Santa Baby

Yes, it's true! I was Santa's Elf today.. along with my son, C, who is a great helper! We spent the day with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Tampa Garden Club. There was a Holiday Festival there. All proceeds went to the Parkinson's Association. With a very sweet Grandpa that was just diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, I personally, couldn't think of a better cause.

I have so much to share from Thanksgiving but that will have to wait. This is one exhausted photographer. I leave you with pictures of Santa and Mrs. Claus and possibly a few clowns..

These are the Sunshine Clowns: Spritz, Flowers, Whitedove,Cuddle Bear, Cookie, Pockets, Patches, and Pearl. If you have an event that you'd like for them to clown around at, contact me and I'll share their info with you!

This is my clown... er.. I mean, Elf, or, is it, helper? This is "C." He's my second born. He's patient, loving and compassionate. Santa says that he has been a very good boy this year. When I need a helper, he's definitely the one that I choose!

Lovin' Natural light

I had a rare Sunday session today. No, I don't usually book sessions on Sunday so don't get any bright ideas. Haha! This was an exception for an old friend. Her sweet hubby only has one weekend day off and Sunday is it. These are family pictures and they have an elementary aged child so you understand.

The boys (all three) were so well behaved. I think that it was painless for everyone involved. I, personally, loved getting some more natural light shots. It was an easy session for me. I didn't have to pack up my lights, or any props. I just grabbed my camera and we were ready to go.

Here's a sneak peek from your session. I hope that you love them as much as I do! Enjoy! The rest will be up tomorrow!

Look! Everyone is smiling!


Does it get any sweeter?

Look at those eyes!

Watch out, girls! These are going to be a couple of heartbreakers!

My baby

I don't often blog about my own children but I decided to try something new. Meet "B." He's my baby boy. He'll be seven ancient years old in about eight weeks. We called him our Miracle baby until a few years ago when it dawned on us that all children are Miracles. I'm not sure why it took so long for us to figure that one out.

Mr. "B" took three and a half long years to grace us with his presence. We miscarried eight babies and lost a baby girl during that time. Doctors told us that we had a very slim chance of ever having another child. I tend to be a tiny bit stubborn. I told my husband that there was no way that God would give us the desire if we weren't meant to have another child. Thankfully, we forged on. And, what a blessing we recieved for our patience (okay, okay, maybe patience isn't the word. haha). To be completely honest and fair, all of our children took lots of work(faith) to get. We've had our fair share of heartache, grief and struggles that have made us who we are today. This little guy just took the longest!

And, oh, how I love this boy! He's snuggly and smart and still likes to hold Mom's hand. He's going to marry me (or is it Lily or Bella or Catie?) when he grows up. He's my first grader that blows me away with his reading ability and his math capabilities. He's his big sister's best friend and his big brothers' shadow. He's spoiled rotten to the core but very respectful. He's my baby!

He walked down the stairs two mornings ago and he looked so handsome. I saw the light in his eye and the photographer in me thought "Ah! What a great natural light shot." LOL! And, the Mom in me melted as I saw my baby boy looking so grown up! The photographer took over and this is what resulted:

I personally think that he was worth every pill, poke, prod and pound that I suffered to get him here. Do you agree?

Look at that natural light shining in his blue eyes.

He was getting away so I had to use the flash here. See the shadow?

Back in the natural light with no smile..

I told him to smile and he just flared his nostrils. He giggled when I told him that he looked like Porky pig.

Trying to contain his giggles!

I have to be fair so stay tuned for more on my kiddos.

Tomorrow is National Adoption Day. I will be volunteering my time at the Pasco County courthouse (West Pasco). If you think of it, pray for these families. It is such a happy time for everyone involved. We sometimes forget that there are huge emotions for the children. Many times they feel as though they are gaining one family while losing the other. It's a bittersweet day for them; that's for sure!

Such sweet girls!

I had the great pleasure of photographing Miss H. and Miss S. today. They were so cute and so sweet. Thanks to Mommy for bringing them to me. I hope that you love their photos.I look forward to photographing them again!

Silly elf!

Last year our family hosted an elf in honor and memory of a sweet little girl, Catie. It was so much fun. It's time to start preparing for this year's visit. You can host an Elf or send an elf (or two or three) to a hospital to brighten another child's life. It benefits Cure in the process. Read more below:

It's getting to be that time of year again!!! Time to start thinking about the birth of Christ, Christmas shopping, my favorite music of the year, Santa (or HoHo as he's referred to at our house right now), and visits from elves. Last year a great little project got started. Elves from Catie... If you missed it last year, check this out: That Silly Old Elf . We are on the move again with Elves from Catie and there are several ways you can get involved. It's easy to get involved and it's SUCH a great tradition!!! (You really do need to click the link above and read about it if you don't know about the tradition.) Ok... so ways you can be a part....1. Donate an Elf from Catie kit to a child in the hospital -- Kits are $35 and include an elf, an Elf from Catie book (about an elf that visits the hospital -- very cute story), and elf food (jelly beans) (go to the website and just click on the Elves from Catie logo)2. Purchase an elf for a child you know. Elves come with all the things listed above and the price for these is $35 as well. (go to the website and click on Host an Elf)3. Have your civic organization, ladies' circle, youth group, etc. get involved and work to donate elves to kids in the hospital. 4. Copy and paste this into an e-mail and send it out to all your contacts. Ask them to continue to forward it on. This was HUGELY successful last year. The website is Host an Elf. All Elves from Catie purchases (elves donated to a child in the hospital) will have $5 of the purchase donated to CURE Childhood Cancer. Your elf purchase for a child you know can also benefit CURE. Just BE SURE to indicate that you want CURE to benefit. To do this, on the page that says non-profit donations at the bottom, choose fundraiser under category and CURE Childhood Cancer under name. If you don't do this, CURE won't receive the $5.

Busy day

I had a busy day today. I had two sessions back to back. I'll be editing pictures for days. It is always so much fun though.

I did a surprise cake smash for Miss M's Mommy, first. M was so funny. She wasn't sure that she liked the frosting. Daddy had to help her until she decided that she absolutely does NOT like frosting. LOL! I hope that Mommy loves the pictures. They are definitely a must have for the baby book.

Sweet Baby E

Best Friends

The winners are

Thank you to my fellow photographers that placed these cute babies! They are all so cute. I never would have been able to do it myself!

1st place

2nd place

3rd place

My sweet Princess E

Isn't this the sweetest picture? Granny with her two babies and Big Brother counting his baby sister's fingers!

My princess with her Mommy.


Where's my food?

These two make me gasp. She is so beautiful. Could I, um, I mean, Dad and Mom, be any more blessed? They have two precious babies that are healthy and beautiful. I am truly grateful that they bless me by allowing me to watch them grow.

Princess pictures are coming

Oh... did I ever enjoy seeing my babies today. Granny and I torured poor N and E but the pictures are ever so cute. I'll add a few later.

For now, I'll leave you with these pictures. Trust me when I say that booking a session with me will wear your kids out. Haha! This is a true picture of the end of my session today. I felt like crawling right down there with him.

How I love my little buddy!

Baby Heaven (picture heavy!)

I'm so sorry that I have been absent again. I still have some loose ends to tie up for the Cute Baby Contest. Thank you all for being patient with me. You may ask where I have been? Well, aside from spending some very much needed time with my family, I have been in baby heaven!

If you know me at all, you know that I love nothing more than babies. To decide not to not have more babies in our home was a huge decision for me. Thankfully I have a few very good friends that love me enough to allow me to love their babies. And, oh, do I ever love them. ... my friends and their babies. You each know who you are. Thank you so much for sharing with me. I love you all.

Because of my absence, I have tons of pictures to share. I'll have even more to share tomorrow because I get to go play with my buddy and his new princess. I'm so excited!

We are not big on Halloween here at our house. Our favorite holidays are Christmas and Easter but we do celebrate Halloween. Here are a few pictures of my punkins!

The inmate and the "dancer."


I know that I am slightly biased but aren't they cute? My daughter is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

Our little space police officer was quite upset before taking this picture. He was so tired before we event started trick or treating.

My punkins carved pumpkins. My sweet hubby actually took these pictures.

Before Princess E was born, her Mommy and my Buddy N came over to have Trevor install her carseat. While they were here, my buddy played with my other baby. I had to take a picture of my two babies together. Isn't he cute? Look at that little tongue. I could just eat him up!

We had another visitor the following day. This hawk likes to hang out with us. He was hanging out above the grill, just waiting for us to walk away. Apparently, he likes brautwurst. The kids fed him some bologna and he was happy.

I'll definitely have to do a better job of posting. Look for princess pictures tomorrow!