I know I used to dream of it, and I am sure at some point we all did...having our pick of whatever we wanted at the ice cream counter...not having to decide on just one, every flavor you wanted piled high on a fresh waffle cone...
ummmmmm!
With the baby coming this April we wanted to do something very special for Noah's birthday this year so when we where discussing options the idea came up to have an ice cream party at the house for Noah (yes...
Kilwin's brings it to you!).
It's become a little tradition to create custom invitations for the kid's parties so I talked to the wonderful Dana at
Kilwin's about my idea with a piled high cone mini shoot for Noah's party invites. She loved the idea as much as I did so we started planning!
As we drove to
The Towncenter after picking up the kids from school, we wrestled with the fact of being told that Noah was not on his best behavior with his teachers today (don't let that angel face fool you- he's a tough little guy!). But we really didn't have a choice because the baby could come any day and I just had to get this done before she arrives...so, we had a nice long discussion on the way about what it takes to be a good boy :)
Once everything was ready he was actually a little hesitant to take it himself...after all, he decided all he really wanted was chocolate and it was heavy and HUGE-ha! So with the promise that he could give it to Hudson when we where done taking a few pictures and then he would have his own little cone...he accepted the deal.
The shop was bustling with customers for "Waffle Cone Wednesday" (
BOGO Free) and the boys drew quite a few laughs as everyone watched how they reacted to the large stack of sweetness in front of them.
When we where finished, Hudson and Daddy where more than happy to help take care of the ice cream so Noah could finally just focus on his own ...
It didn't take long before the larger than life cone needed it's own bowl and by then Hudson was slowing down on what he could eat.
So not wanting any good treat to go to waste...I traded him my camera for a few bites of ice cream and here's what Hudson captured...
At first, Noah did not want to have his picture taken, but as you can see he came around and asked Hudson to take one of him and Mommy :)
awwww, there's our sweetie pie No-N0! Hudson is actually getting very good and I have given him the rules with Mommy's camera and now he's off and running!
After hamming it up for
Hud, Noah wanted a turn with the camera. This is even more hilarious than Hudson because the camera body itself is pretty much bigger than Noah's little head so it's all he can do to keep it up to take pictures. But over all he did a great job of capturing these funny faces of big brother and the stool and floor (he just kept going down, down, down with the weight of the camera but kept taking pictures the whole time)...
Look out...I may have two little handsome assistants at my next shoot :)
Here's a preview of what we are currently working on as we kick off this year's Fall Family Sessions :)
After the the family groupings, we had fun with the girls on the beach. Gracen posed for me on the boardwalk while I "warmed up" my camera to get ready to chase them in the sand...this was one of her still moments- ha, she's always so much fun!
...and after her big sis gave us a few still moments, little Miss Leighton was excited to do the same.
One of my absolute favorites of the girls- I just love them to pieces!
I cannot say enough good things about Jennifer and Adam!!! So sweet, funny and the kids are such cutie pies!!!!
Here's just a little more to get you through the weekend- full post coming soon :)
Hope and Missy had just that in mind when they scheduled this very special session to surprise their Grandmother with pictures of all the Great-Grandchildren. 
What a special and unique way to celebrate family!
In addition to working with a great bunch of kids, I was also excited to see and photograph 
it seems like it was only a little while ago we spent a morning at the park celebrating his first birthday (we had a special session with him after and just wait until you see some more of this cutie pie!). He and his cousins where just a joy to work with and warmed up to the camera pretty quickly...
Open 
It was actually drizzling a bit when the first few images where taken but we did not let the rain stall our plans- the kids where on a roll and having such a great time. We wrapped up with plenty of sunshine and sore cheeks from smiling and laughing so much! This shot was the last with just the kiddos having fun and making silly faces :)
I am so thankful not only for wonderful clients like Hope and Missy that are so loyal and loving but also treat me as family... 
Welcome to the world Baby!!!
I don't know how they did it (because we never could) but Natalie and Kevin wanted to be surprised at the birth so they did not find out before hand if they where having a boy or a girl. I was even more impressed with this great feat given the fact that 
We had so much fun with 
I love the little knitted hats that the babies get now in the hospital. Knitted by hand by volunteers, what a wonderful keepsake!
It's hard to pick only a few favorites because let's face it babies are just so darn cute and little 
Her 
This is what we ended up with and I am so thankful for the 5 wonderful minutes they allowed me to capture their wonderful playful spirit. I didn't want to overdo it so we did what they wanted 
and when they wanted to move on (aka wrestle in the grass...that's what we did)