Cooper - 18 months.

I have a new friend, and his name is Cooper. We met last Sunday afternoon at the barn. He liked my horse.

Cooper's mom had contacted me back in January about scheduling a session, but the weather just hasn't cooperated. As soon as we had a nice weekend we made the most of it.

If all 18-month-olds could be so easy!   Cooper was great.  We had so much fun.  He also liked my red wagon.

I just downloaded this to my computer and did a quick once through to pick out a few for a little sneak peek for Cooper's mom, but this is an early favorite.

Hope you like the sneak peek, Mom! There's a lot more where these came from!

The Three I Call My Own.

Life is hectic. 

Life is crazy.

But every once in a while in the chaos that we call life in the Barnes household something will cause me to pause.  I think that something is Someone.  I think it is God.  And at that moment I am amazed that these three are mine.  I've been here the whole time, but sometimes I stand and wonder how I got here.  How and when I became the mother, nurturer, caretaker of these three amazing people.

Elizabeth.

Intelligent. Caring. Outgoing.  

I see parts of me in her. We share a love of the written word.  We are both resistant to change. But I see so much more in her.  I see in her so many things that I would like to be. She can be so very patient with her little brother. She is thoughtful, and thinks of other. She has an intense focus on whatever she is working on at the moment... a book, a game, a puzzle.  She isn't easily distracted. That is something I struggle with every day.

Molly.

Beautiful. Graceful. Loving. Artistic.

My middle child.  The one I butt heads with more. Maybe that is because we are alike in many ways. Stubborn. Dramatic. Yes, Molly may have inherited some of my worst qualities. She is harder on herself than she should be (something else we share), and is her worst critic.

But there is so much in Molly that I can learn. She stands up for herself.  I have heard this recently from her teacher. She doesn't succomb to peer-pressure. She is prayerful.  At 7-years-old she says some of the most beautiful, thoughtful, heartfelt prayers I have ever heard. She cares for others and takes time to do thing for others to show them that she cares. 

Stewart.

Imaginative. Adventuresome. Sweetheart.

He fills my days with joy.  His imagination is amazing. Even his sisters think it is remarkable. If I could have but a small portion of his imagination I could do amazing things. He is a lover. He shares hugs with everyone he sees.  He loves life and finds fun in everything. I need more of that.

These three.

 I am the one that is supposed to teach them, but I seem to be the one that has so much to learn from them.

Kendall and Carter.

Now that the holidays are over, the snow days are over and the kids are FINALLY back in school, I am getting caught up on some editing. I had several sessions before Christmas that I edited enough for my clients to have a Christmas card, and now I am busy going back and getting the rest of their images edited. So I cannot thank my friends Kristi and Jeff enough for being patient with me about seeing the rest of their kiddos' images.  I finished them up yesterday and thought I would post a little preview here.

These two kiddos make me smile.  It was very late in the season and we were looking for some trees with leaves still on them.  We went to the local fish hatchery because I had done a session there are couple weeks before and the leaves were gorgeous.  It was one of the few places still around with leaves.

This is one of my favorites of Carter.

And this is my favorite of Miss Kendall.

My girls and Kendall have been friends for a long time.  They have gone to pre-school together, taken dance together and now tumbling. They tagged along with me on this day and helped me get smiles out of Kendall and Carter.

I was so glad that Kristi decided to get in a couple shots.  As a mom myself I think it is so important to have photos of ourselves with our kids.  I really try to encourage this because I know I'm not in enough myself.

Thanks again guys for being patient with me. 

I have a backlog of sessions I need to post so look for lots more in the coming days! 

Christmas mini-sessions - Porter.

Sorry that I am running a little behind in my posting! This is the last of my Christmas mini-sessions.  Porter lives in Nashville and was celebrating his birthday the Saturday my mini-session were schedule.  He and his mom were in town the next Saturday for our town's Christmas festival, so we met that morning for a mini-session.

He was such a good sport and had so much fun exploring the farm.  LIke most 2-year-olds he is busy, busy, busy! 

But a candy cane managed to get him to sit for a few shots.

I was glad that we were able to get this shot.  It's always a favorite of mine.

Anna Lindsay, thanks for making the drive down. I'm so glad we finally got to meet!  Thanks again!

Christmas Mini-sessions - Bryan.

Bryan was my last mini-session of the day.  He told me as we were walking to the barn that his dad has polished his boots for it. :-)

This was one of the very first shots and I think it is my very favorite. We used it for the Christmas card.

I like this one, too.

Bryan is a 3rd grader and is a football player. He plays center for his team.

Bryan's best friend, Sawyer, had been there earlier in the day with his brother and sister for their card session.  Sawyer came back with Bryan, and I took a few shots of the these best friends together. Reminds me of my best friend and I at this age. This will be one to treasure in a few years.

Bryan and I had a good time and I had a lot of help from Sawyer getting  to smile!