CALLEIGH'S BAPTISM || 8 IS REALLY GREAT

There is something so precious and special about an 8 year old child who is ready to make covenants, choose the right and be baptized. There is something special about being able to have your very own photo shoot, especially if you're like me and you grew up in a big family and you rarely got to do anything alone!! There is something beautiful about being dressed all in your Sunday best and getting to have all the attention on you for a whole day. And, if you've ever been to a baptism, you know that the spirit is SO strong and you can feel the love that our Father in Heaven has for each one of us.

I was so excited that we had a beautiful, mostly warm day in November, to take these pictures of Calleigh. Her mom had so many cute ideas that she wanted to incorporate into her photo shoot, and I'm so happy with how they turned out. Calleigh and I both love sparkles - especially sparkly shoes, twirly dresses and taking pictures. She would have stayed with me all day and let me take her pictures for hours and hours.

Calleigh, I am so proud of you and the choice you made to be baptized. Your Heavenly Father loves you so much and wants you to always remember how you felt on your special day. Always remember you are special, you can be anything you want to be and you get to choose to be happy!! I hope you always remember how beautiful you are and never let anyone tell you any different! Congratulations!

THE FRANKS KIDS || ALL GROWN UP

I've known Alexa since she was just a baby. I started watching her at my house when she was about 8 or 9 months old and she was a part of our life for many years. She came everywhere with us and did everything with us, it was kinda just like having another one of my own. I stopped watching her when Tyler was born, so it's been a long time since I've seen her - except on social media, which I LOVE!

I was so excited when Danyelle contacted me and asked me to take their pictures. I wasn't able to blog this before now because it was a gift for Christmas - and one of my FAVORITE gifts to hear you're giving to your loved ones!!

We had to re-schedule these 3 or 4 times because of bad weather. But we were patient, and we waited until we had a GREAT day. The sun was shining, the lighting was GORGEOUS and they were such great sports about taking pictures together. {you might not be able to say that about all siblings!} When I started editing them, I was in LOVE with them all!! I had a hard time narrowing it down, because there were SO many great ones - and I don't remember ever looking this gorgeous back in high school!! 

Thanks Lex and Tyler for such a great photo session, I can't believe how much you've both grown and I hope for ALL the best things for both of you and your futures!!

THE LASKY FAMILY || FAMILY SESSION

I love working with families and I love watching kids grow up and have kids of their own. This is the daughter of a family we have known since we first moved to Illinois almost 17 years ago. {WOW, that's a long time!} I've known her for many years and I got to take their family pictures last year in the FREEZING cold. This year it was much warmer, but not without it's challenges.

They had been working all day on a house project and were running late, one of the kids couldn't get their clothes out of the room they were in, dad wasn't able to get there at the beginning, sisters arms were too cold, so mom gave her jacket to her.....and YOU GUESSED IT, they turned out great. I try really hard to keep my cool during pictures and help work out all of the challenges that I know come with pictures. I know how stressful it is when you have something planned and your day doesn't go as you would have liked. I know it's A LOT of work to get family pictures taken! I just want you to know that I'm on your side, that I get it and that I will do everything I can to help ease the stress of family pictures!!

These kids were SO fun to work with, dad wasn't there yet, so I said, no worries, let's start taking some pictures of each of the kids.....oh man, some of them are funnier than others. This "dabbing" picture happened before I even knew what was going on....he's a sneaky one!!

Then we got the kids all together just as the sun was setting and got some adorable ones with just them.

Dad got there just in time to grab one of the whole family. It might not have been the ideal year for pictures, but it's always fun to look back and say, "remember that year that (blank) happened?" I love how photos help us remember those important family memories, both the good and the bad.

Thank you for trusting me to capture your family again this year. Thank you for making it work. I promise that these memories are worth the investment!!

THE BURSON FAMILY || SUPER-HEROS!!

I could tell right from the beginning that Patti and I were going to get along great. She LOVES  pictures and we had such a great time planning her family photo shoot. We had to reschedule a couple times because of weather and scheduling conflicts, but it was worth the wait. We met on a beautiful, chilly fall day at one of my favorite locations in Naperville. {really right on the edge of Woodridge and Naperville}.

I loved getting to meet their fun family. Their session was so much fun and the light that night was just beautiful. They brought along their cute pup and the girls were total rock stars for their individual photos. They were all so great that we got lots of extra fun pictures. We even got the pup to cooperate for a few!! I loved the colors they picked and I love the red barn in the background with all the beautiful grass. It was such a beautiful fall day and these are some more of my favorites. {I feel like I say that every session, but really just love them all!!}

And I LOVE their super-hero pictures!!!!!

Thank you for letting me capture your fun, wild and crazy family. I had such a good time and I can't wait to do it again!!!