I met this family at a tiny little park near their home. It’s their favorite park because of the HORSES! These two love horses so much, they even brought their “my little ponies” to the shoot. So sweet…

love the “swinging with mommy” moment!

and then… as the rest of the family (and myself) were watching the big water fountain, I turn around and this little one is posing on the steps. So cute, I can’t stand it!

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

A beautiful morning in the park with little Claire… We shot in Forest Park early before it got too crazy hot (what is with this hot summer! Usually only Liz complains about that out here, but I’m with her this year). Anyway, Claire was so easy and fun to photograph – she was full of smiles, and loved the little chair I brought so much, she wanted to sit in it at every scene change. Ha. Usually when I bring the chair, I have to really convince the kids to try it out ; ) She is also THE sweetest two-year-old. I mean literally the sweetest – after the shoot she went over to my bags and props to hand them all to me so we could go. How cute! She is going to make a GREAT big sis to her new baby sister arriving this November. Yeah!

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

Once a year I shoot a day of mini-sessions for the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis. They use the photos in their yearly calendar and for some marketing pieces. I always have a great time doing these and this year I couldn’t have asked for 5 better families! Seriously, you were all an absolute joy to photograph – a few times I had to stop shooting because I was laughing too much and my camera was just giving me blurry photos. I need a laugh-shock-absorber on my arm sometimes. Well, here is your sneak peek – just a few photos from each family – many more to come!

Thanks again for a great day!

St. Louis Children’s Photography and St. Louis Family Photography.

We had Sculpture Park almost to ourselves last weekend for this shoot. It’s a fun little park to shoot in, with lots of hidden spots. You should check it out if you’ve never been.
So… to be honest, these two little sweeties were not having the best morning, and ended up coming down with awful fevers that night (never fun!) … but we did get to see a few smiles during our shoot. So, Mom & Dad I hope you’re happy (and pleasantly surprised) at your sneak peek!

St. Louis Family Photography.

It’s a month of multiples. Triplets last weekend, and two sets of twins scheduled this weekend (but this morning got rained out. boo.)
This session is from yesterday when it was nice and sunny, well, hot and sunny. These two are seriously the most “chill” two-year-olds I’ve ever met. They are so sweet and did such a great job cooperating with us in the heat, as did Mom and Dad ; ) You guys are great! Thanks for letting me capture your family for the morning.

(those first two shots feature some new ‘graphic overlay’ art options. If you’re interested in something similar when ordering prints, just let me know!)

OK, seriously, how cool is this hat! So suave. And I love her little flip flop toes sticking out at the bottom of the bench : )

Yep, that’s right – this Mom and Dad has not one, not two, but THREE one-year-olds to chase around their home! I got to photograph these three back when they were only a few months old, so it was fun to see how much they’ve grown. They are just as cute as ever, and did such a great job while we sped through our shoot today – changing outfits – locations all over the yard – drawing – throwing streamers – blowing bubbles – all before lunchtime. It was a good play date!

Hope you enjoy the preview Otte Family : )

(Liz, since I still had your three vintage suitcases in my trunk, they came in awfully handy today!)

How much fun is this three-part wagon!

And how cute is this… Charlotte kept trying to eat the bubbles like they are snowflakes ; ) so cute!
(and really, at the end of our shoot, we were probably wishing they were snowflakes)

Then we had a little steamer party. It was pretty fun chucking the streamers over the pergola like we were TPing the house.
(I was pretty good at that back in high school. hee hee)

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

Today was my first day back shooting from maternity leave… although I’ve been shooting plenty at home, so my trigger finger was still “warmed up” and ready to go. It was a beautiful morning outside for July in St. Louis! We wandered around Tower Grove Park to capture little Brooklyn celebrating being one year old. We had some smiles, a few frowns, but absolutely all cuteness!

just watching the bubbles go by … (I love that curly hair!)

and then a big yawn! … had enough bubbles for the day.

time to fly with Mommy …

and swing with Daddy. (for my first time swinging. yeah!)

Then one quick splash with Mommy before we called it a wrap…

Hope you enjoy your preview!

(And a quick thanks to my Mom for babysitting a little longer so I could get this blog up : )

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

This post makes me want to remind you all that Mother’s Day is coming up in exactly three weeks – Sunday, May 9. (and is actually the day after my baby’s due date). Do something special for your Moms this year! They mean so much.

I got a sweet note from this Mom in my ‘Client Info’ form asking that I just capture the special bond that these two have together… and boy do they. They were so fun to watch interact with each other. I really could have just hung out with them all day and taken photos.

by the way… if anyone wants to use this tutu in a shoot, it’s a new prop of mine so just ask me to bring it along! (thanks steph!)

St. Louis Children’s Photographer.

Meet Lilly. She is so sweet and full of energy. She was 6 weeks old at our shoot, and past that “newborn” stage, so I really had to keep my finger on the focus to keep up with all her little moves. She was awake, alert and ready to check out the world … exactly what she’s suppose to be doing! : )

St. Louis Family Photography.

A sneak peek for the Muffo family…
We met up at Union Station downtown for a little photo fun, and even though it looks like spring time in these photos, there was snow on the ground outside that day. These little cuties are 1 and 3-years-old, so they kept me on my toes for sure trying to stay in front of them. I’m sure they keep Mom and Dad busy all day : )

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

Here is Addi at her “sitting up stage” session.
sidenote: I usually tell clients to not worry about the “6 month date” milestone, and capture the “sitting up” milestone. You’ll get so much more variety in your photos if your little one can sit up around this happy age.

I had so much fun photographing this little doll. We shot around Forest Park in a few indoor locations, as it was way too cold to venture outside for this one…

I love this. We could not get the giraffe out of her mouth, no matter how hard her mom tried to put it out of reach. But that’s why I love it : )

St. Louis Children’s Photography.

These blue eyes are just intoxicating! I’ve had the pleasure of photographing this little guy three times during his first year of life, and these blue eyes get me every time … and his contagious little laugh. Here are a few of my favorites from his 1 year session …