09/04/2026
Over the years with this family, there has been leaf jumping, we've thrown pebbles together barefoot in a creek, one year we picked pumpkins at a farm, we've waded in for big splashes by a lake...and this year it was running free through a corn field on a hot, summer morning!
I will always work for that posed family portrait to stick on the card too, but more than anything, I hope kids remember it being okay to be nervous and then being given the go ahead to RUN, laugh, play, maybe exploring somewhere new... maybe even just the popsicle you promised after ;) {look, it's not a bribe if you earned it, right??}
I *know* family sessions are stress...I do. I *know everyone probably complained about outfits on the way. I *know dad probably said at least one or 5 times that you guys could just take a selfie at the house. I *know that feeling when your hair didn't go your way after you'd spent all of your time getting everyone else ready. I *know you were calculating a strategy to leave lovey and paci in the car without your little one noticing and it may or may not have worked. I *know you second guessed if maybe you should have worn the other dress or chosen the other shirts you had laid out.
I probably can't lessen any of that before you arrive. I promise to at least do all I can to bring the patience, a little calm and hopefully some real smiles once you get there. And I love your families exactly as you are, in whatever stage or mood or moment I get to capture.
Here's to another busy family season... let's go all in on loving the real!
