Family Photos

Well, this post is only 3 months behind.  That seems to be a recurring theme around the blog these days.  I blame Archer and Lyla. :)

Back in October, we had family photos taken by the incredibly talented Jaime of Anthem Photography.  Jaime took our wedding photos, along with another friend Matthew.  We adored our wedding photos and knew Jaime would do a beautiful job with family photos, as well.

Back before Archer and Lyla were born, I had planned to have a newborn photo session.  But then my babes arrived and time proceeded to move at warp-speed.  So we didn't get around to scheduling a photo session until October.  Allow me to remind you that Archer and Lyla were born at the beginning of August.  Whoops!

But it actually worked out better this way.  The babies were a little bit older and had a little more personality.  Jaime was kind enough to come to our house for a lifestyle photo session.  The thought of having to get to another location with all the crap we would need was a task too daunting for us at the time.  Being in our own home with everything we could possibly need took away a ton of the stress involved in taking family photos.

And Jaime was perfect!  She was so patient with us and the babies.  She even included Jazzy in several photos.  She was flexible and accommodating to our wishes, but also offered up some excellent ideas that we would have never thought to do.  We ended up with the perfect mix of candid and intentional portraits.

I feel a bit vain talking about how great pictures of me turned out, but they truly turned out beautifully!  It's hard to make a mom who is two and a half months postpartum think she looks good in photos, but that's just what Jaime did.

On that particular day, Lyla brought her A-game.  She was full of smiles and showed off her dimple!

Archer was a bit on the cranky side and did a lot of crying.  Despite being Mr. Crankypants, Jaime was able to capture some quiet moments which perfectly show off his typically mellow side.  

Jaime also captured some really sweet moments with Adam and Archer.  And I never would have thought to use that blank gray wall in our guest bedroom as a backdrop for photos.  I'm going to have to remember that for futures photos that I'll attempt to take but won't be nearly as gorgeous as Jaime's.    

When two little babies are your subjects, it's rather tricky to get both looking at the camera and not crying...at the same time.  But check out this sweet winner.  This photo made its way to our Christmas card and on our fireplace mantle.  It makes me smile whenever I see it.  

There were also some darling family shots.  It's once again tricky when you have two babies, but then add the height difference between Adam and I and you've got yet another challenge.  I love this photo because it's in front of our vacation gallery wall.  All of the traveling Adam and I have done together brings back such wonderful memories.  We both can't wait to add more photos of family travels down the line.  Having scenes like this from our home be our backdrop made the photo shoot that much more special.  Once again, this was Jaime's idea and I love it!  

I'm not generally a fan of photos with lots of PDA, but I'll make an exception for this sweet shot.  After all, it was Adam and I's love that created Lyla and Archer.  Well, our love, a chunk of money and a little science.  

Perhaps my favorite shot of all is this one with Jazzy front and center.  While the center of our lives has expanded a bit to include Archer and Lyla, Jazzy is still very much a central feature.  

We're so happy that our family photos can now include two sweet babies, in addition to our sweet fur baby.  We'll treasure these photos forever.   

All photo credits in this post belong to Jaime of Anthem Photography.  We can't recommend her enough if you are in need of a photographer in the Kansas City area!