Another glorious family photography session with Bread Boy, his brothers, and his parents! I meet a lot of kids, and usually they’re extremely energetic or extremely cooperative, but they’re rarely both (I say this with love). All four of these boys actually are both, and they’re truly some of my absolute favorite wild yet cooperative subjects. I don’t think I’ve ever explicitly posed them – they just pose for me. All of them – including the one year old. They were all just born knowing how to pose. All four brothers will pose themselves and smile directly into the camera for 2 minutes, and then scamper off into various directions to cause mayhem and mischief, and then suddenly all end up in a different spot, arms around each other, smiling delightfully into the camera again. It’s truly wild. They are hilarious and full of life and LOVING life. They just spent some time in France and when I asked them how their time was, they replied, “Je suis une pizza,” which just means “I am a pizza.” They then put on fake mustaches, sat on the couch, put their arms around each other, and smiled for the camera.

I always love photographing self-professed “nerds” because I am also a nerd and usually we can talk about nerdy things together. Kelsie loves musicals, Neal loves board games, they both love ridiculous movies, and so naturally several recommendations were passed between all of us for a bunch of nerdy stuff (everyone – go watch Solarbabies if you want to see something truly amazing and ridiculous). Just felt like being home photographing these folks. Their house is adorable and they have two beautiful and majestic doggos, Tonks and Granger, who became my best friends. Their son, who is a JOY, was quite the smiley and happy photography subject, especially when it came to eating sliced cucumbers, which are his favorite. Loved working with all of these guys and having a photography party in their amazingly wallpapered bathroom.

It was so much fun to meet this beautiful family! Sarah and Ryan have a newborn baby girl who was four weeks at the time of this shoot and who did a stellar job modeling in a variety of adorable outfits (also swaddled in an adorable Chicago-themed blankie). She’s being carefully watched over by her two older sisters, a Goldendoodle named Bella and a Bernadoodle named Daisy, who absolutely love their new addition. Bella and Daisy also absolutely loved me, and the feeling was mutual. They are such sweet pups! They did their best job modeling for photos alongside their new sister in their very gorgeous home. Everyone was so excited for Baby Girl’s arrival and for her photoshoot, and I’m so glad I got to be a part of documenting the early days of their family together.