the cutest baby age.

A couple of weeks ago our good friends, Doug and Kristi came over with their little man. He's seven months old. And this is the age I go a bit ga-ga over. They smile and are curious about everything! His momma set him on the quilt and I came over with my big black Nikon in my face and "click!" - he just looked up at me with those big sweet eyes. He was so interested in me taking pictures of him. He made my job so, so easy.

Those blonde curls...
That hair...

So glad to spend time with these friends. Some of you may remember Kristi from our weekly Linked Project in 2012.
Thank you, sweet friends. We'll have to do that again soon!

the friends that are family.

This family is like family to us. Eric and Rob grew-up together on Mercer Island. They've known each other since the time they were Max's age. Eric has always considered Rob a brother, and in a way, they really are brothers when you see them together. And all these years later we ended up moving to the same little SW Washington city that they were living in, Camas. The girls have called Eric, Uncle Meis, for years...and then we got married and I became Auntie Meis (doesn't have quite the same, cute ring to it...) Those girls love Max like the brother they don't have, and Max loves Miss A and Miss H like sisters he doesn't have.

It's a rare and beautiful thing. They're a gift, really. Those friends who would do anything for you, and you for them - no questions asked.

It was an easy shoot - our friends that are family.

Thank you, Afflecks.

xo

silly girl.

More from this family session to come...

three times the baby cuteness.

A friend who I know from my bookclub days had triplets back in January. Three times the cute little fingers and toes and bellies. It was a pleasure getting to capture these little faces. :)

(That's a lot of bottles!)

a first.

A dear friend of mine asked me to take photos of her family awhile ago. Like, months ago. I kept saying, "Maybe..." I had all sorts of excuses - I had never done family photos before, I wasn't familiar with editing with Elements... I warned her that they might not turn out that good. She asked me once and I thought maybe she'd forget. But she kept asking. So I decided to dive in and take-on my first family photo session. And thank goodness my first session was with a good friend. They made it so easy for me.

I love this one.

Cute little smile.

Another favorite. (You gotta love those mossy rocks.)

I learned a lot from this first photo session. From the photo shoot to the editing. (I learned that being a perfectionist makes for lengthy editing. lol.) Perhaps the biggest lesson learned is that I need to trust myself and my skills and talent, just as my friend did. She saw it in me long before I wanted to believe it was in me. Thank you, Anna.