As it happens, Brandi did have a baby a few years later, but we’ll get to that little guy in a later post. See, Wendy and I photographed Danny and Becky’s wedding a few years ago, and this past summer, they added a little one to their family. Meet Amelia.

Precious, huh? Here’s another.

Remember guys, baby-curls will get your biceps ripped.

Of course, when adding a baby to your family’s number, there’s always the possibility that other family members will be apprehensive. That was the case with Emmy.

Fortunately, whatever doubts Emmy had she got over quickly, and now she and Amelia are great buds, even if Amelia does pull her ears from time to time.

Since we took these photos, Amelia has only gotten cuter, which is impressive given how cute she was to begin with.

I hope everyone is having a better week now that Wikipedia is back up. Remember to fight internet censorship, lest little ones like Amelia grow up in a world where they don’t even know the meaning of “Rickrolled.”

Yeah, I told ya’.

What’s not readily apparent is that David was born with a large ventricular septal defect and a patent ductus arteriosus–congenital heart defects that kept his blood from circulating properly and, thus, kept his body from getting the oxygen it needed. This was keeping him from growing the way he ought to. Fortunately, at the end of October, David went down to the Medical University of South Carolina where they were able to surgically repair the problems with his heart. This little guy was bathed in a lot of prayer and, as you can see, he’s coming along quite nicely now.

While recovering from his surgery, David wasn’t able to go out in public, and as I followed his story I kept wanting to see better pictures of him, so I got in touch with his mom, Melissa, a friend of mine from back when I was in high school, and asked if she’d like Wendy and I to get some pictures of David and his big sister, Susan Faith. She liked the idea, and so here are the photos!

This is Susan Faith with her mom. She has the cutest little nose!

Susan Faith and her dad.

Boys + bonnets = unhappiness

Finally, I thought I’d close with a shot of what David’s parents call his “zipper”, the scar from the surgery that has allowed him to grow and develop those adorable rolls you see over the top of his diaper.

To learn more about David’s story and the wonderful people at MUSC who helped to make it one with a very happy ending, I suggest you check out his Caring Bridge site. His mom also has a new blog about children, books, and children’s books called Growing Up Reading. (Susan Faith taught herself to read before she was twenty-one months old, so I’d say Melissa is someone’s advice you might want to consider when it comes to children’s literacy.)

Wendy and I are so thankful to have gotten to play a tiny part in David’s story and we look forward to seeing the wonderful young man he’s going to become.

Thanks for hanging out with us for this week of blogging! There are some cool photos in the pipeline and two shoots coming up this month we’re really excited about, so check back soon!

…getting a sneak kiss attack from Mom.

Isaiah’s hands and feet are so small and perfect.  They won’t be this tiny for long, though.  He’s growing so fast!  J.P. was amazed at how much he had plumped up since the first time they met two weeks or so prior to this shoot.

Here’s J.P.’s shot.

And here’s mine from two weeks later.

Here are a few more.

And finally, here is Isaiah with his favorite buddy Mr. Giraffe.  Isaiah held his own for a long time during this staring contest.

We had a great time hanging out with Kim, Matt and Isaiah!  Check back later this week for some rockin’ shots from the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) and a debonair pug in black tie attire.

For those of you who don’t know about Me Ra Koh, you need to check out her blog!  Me Ra and her awesome husband Brian do stunning work that will leave you smitten and speechless.  Being quite a fan myself, I was so, SO excited to get to participate in their (appropriately named) Confidence Workshop for women in D.C..  It was great to get to meet them, learn from them, hear their stories, and laugh and cry with the other amazing women who traveled from near and far for this experience of a lifetime!

Here’s Me Ra demonstrating for us with some kids.  Watching her engage the models was a valuable lesson by itself!

Here’s Brian talking to us about light metering.  There were some fun demonstration photos involved. :)

We ladies had plenty of opportunities to try out what we had learned!  Kudos to the models who cheerfully endured swarms of women wielding lenses!

Let me say that my dad was the best!

He was already in D.C. visiting Betsy, Loren and the kids, and offered to stay a few more days to chauffeur me downtown and back Saturday and Sunday.  Thank you, Dad (and thank you Mom for doing without him for a few more days)!

The first day, our models were beautiful mothers and their beautiful babies.  Here are a few of my favorite shots.

I just loved how this baby squealed when her mom came in for another kiss!!

The second day, three wonderful families let us crowd around them with our cameras.

Of course, this trip was all the more exciting due to the most recent addition to our family!  Welcome to the world Brooke!  Each evening after the workshop, I was so pumped that I couldn’t help but take some pictures of my precious new niece Brooke and adorable nephew Ethan.  These kids have my heart!  Betsy and Loren, I just don’t know how you two handle this much cuteness on a regular basis.

Here’s Brooke dreaming sweetly…

and Ethan playing with dad.

He was all about these new boots.

It was so hard to leave!

When I thought the trip was almost over and couldn’t get any better, I had this heart-melting experience in the Washington airport on the way home.  Having just returned to the gate after getting some food, I noticed a mother with her two children waiting eagerly for dad to get off the plane (I later learned he was returning from Iraq).  Sure enough, he came walking through the gate, dressed in uniform and locking eyes immediately with his wife.  The family came together in a powerful moment that hit me so hard, I nearly started crying as their energy spread from where they stood and held each other to everyone who was blessed to catch a glimpse of them.  When I showed this next photo to J.P., we were struck by the strength and sacrifices made by military families.  Monica, thank you so much!  Here they are.

Finally, I made it home to my beloved husband who encourages me in so many ways.  Without a doubt, I left the Confidence Workshop with increased knowledge, vision and excitement, and J.P. has done nothing but help to keep the passion going!

These are some photos of the youngest generation of one of the coolest families I’ve ever known. I grew up with the kids and now they’ve gone and had kids of their own. Their mom asked Wendy and me to get some family photos of the lot of them, and I can’t say no to Tamy. The result was an absolute blast, but it definitely increased my respect for my buddy Rebekah and other photographers who are especially adept at kids and families. Did you know, for instance, that infants will not necessarily look at the camera when you ask them to? I mean, what are these kids thinking? They’re grandmother is paying good money for these pictures and they’re more interested in the dog than they are in looking good in their family portrait.

I blame television.

All kidding aside, bask in the adorableness that is Tamy’s family. First off, the twins.

Can you guess which is the boy and which is the girl?
(Insert Dora the Explorer pause)
You’re right! Was it the haircuts that gave it away?

This little guy wanted to show his cousin some affection. After all, doesn’t everybody love a kiss?

Admittedly, this may have been excessive.

Even he seems to agree.
(Chalk it up to a life lesson, kid.)

Do you think this photo presages their future relationship?

Argh! Can’t make…snarky…comment…baby feet…too…cute!

While we were shooting, Tamy quoted these lyrics from the musical Annie to me and I thought they’d go nicely here:

Some women are dripping with diamonds,
Some women are dripping with pearls.
Lucky me! Lucky me!
Look at what I’m dripping with:
Little girls!