Grandma Junie turns 90!

So as far as grandmas go, I really hit the jackpot with mine. My mom's mom, Grandma Margaret, lives in California, has 7 children, countless grandchildren, and will be turning 90 in January. She still goes on cruises and travels around like she's got nothing holding her back. She's hilarious and a main contributor to my red hair. She's a firery redhead that'll love you with everything she's got and put you in your place all in one breath. Gotta love that. My dad's mom is Grandma June, and she had her 90th birthday Saturday June 26. She has 11 children, and a whole heckofalot of grand/great grand children. Up until a few years ago, she'd greet her guests at the front door with the energy of a 20something, and have her Heineken in her coozie just the same. But, let's face it, having 11 children and triple as many grandchildren can make one very tired. So now her guests come to her, as they should! She's about as Southern as they get, and has some incredible stories to tell. If I tried to list all of her accomplishments or impressive stories, I'd be here all day. So I'll just tell you this: She's an amazing lady, who has led an admirable life, and has raised 11 children that make her so proud. She's the Head of this big Irish family, and Saturday, we all gathered at my parents house (my dad being the oldest of the 11) and joyously celebrated her long, blessed life.



Each family was able to take pictures with her, and she sat there and smiled like she was Angelina Jolie, but with much less attitude. She was glowing, and was the perfect subject for celebration. Here is a few with all of her children. 6 boys and 5 girls. Goodness.









Then, there was this cake. Holy moley, spicy guacamole. This cake was enormous and oh so delicious. MMMmmmm.... Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate....butter cream..... raspberry filling... deee-lish-us.




I have to share a few favorites from the day. One of all of my brothers and sisters and mom and dad and grandma! (Sean, Me, Colleen, Mom, Dad, Danny, Kelly, Robin, and Grandma June in the front) Shout out to my ah-mazing hubs for taking such a darn good picture!



My ridiculously good-looking niece, Cailin.



And my also ridiculously good-looking nephew, D.J. I'll be doing his senior portraits very soon, and I can't wait. He's all looking like a grown up these days, so I don't know how I'm going to handle "Senior portraits" but I'm going to do my best.



She still parties. Total 90 year old rock star.



And my gorgeous mom. She's just the very best Mom you could ask for, and everything I hope I can be to my girls.

Sometimes its hard to believe...

Its hard to believe that I've got two baby girls of my own. Its hard to accept the circle of life, sometimes. That I won't be in my 20's forever. That one day, I'll have a wrinkled old face, that has smiled, and cried, and laughed, and frowned. And these two gorgeous little lovely sweetie-pies will likely be the cause of much of it. I swear, Maggie on her own has given me a few wrinkles. The child never slows down. And as far as naps go, she usually plays so hard throughout the day that by 3pm she's worn herself into a fit, and drops wherever her batteries run out. She's a mess, that one, but I love her so much. Let's try the "Anatomy of a Temper Tantrum" again. The last time it was too blurry.



Sometimes its also hard to believe there is more to being Almost Two than temper tantrums. There's peek-a-boo with Mollie and Mommy.




And even though she's still a baby, she's such a little mommy. She's sweet, and careful, and "Shh, shh, shh's" her babies. She snuggles up in mommy's chair with her baby, and her other little baby, and her Zoey doll. I love the way she says,
"So-ee."



And then there's this. Maggie, meet Blue Popscicle. He will stain you until we give you a bath. And Daddy will henceforth call you "little smurfette."



Oh, special Shout Out to Grammy in Virginia. She sent us some absolutely fabulous Diva Slippers. Maggie wears them around the house all the time. Mollie and I have matching pairs. Pictures of that hilarious-ness to come.




And then, there's my sweet Mollie. I just love this age. She's interacting, laughing, playing... rolling, yelling, scooting. She's just itching to jump up with Maggie, and run around.



I know I am so biased, but I just fall in love with this little pat-a-butter everyday. She's so good, and she thinks we are positively hysterical. It usually starts with a smirk...then works into a big full smile...then...wait for it...there it is... She throws her head back when she laughs!



Oh, my two munchkins. Can't wait to see what life will be like when you are partners in crime and have a brother to boss around. Heaven help him.



And my darlings, as crazy as you make me, I look foward to the laugh lines you'll give me.

Double Your Fun! A Double Post.

The D-Boys. And their fabulous Momma, too.

There is just something about a set of brothers. It doesn't matter how far apart or close in age they are. It doesn't matter if they don't like the same things. It doesn't even matter if they are totally different and don't have a single thing in common. Because even if they think they don't, they do.



They both giggle when their momma says something funny. They both look at her so sweetly like she's the very best Mom they could ask for. They both start laughing hysterically when their mom says something to embaress the photographer (me)....but I couldn't get upset because when people find someone genuinely funny, they have very genuine smiles. And those are the very best in photographs. So, I took the embarressment and went with it. And the beautiful, happy 4th grader, and the cool, witty teenager emerged from the stiff, uncomfortable boys that we started with. I must admit, I was very impressed by their pictures right from the start, because, well, have you seen their eyes??!






And its not just their eyes. These guys have the most charming smiles, and they really jumped through all my little "photography hoops" without a single complaint. Except maybe that it was hot. Because, doggone, it was HOT outside!





And can someone please tell me what the chances are that we, whilst wandering through Old Towne, would happen upon a gorgeous restored F-100 with an incredible paint job, complete with flames down the side and a fleur-de-lis license plate on the front? Well, that day the stars must have been aligned. I can't think of a better background for this dude.





And lets not forget the aforementioned Momma. Jen works with me as a nurse, and is hilarious. We sort of feed off each other throughout the day to make the time pass. She's a great nurse and a super-great Mom. Beautiful!!







Thanks so much, Jen! Hope you like!

As far as fly girls go, this girl is fly.

Mindi needs little introduction. But I will offer one nonetheless. She has been one of my best friends since we were juniors in high school. She's positively hilarious, and an incredible performer (acting, singing, you name it). She's a timeless beauty, and these pictures totally prove that. Stunning is often the word that comes to mind. We've been through so much together, and through wanting to kill each other a few times in college, we've emerged better friends than ever. She's unique and bold. This is Mindi.


















This was my first time shooting a grown-up, and I enjoyed it so very much, I wonder if this will open a new door in my photography? Thank you, my darling Min, for being so gorgeous and making this easy :) Love you!!

Lately.

Well, lately in Louisiana, Southeast Louisiana to be a bit more specific, its been...in a word... hot. And not just regular, "oh my gosh its hot outside." Its been, "Step out the front door and your glasses fog up, concrete buckling, water in the pool too hot to swim because it feels like a bathtub" hot. Example:





So as far as the girls and I go, we aren't outside a whole lot. We are doing a lot of coloring, cartoon watching, snack eating, trips for ice cream, playing on the floor of the living room. We are perhaps the definition of fair skinned, my two girls and me. We, with our red hair and freckles, our pale white skin, and our tendancy to burn walking to the mail box, prefer not to subject ourselves to near heat stroke conditions all for the sake of summer. And on a more depressing note, it smells a lot like oil outside and that doesn't exactly make me want to keep my toddler and infant out for too long.



So, inside we stay. And we've been taking some ridiculously cute pictures. Mollie seems to be quite the little ham when it comes to mommy putting a camera in her face. Its like she knows to smile when she sees mommy's phone out. She's becoming such a little delight, and her little personality seems to be as sun-shiney happy as they get. Well for a 4 and 1/2 month old, that is. And this morning when she woke up she still seemed so sleepy. I knew she had been teething for the last few weeks, so we've been loading up on the Orajel. Naptime came today and as far as naps goes, my kiddos have never impressed me. Well, today, Mollie went down for her nap and 2 and 1/2 hours later when she woke up, there were two tiny little teeth poking out of those itty bitty gums. Turns out she was busy during that nap! My darling Molly Kat is growing up waaay to fast!!!!





And Maggie.... Weelll, I guess you could say Maggie's in a stage. She has developed this habit of responding to the word "No" with such a temper tantrum. She's got the most dramatic little fits going on, you just would not believe. Par Example:


I can't help but laugh when she proceeds with her little chain of events. She's definitely a little daddy's girl. She's mischevious, and sometimes the child just doesn't listen. But, she knows she's got us right where she wants us. She'll be 2 in August, and I can't believe it. It feels like yesterday when I was holding this brand new little girl in my arms, and now I have to beg for a snuggle. I just wish she'd let me get a few good pics of her. But lately, I have had no luck.

We hung out with my sister and her little ones the other day. I've taken pictures of her littlest before, Miss Audrey, and a few of little Shane. But I must admit, Miss Emma Louise just loves the camera. And the camera loooves her.






And here's some with little Mr. Shane, too! Love these beautiful little chirrens!







Hope everyone is having a happy-go-lucky, oil-free summer!

So Sweet. The S family.

My favorite time to take pictures is in the early evening, when its still very light outside, but the sun is on its way down. The trees and grass cooperate so perfectly, and get this lovely glow. And it just puts everyone in a nice, happy, sunshiney, summertime mood. Well, for this shoot, I hoped for this glowing, warm light. The players in this shoot were destined to give me incredible pictures, but that glow always makes things somehow...better. Well, that sweet sunset glow I was looking for did not deliver. It was a funky, gray, overcast, just plain yucky afternoon. Thunder rumbled as I packed up my Jeep with all my props, and little tiny specs of rain fell down on Maggie and Mollie while I loaded them up. I was really hoping we wouldn't get rained out. I was getting stressed out, nervous, and so annoyed at the thought that we would have to reschedule last second- I know how hard it is to get multiple children bathed, dressed, hair done, shoes on, and all packed up-- so the thought of asking Momma B to do it all again didn't make me very happy. But all of that fear, nervousness, doubt..everything, just melted away when these little supermodels hopped out.



I never realized how much big brothers really do love little sisters, until Mr. Kyler smiled at his little (twin) sisters, Laney and Lily. And they just adore their Big Brother, and you can see it all over their faces.



Mr. Kyler did a great job of posing with his sisters, and was really going beyond the call of duty. So, we let the twins play with Momma B for a second, and I took some shots of him, by himself. I gotta say, there is something about his face that just SCREAMS magazine cover. He's got this "All American Boy" look going...but in an "I'm really Irish" sort of way. And those EYES!









And then, there's the twins. Laney and Lily are positively Osh-Kosh precious. And I couldn't help but feel like they were having their own little conversation without saying a thing, pretty much the entire time I was with them. They didn't have to say a whole lot, because I think we all agree, twins pretty much "get" each other. These twins seriously do. And man, are they beautiful.





And then there was this idea their momma had. A tea party. With twins. Oh, be still my heart.











And this family picture makes my heart melt. You can see why the little ones are so beautiful by looking at Momma B. They are such a gorgeous family.



All in all, even though the sky was gray and not giving off happy vibes, these little ones made happy vibes all on their own.