as an officer. Congratulations Justin!!




Jen and Justin also have another daughter, Madison, who I believe is currently three, but the time passes so fast I may be mistaken. We have also known Madison since she was very little, and she is growing up so fast! She loves her new little sister very much.




The following portrait is one that Madison wanted me to take. I like to incorporate all the kiddo's ideas in the portrait sessions. It keeps them involved and interested and they tend to be so naturally creative that I end up with some fun stuff!



Last, Jen and Justin ordered baby announcements from me, so I thought I would include the design that was their final decision.



Thank you again Jen and Justin for letting us be a part of your family's exciting times. We will miss you when you have to move away!

The Kimberlin Family

I am still playing catch up with my blog, but I will get there, I promise! Back on November 1st I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours photographing the Kimberlin family at Chautauqua Park in Boulder. Melody and Brian have twins, Audrey and Brenna, who are just about a year old now. Melody is one of the kindest, warmest people I know, and it was wonderful to spend time with her and her family on a strangely warm November day - I think it hit 70 degrees that day! Although very odd for November it gave us perfect weather to have the twins outside in the beautiful fall colors. I think they got the perfect fall color weekend this year! First, here are a few of the whole family and the girls together:








Audrey and Brenna are both such beautiful little girls. Brenna is very active, always wanting to move around so photographing her can be a challenge, but I loved chasing the girls around. I just love her big blue eyes!







Audrey has cheeks that I just always want to reach out and pinch!





I love the following two pictures together - both girls were adorable in their dresses and I love the contrast with the grass.




And last, I love both of these series of pictures. The girls were getting a bit tired so we took a break and Brian started tossing Audrey up in the air. She just loved it so I grabbed a few shots of the two of them, and thought it would be great to have matching photos of Melody and Audrey.




Thank you again Melody and Brian for spending time with me! You are a beautiful family, and it was a pleasure to photograph all of you.