Want to hear something crazy?
My children, Liv & Leo share a birthday.
YUP!
Completely naturally and unplanned, they both came into this world on January 3, exactly 3 years apart.
Crazy right?!
I’ve used other photographers for milestones such as their newborn sessions and their cake smashes, but have since decided to personally do their annual birthday portraits.
I wanted to experience them in a different way. I wanted to be a part of dressing them up, fixing their hair while we shoot, and being goofy and silly to make them smile. When I look back through the photos I want to know that it was me they were looking at, giving the wink to and laughing at!
This year, on January 1st, I set up my basement studio with 2 sheer curtains and a white floor. That’s it! No frills, no extras.
Liv picked her dress out from Joyfolie. We bought the silk belt and hat from Amazon. The shoes she already had. I blow dried her hair the day before and smoothed it out with a flat iron that day.
Leo picked out his entire outfit and his robot! He knew exactly which one he wanted to be photographed with.
I brought Liv down first. She had a pretty bad cold so we cleaned up her face, added a small bit of makeup and got to work. I promised her some ice cream and holy cow did she work the camera for me. We were done in probably 10 minutes, but then she wanted to pose herself and that is when this shoot took off. I wish I could say I posed her in most of these, but I didn’t. The girl LOVES the camera.
Next I dressed Leo. He asked me to fix his hair. I added some product and he double checked himself in the mirror.
We went downstairs. He, unprompted, put his hand in his pocket and said, how about this?
SERIOUSLY! These kids were gifting me with such an amazing memory!
He smiled, he winked, and then he changed into his superhero sweater and grabbed his robot. He whooshed, blasted, and rolled on the floor with his toy. I snapped shots, laughed, and melted inside, all at the same time.
Here is a glimpse into the final product.
These are so exceptionally special to me. I am thankful each and every day for the blessings these children bring me.
Ok, I’m off to release a good sob…enjoy!
