Anne+Brian+Wyatt.

Anne and Brian are near and dear to our hearts. I’ve photographed Anne as a bridesmaid and a fiancee, as well as her bridal portraits AND her wedding, so I believe this is my 5th time photographing her if my very basic math skills are correct. ;) And this time she is a mother! She and Brian are the proud parents of the most adorable kid to hate hats this side of the sun. His name is Wyatt, and he is full of energy, inquisitive looks, and I believe I mentioned hatred of hats but it’s worth repeating. This kid hates hats. And much in the spirit of his feline brother Pippin (and cats everywhere), he didn’t want to do something simply for the fact that he got the sense that we wanted him to do it. This was evident by the small smirk on his face each time he plucked the hat off his head and threw it on the ground. Somewhere in the background I believe we heard the soft refrain of “I ain’t gonna be part of this system.”

In between sessions of throwing his hat on the ground, he walked around the arboretum and the sunflower field with his two loving parents and was freaking adorable. Look at that hair! Those overalls! He’s a peach. So, obviously, are Anne and Brian who are such sweet and loving parents! Can’t say I’m surprised as they’ve always been sweet and loving to everyone, but they have such a bond with this little guy. A bond strong enough to repeatedly try to put a hat on his head despite his thwarting them at every turn. And if that isn’t unconditional parental love, I don’t know what is. So happy and thrilled to be a part of this family’s continued photo history!

“I ain’t gonna be part of this system.”

At Home with Rachel+Kevin // Lifestyle Family Shoot

It is so much fun to have repeat clients, and even more fun when you get to see newborn brunette baby clients turn into blonde big sister clients who have a whole lot to say. We revisited the ever-wonderful Rachel and Kevin (whom you may know from their first newborn shoot with us a couple years ago) and joined them in welcoming new baby boy Jonah into their lives. This also involved reuniting with previous Baby Evelyn who is now Big Sister Evelyn. Previously, she had done a whole lot of sleeping and eating. Now, her days primarily consist of running frantically from room to room, hiding from you in a cardboard box castle, eating string cheese, and jumping on the bed because the photographer asked her to, thus creating a terrible downward spiral insistence to always be jumping on the bed that I suspect Rachel and Kevin might still be dealing with to this day (sorry guys).

Jonah is currently in the Whole Lot of Sleeping and Eating Phase so he’s slightly less energetic than Big Sister at this point, but I’m sure that he’ll progress to the String Cheese Phase in no time (and hopefully Evelyn will have forgotten about my bed jumping request by the time he gets there). A big thank you and congratulations to the wonderful Rachel and Kevin – you guys are awesome and your family is really cute.

Oyster Roast // Wilmington Family Photos

This family goes back so, so far with us and for that we are seriously grateful and humbled. We’ve changed a lot since we first started and to have them all stand by our side through all of our changes has been amazing! Dottie and Jon were one of our first ever wedding couples, and we bonded so well with both sides of their families at their wedding that we’ve all become Facebook friends and kept in touch ever since. :) So when Dottie’s parents (step-mother Betsy and father Donald) asked us to join them out in Wilmington for an oyster roast at Donald’s childhood home, we happily agreed.

Dottie and Jon would be joining them, along with their two children (Patrick and Ellie), and Dottie’s sister Mich and boyfriend Tony. Thug the Pug also showed up, sporting a sweater. Everyone hung around outside on a beautiful late winter day and let ourselves be amused by the (quite active and humorous) Patrick. Ellie was very cute, but gave me a profound frown 99% of the time (don’t let these pictures fool you – she didn’t like the camera one bit). Despite the baby not realizing that her family is cool with us, we had an absolutely wonderful time reuniting with this friendly and ever-happy group of people. It is SO COOL to see everyone’s family grow and change and to feel part of the family at the same time. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for always embracing and supporting us, Betsy, Don, Dottie, Jon, and Mich… and to Patrick, Ellie and Tony – we hope we didn’t traumatize you too much, and we’ll see you again soon. :)