…is not your typical kind of gnome. He totally challenged the idea that all gnomes are hairy, funny looking little men. I now know that gnomes can be absolutely adorable and cuddly, have little hair, and engage in super exciting activities – such as pumping their fists and drooling :) Teehee. I think the first image is so cute…what a beautiful little gnome, indeed! Aaaand, he’s got the sweetest, funniest, easy going & loving parents. It was a joy hanging out with this amazing family — I must say it again — my job is the BEST (well, second to being a parent) in the world!

…sand can be quite effective in keeping babies happy. A handful of sand in the mouth every few minutes can lead to lots of smiles and giggles :) True, it may not be very flavorful, but the gritty texture must be very interesting! This sweet baby girl showed me that – yes, sand is messy–but is so much fun to nibble on! In between sand munching, we captured some sweet moments of her + her family, in honor of her first birthday!

Oh my goodness! His huge smile, big brown eyes…and oh my – those sweet dimples! Little itty bitty man is just so adorable…with his little man hat, little man pants & little man plaid shirt – he had me smitten! Especially….especially his laugh – I can’t accurately describe it in words, but it was just a good ol’ hearty laugh, from the belly! So awesome!

The last time I saw this sweetie when he was just a newborn, he wasn’t very excited about the idea of being photographed :P But this time around, he gave us an hour full of smiles, giggles, and total fascination with the camera! I was definitely super happy that we had such a wonderful morning together! I had to stop myself from blogging the entire session because there were just so many that made me smile :) First, he’s got such amazing eyes – have you ever seen eyes this color? They are really beautiful and absolutely captivating. Second, would you look at mommy and daddy? Hello good looking couple…and third, the location rocked! I’m not all that familiar with San Diego, but I now know that an awesome spot is Balboa Park. Beautiful greenery, lots of open shade, and spectacular architecture that’s full of character. It is puuuurty! More to come from this session – that’s certain! I have to say that one of my favorite images is the very last one – it IS hard being a model…and very tiring!

Is she charming? Hmmm, maybe just a little. Would you look at that sweet smile with little bitty baby teeth? That has got to be the cutest thing ever! I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised about how pretty she is – when I photographed her as a newborn, I already knew she was going to be beautiful like her mommy in just a few months. Although I really adored her jolly little giggle, I also loved her more serious, pensive look. She’s got these gorgeous blue eyes that speak volumes! I know I say this a lot – but I really feel blessed beyond words to be invited to share these amazing milestones with families. When moms ask me to come back and photograph again, it always makes me so incredibly happy!  Plus I’m just so curious and anxious to see how much the little ones have grown – it’s amazing! My jaw drops to the floor each and every time. I just can’t believe how fast 10 months goes by.

How pretty is she? And how super loving is her family? How much mommy and daddy adore her make me so happy :)

After only 10 minutes into the photo session, we had to stop. Ohhh, poor baby boy hurt his little arm (waaah) so we ended early. BUT, would you look at what we got in only 10 minutes! I just adore these and especially love his super cute, animated facial expressions. Once we have our full session, I know it’s going to be awesome!!

…..he’s so squueezable and huggable! An amazingly sweet little boy with a smile that lit up this cloudy morning! True, I have many *favorite* ages to photograph — but it’s really so, so, so cute when babies are learning to walk because they’ve got that little waddle strut with a chubby diaper butt that is just adorable! Awww, I miss when my son was this age…It’s ok though, lucky me because I get to be around it all the time anyway!

When I saw little man’s Santa hat (at the end of this post), I thought to myself “Right! Christmas is right around the corner!” It seriously feels like only a few months has gone by since last Christmas. In fact, I just recently put away the Christmas tree food that’s been sitting on my kitchen counter for *gasp*, almost a year! At any rate, I llllove the holidays…and I love holiday sessions because I get to see families again for photos. And most importantly, I get to see how much the wee ones have grown. Am I lucky? Absolutely. I adore, adore, adore my job. Ho, Ho, Ho, everyone! Time to start holiday shopping :) Oooh, and Christmas tree shopping. Yay! Now on to photos of this sweet family…how cute are they?!

…..with his mama! This sweet baby boy was just smmmiitten with his mommy – especially when she sang songs for him. I’m pretty sure it was the sound of her voice and loving smile that made him coo and giggle like he did. It was seriously the cutest sight to see when he giggled and drooled with excitement! And just look at his big brown eyes – so adorable….and some majorly awesome hair! Lots lots more images I loved from this session…here are just a few: