Happy New Year!!

Family | Mine!

My niece and nephew haven't received nearly enough attention on this blog for as much as I have been able to see them this year. Shooting weddings in Missouri has been such a treat as it meant monthly trips back to see these two. So here's a post just for Quinn & Addie - the best little kids around. These photos were from my trip home for Thanksgiving since we had our first ever California Christmas this year!

Luckily I had Jake with me this day. Quinn decided smiling wasn't his thing until Jake convinced him he could shoot lasers out of his hand. This will make any 3 year old boy perk up.

Quinn has spent the majority of his life being photographed so apparently he looks for spots for photos as well. While I wouldn't normally pose a kid in front of an empty pool like this one, I made an exception when Quinn hollered "Hey Erika, you gotta get a picture of this!"

This photo fills my heart with joy. I don't have a lot of pictures of me and Quinn since I'm normally behind the camera but I gave my Dad a quick tutorial and he captured this shot. The funny thing was that almost all of the photos were out of focus - except this one!! I love it.

So I have to admit that I stole the idea of crafting a tutu for Addie from Cheryl - super mom, mother of triplets. Mine didn't come out quite as quite as hers but Addie still rocked it.

This girl loves life.

Mom and Dad have managed to be under-photographed as well. I told them they needed a photo shoot while I was home. Dad agreed to 16 or less photos. He didn't know what he was in for.

Aren't they cute? Props to them for celebrating 38 years yesterday! Nice work, guys.

My fantastic family. Mom, Dad, Matt, Tia, Quinn, Addie, and Jake - Thank you for being the most amazing family I could ever ask for. I love you all. Looking forward to taking more pictures of you all in 2010.

Sweet little Ethan!

I love going home for holidays because there are always sweet little ones either in my family or my husband's family to photograph. Over thanksgiving I got to meet Ethan for the first time and fell in love. They warned me that he's a bit shy with new folks but Ethan and I became fast friends and we had a great time snapping a few shots.

Proud Mama and Papa, Erin and Larry!

Don't you love the sweater?!?

This was completely un-posed. He just went over to check out what's going on outside. Or as my nephew would put it, "look at the world".

Triplets! | Adalyn, Benjamin & Caleb

I had the great pleasure of meeting three brand new babies while in Missouri for Thanksgiving. Adalyn, Benjamin and Caleb are absolutely precious. They were so sweet that it was hard to put down whoever I was holding to take pictures!! The triplets did a great job for their first big photo shoot, although they are already asserting their independence. It was pretty tough to get a shot in which they are all asleep, all awake, all with a pacifier or all without. It's going to be so fun to watch these three grow up and see who they become!! Congratulations, Cheryl & John on your BEAUTIFUL family. Thanks for letting me in for a few days of photo fun!

Most shots I took were of all three but this shot of sweet little Adalyn was too cute to not post.

Cheryl found this tag on a gift bag and thought it would work well as a prop! I love it!

30 little toes!!!

Such a cute family!!

Family | Martha, Chase & Mitchell

Last week I made a whirlwind trip to Missouri to shoot Mary Pat and Josh's wedding and to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Luckily trips to Missouri usually mean catching up with some old friends as well and this time was no different. Martha and I have been friends since we were little kids, making it so much fun to finally meet her little kid and take a few family pictures for them. Mitchell is absolutely adorable and THE fastest crawler I've ever come across. I was completely worn out at the end of this session! Here are a few of my favorites taken on the Mizzou campus!

Mitchell wasn't so much into sitting for a family photo so we worked it out where he would start from behind Martha and Chase and we'd snap the shot as he made his way through them. Worked out pretty well!

But really he was more content to just get to sit and play without the hassle of pictures :)