Real life is beautiful.

11.22.11

Sweet baby preston…round 2!

I was SO excited to head up Signal Mountain and spend a bit of time with Laurel and Trey and the adorable Baby Preston. The first two sessions of a baby’s first year are often my favorites, because itty bitty newborns are so sweet and cuddly… and because it’s always amazing to see how much they change in just a matter of weeks.

Baby Preston was verrrrrrrry sleepy when I arrived… and Trey needed to head off to work shortly, so Laurel and Trey both tried their hardest to wake their baby boy up. He wasn’t interested. He just wanted to sleep. I totally know how he feels :)

I really love sleeping baby pictures though… so I wasn’t sad that he stayed sleepy.

Nope… not waking up :)

Still not waking up…

Look at that cute little lip!

A few shots of Trey and Baby Preston before Trey headed off for work.

It was pretty funny… immediately after Trey left for work, Baby Preston woke right up.

He wasn’t particularly excited about being awake at first…

But he got over that fairly quickly. I’m pretty sure he’s telling me an awesome story here.

Laurel is so beautiful… She’s simply giving Baby Preston a bottle, and she looks like a model!

Baby Preston has such sparkly eyes.

A full tummy equals a very happy baby.

It’s exhausting being a baby model…

He did wake up just enough to say goodbye to me… well, at least one of his eyes.

Laurel and Trey… Baby Preston is absolutely adorable! I’m so excited that I have the opportunity to document your life together as he grows up. Can’t wait to see you all again!

I hope you enjoy your slideshow :)

xoxo

amber

Posted in babies

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11.22.11

Baby Sierra & Big Sis Alana… A Day in the Life

Well hello, neglected blog :) Once again, I’ve let time get away from me… and now I have quite a few sessions to share all at once!

We’ll start with a session a did a couple of weeks ago with the amazing Smith family. Usually my sessions last about an hour and a half, but this time Heather and I planned an extra special session spanning most of the morning and into the afternoon. It was super fun, and Baby Sierra and her adorable sister Alana were in prime form.

When Alana met me at the door in her pajamas, I knew I was about to experience a perfect session :)

Baby Sierra was having a bit of breakfast…and I’m not sure what Heather did to it, but apparently, it was horrible :)

We spent some time in the living room working to master the art of waving… Heather is very good at waving. We’re still waiting on the rest of the family to figure it out :)

Then it was time for a diaper change. Baby Sierra’s facial response to the experience was one of my favorite moments of the day. She’s soooooo funny!

It was almost time for Baby Sierra’s morning nap… but first, we had to get her sister out of the crib :)

And then Alana decided to show me how good she is at carrying Baby Sierra around. Poor Sierra :)

After that bit of craziness, Baby Sierra took her morning nap, and Heather and I went shopping :) Not a typical part of my lifestyle sessions, but definitely an exciting addition to this particular day. A couple of hours later we got the call that Sierra was awake, so we headed back to the house. This is the scene we found when we arrived home.

She was in a much happier mood this time around… it’s amazing what a good nap will do for your spirits.

I don’t know what it is about this changing table…but I capture some of my very favorite images here.

Don’t you just love this face?!?

How about these faces? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure they’re my favorites.

Sweet moments with mom.

And yeah… she’s so big… she’s actually already walking at the time of this blog post… at the time of the shoot she was just starting to stand.

I don’t remember what exactly prompted this moment… but I’m pretty sure it was something earth-shattering. It’s hard being almost 4.

Book time… always my favorite.

Although… reading books with a 10 month old in the mix can be kinda difficult. Rich’s face is the best ever!

Sweet sisters…(oh yes, they’re holding hands. Isn’t that the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!?!)

I’m not really sure how Alana’s feet ended up so close to my face… but I’m a fan of how the images turned out :)

It was lunch time… so we headed out for some $.99 tacos at Mojo Burrito. Not a lot of pictures from that… I mean, I was eating lunch and all.

Sierra in her carseat… cutest baby ever.

Sierra making the scrunchy nose face… cutest baby ever.

Sierra with only one eye… cutest baby ever.

And yeah… cutest family ever, too.

Love you guys… Can’t wait to hang out again soon.. camera or no camera :)

love,

amber

Posted in babies, families

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09.27.11

kristine & cliff… preparing for baby virginia :)

One of the biggest perks of my job is the people. Sometimes I meet amazing people as clients…and sometimes I connect with them as photographers. I met Kristine at a photography convention and fell in love with her amazing spirit. I was so excited when I found out that she and Cliff were expecting a baby girl, and even more excited when it worked out for me to photograph a lifestyle maternity session for them while I was in Nashville for a wedding.

Kristine is an awesome Instagrammer, and I’ve loved watching her prepare for Baby Virginia through her iPhone pictures… She posted an image of this craft that she had worked on for the nursery a while back… it kinda makes me hate her, because she’s just so adorably domestic :)

Kristine reads to Baby Virginia all the time… I am completely in love with this book that was created to introduce children to all of the amazing characters in Dr. Seuss’ books.

I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet Cliff until this session, and I was so impressed by him. He’s the perfect match for Kristine. They’re amazing together. He had just arrived home from work, and Kristine just kept reading to Baby Virginia while he listened at the door.

It’s funny how certain things can make us emotional…no matter how many times we have experienced them. Kristine got a little choked up at the end of this book…just like she does every time she reads it. I can understand why…the words kinda got to me, as well.

“It’s a scrumptulous world
and it’s ready to greet you.
And as for myself… well…
I can’t wait to meet you!”

Isn’t Kristine just a beautiful mom? I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see her interact with Baby Virginia. I know she is going to be amazing.

Kristine has been working on all sorts of fun crafts for the nursery. Today’s project was a mobile. I’m so jealous of people who are good at stuff like this :)

After craft time, Cliff joined in on the fun :) One of Cliff’s very favorite books as a child was Mike Mulligan & his Steam Shovel. We had such a fun time listening to Cliff read… he even did voices for us :) At times I was laughing so hard that photographing was a bit difficult!

I love their style… and their style is so evident in their master bedroom. Isn’t it perfect?

Typical Cliff & Kristine :)

Kristine is a reader… (kindred spirit!), so we had to capture that part of her life as well.

We ended our session with a bit of snuggling. (I didn’t get to snuggle, but I’m ok with that:)). Kristine and Cliff are currently working through all of the episodes of Star Trek, The Next Generation. I prefer the original series, but I won’t hold it against them :)

I’ll end this post with one of my favorite images of the day… there’s something perfectly settled about this moment. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with all three of them.

Kristine and Cliff… enjoy your slideshow. I can’t wait to meet Baby Virginia :)

xoxoxox

amber

Posted in bellies

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09.27.11

Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!

Somebody at Baby Caroline’s first birthday party shares my obsession with the Sweet Caroline song… I felt a little less obsessed when I saw this card on the present table :)

Caroline was as adorable as always… She definitely enjoyed the birthday spotlight.

Lots of people came to celebrate with her, and she enjoyed every second. I think she likes the attention :)

Even with all the fun stuff going on, Baby Caroline still had time for a bit of Mommy snuggles…

The main event arrived…

At first Caroline wasn’t quite sure… She just wanted to share…

But when her dad snuck one of the grownup cupcakes onto the highchair, Baby Caroline turned intense.

But she still wanted to share…

How awesome are all of these expressions? She was seriously excited :)

Just don’t try to take away her cake :)

Happy happy baby girl. I can’t believe she’s already one! Such a fun day…

Christie and Nathan… I’m so excited that you guys let me spend this year with you. I can’t wait to see how Caroline changes over the next year :) I hope you guys enjoy your slideshow… and I can’t wait to see you again soon!

hugs

amber

Posted in babies, birthdays

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09.15.11

baby preston…newborn!

Three newborns in a row :) It was seriously a crazy week… I’m so excited about watching this babies grow up together :)

A couple of years ago, Nathan and I photographed Laurel and Trey’s gorgeous wedding… I can’t even begin to explain how excited I was when I heard from Laurel that they were expecting!

Baby Preston arrived the on August 25th. He’s perfect.

Apparently during Laurel’s ultrasounds, Baby Preston was always hiding behind his hands… he’s still doing it. Adorable, right?

They’re an adorable family, right? They kinda make me sick :)

Motherhood looks amazing on Laurel.

Sweet sleepy perfect Preston.

Isn’t he so sweet all curled up in Trey’s arms? I kinda wanted to steal him.

I love this scale shot… I can’t wait to see how big he gets as the year goes on!

Love the mirror in Baby Preston’s nursery. I’m pretty sure there will be quite a few images captured like this over the next year :)

Perfect baby feet :)

Baby Preston in his crib. He doesn’t really spend a lot of time here yet, but we thought we’d test it out a bit.

He’s really spending most of his time in this cradle… It’s been in Trey’s family for generations. I love when families pass down traditions like this. History is so important.

Trey and Laurel have an amazingly beautiful home. I loved photographing in it… the details are so interesting.

Can I say just one more time that this family is so adorable that they make me a wee bit sick? :)

It was time for Trey to head back to work, so I grab just one more quick shot before he left. Love this family.

One last shot of Baby Preston… I think this one might be my favorite.

Laurel and Trey, I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am for you guys… Baby Preston is perfect, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to document your life together. I’m SO excited to see you guys again soon. Enjoy the slideshow :)