I’ve always preferred big dogs…little dogs were yappy, and I figured you might as well just get a cat (ok – I’m KIDDING!)  But a couple of weeks ago, everything changed;  I fell in love with a Yorkie!  My family and I went up to New Haven, Connecticut to visit some good friends and we met this latest addition to their family.  Her name is Luna.  We brought our dog, Izzy, who is 10 months young with lots of puppy energy…and BIG!   She might have been a little overwhelming for this little lady at times, but all in all the dogs did pretty well together.  My kids loved Luna and are already talking about getting a second dog…and I’m seriously thinking about it.  What’s one more mouth to feed?

How can you resist this face???

OK…I have two sons.  I love boys…always have.  Was a bit of a tom-boy growing up, loved playing sports, kept up with my four brothers pretty darn well and am definitely in my comfort zone around boys.  BUT, there was just no way humanly possible not to want a baby girl during this session.  Look at this precious little face.  To top it off, her mom put her in the most adorable pink pettiskirt with matching flower barrette…the clincher!  Actually, she had many awesome girly accessories!

Here she is in all her feminine beauty…

I love her hand in this one…

And I always love catching a smile…

Check out this little man’s baby blues.  What an easy-going baby… 3 months old and very content for the whole session (until he got hungry, anyway.)  Look at these adorable expressions.  I just love the way he holds his hands together,too!

This sweet girl’s middle name was decided moments before we arrived for the session.  Her parents met in South Africa…they decided on the middle name of “Outeniqua,” which is a mountain range there.   The name means “the land of the honey gatherers” and by the looks of this sweet little face the name is just perfect.

I just love this first picture!  What a natural beauty this girl is…with the kind of smile to light up a room.  Her little brother, only 4 months old, was also adorable and gave me some great expressions.  Such a happy little guy!   Check out his baby-blues in the last shot…

The devastation has been hard to watch, but some relief efforts have been heartening and inspiring.  I have been wanting to do my part to help the many people and children in need and  I thought this was a great way to offer incentive for us to work together…

For any session booked between now and February 14th, I will reduce your session fee to $100 and contribute 100% of that in both of our names to CARE’s relief effort in Haiti.

After considering many different organizations, including the Red Cross, Unicef and Grassroots International, I’ve decided on CARE. Below is their mission statement, but what resonated with me most is their focus on empowering poor women around the world.

If you would like to participate, please remember all sessions must be booked by February 14th and must be completed by April 15th.  Please find CARE’s mission statement below and a link to their website.

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization that fights global poverty through efforts to improve education, increase access to clean water and prevent the spread of disease.  Women are at the heart of CARE’s community based efforts because, given the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.  CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of natural disasters and war, helping people rebuild their lives.

For more information on CARE and their relief effort in Haiti, click here.

We broke it all out for this one year old…balls, bubbles, planes, even flipping monkeys!  (And I mean monkeys that flip…)  I met this boy for the first time one year ago, when I did his newborn session.  I said he was beautiful then, and he’s only gotten more so…

And here are a few from a year ago that I still love…

This Christmas, wishing you…

I had the extreme pleasure of doing a newborn session for two very talented photographers who just had their first baby.  They are Brooke and Eric of Be Creative Photography, and they are the proud parents of this most precious little girl.  This baby was truly a sleeping beauty, snuggling up nicely to all the soft, fluffy things we put down around her without fussing at all.  Brooke and Eric were fantastic – relaxed, fun, gracious – they were great people to work with!  If you have a chance, I recommend  you check out their beautiful photography.

And in the meantime, here are some images I took of their sweet lil angel…

I was so happy to take these holiday photos for this beautiful family!   This little girl just melted my heart. What a beauty she is!  And guess who is the best at making her laugh…her handsome older brother of course!  Here they are playing around the Christmas tree.  I’m definitely getting in the Christmas spirit!