{Noah} - 2.5 years

With fall officially starting this Sunday, my weekends are full of beautiful families. This one in particular, I've been photographing since Noah was just two weeks old! And now look at this lil man at 2.5! But those big brown eyes haven't changed. They get me every time!

I'm not sure why, but Elijah loves posing lying down! On his own! He's done it for me time and time again.

Elijah, just a few months shy of 5 years old recently started pre-school. While normally you prepare the preschooler for the adjustment and as a mom look forward to the one on one time with the younger sibling, we often forget to consider how the change will affect that younger sibling. Noah misses his dear brother so so much on those days Elijah is away at school. 

Kids are always silliest with dads!

Sometimes I forget that "Hug!!" means choke hold to toddlers. 

One thing I love about photographing babies as they get so big is seeing how they change over time, right before my lens.

Ah! They found me!

And an updated headshot for mama. Can't you see this pretty face on the inside sleeve of a book? Someday, Christine!

Golden Hour

One spare afternoon, I convinced Doug and Mia to go location scouting with me. I know there's so many hidden treasures in our big city that I have yet to uncover and it's not often I shoot for myself anymore. While exploring the grassy wooded areas alongside Montrose Beach, my mini model was more than willing to dish out her own poses as I chased the evening sunlight.

We capped off our mini adventure with fresh ground burgers, lobster fries and a Nutella milkshake from Edzo's. Yummm!

 

{Connor} - 2 years

Every now and then I get to see this two year old boy zooming around the park on his scooter or pushing his baby doll in its stroller down the block. And without fail - it makes me smile every. single. time. I mean come on! Look at that sweet, innocent face! The last time I photographed Connor was well....just a few days before his due date, at 40 weeks in his mama's belly! I am so glad I finally got to capture Connor's two year old portraits!

Connor has the longest, thickest, curliest lashes I have ever seen on a child!

Oh you know...just hanging out with Abe.

Happy Birthday little man!

{Gabriella} - 1 year

I loved Baby Gabriella's big blue eyes and squishable rolls at six months old and at her one year portrait session, it was no different!

I love the double creases in her chubby fingers, plumpness of her cheek, lush dark lashes and soft hair that is still growing out...

You did so good with your one year old portrait session! Happy first birthday munchkin!

Navy Pier Ferris Wheel & Cirque Shanghai

As I recently mentioned, weekends without a wedding or family photo session doesn't happen very often so we make the most of it when I am free. Whenever we go to the lakefront, Mia can see Navy Pier's Ferris Wheel in the distance and always asks to go on it. With Cirque Shanghai's tickets being so cheap {well, not so much after all the fees!}, we decided to spend a summer afternoon at Chicago's #1 tourist attraction - Navy Pier.

Cirque Shanghai is a show for all ages with performances by Chinese acrobats that takes place under the canopied, open-air theater at Navy Pier. Any seat would be a good one and we were able to sit in the second row. However, even though we were so close to the action, Mia was ready to leave the one hour show so she could ride the Ferris wheel. 

The line for the $6/per person Ferris Wheel ride moved quickly and we were able to soak up Chicago's unrivaled skyline for a breezy seven minutes.There's an aerial view of Olive Park - a very popular spot to get the skyline for wedding photos!

To wrap up our day out, we had an early dinner at Piccolo Sogno Due. Mia is very well behaved, so we take her out to restaurants with us nearly all the time, even nice ones. However, this is the one time where I had to tell her to keep her {normal} voice down because the restaurant was uncomfortably quiet. The food was good with a beautiful ambiance, but it could've been a bit livelier.

Glad we can check Navy Pier and the Ferris Wheel off our/Mia's city bucket list!

First Day - 2013

Today was Mia's "first day" of school. Since her daycare/school pretty much goes year around, Mia was a bit confused as to why it was her "first day". After all, she was just at school last week! Then Mia proceeded to ask if everyone's parents have first day of school signs to take pictures with. Haha I'm guessing probably not. She's only changed a little since last year, right?!

She We truly love her school for the teachers, friends, activities, clean space and convenience. Now that she's 3.5 years old, there won't be any tears or accidents this year! Love how she can write her name now!

Free first day of school printable from MOPS.org