Growing Up!

As I look back on this year and the beginning of my journey with taking photography seriously, I have grown and learned so much about myself and the amazing beauty of capturing those special moments. To me there is no better way to end the year (besides taking pic. of my kiddos) then ending it with a very quick but amazing shoot with this wonderful family that I so dearly love!!!

You may remember little man from his newborn pictures (my first newborn) and looking at him now at 8 mo. old and sooooo cute! He has the most amazing eyes!!!
His big sister is still filled with lots of energy but this time she did smile for me :)

Little "K" had a double ear infection, but you would never know it. He was happy and content! But we made it quick so that he was not out in the cold too long!!! So with without prolonging this anymore, here are my favorites...

Everything about this first picture makes me smile...by far one of my favorites of the year!!!

Ahhhhhh....... is all I can say about this second picture!!

OK seriously I could eat him....I love little boys in stocking hats!!!



Big "K" being all sassy and such a girlie girlie...they grow up so fast....

Enjoy and check back...J

Faimly + Saw = Cutting our REAL Tree

I can't believe I am finally posting this since Christmas Day is right around the corner. But with all the other things going on this month...parties, Christmas programs, cookies, buying and wrapping presents, decorating, and sending out Christmas cards then you know how I am feeling...BEHIND!!

The day after Thanksgiving my family has started this new tradition of going to cut our Christmas's trees down at a local tree farm in WV. One of my sisters lives in Bluefield and when we spend Thanksgiving there this has been our tradition. You can't beat $20 bucks for any size tree you cut! Seriously this makes my heart smile. Is it me or has tree prices gone crazy????

I hear more and more about friends buying fake because of it being so expensive every year!!! This makes me so sad! There is nothing like the smell of a REAL tree!!! I can understand their reasoning and I hope Mike and I can continue to get a real tree every year!! (Ok I am off my soap box) :)

So here are a few pictures of our adventure in cutting a tree down while it was snowing!!! YES I said it...SNOWING!!!
We had to bundle ourselves and the kids up since us southern peeps don't know how to dress right for this kind of weather....Thanks Kath for having extra scarfs, gloves, hats and jackets!!

This is my stud with Han picking a tree for Oma and Opa!

The one in the purple is mine who looks like the little brother from the Christmas Story movie!! LOL
Let's just say she did not have as much fun as Mike and I did that day....many tears!!!

This is my other one being held by Papa!! This is out of focus on the main subjects but I still real like it!

You have to have a Mountain Beauty...my wonderful older sister!!! (can I say she was walking all over that mountain side trying to find the right tree and when she found the right one it was all the way at the bottom!!) Her poor hubby had to carry that tree all the way up to the top! Way to go Henry...that is true sacrifice...LOL!!!

This is Pete my other wonderful sister's Dog! He was cold but loved it!!!

So that is how we spent the day after Thanksgiving instead of standing in lines on Black Friday!!

Merry Christmas....J

Small Town Goodness

What do you get when you barely have cell phone service, a place full of history and where everyone knows everybody....that's right a small rural town!!

I was asked to take some pictures for a Law Firm in Lancaster. Lancaster? where is that????

Ok, so I should know this since I have been living here for the past 15 years but at the time I really did not know. I had to ask my husband about this one. Ha

Well, I found out it is about an hour away and it is a small town rich in history and charm!!!

For instance the old court house (which is under reconstruction) was used as a jail during the civil war (for history buffs like me that is so cool). There is a restaurant named " The Cafe (open to the public)" which we found very odd...aren't all restaurants opened to the public??? So we asked and found out it used to be a private eating location and know they have decided to open it up to everyone...LOL how funny.

I also noticed that when we were taking pictures outside with the lawyers...everyone who stopped at the light either said hello or waved. You just can't get that kind of southern charm anywhere else but in a small town.

Ok so here is one of my favorite pictures of the day...



These three lawyers were a trip to work with!! Thank guys for giving me a taste of good ole southern charm!!! J

"Mater" Beckwith

So here are the rest of my favorites of little "G's" newborn pictures! Just in time for Christmas. What is better then a newborn around Christmas??? What a wonderful gift all wrapped!

I used a few props and by far my favorite is the cute hats from Tot Toppers. Kate does amazing work and be sure to check out her site. I just had to get my hands on her work and use them in my newborn session.

Thank you Dorothy and Paul for giving me the chance to capture little Mater. I had so much fun!









For all you Gamecocks out there, these are for you! Mater's daddy also played for the Gamecocks back in the day!!




I love this picture of daddy and "G". I am happy to say that I know Paul very well and this picture says so much to me about who he is....


Ahhhhhhhhh newborns are awesome!!!!

Make sure you keep coming back....J

Newborn Goodness

I am so excited about this session. It was my first official newborn session and I had a blast. I think I could have taken pictures of this little one all day.

Here is a sneak peak of this little cutie!!!



More to come of this little one, stay tune for some of my favorites of little Mater (this is what his big brother calls him) LOL!!!

J