I had the blessing of taking some pictures of Joanne and Shane’s beautiful gift from God, Chloe. Joanne and I have worked together over many years and her friendship has been such a source of joy to me. I have always admired her strength and faith in God. When I first got engaged, she was so helpful with the wedding planning process. When I first found out we were pregnant, she was so helpful with answering my questions and listening to my worries. I am so lucky to call her friend.

Here are some photos from our baby session with their beautiful baby girl, Chloe.

Joanne’s sister also recently had a baby and we got to get some cute photos with Baby Bella.

Joanne and Shane, thank you for having me! I can’t wait for our baby girls to play together!

I just love returning clients. Their sessions always feel like seeing old friends and you spend the time just catching up. Heidi and Scott were such a great family to shoot last year if you remember from their post here. It was such a treat to see how much their sons, Max and Merik, had grown up in the past year! Adam and I had such a great time at Salt Creek Beach and then romping around the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point with the Adlers.

We were climbing trees…

…tying up Mom…

…making sure it’s real tight…

…running on the beach…

…pausing from playing in the sand every once in awhile to smile for the camera…

…snuggling with Dad…

…holding hands…

…giving hugs…

…enjoying the view…

…and climbing walls!

Heidi and Scott, thank you so much for sharing Max and Merik with us again for an afternoon! We had such a blast!

At every school there are substitute teachers that sub so often that they are just a part of the family and you don’t really ever see them as otherwise. Lisa Adams is not only a proud McMillin parent, she happens to be part of the McMillin family. Having one of her twin daughters in my class a couple of years ago was such a treat and I was so honored when she asked me to help get holiday photos for her family. So we headed out to Imperial Beach and had a great time playing in the sand and sun - the beauty and essence of my home sweet home, San Diego.

I always wanted to get “under the pier” shots. Loved these.

We wanted to see if Bryce could go faster than my camera could capture him. I think my camera won.

Lisa with her 3 kids - Cailee, Bryce and Cassidy.

Some sibling fun.

There was this huge mound of sand, so what better to do than to jump off of it?!

Lisa and Brent, thank you so much for spending a sunny afternoon with us! We had a blast with Cailee, Cassidy and Bryce!

Hands down this was one of my favorite family sessions of the year. We drove up to LA to shoot at the Nelson family home and we were so blessed by Melissa and Lonnie’s little boy, Cameron. He was SO cooperative and loved being in front of the camera. Lonnie told us that Melissa has taken thousands of photos of their son ever since he was born and that Cameron is well-trained for taking pictures.

Cameron is such a happy kid and we were so blessed to share an afternoon with him. The Nelson family home is filled with so many family photos and I feel completely honored to be able to add to them with this session.

Cameron was so stylish and well-dressed. Adam kept saying how jealous he was of how Cameron’s better dressed that he is.

Slam dunk!

They had a change of clothes and wow… doesn’t father and son look so debonair?

So handsome!

Not only did they both have pin-stripes, they were matching all the way down to their shoes!

And one of just mom and dad.

Melissa and Lonnie, thank you so much for having us and sharing Cameron with us for an afternoon!

I believe that God brings people into our lives for a reason. Last year, when Adam and I were hosting a small group, we had ONE couple show up. Just ONE. And even though they were the only people on the 1st night, they came back for the rest of the 10 weeks. Even though we knew absolutely nothing about parenting (but wanted to learn from Chip Ingram’s DVDs), they kept coming back. When our small group ended, Jan and Carlos joined our other small group and now we can’t imagine our small group without them. They have blessed our lives so much with their wisdom, prayer and encouragement.

We got together for a family session in Coronado with their son, Angel. We have gotten to know Angel at our small group over the past year and I knew going in that it would be a fun-filled afternoon. This was definitely one of the most energy-packed sessions I’ve ever had! If Angel wasn’t being twirled, spun, or thrown up in the air, he was running or chasing. I was definitely tired afterwards! I’m guessing that life is never boring in the Guerrero home.

This is definitely one of my favorite views of the city that I love.

One of the few still shots. Definitely my fave from the day.

Jan and Carlos, thank you so much for being such a blessing in our lives!

I am such a sucker for baby blues. Or baby browns. Or just babies in general. I don’t what it is about the eyes of children, but they just make my heart melt. Adam and I had such a great time with Rachel and her beautiful baby boys, Grant and Colten, at Balboa Park. It was such a blessing to be able to share in and capture some of the abundant love that just pours out of Rachel’s heart for her babies.

One of my fave shots from the day.

And one with Grandma Nancy!

Rachel, thank you for sharing your boys with us for an afternoon of fun!

I knew it would be dangerous going into this shoot. Not because I’m afraid of babies, but more so because I’d be afraid of wanting to have my own baby after getting to see Charlie. I was right. Should have known, my intuition is hardly ever wrong. While editing the photos, I couldn’t help but gush.. constantly over just how cute Charlie is. This is not good for Adam and I.

Charleigh and I work together and it has been such a blessing to be her friend. I can’t believe that it’s almost been two years since Adam and I were celebrating at their wedding. Every time I’d see her at work while she was pregnant, I couldn’t help but just smile because I was so happy for her, but also a bit envious of her beautiful pregnant glow. Being able to get a sneak peek of her new family with baby Charlie was such a blessing to me because I got to witness firsthand the joy that is just overflowing from the Sights household. I am so incredibly happy for Char and Brandon and their beautiful baby boy.

Who could say no to that face?

Can you just feel my heart melting? *sigh*

All of these animals were hand painted by Char and Brandon. It’s absolutely amazing. Wow.

Thank you Char and Brandon for sharing Charlie with me for a little bit! He is so precious!

Daniel had me tag along with him on a family shoot in November. I finally got around to blogging them! We went out to Point Loma Nazarene University for the afternoon shoot.

We had such a fun time with them. Little Hamilton was quite stubborn at first, but I think I won him over when I let him tackle me to the ground in the grass. And little Ayla? PRECIOUS. She was such a ham for the camera! Plus, Mom and Dad were so awesome! You want me to throw her up in the air for some shots

A cute brother & sister shot.

The stunts photographers go through to get that perfect shot! Daniel on top of my SUV. What a rockstar!

It’s raining babies!!!

I love how Ayla’s got her dad tackled to the ground.

Thanks for having me tag-along, Daniel!

Heidi and Scott came down from Orange County for a family shoot here in Coronado. You could tell how much love filled this family because of all the little intimate moments throughout the shoot. It was really a blessing for Adam and I to be able to spend some time with them. I had so many favorite shots, it was really hard to narrow it down.

Max and Merrick were absolutely adorable. I am such a sucker for baby blue eyes. Put a beautiful baby with bright blue eyes in front of me and I will probably do ANYTHING you ask me to. These two boys just made my heart gush.

When I asked Heidi about her two sons and she answered that they love things all boy - cars, trucks, mud.. I knew I was in for a really fun day. Wanna run around in the grass? Oh yeah. How about in the sand? Yup! Let’s try to get sand in all our crevices!!! Woo hoo! Max loved the helicopters, sirens, running fast, ducks in the water, chasing the seagulls, picking up seashells, and so much more. They were such a delight to shoot. You could tell that these boys were home at the beach and just loved playing in the sand. I wonder what would happen if we had let them loose in the water?

We walked around the ferry landing and then headed down to the beach by the Hotel Del Coronado. The day was absolutely perfect and we were thankful that God kept the fog at bay until the shoot was over.

Beautiful San Diego skyline.

My favorite kid photo. EVER. Love it.

Love this father and son moment.

Merrick looking over the bay.

Max intrigued by the ducks in the water.

Could this get any more perfect?!

Max picked a flower and then presented it to his mom. Is that sweet?!

Handful of sand? Hmm… how did it get onto my pants?

The family, pre-sand.

And not only were they cute, they were so well-dressed! Look at these All-Stars! Did you know they made them so small?

My favorite shot of Scott and Merrick. Just love the emotion in it.

Flying baby!

TOUCHDOWN!

You looking at me?!

Say cheeeeeese!

Heidi and Scott, your family is so amazing. Max and Merrick are such beautiful boys! Thanks for sharing an afternoon with us! I hope that you two have a fabulous run at the Turkey Trot and and a joyful Thanksgiving!

Special thanks to Ann Pasquini for referring me!

Chris is one of those guys that you just love working with because no matter what is going on, he never fails to give you a genuine hello and smile. Even when everything around us seems chaotic and out of control, Chris is calm and collected. Being someone that wears my emotions so close to the surface, I deeply admire Chris’ ability to not let petty things get the best of you. So when he asked him to help get some family shots of him and his family, I was more than happy to somehow give a little back to someone that pours out compassion and kindness each day.

We headed out to Mountain Hawk Park in Chula Vista. What a beautiful park. It overlooks Otay Lakes and has rolling hills in the background. We had a great time rolling around in the grass and playground. It was such a treat to spend time with Chris, Clay and Tanner. Tanner was such a trooper throughout the whole shoot!

Tanner did such a good job of wrestling Chris to the floor!

Tanner on the go!

I loved this series of photos of Tanner up on the shoulders!

Easily my favorite shot of the day.

Wasn’t he just delightfully handsome?

Chris, Clay and Tanner… Adam and I were truly honored to be able to spend some time with you to capture some photos. Thanks for having us!