Despite the rain, I headed outside for a bit challenging myself to make a few pretty photos with my iPhone. Thanks to the rain and discovering a few nice colors it was a breeze. Then, I came home and tried to do the same thing with my favorite girl and camera. Let me tell you it is oh-so-funny to hide from my camera these days. See what I mean.

This is one big blizzard that stole my heart. My girl and I hit a series of grocery stores a few days before to pick up the basics and a few blizzard inspired guilty pleasures. After that, I was happily stuck in my home with my favorite people in the world. Once the snow stopped and our driveway was cleared we got to play in the snow and mingle with our neighbors which is something usually reserved for summer. Win.

While we wait for the first blizzard of 2011 to take over, I thought I’d warm up your heart with darling little Jacklyn. With all of her 8 months behind her, she completely brightened up the otherwise dreary day with her endless smiles and sparkly personality. She probably could have kept passing out joy all morning, but when we noticed her eyes looked tired we decided to seize the opportunity. Dad went the extra mile (literally!) by taking her out for a quick nap ride and next thing I knew I was photographing a sweet sleeping child. Love. Love. Love.

Will you just check out those sweet little piggie tails?!? Oh my goodness.

This will be the last post in 2011 with 2010 images. My Winter vacation has officially ended and with new portrait sessions already complete I feel a teensy bit ridiculous posting older work. Also, I think it’s hard to get into a regular flow of blogging this way. Onward march!

Flowers and shorts in January? Yep, I’m still catching up on the dear old blog. I have a few more portrait sessions I want to share from last year and then it’s full steam ahead for 2011. A new workflow is in place and I’m hoping that will turn into more regular updates here. Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, let’s enjoy summer 2010 with this charming family!

Oh the beach! I was asked to shoot at the beach more last year than any previous year. Evenso this ended up being the only beach session of the year. Why? Well, light is harsh along the lakefront and really the only right time for portraits on the beach is near sunset which happens to also be the worst time of day for most little ones.

Mom promised these delightful girls were up for the happiness challenge. She was certainly right.

If your family is up for a beach shoot, plan for a late dinner, a slightly larger afternoon snack and loads of good fun!

The day was so overcast. We even considered rescheduling, but we pressed on anyway. The sun peeked in a few times and this delightful family shined their lights every time it didn’t. I love that these amazing girls were so excited for their portraits that they were already planning collages of the final photographs for their rooms before we even met. I will take that kind of enthusiasm over perfect weather everyday.