and look whose picture I saw? Congrats to the D family! She is indeed a beautiful little cherub.

I haven’t really discouraged her from walking. But I haven’t really ENcouraged her either. As a matter of fact, I’ve tried to ignore the fact that she would one day be on two legs and not really a "baby" anymore. It is difficult not to melt into her pure enthusiasm with her newly discovered skill. She looks proud as punch every time she gets from point A to point B as a bi-ped. But the truth of the matter is that my heart sank a little lot today when I realized she is in fact walking. Next thing you know, she’ll be running, potty-trained, wanting to dress herself, asking to borrow the car, dating–it’s a short trip, people. And I’m not ready for it.

I think I’ll regress and do some pouting tonight.

My friend Lauren pointed out to me today that I had not blogged about my baby girl in a while…well, not as often as I used to…how about that? So, for my purposes (since my blog also serves as a personal record of my family’s history), here’s what’s going on in Miss A’s world as of late:

1. Two words: Separation Anxiety. And it is driving me up the wall. I love her. I do. I adore her. I do. But I just cannot spend every minute of my day with her in my arms in spite of how much she begs and protests. It’s so bad that I have to hide in my "Cave of Wonders" (that’s what we call my office) and I literally don’t come out to eat, drink, or even go to the bathroom for fear that she’ll see me and pitch a royal one.  You’ll even notice in the above images how "happy" she is that I’m occupied with the camera and not with her.

2. That would be why I haven’t posted as many pics of her. The child literally won’t let me put her down long enough for me to pick up the camera.

3. In spite of all that, she’s still cute as hell.

4. She LOVES to do the dishes with her brothers:

5. Speaking of brothers, I came across and old picture of T-man yesterday that stopped in my tracks.  I guess it was from about 3 years ago? My sister is always telling me how much Amry looks like T, but I never really saw it, until this image:

Well, maybe it’s not the best of one Amry to compare, but that face T’s making…oh, I see that face ALL the time from Amry.

6. Also speaking of brothers…while I know this post is about Amry, I just have to share this recent development. My husband and I discovered yesterday that the boys (who spend most of their days beating up on eachother) have started sleeping in the same bed. This cracked me up. I walked into find the first frame, but the second they heard the camera click, they immediately rolled to opposite sides of the bed:

7. Back to "Scram-ro" (we’ve nicknamed her that because she’s so very "scrammy.") – What else?

• Um, the kid will eat anything. I mean anything. Today she downed an entire, grown-up sized quesadilla.
• She LOVES remotes and when she gets one, she likes to point it to the TV emphatically because she thinks that’s how you make the TV work.
• She loves to dance. The second she hears catchy music, she squishes up her little face and bops up and down.
• She’s discovered that she can pick her nose (and yours, too, if you’ll let her). (Sorry, hon…don’t hate me for that one when you’re 16)
• Her hair is out of control. Seriously. I have no idea what to do with it. It has a life of its own. Any advice?
• She talks, a lot. Most of it, we don’t understand, but she just keeps going because we’re nimwits and someday, perhaps we’ll get a clue.
• She loves to play. She can sit for a long time just taking things out of bowls and putting them back in. Fascinating.
• She loves dolls. I find this to be very strange because I haven’t really pushed it. She just naturally gravitates towards baby dolls.
• She thinks it’s the funniest thing when she toots. I have NEVER had a kid that laughed at that kind of thing, but whenever she does it, she cracks up. Oh great. She’s going to be *that* girl.
• She has an unusual shoe fetish. Basically, she demands that you put shoes on her so that she can immediately remove them and throw them at you. It’s very entertaining. For her.
• If you hand her her "dat" (ie. pink blankey she’s had since birth), she immediately curls her fingers around it, places thumb in mouth and she’s ready for bed. It’s like she doesn’t even think about it.
• She’s still nursing. Hard to believe.
• Whenever I hear Moose and Zee "It’s Puzzle Time" on Nick Jr., I tear up.
• Whenever I hear Jack’s Big Music Show, I tear up.
• Whenever I hear Olivia’s theme music, I tear up.
• Even the closing song of Yo Gabba Gabba makes me tear up.
• All of these things have become synonymous with her.
• That and the smell of LOreal Kids Blueberry Smoothie shampoo.
• That and crayons:

Wow. I guess I really needed to talk about her. These past few weeks have been tough on me. Normally, there’s a lull in January after the holiday rush, but this year, it just hasn’t worked out that way. I’ve been working so much and gosh, in spite of being "near" them all day, I miss my kids so much. Good news is that I get to take some time to reconnect tomorrow. I’m very much looking forward to that. Very much.

I just got done telling her mom how babies between 6 months and 3 years NEVER wear hats. Mom thought that would be the case with baby girl as well. Turns out, we were so very wrong. We couldn’t get the hat *away* from her!

We had such a fine time this afternoon. I give you Exhibit B:

 (I apologize for the camera shake…I was laughing too hard to pay attention to technique by this point.) 

I love images of moms doing what moms do.

Okay, before we bombard you with any more cuteness, have you been to Baby Coco in Austin before? If not, do yourself a favor and go. Cheyenne does such an amazing job with her creative and shabby chic decorating. Every time I walk into the store, I see something new and cool.  For example:

Um, I’m sorry, but if *I* could fit into that crib, I would be waking up in that every morning. Truly a beautiful touch-n-feel-n-experience kind of store. And it’s a great place to find unique baby shower gifts, too!  Now back to your daily dose of adorableness, Baby Q, the new face of Baby Coco. This girlie has got it goin’ on!

And what about that insane Christmas tree??????  To the ridiculously talented artist that created the tree, I’m planning to sneak into the store one night and confiscate it. If you would like to keep me out of prison, please tell me how I can get such an elegant and stunning tree like that for my baby girl. Thank you very much for allowing me to continue raising my children. ;-) (More from our amazing time at Baby Coco here and here.)

At long last, we are ready to start booking for our 2010 Xpressions Sessions! To see the dates and all the info, visit THIS PAGE (we’re doing some new things this year, including special discounts AND themes!).  These openings are very limited and will fill up quickly. Graduating high school students in Austin…now is the time to book your Xpressions session for senior portraits! Also, clients who have already booked a 2010 Premium Session or who had a Premium Session in Nov. or Dec. of last year qualify for special discounts and get first priority on our openings. 

I’ve been meaning to blog more images from our last round in Fall 2009, so I figured now would be a good time. So many incredible families and oh, we had the most perfect weather and light! I can’t wait until we start doing this again this year…especially with the fun new themes and seeing new places all over Austin. (As with all of our Xpressions sessions, these images have not been retouched.)

This was the second opportunity I got to spend time with this family. They are close to my heart because I can completely relate to mom’s love for her sons and deep connection with her new daughter.  And I love to see how baby girl’s brothers interact with her. Reminds me so much of my own family. But they are also close to my heart because when they are in front of the camera, they are just themselves. Natural, beautiful, and bonded as a family. Getting to capture intimate moments like these is what makes family photography so precious.

This was the stunning and perfectly peaceful scene when I walked in to photograph this homebirth. Seriously? So beautiful.

And the end result? Just as beautiful. Just as peaceful. All is right with the world. Congratulations again on your new arrival!

As I continue my proofing, I have to sit here in anxious anticipation, phone by my side, camera at the ready for the next baby to hatch. Who’s going to be first? All bets are off when it comes to predicting labors and the suspense is killing me. Here’s to many safe, quick, and [relatively] painless deliveries any day now!

(If you are in the Austin area and would like to learn more about hiring a professional birth photographer, please see this link.)

This beautiful mommy-to-be (who is due to give birth any day now) will receive and 11×14 canvas of this image AND a $500 gift card for a 2010 Pinkle Toes Premium Session.  Congratulations, J! 

We also have two runners up, who will each receive $100 gift cards for a 2010 Premium Session:

and

Congratulations once more to winners and all of the nominees who ran a very close race.  Thanks so much to everyone who took time to vote and help make this tough decision. I can’t wait to see what kind of images 2010 turns out for us!

To help get YOU motivated to be the 2010 Pic of the Year winner, I have a VERY limited time special offer:

Book your Premium session by NEXT SATURDAY to be held in April or May 2010 and receive a complimentary leather accordion album featuring 14-4×6 images from the session! (Not valid with any other offer. While supplies last.) Contact me to set up your session now!