A sweet day of mini portrait sessions!

So this past weekend we had our very first holiday mini sessions! It went fantastic, and we could not have asked for any more beautiful weather!

I have always strayed away from mini sessions in the past – because I hate to limit my clients with time. I know that some times kids have their own agenda for the day, and some times naps and feedings just can’t wait. So usually, I show up to a portrait session, hang out with the kids for a while (so we are buddies and having fun together), then just take pictures till I feel like I have everything I want. But with mini sessions, we are on a bit of a time restraint since the next family will be showing up ready for their photo time. I did give myself a good buffer luckily…but I still very much wish I had more time to hang out with these super sweet families! But I am excited to say that we did pretty great with our limited amount of time! :)

Here are just a few of my favorites! :


First up : Shyla, Allen , Allen Jr, and Kaia




















My old friend Joe, his wife Heather and sweet Jamie:

















(and a couple of just the two if them!) :)





Then of course, our great friends Sue Ellen and Josh!



















Thanks so much to these beautiful families for coming out for a quick session! I hope we can spend lots more time together taking pictures in the future! :)

Happy Halloween!

Even though it has been 8 years, October is always a hard month for me. It’s hard to be positive and only remember the good times with some one you have lost, when there are Halloween decorations everywhere. Let just say the tombstones and RIP signs (etc.) are not quite as fun for me, as it is for most other people.

And now with my sweet little boy in the mix, it just makes me think about how much my dad would have absolutely adored him. I know that he would want to spend every waking second with him, playing with him, singing and dancing in the car, having long heart to heart conversations, and spoiling him – because that’s just the kind of guy he was. He was honestly the best, most supportive person I have ever met , and I was so lucky to have him in my life for almost 17 years – I just wish that Jordan could have known him for a little bit too, to know how amazing he was...

But, on a happier note – Halloween is instantly a much better time of year now. Why, you might ask? Ummm because of Jordan of course! ...lets be honest, everything is better with Jordan! ;)
Now, I get to look forward to dressing our sweet little guy up for the holiday, and soon enough, all the excitement he will have for it!

To celebrate Jordan's 1st Halloween we headed over to the pumpkin patch for a little family picture action.

I am literally obsessed with his adorable knit pumpkin hat from this sweet Etsy shop Ruby and Mabel Happy Knits , Jacy is so sweet and easy to work with. She made it custom for Jordan's noggin. You will be seeing lots more of her adorable hats on here!

 

 

Hello sweet chubby boy!


One of my faves!


Just in case you didn't know, this is what happens when you try to take pictures of an infant

...everything just looks soooo tasty! ;)


I absolutly adore my little family!

Brea Family Photography - { Jen, Joe and Brayden! }

Our cousin Jen , and her hubby Joe are such an amazing couple and along with Brayden, they are one perfect little family! We absolutely LOVE them , and are so thankful to have them in our lives! They live a couple hours away from us, but whenever we get together , Sean and I always have an awesome time!

So I can't belive that our little cousin Brayden is almost a year old!! Sheesh! I feel like I just got the text message from Joe saying that Jen was in labor, and that Brayden was on his way into the world!
But it really has been about a year , and we are getting ready to celebrate his 1st bithday! (so exciting!)

....and what better way to celebrate than a fun family portrait session!? So today we strolled around the park, and did just that! Sean and I had such a fun time with them (as always)!

Enjoy!









I so love this! :)





Brayden, you are too cute for words!








One of my faves!




















Hes ALMOST walking! Go Brayden, go!


Such a beautiful family!














The cake was such a fun idea on Jen's part, but it went from lots of fun, to a depressing mess...poor guy! ;)




Jen, Joe and Brayden - we love you guys so much, and can't wait to celebrate Braydens 1st birhday in a couple weeks! Thanks so much for coming down to hang out with us today, and for the yummy lunch! :)

Jordan Brett Rockett Van Bussel

So I know it has been a long time since my last blog post....like a really long time.
But I swear I have a really great excuse... I had a gorgeous baby boy.

(warning, this is a pretty long post - but so worth it.)

Our amazing son Jordan was born a week late on June 30th, 2010.
After lots of doctor appointments going back and forth with our group of doctors trying to decide if our baby was "too big for me" , they decided to let me go naturally (and not schedule the c-section they had thought I might need).I felt like I was pregnant forever and got to be pretty huge. At our last appointment on June 29th, they sprung the news on us that we were going in to the hospital that night to have our baby (I have goosebumps just thinking about it). So we went in at 9pm that night, (painful) contractions started right away and I progressed through the night. Then, again - I progressed slowly through the day. By the time 8pm rolled around the next night they ended up having to put me on oxygen and started flipping be back and forth since the baby's heart rate was doing some funny things. After 3 more hours, he had clearly stopped progressing , and his heart rate was not able to get back to normal. At about that time our amazing friend Molly was there to start our birth photos - and a few minutes later the doctor came in to tell us he was not coming the way we had hoped, but that in 20 minutes or so we would be meeting our little man via c-section. At that point we were ready for what ever plan God had for us, and just wanted a healthy baby.
At 10:47pm Jordan was born, and he was perfect.

So we were not able to get the actual "birth pictures" that we had planned for, but I would say that these are just as amazing. Molly, thank you so so much for coming , praying , and just being such a great friend to us. We are forever thankful for these beautiful pictures!!
(you can check out Molly's super sweet post here).










































Absolutely IN LOVE with this picture! :)





Molly , you are such an amazing friend! Again, we are soooo thankful!

....and just a few we took of him in the hospital





Proud auntie....


...grandpa...


...and grandma.


and a few we have taken since we got home...

















He has changed so much from week to week!  Here he is in his swing, with his birdies that he loves so much ;)


Jordan makes the best faces ever! Love him!





 and his announcements!






We are just so in love with him and can't believe that he is already a month old! We feel truly blessed to have each day that God has given us with our precious little boy, and cant wait to enjoy him and all of the exciting moments to come!

So I will break up the Jordan love into a couple posts, coming up soon will be our first family pictures (that I just love to pieces!).