Real life is beautiful.

08.30.10

Baby Ann Chandler’s bedtime routine :)

Um, I’m a bit behind again:( And this week is about to get crazy! So…. without further chitchat, let’s check out a few images from my super fun session with Baby Ann Chandler, and her big brothers, Jack & Nelson.

Seriously, isn’t this baby girl the most adorable kid you’ve ever seen? She’s grown up so much since her first session :) I am completely captivated by her smile…

I turned away from this charming scene to find Super Nelson commanding my attention. Hysterical and adorable :)

I was excited to learn that Nelson and Caroline had made sure that the kids ’sitter, Anna, had stayed to participate in a portion of the session. She’s a very important part of the family, and you can tell that she is as crazy about the kids are they are about her…

I love this image… It seriously sums up reality :)

Nelson is an amazing dad. I say it every time I go up the mountain to photograph his family, but it needs to be repeated. He’s amazing. (Plus he makes me laugh really really hard. Constantly.)

While the boys were having a tickling party, Baby Ann Chandler was having a slight “I’m starving and really really sleepy” breakdown. Is it bad that I think crying babies are adorable? :)

Whew. Caroline to the rescue.

Then the boys had some dinner… Jack loves reading so much, that he begged his mom to keep reading to him.

While the boys finished up their dinner, Baby Ann Chandler got ready for her bath.

I love the set up that Caroline and Nelson have for doing the baby bath. I also love that it appears that Nelson’s role in the bath-giving process is to watch a bit of TV. Cute.

After her bath, it was time for Ann Chandler to get some sleep. I am beyond amazed by how quickly she went to sleep. I’m seriously hoping it is this easy for them every night!

One of my favorite family pictures, ever.

So beautifully peaceful.

Caroline and Nelson… I really really really like you guys… not sure if I’ve mentioned that yet :) Your kids are ridiculously cute, and the two of you just make me really really happy. I can’t wait to see you again soon.

Enjoy the slideshow.

xoxox

-amber

Posted in babies, families

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08.26.10

the Fair, family, food… & goats?!? :)

I love birthday celebrations. I like my birthday… but what I really love is celebrating birthday weeks with my family.

Last year, Nathan turned 30 and we had some pretty serious blowout parties. This year, the week was much more relaxed… but I did have one big surprise for Nathan. At the culmination of the week, I planned a weekend trip for the family to Louisville. Nathan loves state fairs, and neither the kids, nor I had ever been to a big one… So we headed out on a roadtrip :)

I drug my camera around with me on Day 1 so I could have a few images to commemorate the event. (Didn’t happen on Day 2… that camera is heavy, and I was over it by that point:))

I loved seeing my kids have the opportunity to interact with tons of farm animals up close.

A few random details… mule eyelashes, snow cone splatter, Addy’s shoes, & giant watermelons…

One of my favorite things about the fair is the crazy weird foods that are offered. I don’t necessarily want to eat the weird foods… I am just amused by them. The only food that tempts me is the amazingly delicious (and ever so fattening) cheese fries. Yum.

Really? Krispy Kreme Cheeseburgers?

Addy and Austen were both completely infatuated with the goats. Austen even said he’d like to have either a goat or a rabbit for a pet. Funny choices :)

I was completely entranced by the chickens. There were so many crazy different kinds, and they were all so weird looking! Addy didn’t enjoy the birds quite as much… she got too close to one of their cages, and one of them “got her”. She preferred the “nice goats”.

This guy was my favorite, by far :)

We’ll round up the animal portion of the blog with a couple of cows… just so they don’t feel left out :)

After we had our fill of farm animals… we headed outside to ride a few rides. So much fun.

I love seeing my family so happy and excited. Check out Nathan, Austen, and Addy in these respective images. You’ll see an awesome genuine smile in each one.

The kids rode some really cool slides… I love their expressions in these.

And finally a few images that show off just how fun and colorful and beautiful this experience was. Such a great time.

Nathan… Happy Happy Birthday. I hope you have a wonderful 31st year. I love you… no matter what.

-all my love,

amber

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08.24.10

addy starts school.

How has this happened? I swear, I am turning into an old lady who just sits around and comments on how fast time flies. But seriously, it seems like Austen just started school, and Addy was just a funny toddler, and now, somehow, Addy is grown-up enough to start her educational journey?

Sigh.

We woke up early on Day 1 so that Addy could take a quick shower and we could blow dry and flat iron her hair. She wanted to be “cute” on the day she was going to meet her new friends. I felt a crazy stab of nervousness for her as she buttoned up her school uniform… So many social pressures already… and she’s only in Pre-First!

Hugest thanks to Nathan for taking over the camera for a large portion of this morning. It feels like I am rarely in pictures with my kiddos, and Nathan wanted to remedy that for me. I love the way that mundane activities like hairdrying and flat ironing can be captured beautifully. I love that we’ll never forget what the process of this first morning was like.

Nathan had come up with the idea of getting the kids First Day of School presents… so he had those ready for them when we headed down for breakfast. I love these images that he captured of them… they were so excited about their presents :)

Wonder where she gets her dramatic-ness?

Austen manages to stay slightly more composed… but excited, nonetheless.

Then it was time for a quick & easy (and overly sugary..eek!) breakfast.

Addy had wanted to see pictures from Austen’s first day of school… so I had pulled those out. She has grown up so much.

Final prep… and we headed out the door! (Running a tiny bit late, of course)

Addy was still so excited about her present… She was barely even talking about school at this point. I don’t think she had a chance to be nervous!

Quick portraits in the parking lot… (again, thanks to my amazing husband :))

I swiped the camera back, and stole one more image of her before we walked into the school. I was mostly needing to hide my eyes, because I was shocked by the level of emotion I was feeling.

Nervousness hit… but only a little. She’s seriously the bravest little girl I know.

A couple of fun first day details-

Quick goodbyes in the hallway. I love how lovey Addison always is. It’s so good for my heart to have snuggly loving kids.

Austen said “Only a hug!” but whether he liked it or not, he was getting a kiss. I love his face here… half smile, half grimace :)

Into the classroom she goes. She stood for a few moments looking around, trying to figure out which seat was hers. It was SO hard for me not to run in there and help her… but that’s the point, right? We’re supposed to let them figure it out on their own?

She’s a smart girl. She stopped searching, and turned to her new teacher. I love this image. It makes me feel safe. My girl knows when to ask for help… and she’s got a great teacher who will take care of her.

Major milestone successfully completed. I may have had to wipe my eyes a few times while walking back to the car… hand-in-hand with the father of my beautiful children… but at least I didn’t have to attend the boo-hoo breakfast with other kindergarten moms :)

It’s hard to watch your kids grow up. But it’s beautiful to see them become amazing little people.

I’m so blessed.

Addy… I’m SO proud of you. You’re such a big girl, and you are rocking school… just like we knew you would. Thank you for being such a hard worker. I love you so much!

love, love, love… and hugs and kisses. Lots of them.

-mom.

Posted in families, my life

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08.20.10

i love brad & kristin (& baby larkin, of course)

It had been way too long since I had photographed Brad, Kristin, and Baby Larkin. I’d had the opportunity to hang out with Kristin & Brad a few times, but it’s been about 6 months since I’d seen Larkin. She has grown up so much since our trip to Colorado!

Isn’t Larkin beautiful?

I spent most of Wednesday morning hanging out with the family. I love Kristin & Brad because there is never any pretense with them. When I arrived, Larkin was still finishing breakfast, hanging out in her PJ pants. The whole morning was completely relaxed and real… such a perfect environment for me to capture their life.

Kristin got Larkin dressed (in an ADORABLE dress made by Tobi at Ivy Handcrafted ) and we hung out in her room for a few minutes. Larkin is super independent (much like her parents) and doesn’t need help from anyone to do anything. It made me laugh that she would really rather just read her book by herself :)

Kristin told me that one of Larkin’s favorite things was the pool. She said that Larkin would walk around the house saying “poo? poo? poo?” until someone finally took her outside. Check out her excitement when she realized that we were going outside to get in the pool… Love this.

I took WAY too many pictures in the pool :) Larkin was so excited.

They turned the “waterfall” on, and I got all excited. How fun! I managed to get myself and my camera fairly soaked during this portion of our session…

Love these details…

I totally sacrificed my camera’s safety for this next series of shots… totally worth it. I love the perspective here. Larkin seriously loves doing this… she wants to do it over and over and over again (perfect for me, since I needed a couple of opportunities to get this angle)

We finally finished hanging out in the pool and headed back inside. Roxy was feeling a little bit left out, so she joined Larkin at center stage for a few images.

Love this outtake. There are lots and lots of these in my session files. Roxy is a big dog, and doesn’t seem to care where she stands:)

Bill, the kitty, generally hides whenever I’m around. I think he’s in shock about having to deal with a baby in the house… even after 18 months. I was surprised that he actually let me photograph him… AND he let Larkin get almost within touching distance (although he certainly doesn’t look happy about it) :)

Love baby kisses…

And they way they look when they run…

I love the drama that they can attach to the simplest of tasks…

But most of all… I love baby laughs. Amazing.

After a ridiculously fun-filled morning, it was time for everyone to head out to work (and for me to head home). I grabbed these last few images as Brad put Larkin in her carseat so he could take her to Grandma’s house. I think we might have exhausted Larkin, just a bit :)

Kristin and Brad… I’m crazy ’bout y’all. Let’s hang out soon. You bring the party, I’ll leave the camera at home :)

(In the meantime, enjoy the slideshow)

lots and lots of hugs and kisses…

-amber

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08.17.10

adorable baby fin

I swear Fin gets cuter every single time I head over to hang out with him.

He had skipped his nap the day of our shoot… so at first, he had no desire to let his mom go. It was hysterical to watch her try to put him down. I love it when kids go jelly-legged when they don’t want to stand up. I wasn’t complaining tho… Angelena is just as cute as Fin is… and I love snuggling shots :)

Fin has two favorite things right now… Hats and balls. The combination of those two things lured him from his mother’s arms and onto the back patio to run wild for a few minutes.

It was a million degrees outside, so it wasn’t very long before Fin was parched. He’s a big boy now, and can drink out of a glass with no assistance (just supervision :)). I love this lashes shot, because it also showcases a simple milestone.

I love when kids are obsessed with cleaning… Fin cannot stand clutter, doesn’t like it when things are out of place, and seriously enjoys sweeping. Hysterical.

We weren’t sure if Mike was going to be able to make it home in time for the session… so I was super excited when he arrived. Fin was excited too :) I grabbed both of these shots, but couldn’t decide which I preferred… What do you guys think?

At that point we were all burning up in the crazy Chattanooga heat, so we headed back inside. Fin made me laugh so hard as he bounced all over the room. Ball! Ball! Ball!

There was some crazy Penguin show on TV that held Fin’s interest for a little while. He mostly just liked yelling “Hat!” anytime someone on the show was wearing a hat :)