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

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

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.

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

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 :)

Biggsy is the funniest dog ever. He totally thinks he’s a person.

I think he even got jealous when I stopped focusing on him… This outtake makes me laugh so hard.

So I let him be the star a little bit longer :)

There was a bit of book reading (again, consisting of extreme excitement every time a HAT! was spotted)

More fun with hats :)

Seriously, such a cutie :)

Angelena and Mike, thanks for letting me come and share an evening with you guys. I hope to do it again… soon!

Enjoy your slideshow :)

love,

-amber

But when Mindy expressed to me her excitement about having photographs from the birth of her third child, I couldn’t turn her down. Her excitement was contagious! So we settled everything, and I marked off three weeks in my calendar as “On-Call for Evan birth.” I’m ever so thankful that Mindy ended up going into labor towards the beginning of that time frame… it’s certainly easier on my stress levels! I got the call from her on Sunday afternoon… she wasn’t certain if this was “it” or not, so she had me standby while she went to the hospital to get checked. A few hours later, she texted back to say Baby Evan was definitely on his way. I grabbed my gear, hopped in the car, and headed downtown.

I love when I arrive at the hospital and a mother in labor looks this awesome.

The whole evening was pretty smooth… There were a couple of times when Mindy changed position and it affected her blood pressure. It was amazing to see how quickly everyone responded.

Thankfully, everything quickly went back to normal :) Mindy, her husband Brett, her sister Joanna, and I… just waiting.

Brett had surgery to perform early the next morning, so Mindy invited him into the bed to get a bit of sleep. Seriously adorable.

I can’t remember why Brett got kicked out of the bed… but I moved onto the floor to give him more room to spread out on the couch. I think he finally got some sleep in there somewhere.

Finally… it was time to push. Love the light in this detail.

Mindy was a serious trooper, and sometime after 3:00am on 08/09/10, Baby Evan arrived.

They cleaned him up pretty quickly so that Brett could take him to his mother.

What a beautiful family… Mindy is just radiant, and I love how proud Brett looks.

Fun angle.

There are so many emotions in these images.

Gotta document for family and facebook friends :) I love cell phone pics!

Introducing the amazingly adorable Baby Evan.

I headed for home at around 4:00am or so… Exhausted, but exhilarated to have been a part of such an amazing experience.

The plan was for me to go home, get some sleep, and then head back to the hospital the next day so that I could capture Evan’s brothers getting to see him for the first time. I grabbed a nap at home, and then headed back to the hospital around lunchtime on Monday.

Evan’s brothers are Colin (3.5) and Ryan (2), and they are ridiculously cute. Mindy wasn’t exactly sure how either of them would respond. Ryan, particularly, is at a hard age to try to explain the new baby concept to.

When they arrived, we were quickly amused by how excited Ryan was about his baby. He was all smiles.

Colin, on the other hand, seemed slightly unsure.

But he figured it out :) They were both really excited to hold and touch and snuggle with their new baby. Colin had a million questions, and Ryan just refused to relinquish his hold on his brother! “MY baby!” He would yell.

Colin wanted to hold him, so Mindy took him so she could reposition… Ryan was not excited. He wanted to keep HIS baby :)

Colin seems pretty comfortable :) I think both brothers are going to do great. They look like pros!

Mindy and Brett, thank you so much for allowing me to document this amazing event. I can’t wait to watch your family grow! I will see you in a few days!

Enjoy your birth story slideshow….

(I think I’m done blogging for the day… 6 posts is probably more than I should’ve ever attempted, whew. I need a nap!)

xoxo

-amber

A brief recap of Baby Ella’s first year…

Session 1- Adorable (screaming) newborn

Session 2- Utterly squeezable 4 month old

Session 3- Gorgeous and smiley 8 month old

And session 4… Beautiful, expressive, and amazing. Ella is one!

I’m not exaggerating when I say this baby is incredibly expressive… check out just a couple of the awesome faces she gave me during the hour and a half that I was hanging out with her.

Annoyed (why is this random person in my space?)

Inquisitive (You can totally tell she is processing what Sara is saying to her)

Excitement

Amusement

Pouting

Utter glee :)

Mischieviousness

Exhaustion (the result of skipping your nap on portrait session day)

She’s amazing, isn’t she?

When I asked Sara about some of the things she never wants to forget about Ella, one of the things she mentioned was Ella’s obsession with playing with curtains and blankets. I love stuff like this… these are the fleeting experiences that would so easily be forgotten…

I love seeing Sara with Ella… She’s such an amazing mom. I love this series… There’s so much happiness in them.

And then there was some tickling… Ella apparently thinks her mother is hysterical.

Being ticked is exhausting :)

You know you’re a big girl when you can crawl all the way up the stairs… Stairs are hard work!

I love the expressions in this… It appears that Ella is unsure of whatever Grant is finding so hysterical.

Grant is completely in love with his girl. It’s so obvious.

We stepped outside in the sweltering heat for a few minutes… I loved these two images of Grant and Ella. I couldn’t decide which I liked better… do you guys have an opinion?

Ella seemed somewhat unsure about the bubbles… There are a couple of other images in the slideshow that show off her expressiveness :)

There’s something very compelling about this quiet moment. It draws me in. I love this one.

The heat and the mosquitos started getting to us pretty quickly… so we headed back inside. I’ll leave you with this final image of Ella “terrorizing” the kitty… again, a fleeting moment that would’ve easily been forgotten. I’m pretty sure this one is going in my favorite favorite favorite folder :)

Grant and Sara… it’s been an awesome year. I feel honored that you guys invited me into your lives the way that you have. I hope we do it again :)

Enjoy your one year slideshow!

xoxo

-amber

Baby Maggie at 4.5 months old.

One of my favorite images from the session. I’ve actually had several requests for “images just like that” from other clients since I posted this one on Facebook… Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. This one belongs to Sally… no one else gets this EXACT image :)

She is seriously cute, isn’t she?

I think Sarge gets a cameo like this at every session… He’s always looks at me with his big sad eyes. I just have to let him be the star of at least one image.

Poor Baby Maggie was teething like mad… she was slightly crankier than normal. I felt bad for her. She didn’t really want to listen to a book… she just wanted to be snuggled :)

It was about 65 billion degrees outside, but it’s summer, and Will’s a boy with a new playset, so we certainly had to go out and play. It was quite fun, even though I might’ve whined about the heat… a lot.

One of my favorite feet shots in awhile. I love that they’re dirty from playing outside.

Seems like the perfect time for a popsicle :)

Maggie isn’t really into “playing outside” yet…

I’m so excited that Will finally seems to really like me. He’s gone through stages where we weren’t really friends :( I was afraid that maybe I wasn’t his type ;)

He loves playing ball in the backyard with his dad. Will’s job is to catch or hit things… Stephen’s job is to make sure his aim is perfect :)

Maggie was fussy, which we were attributing to her teeth… and then we realized that it was really time for her dinner. Oops! She was SO excited about her bottle :)

Happy baby!

I love family interaction… all of the expressions… there’s always a story behind every image like this.

Baby Maggie has just started eating solids… and she’s not sure if she likes them or not. She was super cute as she went back and forth between desperately wanting the spoon in her mouth and quickly spitting it back out :)

Yay, baby feet :)

Tickling is evil. Have I mentioned that previously?

Bath time is always one of my favorite things to photograph. One of my favorite pictures of Will was taken during a bath… and that seems to often be the case with many of my clients! I always get excited when clients mention this as a part of what they want to do during our session.

When I asked Sally for some of the things that she never wants to forget about Sally and Will, she said this:

“I was so worried before Maggie was born about how Will would do with her. He is so sweet and loving to her and I would love to be able to capture that between them.”

Will’s kind of a wild boy. By that I just mean, he’s all boy. He’s rambunctious and loud and crazy and fun. I didn’t really see him as the snuggling type.

But I was wrong. He’s a fan of his baby sister. It’s quite adorable.

Maggie was starting to get ready to go down for the night, so while Sally was hanging out with her, Will and Stephen had a pillow fight. Like I said, Will is all boy :)

He’s such a handsome boy. I can never get over how big his eyes are… and how long his lashes are. They’re spectacular.

Sally and Stephen, I adore you guys. Can we please hang out in real life… before your next session? We miss you! I hope you love your slideshow :) Thanks for spending your evening with me.

love,

-amber

Maggie is an easy sleeper. Sally rocked her about twice, and she was out cold.

I finally arrived back in Minnesota, was picked up at the airport by my amazing husband, and arrived back at Nathan’s family’s house well after everyone else was asleep for the night. I’m pretty thankful for that, as I was so exhausted. I immediately climbed into bed… and had a wonderful night of sleeping.

Thursday was a wonderfully relaxed day spent by the pool, and then on Friday we got up early and headed out to the Mall of America. I’d never been, and I was super excited to hang out with the family there. We took the kids to the Lego store and then spent the rest of the time riding rides in the amusement park :)

Then it was time to head back to the house for the main event of the week – Nathan’s Grandma’s 85th birthday.

Family dinner…

While Nathan’s mom and aunt Karen cleared the table after dinner, we retreated to the living room to listen to Grandma tell stories from her childhood. I love that Addy is so snuggly and excited about spending time with them. These images are priceless to me.

Grandma was telling a story, and she got to the part where you knew she was about to get in trouble, and Addy covered her ears… She knew what was coming and she didn’t want to hear it. So funny :)

Brianna was all over the place. She’s so adorable :)

I think Grandma was enjoying being the star of the show :)

Then it was party time :) I LOVE how Grandpa takes care of Grandma. He’s so devoted to her. It’s incredibly inspiring.

I love the expression on Grandma’s face in these images with her birthday cake. She’s so happy. Nathan captured this beautifully.

Seriously, how cute are they? We were also celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary… Pretty awesome.

Again, Grandpa taking care of Grandma… precious.

Mom and Aunt Karen put together a huge scrapbook filled with cards and notes and emails from people for Grandma’s birthday. She was so surprised. Her emotional response was really sweet.

I love technology sometimes… Nathan was able use his phone to share the video of everyone surprising Grandma earlier in the week. Very fun.

Toward the end of the celebration, another cake came out of the kitchen. Dad’s birthday was the following week, so he got a little mini cake all for him. (I love Uncle Dave “helping” Dad blow out the candles in the background!)

That evening, after the kids were in bed, all of the cousins went out and watched a movie. It was a fun time. We got up early the next morning, packed up, and headed home. The return trip was uneventful, thankfully… I was ever so excited to get home and sleep in my own bed (and take a long soak in my tub!). What a crazy fun week.

There a couple of extra images from Grandma’s party in this slideshow… if you’re interested in more family fun :)

much love,

-amber

I was given a “sleep in late without having to feel bad about it” pass, and I ended up using it. I arrived at the workshop just in time to hear Garrett (the last speaker of the day) finish his presentation, and then all of the speakers took the stage for a Q&A discussion panel.

We then broke for lunch (they served macaroni… and I am convinced that it was just for me:)). Immediately following lunch, we headed back to the house where we had worked the day before, for a second day of shooting sessions.

This day was a different process. There were three different groups, and each group had 4-6 photographers. Each photographer was to have 10-15 minutes to “direct” the shoot while the others watched/waited and I stood by to answer questions/provide instruction. I simultaneously needed to make sure I captured at least *some* images of each family. It was pretty crazy, but again, the Pictage crew managed to keep it completely organized and it ran very smoothly.

Family #1- This mother was a serious rockstar. She and her kids modeled for two different groups… which was about 2 hours of being cooped up in one room. I have never seen a mom engage so well under that sort of pressure. Seriously, she deserves an award.

Family #2- how adorable are these kids?!

We wrapped up the day, said our goodbyes, and I headed back to the Atlanta airport to rejoin my family in MN. It was seriously a whirlwind two days packed with wonderful old friends, fun new people, and lots and lots of learning and sharing!

(By the way, my flight back to Minneapolis? It was delayed, making that round trip one of the most ridiculously messed up flights of my life. The best part of the story was the reason for the delay… I’d never heard this one before. They delayed the flight because they “couldn’t find the flight crew.” Hysterical.)

One last post from the Week of Insanity coming soon… and then about a million client posts!

-amber