I had forgotten how CUTE her little laugh is.  If I had recorded it, I would post it.  It is to die for.  Deep as a fog horn, from the gut, and with a whole lot of enthusiasm.  She has the kind of laugh that makes everyone around laugh….the best kind of laugh if you ask me.

I got to do a photo shoot with Mallery when she was a newborn and again when she was 9 months, and then again a few weeks ago!  I can’t believe how big she is now at 18 months, and how much personality she has!  She is a total hoot who loves her mama and has a laugh the lights up the room… and I wanted to eat her up! If you were to ask me what my “goal for success” is as a photographer, it would be to have families that call me every time they need a picture, families that I would get to watch grow, year by year, and see their little personalities come out and shine.  Nothing sounds like more of a dream job to me than that. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that I have gotten to capture little Mallery from newborn to now…a true gift if you ask me.

Jen and Jeff and Mallery were actually the reason that I got to travel up to Sacramento for a work weekend back in May.  Jen has been a friend of mine forever and so when she told me that she had friends who loved my photography and wanted me to take their family photos, I didn’t believe her.  I mean, that is what every good girl friend is supposed to tell you, right?  That you are good at what you do.  I knew she was exaggerating.  So when I told her to go ahead and see if she could arrange a group of families on one weekend and that I would come up and hang out with her if she did, I was certain it was a long shot.  Much to my surprise, she totally pulled it off! And it was AMAZING!   To top off all the awesome families I got to meet up there, we had a weekend of bonding, girl time, and re-living all sorts of old memories from when we were kids, as well as trading mom tips for the here and now.  AND she made me watch Twilight (and I totally loved it).  Everything that a perfect weekend with a best girl friend is supposed to be.

To top it all off, we did a photo shoot so I could capture her little Mallery again!  Just wait til you see this little girl!

Because I was staying with Jen and Jeff, I got to snap a few pictures of Mallery in their home, just being her (my favorite kind of shoot!)  And I don’t know what it is about little babies showing skin, but I think it is the cutest!

Mallery is truly one of the smartest 18 mo. olds I have ever met…and I am not just saying that because she outsmarted me several times. (My mantra for the weekend became, “I AM smarter than an 18 mo old, YES I AM”.) All my usual 18 mo. old tricks got me the face below. I don’t know what you see in her expression, but I see, “This lady has got to be kidding me.”

Luckily, mom knew all the tricks!

I LOVE this set below! Just relaxing in the sun. Maybe it is my inner cat….but relaxing in the sun pictures just make me smile.

The next pictures have the pleasure of coming with a brief story.

I have thought for a while about doing a photo shoot in a field of flowers, or fruit trees, or corn….but those are all hard to come by in San Diego. You know, it is a desert down here, so fields are a few an far between. That being said, when I saw this giant field of mustard flowers on the side of the hwy, I started to drool. Literally. Jen had to get me a towel. So I did what every photographer does, put on my “please make my dream come true and I will beg and plead until you come with me” act, and I dragged the family to a mustard field that we passed on the side of the road. Needless to say, these last ones are all my favorites (but I am a little biased!)
I LOVE MUSTARD FIELDS!


I have always thought Jen would make an awesome model….can you see what I see here? She’s hot. Work it girl.

Got to love those large lollipops!

But ending with my very favorite….snuggles for mom.

Thanks so much you guys for making my weekend amazing! Getting to capture your little Mallery one more time was totally the highlight to me! AND THANK YOU for being willing to go out and make my mustard field DREAM SHOOT come true too! Love you all so much!