The P Family!

Mama is a buddy of mine from high school (and middle school and elementary school). Our families have always been tight and I was so excited when she asked me to take their very first family pictures! So without further ado, the P Family (This little man made me baby hungry...again)!

The E Family!

Indroducing, the E Family (Little miss E was a natural)!









The extended E Family! I went to high school (and middle school and elementary school) with all these boys. It's so weird that we're all grown-ups.

Lindsey is a Senior!

While I was in Washington I had the oportunity to dump my kids off with family for some creative "me" time...I mean I had 4 different photo sessions and had my awesome family watch my babies for me. Thank you all by the way! I did senior pictures for a beauty that I used to babysit, one for a high school friend and her little family, and two for a guy I went to high school with that maybe said 7 words to me in the 10 years I lived there-haha! But his mom is my mom's boss so it wasn't as weird as you may think. Can I share my favorites? It's my blog, so of course I can.

Miss L (I could just cry she's so drop-dead gorgeous)!

Baby Alice!

I need and WANT to post these pictures of the newest member of the extended Miles clan. Baby Alice!!!

Oh she is perfect. So beautiful. Quite possibly the prettiest baby ever. At a month old, she was still only 7lbs., so you know I was in heaven. Now, I'm crying because I just want to hold a teeny tiny baby right now. I'll settle for telling you all her amazing story. You all remember Sunny and Rick, right? Their role as parents started on April 22, 2009. Remember Dean? He just turned 2. One year and one month later, May 2010, Lyla arrived (via same birth mom). It was crazy but a good crazy. We found out that Dean and Lyla had eight other siblings spread out with two other families. CRAZY! Well, in February of this year, Rick was deployed again. As we speak he's resting out in the middle of an ocean somewhere protecting our rights and freedoms (thank you for that and FYI my boys like to brag about their hero, Uncle Rick). So about now, you know where my story is going. On April 14, Sunny's social worker called her to tell her that, yes, the birth mom was pregnant again and wanted her and Rick to adopt the new little one, when it was born. She wasn't due for another month so Sunny would have time to think and pray and, at least, mention it to Rick! Can you imagine 3 in two years? Well, my mom can, but that's another story.

The next morning, the social worker called again to say the birth mom had had an emergency Cesarean, in the middle of the night, and delivered a healthy baby girl. I'm not sure how Sunny reacted initially, but I can say I probably would've blacked out. Sunny called me later that day and put in a prayer request. We all complied! I can't imagine how overwhelming that must have been. She could talk to Rick...but only sporadically. She didn't know what to do, but she knew she had to see her. So she bought a plane ticket. I have to get a little smug right now. When I heard she was flying down to see the baby, I said to Trevor, "Oh please, like she'll be able to hold that sweet little thing and then not take her?" I was right (insert smug grin). Much paperwork and a couple of weeks later, mom and baby were together. Sunny flew me up to take Dean's 2 year old pictures, Lyla's 1 year old pictures and baby Alice's newborns! Whew! It was nuts and she is awesome! So to end the story, Rick might be my boys hero (and a great person for it), but Sunny is mine!

Now on to the pictures! I'm going to tag this post "Sunny" so you can click on it and read the rest of their story if you feel so inclined. It's a pretty good story...

She has red hair! Love it!





Such a pretty mama.

A couple shots of 4/5 of the family. Note to self, it's kind of tough to get a 2 year old, 1 year old, and newborn to smile and look at you at the same time.





That's right Sunny, just keep smiling!

Dean is 2!

Lyla is 1!

I'll just add that we did the pictures at the aquatic center. Rick was on the rowing team in college and Sunny wanted to put a little piece of him in the pictures. I loved the gesture! He is so missed!

To My Bossy Big Sister

You may be bossy, but you make beautiful children. All my sister's girls have French middle names. It's a nod to my brother-in-law and where he served his mission. We do it too. Our kids have Canadian middle names. Somehow it's much less impressive.

Click on the photos to see how beautiful they are in larger format. Somehow the pics look loads better blown up. Once again, blogger isn't being kind to me.

SAMANTHA REINE

ZOE CIEL

Are All Big Sisters Bossy?

Mine is. She called me today to see if I felt better. I have strep throat. And Trevor isn't lying when he says it's H. E. Double. I wanted to die Saturday night. Oh the aching and the chills and the sweating and the horrible anticipation of swallowing, knowing that it was going to feel like gulping razor blades. She was so sweet to check on me.
Then she chastised me for my lack of blogging. Had I finish Amber's pictures yet? She asked. Almost, I replied. Because we're all getting sick of the teaser, she retorted. I'll work on it today, I promised. You'd better, she probably thought, but was kind enough not to say aloud. What she is really after, are pictures of her own sweet daughters that she knows are next on my editing list. I see right through her compassionate games. So I dragged my sleep deprived (4.5 hours last night...but I won't mention that I spent the entirety of Sunday in bed via Trevor's orders) body downstairs and began working. I've been here all day (minus fixing and eating lunch, finding certain Lego pieces and changing sagging diapers) and I'm finally done...ish. There is more I want to do and I'm still waiting for more pictures to come from my awesome, second shooter (cough, cough Melly). But there are plenty to share and plenty more that I could share but won't. So, Amber, thank Becky for lighting a fire under my convalescent bum and I apologize for taking forever to finish!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Jack!

I love this series. Amber couldn't keep a straight face!

This wasn't staged, he was truly carrying her off the field. Such a gentleman;)

and my favorite shot of the day...

That's my niece in there y'all! If only everyone had a little sister like Courtney! She's the hottest assistant ever and knows where to get the best tamales too.