I know, you are so over it.  Its all been boxed up and shoved back into the attic, basement, or wherever it all lives most of the year.  Songs that were charmingly seasonal a mere month ago are now inappropriately annoying and you dare not wear a red sweater lest someone give you the stink eye.   Its done until next year.

Indeed, this blog post is most ill timed.

So, in fairness to the awesomeness of this family, try and imagine that you aren’t in front of an electronic devise reading a blog.  Instead, imagine yourself curled up on the couch of a living room, flipping through a photo album.  Embrace the time warp.

I’ve been photographing Maddie since she was 3 months old and she remains one of my favorite muses, mostly because she is such a willing participant in all things camera ham-ish.  She especially likes it when I sing the “Hold Still” song from Yo Gabba Gabba and she cracks up every time I tell her, “whatever you do… DON’T smile!” in the same tone as “whatever you do… DON’T push the red button!”.  Maddie likes the camera and the camera likes her right back.

My favorite was when I found her Christmas list taped up to the glass panel door.  In case Santa got too fat for the chimney and had to enter through more conventional means?

Jackson, now six months old, isn’t as sure about the camera yet.  Or maybe he just takes it more seriously…

Unless, of course, he is busy nibbling on a bow…

These photos in front of the tree were my personal favorite since they get straight to the heart of the holiday.  The part of it that stays with us after the tree comes down, the part that might still manage to warm your heart well into January and beyond as greetings of “Happy New Year!” wane and new toys lose their shine.

To quote the Llama Llama series that is among my own son’s favorites:

“Sometimes we should take a rest and hold the ones we love the best.  Wishing, waiting, wanting things… we forget what this time brings.  Gifts are nice, but there’s another – the true gift is we have each other.”

So hang onto that thought as you watch this slideshow and view this gallery.  You have room in your heart for one more Christmas carol, I know it.  Mostly because its John Denver and the Muppets (best Christmas album EVER).  But also because you are awesome.

I can’t believe how long it is taking for the dust to settle and for our new normal, the one I call Normal 2.0, to commence.  Parents of children with diabetes assure me that this is as hard as it will ever be, not only because its so new but because of his age. He will get older and learn to recognize and articulate his symptoms.  He will become more active in his own care.  I see it coming, already he likes to press the button to prick his finger and he chooses his injection site at each meal.  His favorites sites are always where he can get the best view of the needle going in as we count to ten.

But with every small success comes a new hurdle.  Every near perfect blood glucose reading has a high or low reading riding right on its tail.  Its only when I have the carbs of his meal counted perfectly that he decides he no longer likes the “favorite” food items I have so painstakingly measured onto his plate.  With every prescription we are able to fill comes another we can’t and more time on hold as we place yet another phone call to the insurance company, doctor or medical supplier while chewing our fingernails and hoping we don’t run out of something we need.  With each reportage of our numbers comes a new dosage and with more carb to insulin to activity ratios to try and wrap our tired heads around.  And always, as the sun sets with the promise of rejuvenation that only a little person’s bedtime can bring a weary couple desperate to hold a conversation or silently watch TV, comes the requisite snack before bed and then BAM, he’s reanimated and running around for yet another hour as we try and wind him down all over again.

But if there’s something we can be very grateful for, its how little of an impact the diagnosis has had on the patient himself.  Fiver remains a happy, active, funny, and outgoing two year old.  He still loves trucks and all things lego and he still runs amuck at the park every day, unlike kids who have to live with more devastating chronic illnesses.  And hypoglycemia, through his eyes, is the coolest thing because he can drink boxed juice and have more sugar snacks.  Its really just his frazzled parents who are suffering from high blood pressure and lack of sleep.  And his parents’ valued clients who aren’t getting enough of their time right now.

Which leads me to the next thing we are amazed and grateful for: the friends, family and clients who have given us the love, support, space and understanding we have needed to get closer to Normal 2.0.  Thank you for the gift of your understanding.  There have been so many great things to share and blog with you on the business end of our lives and I will return to the task of sharing them with you just as soon as I can.

Today Fiver told me that Rufus (the Bear with Diabetes, thank you JDRF for gifting him to us) was feeling sad.  I asked Fiver if he felt sad too and he said no, just Rufus, he’s making Rufus feel better.  Its really nice to see that my boy has learned the transformative power of a hug from all the hugs, literal and virtual, that he has received from all of you.  We wish you peace and love in the New Year and look forward to documenting all the joy its bound to bring each of us in our own unique way.  We each have a story of our own to tell.

Its hard to believe that its been close to a year since we took these photos of newborn Jackson.  And now here he is with curly locks that make me swoon…

We took some photos outside where momma taught us (all) about leaves and trees.

Then, after a snack, we thought we might get some shots with a cowboy hat since Jackson’s first birthday party has a cowboy theme.  As it turns out, keeping a cowboy hat on a one year old and rodeos have a lot in common.

Then it was off to play upstairs before nap time.  This is one of my favorite wee one captures in the history of ever:

While Caitlin swore Jackson would not have a room with a theme, one just sort of grew out of plush zoo animals.  I love how she used plastic safari figurines with wall stickers to create a jungle diorama.

Something about all those animals transformed Jackson into a wild thing!

Jackson has that adorable belly-army crawl right now…

And I loved the subtlety of supportive hands in so many photos.

Finally it was time to unwind and cuddle a bit.  I made my exit just as Jackson was falling asleep.

Here’s a slideshow from our day as well as the online gallery.  I hope to be back soon to take more pics of this beautiful boy!

Through the month of November I ran a mini session “special”: a 30 minute outdoor session somewhere in the city that included a file for holiday cards for $150.  While yes, I am still much more comfortable allowing family lovin’ to unfold in its own time and space without so much direction, I actually had a blast kicking up leaves on many a late afternoon while asking grown ups, kids and pups to cheese out for the camera.  I will admit that both Fiver’s Halloween candy and Arbus’ dog treats came in very handy as incentive!  Check out my favs, I can’t wait to do more of these next fall!!!

Ah, sisters.  A sister has a way of bringing you up when you’re feeling down…

Sometimes its just good to have a sister to hang around with…

Or goof around with…

Or tag because you’re it…

Or take with you on a wild adventure…

But soon, very soon, there’s going to be someone else in the mix.  Someone new.  A boy.

So in the mean time, I loved shooting a joyful momma…

A very loved daddy…

Two distinctly funny and lovely personalities…

And one silly family that’s about to get one baby bigger in the new year.  Can’t hardly wait.  Here’s the slideshow and click here if you would like to check out the online gallery…

The birth of my niece, the health of my family, my sweet boys, the amazing strength and warmth of friends, never feeling bored, never feeling like we’ve got it all, and for the way the universe makes sure we have what we need somehow even if we don’t have what we want.

And I’m very, very grateful for a job that continues to reveal, in its own mystical language, what it looks like to love and be loved in return.  Happy Thanksgiving…

Michael is 15 months old, on the move and crazy charming.  When I first arrived, he showed me one of his favorite games: run from mommy to auntie and back again… fast, fast, fast!

It just sort of happens.  There’s always this once space in a house where we take photos progressively over time and you get to see how things change.  For Caroline and Michael, its the guest bed.  Here’s a wee sampling, I know its just four photos but not only do things change, personalities seem to emerge a little early in this household.

But wait, look who knows how to work this shot all of a sudden?  Who is getting all vogue-y with it for the camera?  While it may be a more recessive trait, I’m starting to think Michael carries the camera ham gene.

Though he did maintain his more predictable, stoic camera demeanor outdoors:

…until big sister, Caroline, came home from school and then it was a lot of leaves, dance moves and sibling love.  The best way to spend a fall afternoon, IMO.

Then daddy came home….

…and it was time for  family photos.  We never really know what Caroline is going to do, which is what makes these photos so much fun!

Here’s a slideshow with a song suited to a budding baby model.  Or, click here to see the gallery.  Or, jump in a leaf pile and celebrate this fall season with your family before we all get quickly ushered into the next crazy season!  Yes, you know the one I speak of…

Ain’t no stopping her now… she’s on the move!  (insert disco groove by McFadden & Whitehead here).  We needed to get this shoot on the books before Reese got even faster and was on her feet!

Its rare that my favorite photos of the day happen within the first 5 minutes of my arrival.  But you never know when opportunity is going to knock, you just answer the door.  Reese was getting up from her nap and standing in her crib, sticking out her tongue like she likes to do right now.  All babies go through this phase, don’t they?

Then big brother Brayden asked if he could get into the crib too.  And the party began…  I love that Sammy the dog is nestled up in Reese’s chair in the background, trying to ignore the munchkin hullabaloo.

Why stop the fun there?  We went downstairs so that Reese had more space to show off her new crawl when a family band of sorts spontaneously broke out.  While they aren’t the Partridge Family (yet), you have to admire their style.

I’m pretty sure this is why men have kids…

And then we got to see the crawl.  She was in hot pursuit of my lens and as you can see she’s pretty quick…

I love the shadow of Reese’s hand reaching forward in this one:

Then it was outside to play and check out the pumpkins.

Here’s a slideshow of the day and click here if you would like the view the gallery.  This year is going by so fast, I can’t believe that this little girl is crawling herself closer and closer to turning one… Stay tuned for more then!

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…

If such a thing as the quintessential Washington, DC wedding exists, it would be Cortney and Andrew’s.  Who, by the way, couldn’t be two nicer people if they tried!

We met the couple downtown at Hotel Monaco where they were getting ready and would meet.  Then it was off for a quick stop for pictures by some well know local attractions…

…before arriving at the amazing Andrew Mellon Auditorium across from the National Portrait Gallery, where both the ceremony and reception would take place.  The auditorium was transformed into a magical, cathedral-esque ceremony space.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails in the Green Room while the ceremony site was flipped for the reception.  Table assignments hung from ribbons on trees.

Lois of The Party Portfolio did an amazing job planning the event and managing all the things that need to happen to transform spaces.  For the reception, the auditorium was nothing short of breathe taking and included lounge seating and a 4 sided bar.  Each table was a wonderland of gold trimmed china and crystal against deep purple linens.  As if that wasn’t enough to love, there was a gelato stand and a photo booth as well… which turned into fun picture taking for us too!

There’s really only one word for the night: amazing.  Cortney and Andrew, congratulations to you both and thank you so much for choosing us to be a part of it!   Here’s a slideshow of our favorites and if you would like to be notified by email when the gallery is available for viewing, click here.