It’s been a hot pandemic minute since I reunited with the lovely humans that are Beth and Darrin! Last time I photographed them, they were accompanied by Willow the Sweet and Fearful (hound?) and Rooney the Cutest Dog Butt (fluff). I’m so happy to say that Willow and Rooney are still doing wonderfully and once again joined us for this shoot! Only this time we took photographs at home, so we were also joined by Maeby the Beautiful and Skeptical (cat) and Beth and Darrin’s joyful and active little boy. His favorite activity involved LOTS of jumping off the bed while giving a high-five in mid air and then landing in a giant pile of pillows only to cover himself up and pretend he wasn’t there to make his parents find him. Second favorite activity was running laps around the kitchen and giving people high-fives as he went. As you can tell, high-fives are a staple in this house (and cheddar bunnies). It was so fun to photograph these creative and wonderful humans and their sweet animals and I’m now inspired to paint some of my own garden rocks.

I’ve known Madison and Tyler for many years through Janice at Big Dog Little Bed and have photographed Tyler a few times for his videographer work there. But this was my first time photographing Madison and Tyler not only has a couple, but as parents to their sweet little boy River. River is SO CUTE and also VERY COOPERATIVE AS A BABY MODEL and also LOVES TO SHOVE SWEET POTATOES IN HIS FACE. He’s fun. He smiles a ton. We taught him how to play a tambourine. He did some swing dancing. He hung out on a backyard hammock. River’s living his best baby life over there. And who can forget Margie the Dog? I painted a portrait of Margie once for my Familiar Dolls side business along with her brother Vernon, and while Vernon is unfortunately no longer with us, Margie is thrilled to have River around. She is an incredibly sweet pup who loves attention and cuddles and insisted that I take at least 5 minutes out of my working schedule to sit with her on the couch (I did). Really she insisted on more than 5 minutes but I had to work and she’s still not over it. We had such a good time together in their beaaaautiful home (that yard!). And now that Geoff’s joined Tyler’s baseball team, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make up for lost Margie time.

This session was so much fun. I’ve been waiting to meet sweet Maya for a while now and she did not disappoint in her adorableness. This baby is so cute. SO CUTE. One of her favorite things is intentionally falling down on her parents’ bed repeatedly, and also looking at herself in the mirror while sitting in the dog’s bed. She is just fantastic and so are her moms, who I missed so much and was so glad to reunite with! We read books and swung in hammocks and ate bananas and gave cheese to pups and rode in wagons while singing songs about riding in wagons. It was a truly hot day, so we made two brief ventures outside before we all said “nah” and stayed indoors instead. Maya kept us all smiling and laughing despite the heat and our sadness of how Succession is over. I’m so glad I got to photograph this beautiful family in their gorgeous home at this stage in their lives! Plus I learned a new song about wagons.