Joel is the second born son of my dear friends Jessica and Curtis.  I have know Curtis since high school and met his wife during a Bible study at the Princeton Bible Church.  I am very proud to have gotten to photograph their family through the years as it has grown.  This was Joel’s birth announcement (I took off his last name and all the birth information) that I just love!  I also photographed Joel’s big brother, Cade, when he was born and his had the same bible verse on it.  How special!  Hope you all enjoy this sweet little baby boy and his beautiful family!

Do you ever wonder what babies dream out?

Proud Mom & Dad with their two boys.

Big brother, Cade, had a few minutes in front of the camera as a star too!  His smile sure brightens my day, how about you?!

I photographed Colby last year when he was only a few days old.  Wow!  He sure has changed in a year!  Getting to see little kids grow up is probably one of the coolest perks of my job.  I love it when parents bring their kids back to me a year or two later and I get to see how they have changed and how their little personalities have grown.  Colby has turned into a very adorable one year old!  His Grandpa works at a local golf course and his parents share a love of golf, so when his mommy called to set up their session her idea was golfing.   Like most one-year-olds he was very busy and being outside where he can run and play was perfect.  I just followed him around and caught him in action!   We got lots of great family photos, too.  Hope you enjoy these fun family photos!

The orange lilies matched their outfits perfectly!

Pretty people make pretty babies!  Aren’t they gorgeous together?

Watch out Mom & Dad!  In ten years you may have a mini Tiger Woods on  your hands!

Barb found me on facebook of all places!  She had heard of me from several friends and family members and when it was time for her firstborn to go off to college she decided it was time for a family portrait.  The day of their session was one of the hottest ones of the summer, but we found some cool shade underneath the trees at City County Park in Princeton.  They even brought along their golden retriever!  I love dogs so I will never turn someone away who asks if they can bring Fido along!  Hope you enjoy the few shots I decided to share.

I am undecided if I like this one in color or black & white, full frame or cropped.  What do you think?

The Walters Family asked me to photograph them out at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for their anniversary.  We sure got lucky!  Rain threatened to cancel our photo shoot all morning.  Fortunately we got this shot right before it started to let loose!  As soon as I drove up to the property I knew this barn was the perfect spot.  Then when I saw that Grandma had bought each family colored polo’s this idea came to mind.  I think it turned out great…even the dogs were cooperative.  Thanks, Walters Family, for asking me out to the farm for your family portraits!

Cece’s mommy called me to set up her six month portraits and I was definitely excited!  I love this age.  They are so happy and smile so easy that it’s hard to take a bad picture.  Sometimes we have to work a little harder at this age, especially if they are on the go, but in the end it’s always worth it.  We went out to Cece’s Grandma and Grandpa’s house and they had beautiful spots to use as our backdrops.  Grandpa takes very good care of his landscape and the lilies were in full bloom!  I just love this first photo of her laying in the grass on the blanket…so simple and all about her.

The photo shoot was originally just for Cece, but we decided to put mom and dad in there for just a few.  Glad we did!  You can never have too many family portraits in my opinion.

Soooooo happy!

And because every cute baby looks even cuter in a hat I had to save this one for last!  Looking forward to your one year pictures Cece!

When Melissa contacted me to photograph her and her daughter, Jasmine, their only request was for it to be fun and laid back.  We were hoping for a rainy day so we could bust out raincoats and umbrellas to get something real different, but instead we got one of the hottest days of the summer!  I guess the rain shots will have to wait until the next time around.  When I asked them where they might want to go Jasmine came up with the Red Covered Bridge in Princeton so that was our first stop.

I love the relationship between a mother and daughter.  They are so cute together aren’t they?

Then we headed to the train station and surrounding area for a few more shots.  I think this last one was their favorite so I ended the post with it.  Thanks so much Melissa and Jasmine!  You guys were so much fun to work with and I can’t wait until our next photo shoot together.

Sylvie’s mommy saw one year portraits I did of Mazie a few months back and went right out and bought a tutu for her little girl’s one year pictures.  Sylvie wasn’t real excited about having the scratchy material against her skin, but we managed to get some cute shots in it before she was calling it done!  I had so much fun chasing her around and watching everyone be clowns to get her to pay attention to us instead of the grass.  After we got some shots at the park we went to a friend’s house and found some beautiful flowers as a backdrop for more photos of Sylvie.  I hope you like my favorites I picked out.  Enjoy!

Love her big eyes and this sweet little look she gave me!

She has an AMAZING big sister, Sophie!  She was so good with Sylvie and I’m sure she is a big help at home!

Sophie asked to have her picture taken and when I turned around she already had herself posed!  Her mom says she does it all the time…I wonder if America’s Next Top Model is in her future?

I wonder how these Peonies tasted?

A few weeks ago I photographed Alysson and her two year old Makayla.   Congratulations are in order as Alysson is expecting baby #2 later this year!  We took a lot shots that showed she was pregnant, but I just loved these closer shots of the two of them playing.  Makayla has one of those smiles that is contageous and brings so much joy to everyone around her.  I found myself giggling as I was editing these photos.  Also, a big THANK YOU to Hornbaker Gardens for allowing us to use their beautiful property.  I could photograph out there all day long!

I come from a family of three girls so this shoot reminded me a lot of my sisters.  We have an old picture of us at about the same age except it is a bit different than these cute photos!  It was taken at a traveling Olan Mills studio that was set up in a room of my family’s old hotel, the Lincoln Inn (now the Days Inn in Princeton).  My mother still proudly displays this portrait (to my diapproval) in an oval floral frame.  We are all sporting floral print dresses and have more bangs than any one person should ever be allowed to have.  Thank goodness we grew those puppies out!  (If you guys are lucky I may just scan that photo in on a slow day and show you how bad it really is!)  These girls have a mom for a hair stylist so I am pretty sure they won’t ever regret their past hair styles!  Don’t they have beautiful hair?  I think so.  Hope you enjoy a few of my favorites from their session.  Thanks Janet (mom) for choosing me to take the long awaited portrait of your girls…they are beautiful!!

Last year Sophia’s mom came to me to take her 2 year portraits and I fell in love with this little girl!  She was VERY shy at first and almost wouldn’t even look at me.  By the end of the session she was calling me “Miss Cole” (for Miss Nicole) and holding my hand.  Whenever they would stop by the studio Sophia would get so excited to see me. I love my job!  Then a few months after that I photographed Sophia and her cousins at my uncles farm.  I’ll try to post a few from both of those sessions later this week as they are some of my favorite kid images I have ever taken, but for now I am going to share with you some of my favorites from her 3 year photos.

We drove around a small town close to Princeton and happened upon this great little spot.  It’s so much fun finding new spots to shoot in!  This is one I will definitely keep in my memory bank of locations.

Looks like she is ready to shop ’til she drops!

So sassy!

Sophia’s mom called me the morning of the shoot looking for a dress for Sophia that would match her red shirt.  I had told her last year about my sister’s shop, Frog Legs & Ponytails, so we drove over to my sister’s house and she found this adorable dress that matched PERFECTLY!  I just love these shots.  I need to get an small wardrobe of her dresses to use for my clients!  Maybe Sophia will even be on the cover of one of Mindy’s patterns?!

Maybe Sophia will even be on the cover of one of Mindy’s patterns?!