Family: Santa Baby!

I've known Lacey for years. When my kids were babies, she used to always watch them for me when I went to her sister's house to hang out. She has always had such a love for kids and it is so awesome to see her interact with her own daughter, Kynadee. Everything just seems so natural for her. She has grown and matured into an amazing woman, and an even more amazing mother.

Barbara, aka grandma, is amazing with Kynadee also. She has had years of practice though with Lacey's older siblings. She definitely has that grandmotherly love for Kynadee; and you can tell Kynadee brings such joy to Barbara's life.

This session was so much fun. We spent the majority of the time just capturing special candid moments of grandma, mom, and daughter together. Kynadee was a ball of joy and happiness the entire time. I asked Lacey if she was always so happy and sweet and she said, "Yes, actually she is usually even happier!" I was amazed. She is one lucky first time mom! It was such a pleasure to be around these girls! Kynadee has grown so much since I last saw her at her newborn shoot. She is absolutely beautiful and looks so much like her mama! You can't ask for anything better to take pictures of then an adorable, happy, smiley, beautiful little girl.

I have been so fortunate this holiday season with getting to photograph the prettiest kids in our area. I look forward to watching all the kids grow over the next years of their life!


The adorable bow Kynadee is wearing, Lacey made. I was very impressed. It was so cute and went with her outfit perfectly.


Kynadee absolutely loved the book The Night Before Christmas! We were able to capture so many fun candids of her face while looking at the book. These were 2 of my favorites!

















Lacey's brilliant idea! I absolutely love that she came up with a fun idea for our shoot. Next time we will have more time to look for a better ornament without all the stripes!

Family: This might be the Duggard's new competition!

Olivia and Ryan started coming to me two years ago. I was amazed by them back then when they had 5 kids. All their kids are so well behaved and sweet as can be. Well this year they decided to take on another family photo session, but this time with another kid in stow. I was prepared this time around because I knew what this could turn into with there being six kid's attention I would have to grab and hold onto the entire time. To my surprisement it was awesome. The kids listen so well and were just as ready to get those awesome pictures as I was. I am completely in love with this family.

Last time I saw Olivia and Ryan was for Carmella's 1 month old pictures and now she is almost a year old. I can't believe how time flies. This session was kind of sentimental to me because the last family session I did for them their youngest at that time, Lynneah, aka Tinkers, was the same age Carmella is now. While we were walking around Olivia tells me they are thinking about going for kid 7. "WHAT?" I said. "Do you get money for popping babies out or something? Are you crazy?" Olivia responded, "Carmella was going to be our last, but you know me, if Ryan even mentions baby I am all over the idea." It takes an amazing woman to be able to have the kind of love for kids that Olivia has. I joked with them the rest of our time together that pretty soon they were going to be the Duggard's new competition! This session was a total blast. Definitely a breath of fresh air during my busiest season!







I made a promise to the kids at the beginning of the shoot that if they gave their parents some good family pictures I would let them play in the leaves for the majority of our time together. This was the perfect bribe and made for some great pictures.







Tinkers toting around her little sis Carmella, aka Piggy!





Chris has to be my favorite teenage boy ever. The two times I have ever been around him he has totally stole my heart. He has such a warmth to him. He was my awesome helper for the day. Thank you Chris!



Alissa has the most gorgeous eyes! I doubt she remembers but I actually met her for the first time when I was in highschool and she was in diapers. She has grown into such a beautiful girl.



Corinne is a sweetheart! Very quiet although each time she is around me she gets a little more talkative from the last time.



Haley also is very quiet. Her and Corinne both seem like the shy ones of the bunch. She has the most angelic look to her that I love to capture!



Lynneah is an absolute cutie! She hopped right out of the car and said, "hi Valerie I'm going to take pretty pictures today!" She is little miss movie star. She has always had a ton of personality and sass with a huge bucket of sweetness!



And little Piggy, who was all smiles all day! She looks exactly the same to me as she did when she was 1 month old!





I had to throw this picture in just because it was too stinking cute to pass up!

Family: Our pride and joy!

Janet contacted me about a month or so ago to have her grand daughter Peytan's pictures taken. She told me they have never done professional pictures before of her and were dying to get some. I was so excited that they chose me to capture their time with their little angel. We decided that Hart park would be the perfect spot for them. I was really excited to see that they brought the whole clan with them. We were able to capture so many great pictures of Grandma Janet and Grandpa Monte, mom and dad, and even Great Grandma Arlene came and got in a shot. They were a wonderful family to spend time with, and so friendly and loving, even towards me which is always a bonus. I really enjoyed my time with them.

Peytan was absolutely gorgeous. She had giant blue eyes that just soaked my camera right up. I don't think she can take a bad picture. She was all smiles the entire time which makes my job super easy. Shane and Ashlynn sure can make a beautiful baby!

Family: Through the years!

I love when I get to watch a bride and groom grow into a family. Nick and Rochelle 1st started coming to me when they got engaged. Since then I have had the pleasure of seeing them through their marriage, their pregnancy of their 1st born, their adorable newborn daughter Teagan, and now their first family photos. As they have grown I have grown. Each session I love more and more that they bring to me. Their wedding is still one of my absolute favorites.

It is so fun to watch Nick with his daughter. I remember back when they got married, him saying he didn't want kids and 3 years later he has the most precious daughter. You can see the daddy sparkle in his eyes. Rochelle has wanted kids from the second she got married. She has been a labor and delivery nurse for quite a few years so she was ready to take on the challenge of motherhood. She seems like an amazing mom for Teagan too. Oh and little Teagan, I could go on for days about this little cutie. I have spent the last 2 days trying to think of the perfect word to sum her personality up. Inquisitive is the best word I came up with. She was so into all of her surroundings it was almost impossible for me to get her to notice the camera. She was so serious only because she was so interested in everything else that nature could bring to her table and she most definitely wants to be completely independent. I remember even at her newborn pictures she was not like the other newborns I had taken pictures of. She was so curious about everything. I told Nick and Rochelle that they are going to have their hands full as she gets older because you can definitely tell that she is the princess of all in their family and wants to grow up way too fast. She was such a doll. I haven't seen her since her newborn pictures and could not get over how adorable she is. She has the most beautiful eyes and a ton of hair.

We attempted to get a good posed family picture during our shoot with everyone looking and smiling, but Teagan is my sort of girl; she loves making amazing candid shots more. This turned out to be one of my favorite family sessions this season so far. The 3 of them were so involved with each other and you could just see the happiness and joy that little Teagan has brought to this amazing couple.



I had to throw the 2nd picture in just because it makes me laugh so hard. Teagan absolutely did not want to touch the ground when she fell down and was so mad that no one would help her, while Rochelle is cracking up in the background at her. Priceless!