NO.

That was the response every time we pulled out his costume over the past week.  As a last ditch effort, I took him to the firehouse down the street Halloween morning to show him the uniforms that hung on the wall of the house and talk about how firemen can’t fight fires in their PJs.  A fireman spotted us and opened the door.  Immediately Fiver was smitten by this man and went full cherub on him (i.e. big eyes, round face, perfectly pursed lips, polite nods).  ”Do you want to see my fire jacket?”, the fireman asked.  ”Do we?  Indeed!” I replied (Fiver nodded).  ”You know, firemen…”, he began.  ”Poop on the potty?!”, my son interjected with great hope, reaching for a common thread between himself and this amazing man in uniform.  (Well, 85% of the time anyway.)  ”Um, yes, we do”, the fireman recovered.  He showed us his uniform and Fiver promised he would wear his for trick or treating.

Then, the golden hour of trick or treating was near.  Out came the costume….

NO.

So what do you do as a parent?  You want them to experience something really cool and you know its only scary because its new.  But you don’t want to traumatize your kid by hammering your own values of fun onto them either.  So here’s what you do.  You bribe them.  ”Let’s practice trick-or-treating”, said Sam as he handed out a piece of candy to Wonder Woman (aka Merit) and a giraffe (aka Cadence) when given the correct prompt.

You wonder, sometimes, how you measure up in the game of parenting and out of nowhere your kid announces the score.  When Sam turned to our son and said, “Now what do you have to say to get the piece of candy?”,

He said, “Please.”

Needless to say, that one piece of candy pushed him in the right direction.  We never got the suspender pants on him but he couldn’t be bothered, he couldn’t get his boots and jacket on fast enough.  And he did get the hang of saying, “Trick or Treat” pretty quickly.  And for one hour of one evening anyway, we turned the lens on our life.  Hope yours was just as happy a Halloween…

Posted by Mel @ 7:35 pm, in Personal, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

Remember Jessica and Kim?  Their adorable son, Kellen, made a rather big entrance into the world at close to 10 pounds!  He was the baby that the nurses liked to wheel around the delivery ward and show off… “look at how big THIS one is!”  At two weeks old, he is a big deal indeed.

I love Kellen’s room with its bright, cheery aqua walls and handmade accents.   As a mom, I definitely think that decor that hangs from the ceiling of a nursery trumps anything you can put on a wall since babies spend so much of their infancy looking UP…  the wall stuff is more for us than for them.  So of course, I love the handmade balloons above the crib with colorful, matching stars above the changing table.  The bright green dresser and modern rocker make perfect accents:

Speaking of handmades, check out this blankie made by grandma.  Be still, my crafty heart.

The leaves on Kellen’s rocker seem pretty appropriate for a fall baby!

We tried so hard to get Kellen to sleep.  So hard.  You wouldn’t believe the tricks we pulled.  And finally, after much cradling, rocking, shushing, swinging, eating, and then more cradling and rocking and shushing, he was out.

And then he was up:

Pretty short lived.  But don’t worry, he got lots of cuddles:

The nice thing is that I got to take a crack at cuddling Kellen to sleep myself, which was by far the best part of my day.

Congratulations to Jessica and Kim on such a beautiful little boy, I loved catching up with you both.  Here’s a slideshow and the online gallery, I’m so happy I get to watch this little big guy grow!

Posted by Mel @ 7:00 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink

I love shooting for Amber and Justin.  In addition to the fact that their son is Adorable (yes, with a capital “A”), they are amazing parents who have no trouble loving on their son as though I’m not even there.  Which makes capturing that love a piece of cake.

How’s this for the definition of “Little Boy Blue”?

If there’s a problem with having a smiley baby, its that you come to expect that winning grin all the time.  I learned that Eli is an uber smiler at our beach shoot not too long ago so I think all of us came into this session expecting to see dimple.  Eli, on the other hand, wanted to mix it up a bit and show us his more serious side.  And this wasn’t a bad thing…

…because it made us play harder.  Which made everyone else grin a little bigger.  Well played, little man.

Most of the time I edit out the drool.  But in this session, there were two drool shots so impressive that I couldn’t bring myself to Photoshop a thing!

Perry the cat made cameo appearances throughout the shoot.  And as cat people know, you just can’t make this stuff happen:

Just like baby chub peeking out through summer dresses on little girls, I’ve got a special love for tiny feet hanging out of pant legs on baby boys.  Baby pants might be the most ridiculously adorable invention.  Especially when they have functional pockets so that babies have a place to keep their keys and their smokes.

Here’s the shot where I said to Eli, “So, man, what are you in for?”

Then he got the joke:

Eli still naps best in someone’s arms.  So nap time became a special photo op.  I especially like the suitcase in the corner, it makes me wonder where slumberland took him.

Here’s a slideshow and the gallery and many, many thanks to Amber and Justin for their hospitality, especially the “broken” sugar cookies.  An accident?  I think not but I was clearly a beneficiary.  Be good until the next shoot, you three.

Posted by Mel @ 6:48 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink

I think Amber wins the award for “best daughter-in-law ever”!  For Tracey’s birthday, Amber had the idea to give her the gift of a family photo shoot during their yearly beach vacation on lovely Chincoteague Island.  My  favorite photos of our parents with my son were taken on a beach vacation so I know what a great gift this really is.   I was very excited to tag along for a day.

I met the crew at the house to take some preliminary shots before we made our way to the beach.  Joining Eli’s parents and grandparents for the shoot were his aunties, Kiley and Simone, as well as Kiley’s boyfriend Noah and Simone’s friend Eliza.  It was here at the house that Mark, Justin’s dad, made the discovery of the flapping burp cloth.  Eli couldn’t resist giggling at anyone waving the burp cloth around in the air.  Actually, no one else could resist either!  For the rest of the day, everyone took turns entertaining Eli with that burp cloth.

Tracey, a.k.a. Eli’s Nanna, won my heart right away because each time I took a picture she would say, “yay!” in a small voice with such sweet excitement.  Eli was due for a cat nap when I arrived so it was the perfect time to get some sleepy shots with Nan in a onesie she gave him.

Then it was off to the beach.  We started on the marsh side where water channels weave through tall sea grass, making up much of Chincoteague’s distinctive landscape.

I love this shot with the aunties:

And of course, his grandparents:

As the sun dropped lower into the sky we shifted to the ocean side to enjoy the beautiful blue water.  I like the reflections in this big group shot:

My favorite part of the shoot were all the candid shots of family just being… family.

As I drove over the bridge off the island on my ride home I witnessed the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.  I’ve been to some exotic places but it happened right here in Virginia, my own home state.  Here’s a slideshow jam packed with way too many photos (all in the gallery here too) but what can I say?  You guys are pretty good looking.  I’m so excited to take Eli’s “official” six month photos at the end of the month so stay tuned for more of this little cutie.  Happy Birthday to Tracey and thanks to the whole family for making it such a fun shoot!

Posted by Mel @ 8:44 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink