I love newborns.  My only wish is I knew then what I know now when Gemma was born! Then again, I would have bought every single prop I ever laid eyes on.  Maybe it's not a bad thing my skills were minimal back then!

Newborn photography is one of my favorites.  I swear I want to be an eternal student, and there are just endless possibilities for classes to take.  Unfortunately, there's not enough time or $$ to take everything I'd love to.  So in the meantime, I do model calls every so often to brush up on skills to practice or test out a new method of executing a picture when I've had a lull.

In comes miss Betty.  I LOVE the name her, especially since it's after great grandma!  She has a big brother, Rocky, that wasn't too sure about my flash, but all we needed was the one picture of him kissing his little sister, and I was in love. 

Where is the time going?!  I've had Chloe coming to see me since she was a newborn, and it feels like it was last week.  But alas, little miss is already 6 months, and such a character.  It was so fun to see some of the same expressions and mannerisms she had at her three month session.  Check out her latest gallery, as well as her three month gallery!

Since it's so close to Christmas, Mindy brought Chloe's PJ's and Christmas dress and we took advantage of my Milk & Cookie's setup.  Chloe is just on the verge of sitting up, so as everyone knows, I preach safety first.  I don't care if we have the best smile of the day if its while a babe is tipping forward- Mom or Dad staying close is a must until they're sitting up fully on their own. 

I'm a liiiitle behind the game with my Christmas Mini's.  I'm actually doing Pet mini's with Decatur Animal Clinic next weekend, so I've been working hard on those!  I'll be at Decatur Animal Clinic on Friday the 22nd & Saturday the 23rd.  E-mail me for your time slot- there's still a few available!

Anyways, I decided to go with a milk & cookies theme this year, inspired by my own little cookie monster.  You can dress up your kiddos in Christmas outfits, or snuggle them in their PJ's.  Excuse the cookie monster featured that refused to smile for the ad.  She's figured out that if she sits real still in this one spot- she gets a cookie.  And let's face it- the picture works waaay better with a sitting toddler eating a cookie than no kiddo at all.  Even a non-smiling toddler (but let's face it- still adorable!)! 

Cruz made my day Monday!  He started off pretty serious, but let loose on those smiles after a bit.  Mom brought the cutest outfit for him, and even had moccasins!

As everyone should know by know, I love simple setups.  Even more than simple setups, I love naked babies!

Milestone photography is one of my favorite aspects of my photography business.  I love seeing these babies come to me, and see their personalities develop over the year.  Six months is particularly fun because they are close to sitting up on their own (sometimes already there), smiling when smiled at, still pretty immobile, and able to use a variety of props.  Make sure you head over to see Cruz's gallery!

Lindsey was kind enough to let me come out to photograph her and her horse, Lexi.  In a previous life, I lived and breathed horses, and now that passion has been directed towards being a mommy & photographer.

Lexi is a gorgeous black & white paint, with quite a bit of spunk in her 10 year old bones.  Lindsey & her husband Clint own a little chunk of property right on Lake Taylorville, so the sunsets are something that photographers dream about.  Add a horse into the mix, and this photographer was in heaven.  Here's a link to her gallery; I'm absolutely in love with their pictures!  Between the sunset, Lindsey's willingness for whatever, and Lexi, it was the perfect combination.

I had posted a request on Facebook looking for a horse to photograph, and got lucky to have met Lindsey through some mutual friends.