Many, many moons ago, I met this little baby whose laugh was so contagious that it took my breath away. Literally. Because I laughed at him. A lot.

Somehow, enough time has passed for him to be two years old (which I’m still in denial about, thank you very much) and I have to say that it has been an absolute pleasure watching him grow up directly in front of my lens. He’s no baby anymore, and these images show that. It’s exciting to see him grow, but a little sad to see just how much he looks like a little boy and less like a baby.

Javonni – you are SUCH a nugget. Now, give me that sucker!

Yesterday, I had a fun Simplicity session with the K family. Just look at the two little cuties that greeted me at their door!

So. Very. Cute.

Thanks for letting me “shoot you”, K Fam.

I’ll be posting a blog about them soon, but if you’re interested in booking a Simplicity session, contact me for details!

Guess which two cute, little nuggets came to see me tonight in the studio… go on, guess.

Give up?

Yep – Aubrey & Emerson. Cute nuggets, indeed.

Mama Sandy & Lindsey – please give Aubrey a big ol’ “thank you” for being such a rockstar assistant!!  I hope you guys love these!

**There are still a few times open for next week – if you’re interested in booking a Christmas mini-session, please contact me asap!**

If you’re like me, you put things off until the last minute. It’s a bad habit. But I’m here to help you, my fellow procrastinator.

If you haven’t yet booked your child’s Christmas photos, now’s your chance to snag a cute shot for that last-minute Christmas card (or just because your kid is cute and you happen to like my Christmas tree, which is reason enough for me).

Christmas Studio Mini-Sessions – $50

• 20-minute session
• 2 fully-edited files on disk (with copyrights for printing up to size 8×10)
• NEXT-DAY turnaround (you read that right – pick up your disk at the studio the day after your session!)

Please note that sessions are for each individual child. If you have siblings, you will need to book sessions separately (can most likely be booked back-to-back).

Here’s a sneak peek of what the images from these sessions will look like – courtesy of my always precious niece, Bailee, and the uber-adorable Morgan.

Christmas mini-session will take place between now & the end of next week. Space is limited!

Contact me ASAP to book your mini-session.

A few weeks ago, I was toying around with ideas for indoor sessions at Christmas. I pitched an idea to my friend, Emily, and she reluctantly accepted. I told her we were going to “wing it” and see what came out of the session. And now, I’m here to share with you a little of what went down…

Quinn… I love your hair.  Please don’t ever grow up & straighten it like your mommy & I do.  It would be a shame.

Sloan wasn’t quite sure about the cookie dough at first…

She warmed up to the idea, I think.

I love how Quinn is laughing in that one, and Sloan is just waving that little hand at me like, “Hey, you, come over here & get some cookie dough!  It’s good, I promise!”

Happy little nuggets.  Don’t let Derrick fool you, though.  He may look normal in that last photo, but it only takes a split second for his true colors to shine through.  Here’s proof:

Quinn & Sloan, I hope that I get to see your teenage years.  With a dad like that, they’re sure to be goooooood times. 

Sweet, little nuggets and their sweet, little piggies.  Can’t think of a better way to close this post out.

Emily – thanks SO much for trusting me with this one!  And for those awesome matching JS aprons. 

Please forgive me for the overwhelming amount of photos I am about to share with you. I’m editing and ordering like a madwoman these days, which leaves (unfortunately) little time for blogging. I apologize to the families who aren’t getting a blog post devoted solely to their beautifulness, but remember that it’s nice to share.

Where have I been the past few weeks?

With Amy, and her two awesome boys…

Cute little men, aren’t they?

I’ve been out in the woods with K & L…

(Gah, those kids are so darn cute.  I wonder where they get it from?)

Then, again, with the K fam…

Methinks McKinley has done this a few times.

And her little sister never lets me down on a session, she’s such a little nugget.

And last, but certainly not least, I’ve been with the D fam…

As soon as I saw that last one, I asked my hubby if it would be ok to just use that as our Christmas card photo this year.  I mean come on.  Does it GET any cuter than that?  I doubt it.

Whew!

Thanks for sticking through this marathon blog post – I think I’m about caught up posting sneak peeks.  Well, with the exception of a couple things that I’m saving… you’ll just have to wait & see!

As a reminder, the 10% off canvas sale ends THIS FRIDAY, 12/4!

I hope you guys all love these photos – as always, thanks for letting me shoot you!

Just peeking out from under my pile of photos to edit!

I bet you were expecting to see me post photos of another gorgeous family (hi all you gorgeous families who are waiting to see me post your photos here on the blog – you’re coming soon, I promise!), but I have a surprise for you in the form of Karen’s Senior session!

Meet Karen Sassypants.

That’s not her real name, by the way, it’s just what I’ve decided to call her. No one’s real name is Sassypants, I don’t think. But Karen’s should be. Because she’s sassy. And cute.

As soon as I saw her, I immediately went into a time warp and was whisked away, back to 1997 (which, in case you didn’t know, was the year that I was a HS Senior)… because Karen is an almost-exact replica of my BFF from back in the day. Yes, it’s true. It was like I was 17 again during her session.

Karen C. Sassypants. The C stands for cute, in case you were curious.

See? Sassy. I told you so.

And last, but certainly not least – my personal fave from her session…

Karen – thanks for braving the cold with me! I have more for you coming soon, hope you love these!

I can’t get over the fact that even though she’s still a petite, tiny little thing, Miss L is pulling up… and walking along the edge of furniture (proof below) and even standing unassisted. It really doesn’t seem possible that just a few short months ago, she was barely sitting on her own and now, here she is, ready to take off at any minute. But she’s still just as cute as ever.

Sweet baby. She probably gets it from her parents. Who are sweet, also, in case you were wondering.

Anytime this family is on my books for a session, I’m calm. I don’t know what it is about them, but all 5 of them just make me calm… it’s a great thing. I always know that they are going to be relaxed, smiling, with big sparkly eyes. So when I geared up to leave for their Christmas session, I was super excited.

And I was dead on. They were relaxed…

smiling…

and there those famous Rundel sparkly eyes were out in full effect…

What I didn’t anticipate was that we would have a visitor. Mid-way through our session, I heard Shawn yell from behind me telling Regi to step back. Within 2.2 seconds, all 6 of us were at the cars (which were just a few yards away) and we saw this…

Can you see it? Bear in mind, people, that I am a portrait photographer… which means my lenses either don’t zoom at all or barely do. This was AS CLOSE as I was getting to our friend (who had be creepily hiding in the woods, staring at us silently for more than 30 minutes). Shawn whisked the kids away to Sonic while Aimee and I (ok, so really just Aimee – I pretty much stood in fear until it was all over with) dealt with the coyote… with the help of an animal control officer.

Up close, she was one of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen. But I was sure glad she was gone.

Aimee – please don’t throttle me for posting these last two. You are SO freaking cute. And crazy. And that’s one of the main reasons why I love shooting your family!

If you know me, you know I am a sucker for canvas. I think everyone should be a sucker for canvas. If you’ve never had a canvas printed with your family/child/loved one on it – you can’t possibly know what you’re missing.

Because I believe so strongly in spreading canvas to the masses (and because this is something I would love, love, love to have under my own tree – you know, if my child didn’t have Photographer’s Child Syndrome*), I’m announcing a SALE on all standard and gallery-wrapped canvas!

From now until December 4th, 2009, you will receive a 10% discount off of any canvas order placed!

Pictured above are three different standard canvases – all on a 3/4″ frame.  All lovely.  All make me happy.

Just a close-up of the canvas detail.  Love.

Husbands? Are you listening to me?   I know you all think I’m pretty much insane, but trust me when I tell you that your wife will go bananas if she unwraps one of these on Christmas day.  She’ll love you.  For a long time, I pinky swear.

Contact me for a full sale price list!  Remember, the deadline for sale orders is 12/4/09!

*Photographer’s Child Syndrome (PCS) – refers to one’s inability to behave naturally in front of the lens.  Typically affects children whose mothers will not stop shoving a camera in their faces.  Also applies to stepchildren, apparently, as well as nieces.  No cure is known.