Micah the little man - Lake Merritt

Micah, Micah, Micah. Spending an afternoon with this kid left me with this one thought - Micah will forever have a special place in my heart. He's that kind of kid. :-) He's got so many tricks and acts up his sleeve that he kept me on my toes the entire three hours we hung out! I watched him race his sister who is twice his size and listen to him tell us how he won when he had actually trailed her by nearly 10 feet. I watched him make friends with complete strangers and tell them he would see them on Facebook. I played tag with him, and when I would get too close to tagging him "it" he would turn around and face me with one hand on his hip, the other hand with his finger pointing at me, "Stop! Be good!" And then dash off laughing hysterically.

Micah was accompanied by his wonderful parents John and Lisa and his beautiful older sister Mazvita. I'm used to showing up to a shoot with the mentality of getting straight to work - fire my shutter a few times, pose the baby, fire more shots, pose again, and so on. Micah was my first full grown toddler, and I thought it would work the same way. OH BOY was I wrong! God bless his mother Lisa for suggesting we have this at an open park and treat it more like a picnic and play date than a photo shoot. I had no idea how fast these little boys are and how long they can play without taking a break. In fact, I can't remember if Micah ever took a break.

Here are some photos from our headshot session. Thank you, John and Lisa, for the opportunity to spend time with your family and especially with Micah. We're now friends as he likes to tell people! :-)



Cool guy sucking his thumb



The beautiful family. Micah would only smile because we said this photo was for his grandparents.





This is his peek-a-boo face. I know, not your typical peek-a-boo, right?



He told me this is the face he makes when he pretends to be sad. WOW, what a trickster.



Sibling love



Mazvita, his beautiful sister



He really liked Mark's sun glasses.





I asked him what he was going to be for Halloween, and he said Bob Marley. Then he struck his Bob Marley pose. I just had to post the comparison - too cute!



Isn't Lake Merritt so beautiful?!

Baby Paige at four months

Life has been busy busy busy with remodeling my blog and working on 100 other things on top of recovering from what my doctor believes was vertigo. I know, vertigo?! Anyway, I have been super excited for a while to post Paige's beautiful baby session from last weekend. Paige was one the most giggly little babies I've photographed - she laughed at all her daddy's goofy faces, her mom's baby talk, and she especially laughed at all of us clapping. Yes, clapping is a new secret weapon to all those new mommies and daddies out there!

I've known Gina for a couple years now since we both work at the same company. When she was pregnant with Paige I don't think there was a time I passed by her where she wasn't smiling. One time I stopped her and told her, "You are glowing! You look so happy." Her eyes smiling and her grin bigger than ever she responded, "I am! I am so excited and happy; it's unbelievable. I can't wait 'til she gets here." It's that kind of whimsical happiness that makes me love this job so much. New parents' undying love for their baby is infectious to everyone around them. Gina and Ben are no different. Their tag team efforts as first-time parents are comical and cute, their laughter with Paige's every giggle is contagious, and their proud faces as Paige discovers her toes for the first time is absolutely endearing.

Gina and Ben, I have not a worry in the world that you two are going to be the best parents this little girl can ever ask for. Thank you for letting me witness some of those moments and freezing them in time.



Rain boots that don't quite fit, yet.



What gorgeous genes...



We stuck her in a teeny tiny storage basket with her bunny, and she fit! So cute!





I absolutely love little girls in pettiskirts!



This one came out a tad too blurry for my taste, but I just had to post it because Paige looks so cute in her bare bum!





Tummy time! One of the very few I caught her not pouting. :-)



Paige's expression is priceless here.







"Hi, guys!"



Gum-filled baby smiles are my favorite

Happy Halloween!

I LOVE Halloween. L-O-V-E it. My love for this fun "holiday" doesn't have anything to do with raging in a teeny tiny loin cloth or anything; it's because the kids get dressed up and are EXTRA cute during this time of year! Today our company hosted it's annual trick-or-treat parade for the employee kids, and they were AH-DORABLE!!! I missed a couple kids, but that was because they were hiding behind their parent's leg or hiding in general. :-)

Happy Halloween, everybody! Be safe and have fun!

I'll be back soon!

I've been battling a weird flu, and each day this week I've been extremely fatigued and nauseous. Stay tuned for Paige's and Micah's posts! I post process photos every minute I feel a new surge of energy. :-) Told ya I loved this stuff!

Sneak preview: Micah at three years old

Meet Micah. This kid is seriously a riot to be around! At the tender age of three he's already got a bag full of jokes and tricks and even some Bob Marley songs up his sleeve! I can't wait to edit his photos - he's absolutely beautiful!

Here's a sneak preview of Micah laughing. He met a few bikers whom he befriended, and they told him to add them on Facebook. This is Micah's reaction:

Sneak Preview: Paige at four months

I really want to post this sneak preview before I become a hermit and battle my flu. Paige's mom Gina had warned me she might be a fussy baby, but this beautiful little girl was everything but fussy! Well, except towards the end when mom and dad made her wear her pink bunny costume. But c'mon, could you blame her? Paige did a great job smiling, sitting patiently in baskets, and being just too darn cute!

More photos to come!

Excited!

Mark and I are currently restructuring my blog and I'm TOTALLY excited to launch it. I'm not sure when this will happen, but it will be done before Thanksgiving. Mark is no computer science buff, but he sure knows a lot about the technical aspects of this business than I do. I secretly look up acronyms he and his friends throw around so I look a fraction as smart as they do when we discuss tech news. Yea, they really do discuss tech for hours at a time during occasional dinners in the city. I'm not gonna lie, it's inspired me to be a lot more tech aware from which I realized is a deep love I never knew I had.

I'm quite blessed to have a husband who's so smart he doesn't even know it, loves me to death and makes sure he tells me every single day, AND on top of his consulting work someone who really wants to help me grow in my own career. Last night I had complained that his check list for my business was way too long and overwhelming and that I just needed more time to get these things done. Mark said it best when he responded, "That's why YOU are the master creator and I am the executer! We are going to make a great team!" I couldn't help but laugh because it's all so true. I dream up these big, colorful ideas, and Mark makes sure there is logic behind it and that it happens. How did I get so lucky? :-)