Shannon Holden Photography

These gorgeous sisters are long time clients of mine. I first photographed Big Sister at just 6 weeks of age. Both girls were Milestones clients during their first year and they are close in age, so I got to see their family every three months for well over 2 years. Their mom is one of my favorite people, and I always enjoyed hanging out with them. This session was the first time that I’d seen them in almost six months, and I really missed them!


Little Sister is 18 months old, and just so precious, you want to hug her. She has the most charming smile and a perfect sweet sparkle in her eyes. Big Sister is three and full of spirit! I think she is as beautiful now as she was as a newborn, and I have loved seeing her bold personality come shining through as she has grown. Her mom and I talked about the Myth of the Terrible Twos … there is very little Terrible at Two. Age Two is a breeze, in my opinion. It’s Age Three that gets rough. They truly develop a mind of their own at Three, and they love to test the boundaries and find out just how many of Mom’s buttons they can push.

But all the same, I love Three. Even when my own three year old was testing his limits with me, I reminded myself that this spunk, determination, and ingenuity that exhausts me as a mom are the same personality traits that I want him to have as an adult. They will serve him well later in life. For now, we just have to do our best to embrace all the wonderful things about Three and take a few deep breaths to remain calm.

For what it’s worth, to E’s mom, I thought both of your girls were a delight to see that morning. I know where you are coming from, but trust me – they both behaved beautifully. Just look at those joyful smiles and deep, brown eyes!! (And I adored those pink hi-tops!!) These are two very special, very wonderful girls. I can’t wait to see you all again soon! 

Here is our baby girl in March of this year. I went a little … ok, a lot …. camera-crazy this month. She was sitting up so well, always in a playful smiling mood, and delightful as ever. Spring was blooming all around. The warm breeze, the freshness and light and energy in the air had me inspired and invigorated. Suddenly I also realized that her first year was half over, and I found her daily growth and development so bittersweet. I wanted to stop time.

She had also really bonded with her brothers in this month, especially my oldest. He is gentle and nurturing and loves to take care of her. She responded to that more and more as their bond strengthened. He could make her smile like no one else. It was so endearing to see how she trusted him, loved him, and admired him.

I’m so sorry that I neglected to post the Location Contest update here! The winner and I chatted via email and it just totally slipped my mind. I’d like to extend a warm thank you to Tiffany for reminding me, and to all of you who sent in submissions. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and creativity in your location suggestions.

Without further ado, the winner is …. Kelly B! Kelly’s submission was the Autry Mill Nature Preserve. What amazed me most is that I live less than three miles away from this incredible spot and I had NEVER been there! Even as I drove in to check it out, my son said, “Oh, I’ve been here on field trips, Mommy!” I can’t believe I’d never seen it. It is lovely and unique, with such a great variety of portrait settings. Perfect choice!

I’m hoping to take Erica there for some of her 12 month portraits, and I was hoping to do that this week. But between the virus that took over our house, and all these storms in the afternoons when I’m off work, it hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully soon!

Thank you, Kelly, for finding this great spot for me, and to everyone for the other great spots to which you introduced me!!

I’ve been excited to see my website traffic nearly triple in the last two weeks since I started my daily blogging. Thank you for reading!

Now, people, the fun of a blog is the interaction!!! So let’s chat!!

To inspire you to speak up, I’m offering a contest for ONE WEEK. Between now and next Wednesday, September 5 at 5:00 p.m., post your comments! (Well, you can keep posting comments after that of course!)

For every comment posted, I will put your name in a hat. Then I will have Erica draw a name for the winner! (Provided she does not eat the piece of paper first.) The winner will receive a $15 gift card to Starbucks, so you may chat with a friend to your heart’s content. Client, fellow photographer, friend, or stranger … you can play too! I reserve the right to delete any inappropriate comments posted by creeps who lurk on the internet.

Ashley’s is the first name in the hat, since she commented on today’s post!