Just a reminder to all of those interested in scheduling sessions…  with April showers comes the start of my busy season. What little remains of March is mostly booked up except for a few weekday openings. April weekends are almost completely booked up, although I do still have good availbility for weekday sessions and particularly newborns due in April. May and June are now starting to book as well.

All of this is simply to say that if you are looking to do a session in the near future, and particularly if you are trying to hit a specific milestone, please contact me as soon as possible for availability and to secure your date.

And on a more fun note, a quick picture from my recent camping expedition with my husband and sons:

Camping overnight with an almost-3-year-old and a 4-year-old is, well, interesting. But we survived. Bug bites and all

Are you ready? Because this “secret” is hardly a secret to anyone who has had a child/family photo session. Or to any photographer.

The secret is that they almost never go as quickly or as smoothly as you hope they will. Almost every session there’s a snag. Maybe the kids are fussy or tired. Maybe they’re being silly. Maybe they’re just a little rambunctious and excited. No matter what the reason, the end result is that they’re typically not doing what you want them to – sitting still and smiling at the camera!

As the session progresses, and despite my reassurances, I can see Mom and Dad getting a little frazzled. A little frustrated. And inevitably someone says, “You must have the patience of a saint.”

So I’ll let you in on another secret:

I do.

With other people’s kids.  You see, I can completely empathize with Mom and Dad. Because I have two uncooperative children of my own. And I assure you, when you think that your children must be the most difficult kids I’ve ever photographed, I can honestly tell you that they’re not.  Because mine already have that title sewn up and in the bag.

Every year I’m painfully reminded of just how hard it is to be the parent and try to bribe, cajole, trick and threaten your child into compliance when I attempt our own holiday photos. And every year I end up frazzled, frustrated, exhausted, dejected, discouraged and ready to sell my children to the first band of traveling gypsies that happen to cross our path.

I’m kidding about that last part of course.

I wouldn’t do that to the gypsies.

We’re making attempt number three at our family photo session tomorrow if the weather cooperates. Yes, I said THREE attempts to get holiday pictures of our family. To explain why three sessions are necessary, I’ll simply offer up to you Exhibit A from Attempt #2 :

Yup, that would make my husband and I the only ones looking at the camera. Dylan is apparently quite taken with the grass. And Logan is fussing and mashing his head into my face. Fun times.

But you know what? It’s my family. And it’s pretty true to life. And it makes me smile. So maybe it’s not a complete failure…

My guys, ready for the big night last night! Dylan was sooooo excited to finally wear his dragon costume after days of asking me if it was time yet. Logan on the other hand quickly acquired the title of The Cranky Cowboy.

just because I love my boys – all three of them.

My sweet, stubborn, wild and wonderful boy is two today and growing up much too quickly.  I can see the babyness fading from his features right before my eyes and it makes me so sad.

He is my “mini-mack.” He approaches life with all of the enthusiasm and subtlety of a mack truck. Fear? Not this boy (unless you happen to be a bug, lizard, frog or itty bitty turtle).

He approaches everything with a fierceness that’s hard to describe. A hug from Logan can take your breath away. While Dylan will happily cuddle for hours, Logan is more of the hit-and-run type. Not content to sit on my lap for any length of time, he wants to get his hug or kiss and then get on with it.

His laugh is loud and joyful. And his temper is Irish all the way. He has no patience for TV, but loves books and will pester you to read to him for hours. His vocabularly is growing by leaps and bounds and even developing into full sentences, but he gets sooo frustrated if you don’t understand what he’s saying.

He loves animals. Especially ducks, alligators and owls. And he loooves his chenille baby blanket. He commands you to say prayers with him before he’ll go to sleep at night. And he wants to do everything big brother does (much to big brother’s consternation.)

He demands that you put down his window the minute you get in the car (ironically by yelling, “up! up!”)

He’s my good eater, but demands “chocolate” (milk) and “ap-pel joo” from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed. He calls all dogs “Nola.” He can smell candy a mile away.

He loves to sing at the top of his lungs.

He refuses to hold my hand when we’re walking.

He hates getting his picture taken.

Happy second birthday my wild thing! I love you.

Okay, not really. But things do seem to have gotten a lot more country-ish since we moved to our new house on much-less-than-a-green-acre. Every night my boys delight in the frogs and toads that hop onto our front porch. (Dylan thinks the frogs are the “babies” and the toads are the “mommies” and “daddies.” It’s so darn cute that I haven’t corrected him yet.) And today we found a new visitor…

Isn’t he cute? The boys were enthralled. Until he started moving around. Then Logan was petrified. I’m not sure what he thought an itty-bitty-slow-as-molasses turtle  was going to do to him, but  apparently it was bad. Very, very bad.  Maybe it’s a ninja turtle.

I guess it’s just luck that I happened to take some snaps of the boys just the other morning- perfect for a “Mine on Monday” post!

Now I can’t post these images without a little bit of background. This “session” was a spur of the moment thing Friday morning. The boys were still in their pajamas and I noticed how nice the light coming through my bedroom window looked. So I quickly threw our very wrinkled white comforter on the floor and bribed my boys with cookies to lay down on it. The bribing worked wonderfully with Dylan, who at 3.5 definitely thinks laying on a blanket for a couple minutes is worth the reward of a few cookies. Logan on the other hand… not so much. He just wanted the cookies. And wanted them NOW. Forget the blanket.

I started out this little endeavor with the intention of getting one wonderful and classic black and white shot of my boys together. That idea quickly flew out the window! The minute I had those two boys on the blanket they thought it was time for some sumo-style wrestling. Definitely not the serene, soulful image of brotherly love that I had envisioned. But perhaps something even better. A series of my boys just being boys. Being themselves. Candid. Silly. Laughing. Mugging for the camera. Sometimes serious. And playing together.  I love them.

What day is it anyway? Tuesday? Wednesday? I’m not sure anymore.

Anyway, a number of my photographer friends have recently started doing “Mine on Monday” blog posts as a way to routinely share their children and families on their blog. I loved the idea the first moment I saw it. In fact, I loved it so much that I immediately added it my list of “weekly blog posts I should do to be a more interesting blogger but that I know I’ll never get to.” Yup, it landed right above “Ten on Tuesday” and below “What to Wear Wednesday” on my list of things I should do, but will never keep up with. At least I know myself well, right?

But just because I know I’ll never get to it on a weekly basis, or probably ever on a Monday, doesn’t mean I can’t at least try once in a while. So with that in mind, here’s my “Mine on Whatever Day It Is Now” post:

Exhibit One: This is what happens when you put a cranky, overtired toddler in time-out. Poor baby!

Exhibit Two: Proof that it doesn’t always mean bad things when your child is quiet. (Just almost always.)

My Loganberry, gearing up for Mardi Gras. Kevin took them to the Little Rascals parade last weekend and beads have been BIG in our house since then.

1) that Dylan always says, “I love you too.” Even if you didn’t say it first. I especially love when he says, “I love you too sweetheart.” How cute is that? He makes my heart happy.

2) that if you show Logan a photo with him in it, he points to himself and says, “Baby!” Dylan always calls Logan “Baby” or “the baby” and apparently now Logan has adopted it as well.

3) that Dylan announces the emotional impact of every decision made in our household. No more apple juice today? “That makes Dylan sad.” Going to the playground today? “That makes Dylan happy!” And yes, it’s always announced in the third person.

4) seeing Logan attempt more and more complex words. And he does so well with them too – “alligator” and “octopus” among them.

5) how every meal – be it breakfast, lunch or dinner – Dylan tells me he wants fish sticks, green peas and dip. (All he really wants is the dip… aka ketchup!)

6) how Logan only wants mommy to pick him up out of his crib in the morning. If Kevin goes in to get him, Logan lies back down and pretends that he’s going back to sleep.

7) that Dylan loves to cuddle. Every morning tells me, “I want to sit with mommy.” And he does. He just wants to sit on the sofa and cuddle until he’s fully awake.

that whenever you ask Logan if he’s sleepy, he vigorously shakes his head no, even if he can barely keep his eyes open. I ask him several times a day now just for the fun of it.