Time is flying.  Lightyears seem to go by while I sleep.  I photographed this couple in 2012 for their engagement session and their MARRIAGE.   Since then, I've photographed their full family, a pregnancy announcement, and their first child- Harper- newborn session.  There's still a blog to come about the full circle I've photographed for the Miller's.  It's been such a joy watching them grow.  Check out Harper's full session in the gallery (he starts on the second row)! But this particular blog post is about Harper Douglas.  Harper must have the happiest parents, because I swear this kid knows nothing but how to smile.    Every time he smiled, he threw his whole body into it.  Lane (dad) was sitting right next to me doing who knows what, but it makes Harper incredibly happy while I had mom sitting next to him making sure he didn't topple over. 

I am so lucky to have such fun clients.  Lucas' mom brought his letters from him room, and a big lollipop and candy for a "candy smash".  Needless to say, the colors were fun, even if Lucas has absolutely zero interest in his sucker!  However, he was more than happy to look right at my camera, and give me amazing smiles every time we said "cheeeeeeese"

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Once babies have their fill of cake, we cleanup the mess, and then I bust out my old tub, fill it with bubbles, and watch them splash away.  This makes life easier from the parents, as most of the mess we encourage the babes to make gets washed away, plus we get amazing bath time images.  Since most babies love bath time, this is a fun way to end the session (unless they don't like getting out of the bath...

 Addie came to see me at my studio for her six month session.  Miss thang was super smiley, and gave me all kinds of adorable faces.  I'm diving right in, because this was such a fun session, I have no much to share!  Check out the milestone gallery for their full session!

Since I was setup for Valentine's Day mini's, we went ahead and used a romper & shabby flower clips from Lillybug Creations.  Addie wasn't positive about sitting upright on the bench, but she hung in there to get some adorable smiles.

Megan wanted to incorporate an adorable dress that she wore as an infant, so we stuck her in the dress, sat her up in a similar looking gray backdrop, and hopefully these pictures will be cherished for years to come.  Oh, how fashion has changed in 25 years!

 

Drako has been the longest stay at MCAC.  When a pet stays at the shelter for more than 6 months, they are considered a long term stay.  We WISH Drako had only been in the shelter for 6 months.  This guy is going on 15 months of living in the shelter.  He's become a volunteer favorite to Debbie as well as Beth of Miti Fine Dog Training.  Look at how alert this gorgeous guy is!  Love those ears!

If you've ever seen MCAC at an adoption event, Drako has most likely been there.   The guess is that this poor guy is a Pittie, and therefore overlooked by many people.  He's cooped up most of the day, so sometimes he doesn't always appeal to someone walking by his cage.  How does your dog react when you come home?  A little hyper, a little excited having been left alone all day? 

Words can't express how honored I am my cousin and his fiancée asked me to photograph his wedding.  It's taking place in Chicago, but they're awesome and came down to me to do the engagement session and discuss details.  We had a bunch of rain just days before their sunrise session, and the park we went to was actually closed when we pulled up.  Luckily, a ranger came and let us in before I totally despaired (kidding, kind of :)).

Fast forward four months.  Kara, Matt and I drove around Orland Park to decide where we will take pictures after the ceremony.  That morning we woke up to GORGEOUS snow, and Kara and I decided before meeting up, that we'll be doing pictures- seriously, we're already checking out locations anyways, might as well!  Check out the gallery for the full set of pictures from both days.