A huge thank you to my clients who have been so patient with me this summer.. our summer schedule has been lovely and challenging at the same time. I have been kept busy with my three kiddos, and we’ve been trying to soak up the sun and do lots of outings this summer. Add in a family reunion, house guests and some holidays, and it has resulted in less computer time than normal. Even though I’m dreading the end of summer and school starting up again, I am looking forward to getting caught up again and some child-free time (I am simultaneously in denial and ecstatic that my two littlest ones will be in preschool and kindergarten in September…eeek!).

On to pictures of these three (soon to be four!). Such a sweet, beautiful and fun family…it was such a great way to spend a sunny evening!

The first one in this series just cracked me up. I did mention that Ty was a spunky little guy, didn’t I?

And the last one too…Apparently Ty is anti-kissing!

(which his parents will surely be happy about if he continues that into his teen years, right?)

Every time I’m there I vow to take some family pictures of their family….but we usually end up chatting the time away and before I know it, the weekend is over and we’re racing to the terminal to catch the next ferry. However, we managed to make it happen this trip and I couldn’t be happier. I really wanted to capture them in their island element, so I knew when we headed out to the beach for the afternoon it was the perfect opportunity. We only took about 5 minutes to snap a few shots and it was definitely time well spent.

Thanks so much for having us over again Tiessens! It’s always a pleasure to visit

I loved this beach…the driftwood was such a great backdrop! Sure wish we had beaches closer to us here in Abbotsford….

And a few snapshots of the afternoon. And, a picture of all 3 of my kids. It’s a miracle!

See that lovely drool on the picture of Hudson? That is a form of protest for him. Silly boy!

Who needs the gym when you can run after a busy 1-year-old with your camera and gear in tow? Little Miss Bailey is one very busy toddler, who was happiest on the move. With each different shot set up, we had approximately 90 seconds before she was ready to be on the prowl again, so she definitely kept me on my toes. But seriously, who can resist those baby blues and the cheeky grin? I am thinking that Marcella and Brian are going to have a very busy summer filled with lots of exercise. I mean, running after Bailey I’m so glad they have two big-girl helpers!

A huge thank you to my friends James & Nicolla for kindly allowing me the use of their beautiful property…it was perfect!

To all those couples out there: When was the last time you had pictures of just the two of you taken?

If your answer was your wedding, it’s definitely time for some updated photos! Imagine it as a fun and romantic evening out. no kids, peace and quiet…

ok, maybe not super romantic with me and my camera following behind. but definitely fun!

Make it a date night and I’ll come along for an hour and get some images you’ll treasure for a lifetime.

You won’t regret it, I promise!

Marcella, Brian and Leah, Kailyn and Bailey. Thank you for a wonderful evening! Enjoy your sneak peek…I’ll be in touch soon with your slideshow.

I should also mention that they kindly agreed to forgo watching an important Canucks game for this session! You know they are a fabulous family when they are willing to miss a game for some family pictures (thanks especially to Rob and Matthew!). We met up at Aldergrove Bowl Park, a lovely location (thanks for the tip on the hill Karin…it worked perfectly!). I love that Rob brought his guitar along…it was the perfect addition to their session.

It was a pleasure to have the six of you in front of my camera, and I love that I’ve gotten to know your family or the years. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

I love the first shot in this series. the smiles, the motion, and the sibling interaction made me smile

Ever since her birthday in April I’ve been meaning to do a little photo session with her. We had the perfect light one evening, a lovely new quilt top that I found on ebay, and a cute new outfit. After the first few minutes Arden admitted to me that she was nervous. She wanted things just so and to ‘look pretty in the pictures’. I will admit that photographing your own child can be challenging sometimes, but it was so worth it as this session resulted in some new favorite images of my very favorite little girl. I still can’t believe she’s so grown up and going to be going to kindergarten in September!! (please scroll to the bottom of this post for a few of my favorite things about her)

The new quilt top in all it’s glory…love it and can’t wait to use it for sessions!!

The number of facial expressions this girl has never ceases to amaze me. and crack me up!

Dancing…I love the motion blur!

my very favorite image of the evening. so perfectly her. Sugar and spice and everything nice

not from the same day, but from a special Father’s Day celebration from preschool.

She was so excited to go on a ‘date’ with daddy!

I just had to share a pic of my handsome hubby and beautiful girl.

A few of my favorite things about Arden at 5:

SHE…is definitely sugar and spice. graduated from speech therapy (it still amazes me how far she’s come and how well she can talk now!). constantly creating art…lots of coloring, painting, cutting, glueing and crafting. loves to dance and listen to music. super girly. doesn’t like skinny jeans, and prefers ‘fat jeans’. likes to give makeovers…often involving markers and nail polish! Is well on her way to reading with lots of sight words, and can write the whole alphabet. loves homework. very social and constantly wanting playdates. is into shoes and all things girly (glitter lipgloss anyone?). Scaredy Squirrel books are her favorite. tall and skinny…finding clothes is definitely a challenge! Still loves her long hair, and her favorite hairstyle is a headband. my little sidekick who loves outings and shopping. a great sister who’s always willing to watch out for her little brother (total little mama). Words we hear a lot from her are: actually, uh-huh (said like a southern diva) and sure. Wants to be a mom and a baker when she grows up. Loves the TV shows Cat in the Hat and Super Why. A bit of a tattle-tale (much to her big brother’s dismay). Switches between being a mommy’s girl and a daddy’s girl. Has a good dose of tom-boy in her, and isn’t scared of bugs, snails, slugs or dirt (just like her mama as a girl!). Loves to help in the kitchen and can already make some simple items like pudding and loves to create picnic lunches. Loves fruit, carrots, candy and gum. Favorite toys are Barbies, and just recently she stopped playing with Little People. Loves preschool. Things babysitters are the best. Needs her sleep and she still loves to crawl into bed and snuggle with me in the mornings. Got her ears pierced for her birthday, and was super-duper brave! She loves to lay out multiple outfit combinations before choosing what she will wear for the day. Favorite color is still pink.

Kim is an amazing photographer, and she has been a real mentor and friend to me over the years. I think we met before I was pregnant with Arden, which would be 6ish years ago. Time fles! One of these days I’m going to get in front of her camera again…I can’t wait!

After months and months and months of rain (all the locals are nodding their head as they read this!), we had a super warm and sunshiny day a few weeks ago (one of the only ones in months, I’m convinced). While I love sun, it did make for a few of the locations we had in mind not suitable, but in the end we found a few perfect spots. We started out at the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, and then headed out to ‘the country’.

Thank you Clarke, Kim, Heather, Nicole and Jenna for a fun afternoon! I am thrilled with the pictures (and trust me, this is just a very small sampling of the many images we captured! It was SO hard to decide which ones to share…). I can’t wait for you to see the rest.

You should also check out my sister’s blog. She is super crafty and talented and has shared some of the great projects she’s done on her blog. Check it out! Below you can see a quilt she made for Eden in a few of the pics. I love the colors!

Anyways, onto some pictures of one totally adorable family of four

Leanne was looking for some updated family pictures for this year’s Christmas cards. I was so glad they were game for a little trip to a Christmas tree farm, it was the perfect backdrop for this time of year…so thankful it wasn’t too cold and there was no rain. The warm and delicious hot chocolate and apple cider were the perfect way to end the session. Thank you guys, you were fabulous!

Just a quick sneak peek of a few of my favorites. Don’t you love the adorable tree Olivia found and fell in love with? It’s just her size and oh so perfect.

These two boys are so handsome…I could photograph them and their amazing chocolate brown eyes all day long. We had fun…a few games of peek-a-boo, jumping on the bed and playing with cars. I love my job! Thanks for being so wonderful to work with Bhatti family, it was great to see you all again.

I loved seeing the family connection they have, it was so special to capture them together!

They have a fabulous muscle car, every boy’s dream…Evan’s was loving it!

Sarb…I hope you like your sneak peek! I’ll be in touch with the rest of your images soon. Enjoy!

How did he go from this:

to this?

This little boy lights up my life, and keeps me on my toes. He is laid back, easy-going, and definitely a ‘me too!’ kid. But yet, he is stubborn, persistent and knows exactly what wants. He can play for hours with cars and little people. He doesn’t talk much, and only has about 25 basic words/sounds and most of them only we understand (wow, yay, thank-you, go, mom, please, help, up, on, off, and a few others) but yet he’s very good at making it known what he wants. He says “moooooom” many many times in a day and is always finding me to show me what he wants. He signs more, help and please. He eats 100% on his own and has never wanted to be fed. He loves yogurt, fruit, meat, fruit snacks and porridge. He was a later walker (16 months) and just started running everywhere. He loves to climb. He can sit through a movie. He’s totally iPhone literate. He loves his soobie and blanket. He still loves to snuggle. He just dropped his second nap, and usually sleeps 1.5-3 hours during the day and 12 hours at night. He has the scrawniest little chicken legs…25ish lbs (30th% for weight and 70% percentile for height). He still only has 4 teeth on the bottom, the two center ones and two molars. Just like his Uncle Bart, one ear sticks out a teensy bit more than the other. He has a good sense of humor. He loves being out of the nursery and into Sunday school at church. He has the cutest little temper tantrums…he just throws himself on the ground and pouts – silently (they are kind of nice and a pleasant change from the daily dozen hysterical screaming fits his sister had at this age!). He has started to give me cheesy smiles when I have the camera out (case in point: the picture of him above with the fence behind him). He loves hockey, mostly because his big brother does too. He has adorable dimples.

He’s really really stinkin’ cute, and has his mama wrapped around his little finger

Happy (belated) birthday baby boy. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings! Hopefully toilet training and more talking. And more of your sweet personality, sticky hugs and slobbery kisses. xoxo. Mom.