It's amazing what eight months will do...

I am always blown away when I see how much babies change in just the first year of their life!  Here's a couple side-by-sides (or a top-to-bottoms, whichever way you look at it) of my cutie nephew Zach...he's getting so big and has such a great personality!  The top was from his newborn shoot and the bottom is from his 8 month shoot.  Can you believe it's the same baby!?

~Zachary 8 months old~

When I went home to California this March to visit family, I took the opportunity to do a mini photo shoot with my cutie nephew, Zachary. :)  He makes me so happy inside!  Here are some of the pictures from that day.

I am usually a fan of black and white pictures more than color for their classic look, but with this little boy's baby blue eyes, color is the way to go!

Love his cute little vans!

This little boy loves his mama (she's holding him in this next picture).

 

And now for my most favorite picture of the shoot that makes me giggle every time I look at it.  I call it "Grumpy Old Baby"

~Sneak Peek~ Oliver's Baptism 02.13.2011

Dane and I made the trip to Minnesota for his nephew's baptism in February.  Here's a sneak peak of some of the photos I took of Julie and Julian's sweet boy's baptism. 

The set of pictures below is all of Oliver's family giving him blessings and getting baptized.  The church was beautiful!

Dane was the godfather and Julie's sister, Karen, was the godmother.

Love his sweet little face!

Julie's mom handmade Oliver's outfit.

  

Oliver's shoes used to be his Grandpa Jerry's!  They looked brand new!

  

The sweet boy all tuckered out after his big day...he looks like an angel!

A big thank you to Julie and Julian for letting me take pictures!  Love you guys! XOXO

~Erica's Baby Bump~

When my sister called to tell me she was pregnant I literally cried with happiness!  I love my sister, well, like a sister and I was so excited for her and her husband.  These posts are slightly out of order because I already posted the pictures of my cutie nephew Zachary, but these photos are worth sharing.

Had my sister not gotten pregnant, I may not have made the choice to purchase my Nikon.  She was my inspiration to start experimenting with portrait and photo journalism style photography.

There is something so beautiful about a pregnant woman.  I loved being able to capture this beauty in my sister.

The next group of pictures are titled, "The Bump"  :).

 

No baby bump shoot can be complete without a sneak peek of the nursery.  Erica, her husband Matt, my dad and I put some good ol' DIY work into this one so it's worth showing off!

And since, as we all know, it takes two to make a baby, here are some final shots that include daddy.  ;)

~Sophia~

This baby girl has the sweetest little face!  Just last weekend, I had the pleasure of taking some newborn pictures of our friends' baby, little Sophia.  Her name is just as adorable as she is!  We were lucky enough to have some real life sunlight here in Dayton, Ohio which is not all that common so it was a good day.  Sophia's nursery has some awesome jungle animals that her dad hand painted on the walls for her...my favorite was the monkey.  :)  Here's just a sneak peek of some of the photos I took...Thanks Aaron and Meghan!

Karen

~Zachary Matthew~

Ahhh...babies!  Gotta love them!  This past summer, I was blessed to become an aunt!  I was lucky enough to still be living in California when Zach was born and was able to take these pictures when he was only 12 days old!  He just melts my heart!  Looking at these six months after the fact is so strange because he's a totally different baby now.  They just grow up too fast!

A little background on the monkey...my Grandma and Grandpa on my Dad's side gave my sister and I each a monkey when we were little.  Rickie's monkey is next to Zach in this pic.  Love it!

Here's a little sneak peak of the shoot...

Karen

Nothing like a Hawaiian Sunrise...

I'm not talking about some kind of yummy tropical drink, although that would also be nice.  :)  From my last post, speaking of photography capturing memories, here is one of my favorite photos that I have taken. It was the first morning that I was in Kauai with my good friend, Cara.  It was before my body had adjusted to the time change so waking up before dawn actually seemed like a good idea at the time.  That's saying a lot for this girl who LOVES to sleep in.  I woke up and walked down to the beach to find an amazing sunrise which got even prettier as it continued to come up over the mountains.  I think one of the biggest differences between sunrises and sunsets is the stillness that sunrise brings.  At sunset, the hustle and bustle of the day is already in full swing and it is hard to find yourself alone.  At sunrise, I was all by myself...just me, the sun, the beach, and my camera.  Ahhhh.... :)

This photo not only helps me remember that sunrise, but the entire trip to Kauai which was awesome and amazing and wonderful...can't wait to go back.

Karen