{The Leach Family} :: Chicago Family Photographer

This session was full of adventures :) First of all - Mom is a very special person in my life because she was our favorite nurse when Lola was born, so I was over the moon when she asked me to take portraits of her 1 and 2 year old children to commemorate their birthdays. I talked her into making it a whole family session, and Grandma and Grandpa even came along for the ride!

Our first location choice was swarmed with mosquitoes....I mean SWARMED! Luckily, they knew of another nearby municipal park, so cool, calm and collected we all packed back up and headed over to Plan B. What a beautiful Plan B it was!! Trees, baseball diamonds, and the occasional Metra train.....we ended up with a GREAT session! Thanks again for having me - it was a ton of fun - and SO hard to choose the few to preview here today :)

{Audrey & Whitney} :: Chicago Children's Photographer

I suppose growing up is what they are supposed to do.....but watching kids and families grow up before my eyes makes me so wistful :) I photographed Audrey just over a year ago, and she's such a little lady now, but still oh so sweet! Together with her new baby sister, Whitney? It was SWEETNESS overload!!

(Aurelia's Second Birthday!} :: Chicago Event Photographer

What a blessing! The family enjoyed the photographs from the First Birthday Celebration of this sweet girl, so they invited me back to see Aurelia turn two :) Mom did not disappoint this year, either! It was a horse themed gala at the Noble Horse Theatre. We all know EVERY little girl needs a pony!

Donna was so gracious to provide some of the wonderful people that helped her create this event - I've included links so you can see their work! Most of the items were found on Etsy....except for the tacos :) Those were made by her cousin Pillo :) Now, I have about a zillion photos I could have previewed from this event - everything was so spectacular! Alas, here are a select few.....Hope you enjoy!

These amazing decorations (and the invites, which I didn't preview but were ADORBLE!) were by Barbara at bndesigns on Etsy. Amazing custom paper items!


Oh my!! Aren't these hobby horses adorable? Hand crafted with care by nickmaxmama on Etsy!



You can just see a small part of this beautiful cake, but it was created by Creative Cakes here in Tinley Park. SO delicious, and gorgeous to boot!


And the dress....OH! THE DRESS!! Aurelia had one last year, and I didn't think there could possibly be one MORE adorable, but she did it. Made with love by Uniquely Monogrammed.

{Lincoln S.} Chicago Children Photographer

You might remember sweet Lincoln from his 18 month photos just a short six months ago! Now he's an official big boy at 2 years old.

Now, you might be wondering - how much can a child change in 6 months? It might be subtle, but its amazing! They loose some of that baby chub and really start to transition more into little boys...but still totally *stealing your heart* adorable! It doesn't hurt that this little man is stylin' in his black Chucks and smooth Levi's ;) It was so wonderful to capture Lincoln again on film - thanks Mom for bringing him in!