Cake Smash! Happy Birthday Paityn

When it comes to photographing kids, my favourite is hands down the cake smash sessions.  Most of the time for their first birthday, it's their first time tasting sugar.  Once they get their chubby little hand in the cake, and get the first taste of the icing, it's so funny to see their reaction.

Paityn came dressed as a little princess for her first birthday photos. Complete with a tutu and pearls.  My heart melted!  Her mom and dad bought a special cake and we just let her do her thing.  So much fun!  I have to say, she was a lot neater than Cooper was when I did his cake smash photos.  Paityn is definitely girl!

Happy birthday Princess Paityn!

Gorgeous Baby Olivia

Before Olivia was even born, I knew she was going to be absolutely gorgeous. I mean, her parents are stunning! But when I finally got to meet her, I was blown away! She is absolutely beautiful with her full head of black curls and the most amazing blue eyes. I couldn't wait to get her in tutus from http://www.facebook.com/#!/TutuSweet1 and Georgia Blooms head pieces.

Enjoy these photos from Baby Olivia's shoot. So many more posts to come now that I finally have time! Sorry for being the worst blogger ever!

Too Cute!

I couldn't resist posting this photo from Pat and Paul's wedding two weeks ago. These twins were truly the comic relief at the wedding, and their hilarious antics kinda stole the show.

I think they're adorable in their fedoras!

Baby Brianna

I've taken a lot of photos of the Lewis/Groen family over the years, and in all fairness, I owe them my entire photography career. Without my good friend Kim allowing me to shoot her wedding three years ago, I probably wouldn't be doing this. She took a chance on me, and I am eternally grateful.

Not only that, it's been an immense pleasure to document the birth of nieces, weddings, family photos, etc. I feel like I'm part of their family sometimes....probably because they are so kind to everyone they meet.

About a year and a half ago tragedy struck this amazing family. If anyone didn't deserve to have their father and husband taken away from them so suddenly, it was the Lewis family. While the pain of losing their father is still very real, every day, they are living their lives. I know their Dad isn't far from their minds.

That's why it was an extra special treat to meet Baby Brianna, Rebecca's seven week old girl. It's almost as if she is the gift to the family that may mend their broken hearts. Boy, is she a gift! Brianna turned it on for the camera and her sweet face was so adorable I couldn't believe it.

I love these photos of the little one, and I hope she is every bit as bright and lovable as her grandfather was. He truly was a happy soul...and I think he's watching over this lovebug every day.

Sugar and Spice and all things nice.

I met Baby Taylor when she was only 10 days old and I instantly fell head over heels for this little sweetie! She slept the whole time I was at her house and it made for some adorable photos. Taylor is a very lucky little lady. A beautiful, sweet mother and a doting father who has a great sense of humour and a grandma who couldn't be more proud of her. They are all so excited about their new little addition and the whole house just beamed with love. I, of course, loved it! Enjoy sweet little Taylor who I know is going to grow up to sweet and adorable and will be stealing hearts from all the boys.

Hey, it's Christmas....

I know, I post a lot of photos of Cooper. But can you blame me? He's so cute. And, hey, it's Christmas, so it's all about family.

In honour of Cooper's three month birthday (yes, I do a photo shoot every month...you would too), we took our socks off, put on white t-shirts and jeans and took our photos. Very cliche, but that's how we roll sometimes.

My little guy is definitely turning into a little ham in front of the camera. He definitely knows how to turn it on.

From our family to yours, have a safe and happy holiday week. Hope you get to take your socks off, enjoy some great food and drink and wonderful company with family and friends. We are very fortunate to have the best of those worlds with fantastic family and friends and a new little one who's about to experience his first Christmas...even though he won't remember any of it. But we will!

I absolutely love this shot.

Challenging Myself

It really hit me. It knocked me over like a ton of bricks. And I vowed I'd do something about it.

I was at a friend's house last weekend taking some family photos, when she pulled a gorgeous picture frame off the fireplace mantel. It was filled with photos of her little boy as a baby. These photos were beautiful! They were of him sleeping, with a blanket over his head, all kinds of candid, beautiful moments. I asked Jen, "did you have these taken?" To my surprise she said, no, I took them.

That's when it hit me. I don't have ANY pictures of Cooper just doing regular, everyday things. The things he's going to want to see when he looks back at photos of when he was a baby. Instead, all I have are the posed shots. Cooper in a pumpkin. Cooper in a Santa hat. What kind of mother am I? Jen pointed it out: not all shots have to be perfect. They just have to be of your child.

I'm challenging myself both as a new parent and as a photographer. These days I don't leave the house without my point and shoot. And I challenged myself tonight to capture my little guy as he slept. I didn't worry about perfection, creativity or even that much about lighting. I just wanted to capture him.

Jen, I owe you one! Maybe when Cooper is older, he won't hate me for putting him in the most embarrassing positions for the sake of a photo.

So, here's to imperfect photos, but perfect moments.

First, the photos that will be the reason for my kid needing therapy when he's older.

Precious moments that I finally captured.

More of Ellie!

Little Miss Ellie is definitely a favourite of blog readers. Ever since her first photo shoot with me, I have been getting a ton of email about how adorable she is.

This little sweetheart is definitely growing up! Sarah and Ellie are back in Ontario for a few weeks and I've noticed huge changes in her. Now she has some big teeth in her mouth and she's learning how to walk. It feels like it was just yesterday I was posing her on a piano at three months old. Now she's 10 months old! Unbelievable!

Here's a few shots we took while I was visiting Sarah and her family at their beautiful cottage near Havelock.

Ellie was standing all on her own!

The Morrison Cuties

Where have I been???? Holy Cow I've been away for awhile! I just got swept away in life and forgot all about the blog for second. I'm back, and I have some cuties to show you!

It was a really great thing to experience old high school friends who have grown up and started a family of their own. It was so surreal, and I kept saying to myself, yep, you're an adult now. The Circle of Life is going on. It is truly amazing.

That was Dana and Dave. We went to high school together over a decade ago. Gulp! 12 years ago to be exact. They are both teachers and wonderful parents to 2 year old Lara and 3 month old Owen. They are adorable. If you ever want to know what a happy family looks like, check out these guys. Parenthood looks very, very good on them.

I was thrilled to be able to photograph the family, but I always get nervous, because Dana is an accomplished photographer herself. I had a blast with these guys on their Mother's Day shoot and can't wait to see the little ones when they're older. They are great kids.


Love this shot of Lara loving her Mom
Such a good big sister

Owen's Dad, Dave is a big Leafs Fan.....can you tell?

The smile that just melts your heart!

The whole gang. Thanks for a great day guys!!

Alexia Teaser

She is beautiful. Gorgeous. Alexia is this adorable little four month old who steals your heart with one smile. Crazy dark hair, creamy skin and amazing blue eyes the colour of sapphires. Her parents are lucky!

Here's a couple of my favourite shots from Alexia's recent photo shoot.

More Ellie!!!

I'm an editing Mad Woman! I'm trying to get all the images from the photo marathon done, but I couldn't abandon my little Ellie. I just had to finish her photos before she leaves for Vancouver next week.

I'm so in love with these photos. I love Ellie's little facial expressions, the twinkle in her eye, and how happy Sarah looks with her little daughter. I love it!

So, enjoy some more of my favourite pics from the session....and I'll start editing more photos. phew, it's a lot of work....but I love it!

Ellie returns! TEASER

She's back! Remember Ellie? Now she's all grown up and is 6 months old....and still cuter than ever!

Sarah and Ellie are in town for a little while planning a fabulous wedding and I was able to snap a few shots. Here's a little teaser! Many more to come!

Worth the wait....

I know, I posted a teaser weeks ago but isn't it worth the wait to see the adorable Ellie?

My friend Sarah leaves on Tuesday to go back to Vancouver (I'm very sad about this), and I wanted to make sure she had the photos in her hands before she flew away. Tomorrow we're going out for dinner and just have fun on one of the last nights I'll get to see her before she goes back.

So, here she is with her husband Scott (you have to hear him with the baby....hilariously cute!), and little Ellie who is just too adorable.

I have three upcoming photoshoots....all very different. Stay tuned for those! And I promise I'll be quicker with the editing and posting.