A new baby is always exciting, be they a first baby or a fifth. There is something about the innocence, the freshness, the potential of these new little people that never ceases to amaze me. And there is a special joy in photographing a mother expecting a younger sibling for their children – seeing the excitement on the children’s faces, the shy pride as they let me in on the secret that mummy has a baby in her tummy.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of shooting some maternity portraits for Megan, and little Miss Two wasn’t quite sure of me at first, but it didn’t take long and she was posing for the camera like  pro!

(as a side note, it’s a good idea to take the camera off high speed action mode before inviting the two year old to “press that button there” – let’s just say it’s a good thing I wasn’t shooting with my film camera!)

Megan has a cute little “basketball” belly – so neat and round!

Big sister showing me where baby is – just in case I wasn’t sure!

Thanks for having me around Megan, I look forward to meeting the little person hiding in there in a few weeks!

Taking a quick break from editing whilst my two little munchkins sleep, to share a couple of images from a portrait session I did yesterday up at Lake Inverell.

First up is the very suave B:

This little cutie was chatting non-stop, and was free with the compliments! He’s going to be a heartbreaker, for sure!

Doesn’t he look deep in thought? He was actually telling me all about Ben10, his favourite action hero.

And his little sister was just as cute:

Isn’t she sweet? Poor little mite is getting some teeth, and wasnt feeling overly sociable, but she was a real trooper!

And a sweet one of the two littlies together:

Too cute for words!

…our precious second son! I do apologise for my lack of blogging over the last couple of months, but I have been busy preparing for the arrival of this gorgeous soul:

Isn’t he adorable? We are all very smitten, and Master O thinks his little brother is just the best thing ever!

Winter has hit with a vengenance, so I’ve been hunkered down trying to keep warm. Add in a sick child, followed by sick husband, general day to day busy-ness, and my poor camera has been very neglected! So when yesterday was fine & mild, I chucked the boy in his gumboots & we went to play in some puddles!

It’s getting cold outside, so I thought I’d heat things up on a blog with a competition! Below, you’ll find 5 of my fave images from the last 12 months, and I need you, dear readers, to decide a winner. Just leave a comment on this post with the image number that you would like to see win, and the image with the most votes will win a 11×14 inch print! One vote per person, you can vote on your own image, and feel free to send on the link to your friends to increase your chances of winning. Voting closes at midnight AEST on June 20.

Image #1:

Image #2:

Image #3:

Image #4:

Image #5:

Sometimes, life can get so busy, we forget to stop & be thankful for all the little things that make our day nice. So, I’ve decided to start another photo-a-day project, called Grateful Daily. It’s all about taking the time out to appreciate the wonderful things in our lives.

I am going to use the last two posts as days one & two, both pretty self-explanatory. I am very grateful for a happy, healthy little boy, and for the blessing of a second babe joining us in a few short months.

For day three, I went with this image:

I am grateful that we live only a couple of hours away from some absolutely stunning beaches, that the small one can delight in the feeling of sand between his toes, and salty wind in his hair. I can only hope that these beaches will still exist for their children, and that they are not under quite a deal of water due to global warming.

Day Four – a lovely tradition of ours, coffee on the back lawn with M & O after church on Sundays. On a lovely, sunny, autumn day, it’s a delicious way to ponder life, the universe & everything together.

Anyone else want to celebrate the small things with me? Leave a comment & a link to your blog if you want to join me, I’d love to see what you are grateful for!

One baby. Prime suspect is a small child found occupying said baby’s room…

… refuses to reveal the baby’s location, and insists on calling me “mummy”, as if I wouldn’t notice! Has also been spotted trying to evade questioning…

Very suspicious, don’t you think?

… but about to redeem myself!

I have gotten very slack with posting, but things have been a bit crazy here lately, and, unfortunately for you, dear reader, the blog is the first to suffer.

But will you forgive if I say I have SIX photos to add today? So not only will I catch up on the las few days, but I will also have caught up on the few days I missed at the beginning of the month.

So, grab a coffee, take a big deep breath, and here come days nineteen to twenty four!

Day nineteen:

We have recently put in a vegie garden, and O loves helping daddy raid the garden for some fresh vegies to snack on. This cucumber had been picked only 2 minutes earlier.

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Day twenty:

The O cheer-squad. He had just “thrown” the kong to the dog, and was so proud of himself, he had to give himself a round of applause! Cheeky little thing!

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Day twenty-one:

One of O’s many Christmas presents, a ride on excavator. I was just playing around with perspective on this one, getting down low in an attempt to replicate a toddler’s perspective.

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Day twenty-two:

Actually taken before the image I used for day nineteen, O is following Daddy to the vegie patch to see what’s going on.

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Day twenty-three:

The light coming through our decking boards. I’d never noticed this before, until I was sitting on the steps watching the boys playing. Amzing what things you notice when you look outside the ordinary!

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Day twenty-four:

Playing with the texture created by the pebbles in our garden.

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Congratulations if you made it this far! I will try & blog everyday for the last week of the challenge to spare you from the mammoth posts!

Thanks for all the lovely comments I’ve received over the last month, it’s nice to know there are people out there who find my images interesting enough to comment on. I’ve been enjoying this challenge, but I also think I’ll be glad when it’s over!

Half way already! I can’t believe how fast this year is going already. How are your resolutions holding up? I’ve given up on one, completed another (yep, already!), and am doing ok on the others!

I don’t care what the MasterCard ads say, in this house, the one thing that is priceless, is a sleeping babe! O is flat-chat most of the day, and when he crashes, he’s out to it! Give him a tummy full of milk, and a ‘bankie’ to cuddle (or suck on!), and he’s out like a light. Ah, the serenity. There’s another reason I love this photo – it makes him look more like a baby & less like the little boy he has become. Time has just gone so quickly, it feels like only yesterday he was born, and now he’s a 16-month-old terror! Running everywhere, into everything, and loads of fun. Being a mum is the best job in the world, and I am very blessed to be able to stay a home with him.

Still trundling along.

We had a bit of rain today, so as soon as it cleared up, I let the boy loose…

In this photo, he has just finished splashing in a small puddle, and needed to taste the water on his hands!

(And yes, I do realise I’m still two days behind, and yes, I do intend to catch up!)