Look how little this guy was when he came home to his mommy and daddy and sis. He traveled with them all the way from Ethiopia. This was taken at the little welcoming party we had for him a couple months after his arrival.

Now he is such a big boy and still as sweet as ever. Reggae music was requested and thanks to the Pandora app. on my phone and my speakered dock, I was able to oblige. Ahhh, technology.

He was only so happy and smiling when his mommy was talking with him. He sure loves his mommy. No doubt the feeling is mutual. Can you feel the love?

Sister has so much love to share… I think brother might be more interested in hugs once he discovers the joys of wrestling. This blue dress is to die for, with its Alice in Wonderland feel.

Need I say more?

After photographing these two monkeys, I thought about the cliche I hear often. “Where do they get that energy? I wish they could bottle it and give me some!” Such a cliche, but too true. I was thinking they could use that energy to power a house, a town even… forget solar power. It’s boy power.

The littlest in this family reminded me so much of Ezra. It amazed me that the last time I spent with this family, he said nothing. Now such a chatty guy, and so serious and “knowing” that I had to hide my smirks. Time sure does fly!

I love this kid. He has so much energy and is always running, running. Humm. I wonder where he gets that from. Probably mom and dad. Both have been working on restoring and adding to their Arapahoe Acres home, doing much of the work themselves. It is beautiful and my kids have loved digging through their dirt these past couple weeks.

Today’s shoot began with a sweet boy and an oh so sweet dog. I actually couldn’t get over how sweet this dog was… I know little boys are sweet, I have two of them. But dogs.. typically they aren’t this sweet.


I love this age. Being almost 3 we had lots of fun together.

Some smiles had to be tickled out of him.

I love this shot. He was telling me about the horses in his BIG book.

Ever since this little one was born, I have become the recipient of many wonderful hand-me-downs as she’s grown. You would think that I was the first time mom with the gifts this family has showered on us. It is so wonderful to have a community. It really does take a village.
Now that she’s one, we got together again for another photoshoot. What a lucky girl. Really, I was the lucky one. It’s so nice to photograph kids other than my own. I keep having dreams of working more and more; getting my name out in various ways. I need to have patience. But I love the variety that photographing others provides. I get excited at the prospect of being busy with work again.

She’s a budding bookworm too.

This swing was made by the parents. So much better looking than our plastic piece of… maybe we’ll have to commission another from them. You game for that?

Momma love. I always know when I’ve worn out my welcome. But just another with this cool little house…

So precious. Thank you for everything, you guys are the best. Have I told you that?

I was finally able to photograph my nephew a few days after his 3rd birthday. Can you believe I have never photographed him? It pains me greatly. It pains me more to see the photos my sister will send of him from Sears or with Santa. Kill me now So finally, finally I was able to get a few shots of him.
We headed to the San Juan Mission, not realizing there was a pretty steep entrance fee. So rather than split our group up or fork out the $60 to get us all in we just tooled around town and spent a lot of time watching the train.
The boy truly felt the freedom of a day with his cousins. Much of the time was spent running from the adults, and my camera. This is a work in progress with this little man. You cannot escape Aunt Stacie. Even with an elusive subject I feel I got several really nice portraits of this kid.
I also got a few of my sister. It has been a long time since I had photographed her. In high school she was my favorite model. Once in college I missed being able to photograph her at a whim. It’s good to stretch those creative muscles, but it’s also difficult when you don’t know anyone. I began asking random people if I could photograph them… not a good idea in a dark club. The guy who looked like Matt Damon really didn’t once in the studio. Oh well. Those were the days.

How could you beat the rock n’ roll birthday party?  What will you do next year?
The kids dressed up, played rock band for awhile, had a watermelon spitting contest (which I won, hehe), were handed  golden cd awards, and even had a cd cover photoshoot a la Stacie.  Here are the results.
I’ll try to name who I can:

Here’s the birthday boy; AKA Tommy Lee

Guns N’ Roses?  No… Lars from Metalica

Ozzie

Singer from “Green Day”

Hannah Montana

The girl from “Camp Rock”

Dude from “Foo Fighters”

Gene Simmons

Our neighbors have had family in town for awhile and wanted to mark the occasion with some portraits. I am so happy they chose me to photograph them. We love living so close to such a wonderful family and can’t wait to have our girls go to school together.

So we did. Every time I see a building with a cool texture or color or pattern I want to photograph at that spot. Saturday this little fam was game for anything. We headed to two of the places I keep seeing. Can’t wait to go to the other spots on my list.
This little guy was so happy and friendly. When I asked for a mean face he got very confused. He’s such a nice kid he hasn’t ever used a mean face.

This boy loves being the Ez Monster. Not sure where that came from, only that he would growl when a babe. It has stuck and he is proud of his monster status.

The other day I decided to try to style his crazy, unkempt mop. I put in some gel and tried to work with his cow-lick by pulling his bangs away from his forehead. Well this is what I came up with, halfway through. This halfway-hair-do cracked him up so much, I couldn’t flatten it out. So we kept it and headed to the library story hour with Ed Grimly hair. Of course, it was a big hit with all the moms.

My baby no longer. I guess when her brother was born, the change was complete.  Since we left Boston, I feel like things have been moving in fast forward. My little girl is 6 and almost done with Kindergarten! Unbelievable.

A portrait of India today:

*A sweeter girl there never was. She is very affectionate.  I often see her holding her friends’ hands, giving hugs to her pregnant teacher, and generally giving and receiving affection.

*I often hear the rustling of paper from her room. She can often be found creating a sign, making a birdhouse, or drawing a picture or note for a friend. All this made on her desk (now enlarged to table) using her stash of paper, pens, tape, scissors and glue sticks.

*She loves to stay up late, but will quickly shut down once she feels tired. “I’m too tired to put on my pjs!” In the morning is a similar sentiment about getting dressed… too tired to get dressed. I think not having to wake up at 7am will be one of the only things she will like about not being in school.

There is much more, but I tend to remember these things only when I hear the funny phrase or see my little girl growing. I’ll have to make an effort to write down some more characteristics and continue this in another post…