Bradley:  Momma, last night I went to sleep and I was five.  This morning I woke up and I am six.

Me:  You’re right! Do you feel any different today?

Bradley:  Yes, I’m two hands now!!!

Me:  Ummm, OK?

Happy Birthday, my little man! I always fear the week before your birthday, because I  unfailingly become extremely grumpy and despondent. I’ve been know to make excuses…”I think I’m coming down with something”, “I just have a lot on my plate right now”, “It must be PMS”…but we all know the cause of my poor attitude. My baby is one year older (which, of course, is a wonderful thing), but I just can’t help reflecting on our past year together and think of how much of a difference one year made. I look back to his baby photos (remember, he is the most photographed child in the world, LOL), and feel that familiar tightening in my chest.

Thank you, my baby, for making me the luckiest mom in the world 🙂

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P.S., I did NOT make my son wear that necktie.  He insisted on wearing a “fancy, white, button down all the way” shirt, tie and belt to his birthday dinner.  Not sure why…but he loves clothes 😉

Happy New Year, everyone! I finally got to take a break this past January (I worked all the way through to December 29th with newborn shoots), and felt like I needed to take some time to recuperate and spend time with my family 🙂  I have quite a few blog posts to catch up on (I’ve been holding shoots and putting up proofing galleries since the 3rd week in January, but held off on the blog posts until today).  Our shoot schedule is filling up…and we couldn’t be happier!

We finally ordered our “New Year’s” card a few weeks ago, and just started sending them out (I know, it’s over a month into 2014, but at least our card has a calendar on it, LOL!)  Here’s a sneak peek of some of the photos on our card:

Hope you all have a wonderful 2014, filled with happiness and joy 🙂

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She was so tiny and precious, and she looked exactly like her big brother did when we did his newborn shoot three years ago.  As soon as Dad took Bree out of the car, I couldn’t help but notice that she was a spitting image of Brody (click HERE for Brody’s newborn shoot with us).  Click HERE for Brody’s first birthday party. We love babies within the first week, the earlier, the better! They fall asleep fairly quickly, and stay asleep for longer periods of time. They also fit in so many of our props (props that have literally taken over our house and garage!).  Bree was a perfect, sleepy angel. She only awoke for the last 5 minutes of our shoot. Big brother Brody did an amazing job as well! He gave us his “light up the room” smile, and was very caring toward his new little sister. Thank you Mom and Dad for being so easy to work with, it really makes our job so much easier 🙂  Here’s your sneak peek:

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We love to see our newborn babies come back to us as “Big Brothers” and “Big Sisters”! The first time we met Big Brother Kesan was at his own newborn shoot (click HERE to see Kesan’s newborn shoot with us). We were fortunate to see Kesan again last year for his 10 month old shoot (click HERE to see Kesan’s previous shoot)…and this year, we saw him as a big brother to Kasey!  Little Kasey was 10 days old when we met him. He was so tiny and sweet, with the longest, most beautiful fingers we’ve seen in a while. Kasey did an amazing job of sleeping for us, and his big brother did an amazing job of patiently waiting for his brother. I know you all drove out from so very far…thank you!!!  Mom and Dad, here’s your sneak peek:

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It was a sports themed party. Members of the birthday boy’s family were adorned with “Mavericks” attire. The celebration was a Lego-lovers dream come true.  Kids and adults loved the plethora of Legos…it literally looked like there were over a million little Lego pieces on the activity tables. Lego trains ran around a Lego track, while children played with Lego cars, trucks, helicopters, yachts, pet stores…the list was endless. Maverick had a sports-themed cake that went perfectly with the table balloons and sign in table. We were introduced to a cool, new type of party balloon…balloons within balloons-how awesome is that?! I felt tired just watching the two balloon makers manually pump up all of those little balloons with their little hand pumps, but it was so worth it. Seeing the kids’ faces once they caught their balloon-filled balloons was priceless. Thank you, Mom and Dad for sharing Maverick’s special day with us!  Here’s your slideshow (or individual photo if you don’t have Adobe Flash) sneak peek-click on the icon of the four arrows pointing outward (located at the bottom of the screen) to switch the slideshow to full-screen mode):

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Daniel is one of the gentlest, sweetest boys we’ve had the pleasure of photographing. Click HERE to see David’s previous shoot with us.  I don’t know many children that wake up from a half hour nap without a peep. He opened his eyes as Mom took him out of the car and smiled. Daniel warmed up quickly, and loved making sand angels with his legs. He happily clapped and laughed for us, and gave us one of our easiest outdoor shoots to date.  This was actually a shoot that almost didn’t happen…we were concerned about the weather (we were scheduled for flash floods that afternoon), and the sky looked absolutely gloomy leading up to the shoot.  Fortunately, everyone on that side of the island also thought the weather wouldn’t be suitable “beach weather”, so the beach was relatively vacant (which meant I didn’t have to Photoshop out as many bathing suit clad people in the background as I typically do).  David’s birthday is coming up soon…so we want to wish our handsome little man a big “Happy Birthday”!!!  Thanks for driving out to meet us Mom and Dad  🙂  Here’s your sneak peek:

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It was the shoot that we all thought may never happen. It was cancelled or rained out a total of 3 times, but the 4th time was the charm…I’m so glad we waited out the rain! There’s always a degree of worry involved with our outdoor Christmas season shoots.  Although I love outdoor shoots, we are literally at the mercy of Mother Nature…and this season is notorious for RAIN!  I have a new BFF.  Her name is Brooke…she was the sweetest big sister, who was incredibly helpful with getting her cute little brother, Troy, to smile for us (BTW, Troy was a master at giving us adorable, and unique expressions).  Troy absolutely loved his big sis, and followed her around the entire time.  If he lost sight of Brooke, he immediately asked, “Where’s Brooke?”  By the end of the shoot, my new BFF gave me  “plant vase, so you can remember me”, and was already making plans for our dinner together (she apparently loves saimin)!  Brooke, I still have your “plant vase” on my dining room table…and yes, I think of you when I look at it. Maybe one day we will go out and have saimin…together with your wonderful family 🙂  Thank you all for being so sweet!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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I love shooting this family, because Mom always has great ideas for her photos (I wish I could take credit for those ideas!), and Dad is so helpful and sweet! Of course, we also love seeing big sister, Emma, and little Zoey. Emma always has a smile that lights up her adorable face, and this shoot was no different.  Poor little Zoey was feeling under the weather…but she was a trouper and pulled through for us. Even Apple and Toki (the fur babies of the family) sported smiles…yes, I believe dogs can smile!  Oh Zoey, thanks for hanging in there, it was worth it- you are adorable! Thanks for being so patient, Mom and Dad!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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I still remember the first time we met Jadon. He was a sweet little guy that flashed us shy smiles (click HERE to see Jadon’s 2011 shoot with us). Last year, his smiles grew bolder (click HERE to see his 2012 shoot). This year, he couldn’t stop smiling! I think he actually liked being a photo ham…how can you resist that huge grin on his face? Mom and Dad brought back the infamous Nutcracker to showcase how much their little man has grown over the past 2 years.  He also brought an impressive array of trains (an entire suitcase full!).  Thank you Mom and Dad, for bringing all of the props…it makes your photos so meaningful, and will help you remember his favorite toys (and happy smile) for years to come.  It’s always a joy to see our special little boy and his wonderful family!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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How could you not love a kiddo that every 10 minutes or so, runs up and either hugs you or tries to sit on your lap?  I secretly wanted to keep little Alex…Bradley wants to be a big brother (well, I think Alex may be about the same height as Bradley, so Bradley would have to settle for being the older brother). Alex’s absolute delight with the bucket of snowballs was written all over his face. It was the little things that made him smile…like the honking of the truck’s horn.  I think he could have spent the rest of the afternoon pressing that red button and clapping his hands.  Thanks so much for bringing Alex back to see us this year, Mom and Dad (click HERE to see his 2012 Christmas shoot with us).  Hugs!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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