Olivia & Owen | Siblings {St. Charles, MO}

If you are looking for a photographer in the Troy, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, or Collinsville, Illinois area, please check out my portfolio. Pricing information is available here.

I just love when I get to photograph this adorable girl, and even more so now that she has a little brother along. Olivia is THREE!



And Owen is 5 months old.

The B Family | Willoughby Heritage Farm {Collinsville, IL}

If you are looking for a photographer in the Troy, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, or Collinsville, Illinois area, please check out my portfolio. Pricing information is available here.

This fun family brought along the 4-legged crew for family photos at Willoughby Farm. All the sights and smells on the farm were quite enticing to Rocky, and we had to make sure the Guinea fowl were well out of the way.


And this girl was giggles galore when she started chatting about her boyfriends.

Pretty girl.

Letters to Our Sons | October

Each month, I am sharing a personal post with a letter to my son. A group of mothers and photographers joined together for this project to preserve memories and share our love for our little boys.

Dear Abram,

Suddenly you are insisting on a bit of independence. You want to get ready for bed yourself: get undressed, pick out your own pajamas, get your pajamas on and climb right into bed.
You chose this fabulous pairing of Spiderman t-shirt and Scooby-Doo pants for pajamas last week and insisted that you set up your own set for photos.

And you wanted a photo of this jaw-drop face specifically. "Do you know what the crab does on The Little Mermaid?"



Despite a busy month, we still made time for leaf collecting and some crafts. You made this cute monster with a leaf moustache.


I loved seeing your creativity!
You are the best, kid.

I love you, sweet pea!
Mommy

Follow the blog circle to read the rest of the October letters by clicking over to the blog of Alise Kowalski Photography | Kansas City Photographer.

The S family | Troy, IL family photographer

If you are looking for a photographer in the Troy, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, or Collinsville, Illinois area, please check out my portfolio. Pricing information is available here.

I have been lucky lately to work with families with cooperative toddlers. (Those words do not usually belong together, right?) I know this family from my son's daycare and many playdates, so I knew I was getting handsome couple of kids to photograph. And I was thrilled when these two boys were full of sweetness and smiles throughout the session!




A couple for the wall here for sure!

Letters to Our Sons | September

Each month, I am sharing a personal post with a letter to my son. A group of mothers and photographers joined together for this project to preserve memories and share our love for our little boys.

Dear Abram,

You are you, and I just want to bottle that up. We tried soccer again this year. At the beginning of the first game, here you were:

Aggressive! I couldn't believe it! Then a teammate dragged you to the ground and an adult stood in the way of the goal when it was your chance to score. And you were back to you, ready to just play pretend and pick flowers. My boy.

THIS is you:


Batman pajamas, snow boots, "hiiii-YAH" with a sword against imagined foes.

THIS is you:



Silly and laughing and happy to be spending time with your mom and a friend. Finding treasures in nature.



And here you are at the last game of the soccer season. After spending 75% of the game playing Iron Man and looking for honeybees with a new found friend, you ran after the ball and kicked it at the very last minute. (Nevermind that you were bribed with the promise of a bounce house if you got in 5 kicks.) Big smile, so proud, doesn't matter this isn't the right field. My boy.



You are the best kid.

Love,
Mommy

Letters to our Sons | August

Each month, I am sharing a personal post with a letter to my son. A group of mothers and photographers joined together for this project to preserve memories and share our love for our little boys.

Dear Abram,
The end of summer is always a bit heartbreaking. This year especially as you head to Pre-K, and I realize just how big you are getting. We squeezed in as much fun as we could during the last weeks of summer, though.
We went to three homecomings for the parades and carnival rides and enjoyed time with several friends. Compared to other four year old boys, you are apprehensive about trying new things like the ferris wheel. You are no daredevil, instead choosing to be very careful about climbing on the playground equipment or jumping off rocks. You aren't shy, but you definitely want to choose who to talk to and when on your terms.


You wouldn't go down the big slide on your own, so I got to ride with you. Even though you loved it, you weren't ready to try a second time on your own.

You decided to brave this roller coaster. I was surprised, and you were beaming when you saw me and your dad waiting afterward.
And even though I was sad our together time had to end, look at how excited you were on your first day of Pre-K!


I love you, Sweetpea. You're the best.
Mommy
Please continue to follow the circle and visit Tracey Bohland | Tracey Bohland Photography to read her letter!

Letters to Our Sons | July

Each month, I am sharing a personal post with a letter to my son. A group of mothers and photographers joined together for this project to preserve memories and share our love for our little boys.

Dear Abram,
There are many things I hope I won't forget about you as a 4 year old. A few that really make my heart melt:

1. The way you talk.
I know the quirks to your speech will soon be lost. I love hearing your little voice turn "here" into a 2-syllable "heeyah", how you went to see a movie at the "movie-ah-theatah", and how so many of your sentences end with an abruptly loud "OKAY?!?"

I caught a "heeyah" or two on video:

2. The sweet things you do to show you love Mommy.
At more than one teeball game this season, you just couldn't contain the need to show me how much you love me. When you were supposed to be on the field. Once it was, "I have a flower for you, Mommy!" and you running off the field immediately to make sure I got it. Another time it was, "I want to give you a kiss!" and you strutted right off the field making kissy faces all the way and plopped down on my lap when you reached me. And then you ran the bases with a flower you found at 2nd just to get it to me. Here you come with a big smile and clover squeezed tight in your right hand:



3. How you play. And play. And play.
I could offer you just about any activity, any day, and you would say, "No, I just want to play." Or you would want to confirm with me, "And play???" This would be your answer if I asked if you wanted to go buy new toys, go to the pool, go to the park. Even if it sometimes drives me batty, I love that you LOVE to just play. You pretend superheroes and characters from movies most. You shove toys about a centimeter from my eyes and force me to take them and be who you see fit. When you play, you are always right and you know all the rules. If I try to add something in to the story in your head, you look at me like I am just trying to be silly and quickly direct me on the RIGHT way to pretend.
Try not to grow up, little boy.

Iloveyou, SweetPea.
Mommy

Follow the links to view the other posts in the circle this month. You can begin by checking out this post by Mango Mahalo Photography by Michelle Anderson featuring some adorable photos of her little boy.