Happy Halloween

Special thanks to my Grandam for all the help with the costume! We couldn't have done it with out you.

Yes, it is worth getting up early on Saturday mornings to catch that beautiful morning light.







I had a lot of fun photographing chasing Collin. He was a lot more interested in playing in the fountain and collecting rocks and caterpillars than he was in taking family photos but this is why I love photographing families out-of-doors. Kids are just so in their element and you get to have a lot of fun during the session.

Fall is just about at it's peak here,  I can't get enough of those oranges and reds. I wish it would stay this color year round. 

Thank you Collin for a great time and some great memories.

Of course October would not be complete with out a trip to the pumpkin patch.

Myles thinks that the pumpkin hat is cheesy and dumb but I keep putting it on Simon and everywhere we go he gets a kit of complements on it.

A short but sweet visit from my friend Melissa and her daughter Olivia. They now live in Florida so I don't get to see them all that often. I was overjoyed that Melissa had time to scheudle in a photo shoot during their brief weekend visit to Seattle.

Olivia is a doll. Though she took a while to warm up to the camera. I asked Melissa if there were any songs she liked. I always encourage parents to sing, kids love music and most of my photo clients get to hear my horrible renditions of "twinkle, twinkle little star", and "itsy bitsy spider".  Melissa stated singing the Olivia song "Olivia, Olivia, O-L-I-V-I-A". So cute! kids love songs that use their name. I had that song stuck in my head the entire time I proofed these photos.

"You talking to me!?"

Such a great little personality!

just a few more from Indiana!

Part of the wienie roast includes a hay ride – pulled by a tractor. It was great fun (all be it a little dusty). Here is Simon standing in the hay wagon.  while I was trying to get the perfect shot the cat jumped up to check Simon out.

We don't have any pets (I'm allergic) but Simon loves our neighbor's cat. Though it is a bit more elusive and rarely lets Simon pet it. This cat was not shy at all. Simon was elated to get so close but a little bit unsure when the cat came right up to him. Right after I took the last shot we had to rescue the cat from Simon's grasp. He had a big fist full of fur and was trying to keep the cat from leaving.  I am surprised that it didn't scratch him. Don't these photos make Simon look like a toddler! I can't believe how grown up he is – nearly 9 months. Today he walked from one end of the couch to the other (while holding on). This is the longest distance I have seen him travle like that.  

More from our trip…
this is my crazy family.

from left to right Richard, Faye, Bobby, Mike, Diane, Elaine, Kay (my mom), and Ella (my Grandmother).
when I suggested doing a jump shot my aunt Elaine said "oh goody, I have always wanted to do one of those!" 
As you can she she really got in to it (third from right).

This is my mom with her siblings. I asked them to "act like siblings" and this is what they did. My mom actually has 5 sisters and 4 brothers but her brother Fred and sister Karen couldn't make it to the weenie roast and are hence missing from this photo. From left to right Tom, Richard, Mike, Karen, Faye Bobby Elaine, and Kay (my mom).

Grandma with her children.

We couldn't have asked for better weather and for more gorgeous light.

This my Aunt Faye, my Grandmother, and my mother standing in front of the lot where their childhood home was. The house has since been torn down and the land is now used for pasture but the barn is still standing…

This was really neat for me to see where my mom grew up. The last time I was in Indiana I was 11 so I don't remember a lot of the details.

But the highlight of this trip for me was that Simon got to meet his great grandma for the first time.

A great time was had by all!

We're back home! And yes, Myles was able to come. We had a wonderful relaxing vacation and we did our family photos with Leah Profancik. Right now I am trying to catch up with the pile of photo orders on my dining room table and all my emails. If I haven't gotten back to you yet I will soon!

More photos from Indiana coming soon.

I love sweet little newborns! This little guy is the third biological baby to come out of our adoption class. Simon being the first. His mom and dad (Eric and Denise) sat behind us throughout the PRIDE training last summer. And I have to admire them, whereas Myles and I are taking a break from the adoption process to adjust to being parents Eric and Denise are forging on and had their first home study visit last Friday, when Malakai was only 7 days old! Talk about having a full plate. (They also have two very sweet older children.) 

These were all taken with my new Alien Bees B400 and Wescott 50×50.
Tomorrow morning Simon, my mom and I are headed to Indianapolis. Myles will hopefully be joining us on Saturday (we are crossing our fingers that his flight test is rescheduled). Pictures from the giant family weenie roast coming soon!   

Simon playing with his "newest" toy.

It’s actually a used 1950s Jaymar toy piano that I bought off ebay. Myles had a great aunt who had one very similar to it and Myles really wanted Simon to have one. Specifically after he heard an interview with Gabriela Montero on NPR. She is a extremely talented Venezuelan piano player who mixes improve with clasical music. We enjoy listening to her classical improvisational album. And guess what she had as a toddler…yep a toy piano. 

Don’t get me wrong we’re not trying to turn Simon into some sort of musical prodigy or anything (well at least I’m not, I guess I shouldn’t speak for Myles).  The piano is just a fun toy but it really does hold Simon’s interest. He bangs around on it quite a bit.
This is a little confession – to get a shower, use the bathroom, or check my email I sometimes put Simon in his port-a-crib with some toys (it’s set up in my office). This morning I was checking my email and I turned around to find him standing on top of the piano holding on to crib railing. So I guess we are done having the piano in the crib! And last weekend we had guest staying with us so Simon slept in the port-a-crib all night. Myles rocked him to sleep and went to lay him down when he realized that the piano was still in the crib. You can’t pick up the piano with out making a racket so Myles just left it.  At 1:30 am we woke up to Simon "playing" the piano.