Happiness...

What does happiness mean when you are six months old?

Is it your favorite bejeweled pacifier?



Is it lounging in your princess crib?



Or could it be...finally being big enough to share a book with your older sisters?



Baby sister Ella had her second session today as part of her baby plan, and despite the torrents of rain and depressing lack of natural light, we had a wonderful time! Happiness is evident in this household, and it was such fun to sit back and just watch this family enjoy one another.

And in case you were wondering...happiness, to me, is napping in the daytime while it pours down rain and thunder grumbles overhead.

What a wonderful day!

Here comes '07!

We are home from our Christmas vacation to California (where it was 70 and sunny and gorgeous all week....but we paid the price with our hideous flight home).

I'll be home and away again several times throughout January, but will be checking in now and again.

Ruthann and I are working on fun, new plans for 2007...including finalizing our framing selections, dates for next year's mini sessions (think spring, summer, and fall), new goodies (like gorgeous jewelry), and a referral system that will let you earn print credits for sending friends our way.

We hope everyone enjoyed their holiday cards, and had a wonderful Hanukkah and Christmas! We did (both) and are trying to recover. I have received sweet emails from wives all over Dallas loving the gifts their dear husbands put together...and grandmothers too! Thank you for allowing me to play Santa!

That being said, emails and phone calls are slowly being returned. I do plan to take some serious time off to enjoy my kids while they are out of school, but will still be around.

We are currently booking late February and early March, so think ahead for those spring portraits!

Have a safe and happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday! Enjoy!

Care to be quoted?

Dallas Child is looking for a few quotable mommies for an upcoming article. Interested? The email I received is asking for outspoken mommies. Surely there aren't any wallflowers out there? Of all my mommy clients I'm hoping a few will submit their thoughts!

I'm working on an article for the Feb issue about older versus younger moms: is there a rivalry there? What are the main causes? How can it be overcome, etc? It was suggested that I contact you to see if you had any Dallas-Fort Worth area mommy friends (preferably outspoken ones, as many moms seem to down play the fact that this exists) that might be willing to answer a few questions via e-mail on the subject?

As a 30 year old Mommy...and I young? Old? Middle of the pack? This makes me wonder where I fall.

But I digress. Send Tessa an email senior.editor@dallaschild.com and give her an earful!

Jen

First comes love...

Marybeth and Anthony are a week into what my sweet husband calls 'the engaged high'.

I met Marybeth last year when she sat for our family through the awesome agency we use (cannot recommend them enough). She found herself coerced into staying late one night to help me package christmas card orders...and funny enough, never came back (though I think she left the agency to go back to school, I hope I didn't scare her away).

That experience led to a sweet email last week letting me know she was engaged, and would I be available to take some engagement photos for their Christmas/We're engaged card. I fired back a response that I was officially closed for the season...BUT...if she didn't mind a quick 15 minute session in the alley behind my home I could fit her in.

They trusted me enough to ignore the trashcans and obvious 'alley-ness' that is back there...and we dug around and found some truly amazing textures, perspectives, and red berries (I jumped up and down when I saw the red berries!).

Now, I love kids. I truly do. I love babies that have pee-pee accidents and that curl into warm little fuzzy balls. I love toddlers that drool and walk in the opposite direction of where I want them to go. I love kids with missing teeth and teenagers with gawky smiles.

But can I say, really softly...that I think I love engaged couples too?

(Shhh! Don't tell the babies!).

New arrival...

Have I mentioned how much I *adore* births? C-sections, inductions, epidurals, midwives...love them all!

Last night I got 'the call' and after just a few hours of labor, baby Joseph arrived at 1:12 this morning. His mommy did an outstanding job at achieving the unmedicated delivery she wanted, and I am humbled to have been invited to witness their second son's arrival into the world.

Welcome, baby Joseph! (and a big 'thank you' to your parents!)

January is in the air!

Who needs December when January covers are already in the works?

This morning was red-headed-cutie-pie-girl day! Also known as the January cover shoots for Dallas Child and Fort Worth Child.

These girls were simply adorable, and we had such fun!

Caitlin is our Dallas cover:

and Kelsie represents Fort Worth:



Even her little sister got in on the fun!

Makenna

Sweet 4 week old Makenna and her almost three year old brother Jackson were our motivation for braving the icy roads (read: insane drivers) this morning-and when you see me jumping for joy during your session you know you are in for something good.

That particular image is probably going to be their Christmas card, so I'll save that (for now)...but the rest are just as 'jump for joy' exciting, and so I had to share!











And in case you thought you were the only family that has to cajole, threaten, bribe, or pander in order to get your kids to cooperate, you're not alone! I've decided that along with the jumping pictures I've been gathering this past year, I'm going to start snapping these little moments too-how priceless is this interaction? (and I know you...the reason you're agreeing and laughing is because you've been there!)

Digging out from the great blizzard of '06

(or...not)

regardless-the kids enjoyed the "snow" outside, and I got a chuckle out of this video. Enjoy!