Spring Wedding {Miles City, Montana Wedding Photographer}

A few weeks ago I shot my first 2013 wedding!  It was a typical spring day in Montana.  It was chilly, windy at times, sunny at times, and there was snow on the ground.  We were able to shoot a mix of indoor and outdoor photos, and the groom got his wish of some snowy portraits.

I am so blessed with such amazing clients, and Kimberly and Dallas did not disappoint.  I went to high school with Dallas, and knew what a wonderful family he came from, and he married into another wonderful family.  Everyone who was a part of this wedding was so kind, and fun to be around, and they all love Dallas and Kim so much.  There were so many beautiful moments to capture, and I was so honored to be the one to do that.  Congrats again you two, and I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon!  Enjoy your sneak peek.   


















It was totally worth taking the extra 15 minutes to do these outdoor portraits as the sun went down!  Love the light in these!  









Payton Bird-My Little Niece. {Miles City, Montana Newborn Photographer}

I love being able to say that I have a niece!  Not just any niece, a ridiculously adorable niece, that is sweet as can be.  Jeff and Kelsey welcomed little Payton into the world on March 12th.  They didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl, and it was such a fun surprise to find out it was a girl!  Kevin, Pax, and I arrived minutes after her birth, and took turns holding her while the other hung in the waiting room with Paxson.  (He wasn't allowed to meet his cousin that day because of hospital policy)  The next day however, the nurse let Paxson in Kelsey's room and he did get to meet his cousin.  He checked her out a little, but he is obviously too young to know what a big deal having a cousin is.  Kevin, Jeff, Kelsey, and I all know how cool it will be for our kids to grow up together!  My cousins have always been such a big part of my life, and we are such good friends.  I am so excited for my son to have that kind of relationship.  I'm sure there will be some teasing, a few fights, and probably even some tears, but my hope is that Paxson and Payton are not just family, but buddies as well.  

Little Miss Payton is such a cute baby.  She is also a very mellow baby, and she has the sweetest little cry.  It's not really a cry but more like little squeaks.  She has the trademark "Bird" mouth, but looks a lot like her mommy.  It is so fun photographing a baby girl after shooting my boy so often over the past few months.  As long as we kept her warm she was happy.  A very content little one.

Congrats Jeff and Kelsey on your beautiful baby girl!  I'm so excited for the years to come, and watching our babies grow up together!









I LOVE the next two photos!  Daddy's little girl :)




My baby boy is 6 months old!

Everyone always says, "Enjoy them while they are little because they don't stay little for long."  How true that is.  There were so many nap times in those early days where I thought to myself, you really should lay him down and go take a nap yourself.  Most of the time, I just kept on cuddling my little newborn, trying to memorize all of him.  His smell, his cute little "Bird" mouth, the sleepy smiles and sounds.  Even though I tried my hardest to enjoy those moments, and be in that moment with Paxson, it still feels so long ago, and like such a haze.  Some of it is probably because I was exhausted.  But, it really does go by so fast, and before you know it, you have a slobbery, loud mouthed, rolly, giggly, baby who resembles that newborn, but is becoming such a little person.  It is amazing the growth both physically, and developmentally that takes place those first 6 months.  Looking back at photos, I am still astounded at how much Paxson has grown and changed.

It is such a bittersweet feeling watching your baby grow.  I feel so grateful for each milestone reached, and yet at the same time, there is a small ache at the realization that Paxson won't stay little for long.  I think part of it is because I have enjoyed and loved Paxson so much at every age, and it is hard to let go of that age.  Sometimes it is definitely trading up, and that has mainly been the case, but I also know he will reach ages that are difficult for me as a parent.  He won't always want me to hold him, he soon won't fall asleep on my shoulder, or giggle during peek-a-boo.  It makes me sad to think about, but I try to think about how fun that next age will be, and how awesome it is to watch him learn new things, and become his own person.  So during the sleepless nights, (because Paxson has been an awful sleeper lately) I try to cuddle my baby at 2am,  and remind myself that this too shall pass.  It won't be long before I'm longing for those late night nursing sessions, and for the baby that wakes up needing his mama.  

Now for 6 months worth of photos crammed into one post...

This is one of the first Photos taken of my son.  I had my camera ready in the delivery room for my sister to snap a few photos of our first moments together.  I am so thankful for these photos even though most of them won't be shared on here (or anywhere) as my nurse was getting ready for the "baby crawl" so my boob makes an appearance in most of them.  
This is one of the first photos I took of Paxson.  It was after he was bathed, and we were still in the delivery room.  The nurse must have thought I was crazy as it was 2 am, only a few hours after Pax was born, and here I was snapping photos.  
The day after he was born.  His skin looks yellow in this photo because it was yellow.  He was a little jaundiced because he was early.

Snuggled with daddy the morning of the day we went home.  So much hair!

One of my favorites.  He was just a few days old, and the weather was nice enough to be outside so we did a few family photos.


5 days old


8 days old-Paxson's birth announcement.

2 weeks old

 Another at two weeks.  One of my faves!

About a month old during our Christmas card photos
Christmas card photo

 The next three are from his 3 month old shoot



With his auntie at 3 and a half months.


 At almost 4 months old for his Valentine's Day cards.


With mom on Valentine's Day

 At 5 and a half months old.  


 I have taken so many photos of my little man, but these are just some of my favorites. Maybe sometime I will share some of my phone photos as I have a ton of those as well.  I will hopefully be taking his 6 month photos this weekend weather permitting as I am dying to shoot him outside.  Fingers crossed it gets done!