Down on the Farm ~ Chicago North Suburbs Child Photographer

Although I live in Illinois and primarily shoot here in Lake County, I took a trip "home" to Florida this fall and while I was there I offered up a few fall mini-sessions. It was so lovely to be able to shoot in the warm Florida weather surrounded by lots of green grass and warm sunshine. I met up with sweet Ella and her family at Going Green Family Farm (coincidentally, in Lake County, Florida), so I had a little geek out moment when I saw Ella and her mom's awesome boots ready for some farm action. (Well, sort of. We didn't ride any tractors or horses or anything, but there were some curious chickens and a pony keeping an eye on us.)

p.s. I just *might* be headed back to Florida in 2013, so if you're interested in setting up your own Florida session, let me know and I'll update you when I have more deets.

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun ~ Lake County IL Family Photographer

When the mama of these three boys called me to book her session, she informed me that this would be their first "official" family pictures ever. EVER. Um. No pressure. I need not have worried, though, because these guys ROCKED IT. They were just the funnest. As the mama of two boys myself, I had a blast. Throwing rocks. Making poop jokes. Showing off my freaking AWESOME dance skills. For real. AWESOME. And the family? Oh yeah, they had fun, too. No, really. Check 'er out!

Baby Shores v2.0 is ONE!

Indulge me for a moment in a little mommy time, will you? I cannot believe that it has been over a year since our little Cooper made his (early and quick) entrance into the world. What an amazing blessing he is to our family. And what an awe-inspiring realization to see that in the span of one year, our little baby has gone from this:

to this:

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. More of Cooper's newborn pictures here, six months here, and nine months here. (And, although I've only shared them on my personal FB page, I did do a monthly growth series of Cooper. This is the last picture, but sometime soon I'll get my stuff together and share the whole series together.)

So how do you celebrate the first birthday of someone with such a sweet smile and such smoochable cheeks? With a Good Day, Sunshine party, of course! Sticking to the yellow and blue theme that has permeated Cooper's first year (even down to his nursery, more on that here), we had a sweet and simple sunshiney party for our sweet and sunshiney baby boy. Join in the fun and enjoy a few snaps from the day:

And to wrap things up, a snap of mini Cooper S. in his new Mini Cooper S. How freaking cute is that?!?!