That’s right! We got to find out early what we were having! My doctor was kind enough to do a quick gender ultrasound for me at my last checkup, where Matthew and I found out that we are having another baby boy! I still have my normal 20 week ultrasound coming up in just over a week where we’ll see if everything is developing properly and get some good pictures of our son, but I was so thrilled to find out what we’re having!  Funny enough, my motherly instinct was wrong – my pregnancy symptoms have been just like Emma’s, so I thought we were having a girl, but I was way wrong.

I was thrilled to meet the couple for my upcoming November wedding this past weekend when they drove in from North Carolina for their engagement session.  I had a great time getting to know them, but it was probably one of the fastest engagement sessions I have ever shot.  I think last Saturday was THE coldest day we have had all winter.  There were some snow flakes involved, but overall, it was just plain freezing.  But Amber and Kevin were troopers, and it definitely helped me out because they were extra cuddly and close – a feature I particularly like in my wedding and engagement photos. 

Check out their chilly slideshow HERE.

These gender reveal parties are becoming quite popular!  And now with the age of Pinterest, ideas are ENDLESS.  I had the opportunity to photograph Ashley & Richard’s big reveal this past weekend in front of family of friends.  The couple already knew the sex from the ultrasound, but decided to surprise everyone else.  What a joyous occasion this was for the couple being able to celebrate with everyone after years of infertility and treatments.  Ashley and Richard – I am thrilled for you guys and look forward to meeting the newest little McFarland!

Team Girl vs. Team Boy:  everyone cast their vote as to what they thought the baby would be!

It’s a…..

…BOY!!!!

This family chose to do a one-year session at sweet little Hadley’s first birthday party.  The party was held in the home that Jonas (dad) grew up in – and what a cool home it was! The architecture was just fascinating!  But with little natural light, I had to do what you’re probably not used to seeing me do – pop on that flash.  But no worries, I still had fun shooting sweet Hadley in her birthday best, and seeing much of the family I have photographed before (from both her parent’s wedding and aunt’s wedding).  And of course the party had cute decorations, with a banner made by Erin (mom). So creative! Check out her Etsy shop for more creative goodies.  Happy 1st Birthday, Hadley! I’ve truly enjoyed watching you grow this year!!

This was one of the very first families I photographed as a pro way back when.  I felt so honored to receive another email from them, requesting another photoshoot, now that they’ve added an additional member to the family!  What gorgeous girls this family has!  Being a cold, January shoot, the whole thing took place in the Engelbert’s lovely home, which had splendid lighting so I did not mind a bit!  Julie (mom) mentioned that they do not have very many photos of the youngest daughter, so I spent a lot of time chasing her down to get some good pictures of her.  She is definitely a mover and a shaker! It’s no wonder it’s hard to pin her down for a photograph!  But she has so much life and personality, showing off all her Minnie’s and Micky’s, and even sporting some of mom’s sassy heels.  What a fun shoot this was!

That’s right! I’m happy to announce another little bambino will be gracing the Robbins’ clan in late July!  We are beyond thrilled and are so excited for the peanut!  As you can imagine, we would be thrilled with either a girl or a boy, but both Seth and Emma are requesting a sister (although I don’t think Emma really knows what she’s asking for).  When asked if he wants a brother or sister, Seth says “A sister cause I’m the brother.”  Pretty good logic!  But then other times, he seems hesitant to say sister, and instead says “I want Emma!”  We’ve had to reassure him a number of times that we are not replacing Emma with another sister, but that we get to keep her AND add another one.  Oh the fun we will have with 2 toddlers and a baby! We will find out that fun news this time around (we did the surprise with Emma), which will be sometime in early March, which cannot come soon enough!

I’m going to try to chronicle this pregnancy a little better than I have with the other two.  So, as I progress, I will be journaling what’s going on – if you’re not interested, just skip these posts!  I’m doing this more for my own benefit so I don’t forget! (And I have a HORRIFIC memory).  Sorry if this is TMI for some of you

I never enter contests.  Never.  Partly because I’m scared or intimidated and partly because I’m just too plain lazy to sift through the thousands of photos I’ve taken to pick out the ONE I think would even have a chance at winning.  But when I did Estella’s one year pictures, I knew that girl deserved to be in a magazine.  Not only was she amazingly photogenic for a one-year old, but her style (or should I say her parents’ style) just fit with the whole shoot.  From the old chair, to our location, to the beautiful setting sun, everything was perfectly vintage and sweet.  So when I took this photo, I immediately felt, looking at it through my lens, that it belonged in a magazine.  Not because of my talent (although, yes, I had to compose, edit, etc this photo – which takes work and years of training!), but because she is just so darn cute and full of joy! So of course, when I found a contest, I entered her photo.

Ok, so skip ahead to December, and I find out not only did my photo win the Baby Category for the New Beginnings Photo Contest, but it won the GRAND PRIZE!! Can you believe it?  I certainly can’t! I mean, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I could actually win a photo contest – there are thousands of amazing photographers out there, and many entered this contest, and the judges picked MY photo!  So now, this photo is going to be IN a magazine – just as I dreamed it should be!  Thank you, Me Ra Koh, for sponsoring this contest and allowing me to put myself out there!  You can check out her blog post with the winners here.  So I guess now I need to start booking some flights, huh?

Well, the final wedding of 2011 has made it up on the blog before 2012! Wahoo!! And what a great wedding to go out on!  I am so thrilled to share John + Anna’s wedding with you! I knew when I first met this couple, we were going to get along just fine.  John is fun and super sarcastic (my kind of humor!) and Anna is beautiful and very easy-going.  She was a dream bride to work with.  Not only was she just stunning (I couldn’t stop photographing her!!), she was so laid back all day, the day flowed beautifully!  I mean, really, the whole day revolves around the bride and her attitude, and I must say, this day was a dream.  Being December 16th, it was a bit chilly, but she never once complained and agreed to do everything my assistant and I had in mind!  The wedding was held at the Faith Christian Center in Park Hills, KY with the reception at Drees Pavilion.  The reception rocked on with the Clyde Brown Band, which was a joy to listen to.  I loved her color choice, pink, which wasn’t typical for a Christmas wedding.  I loved that unexpected detail!  We were also fortunate to be able to photograph around a house in Covington which had a killer alley behind it.  I mean, come on, a dingy place for pictures?  You know I was loving it.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did taking them!  And I know there are an excessive amount of photos of her, but I couldn’t help myself.  This isn’t even half of her portraits – not only could I not stop shooting her, I had a hard time picking favorites to share here!!  And big thanks to Emily Price for your help as always – some of these killer shots below are hers! I also want to thank my husband for working with Anna’s mom so that I could get this referral

Kudos to Nancy Dawson at brideface for Anna’s stellar makeup job

Enjoy their SLIDESHOW HERE.

LOVE the shot Emily did on the right through her veil….

I love bands at receptions!!

Whew – got this on the blog before the end of the year! With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I didn’t know if I’d make it!  But alas, I’m happy to show of the Weiss family.  This adorable family added a new addition back in August, Savanna, and thought it was due time to get some pictures of her!  So although the shoot was mainly about her, I couldn’t NOT include big brother!  Enjoy!

It’s rare that I do family sessions in December, but it’s always fun to keep up with my shooting.  Last week, I met up with the Frambes family at “my spot” for a quick and cold photo session.  Unfortunately, it was just a bit too cold for the kids, so smiles were rare, but that also caused me to shoot fast! I really enjoyed getting to know this sweet family and love the parallels to my family. Their daughter will be 3 in January (my son turned 3 last week) and their son will be 2 on March 18 (Emma’s birthday, who will also be 2!).  Craziness.  I think we bonded quickly over the fact that our kids are so close in age – we feel the same kind craziness in life