WARM holiday wishes | la jolla family photographer

I love that while this is what the holiday season looks like for some...



...ours looks like this, complete with the likes of a gorgeous family like you're about to see.  And like I love warm holidays in San Diego, I love this family.  I've been lucky getting to photograph Chelsea, Michael, Ella and Quintin for the past year and a half (Quintin was just six months old the first time I shot them and he recently turned two!); luckier still just getting to know them.

Once again, the family is planning on using these photos for their holiday cards, so we'll post just a few so we don't ruin the surprise for their friends and family.

Box of chocolates | pacific beach family photographer

What's the saying ol' Forest Gump made famous?  Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.  Well, the same can be said for photographing young children - especially when they range in age from 10 months to 5 years old.  And especially when the 5 and 3 year olds are boys.  But these kids were such a breeze to work with, and the entire family is beautiful, sweet, and the camera loved each and ever one of them.  Take a look for yourselves...

I just love sweet, baby girls...

Seriously?  How awesome and adorable are these boys...

Mom and dad are totally working it for the camera.  Hotness! ;)

I heart the K family.  Fo' real...

Happy Family | coronado family photographer

Riva contacted me a few weeks ago wanting to get some portraits of her family of five, but was a little hesitant.  I understand - it's a little nerve-wracking being in front of the camera.  I'm so glad she decided to just go for it because [1] children grow up so fast and [2] I got to meet this beautiful, sweet, fun family!  Twins Jeffrey and Brandon delivered exactly what I expected from twin three-year olds: LOTS of energy and play.  Baby Lauren is just the cutest, sweetest little girl; I just love her smooshy cheeks!  Riva and Scott, you have such a beautiful family - it was such a great pleasure photographing you all.  Hope you enjoy your sneak peeks!

Rain, rain go away| Mission Bay family photographer

I've been watching the weather for the entirety of this last week because the threat of rain was imminent for today's session. In fact, as late (or as early, depending on your POV) as 1:00am this morning, the weather channel was still forecasting morning showers. Melissa, my client, and I decided that we'd wait until an hour prior to the session to call it - if it's raining at that time, we'll postpone; if not, we'll meet up and see what happens. Thankfully, when I peered out of my window this morning, the clouds were bright and the sun was shining! Melissa and Brian are parents to Nathan and Kira. In honor of Kira's arrival and Nathan turning three soon, we made our way out to mission bay to capture some images of this beautiful family!

Raise your hand if you're ready to see sneak peeks! ;)

Ok, so I know I say it time and time again, but I mean seriously, I *am* right. I get to shoot some really beautiful families!

Hot mom alert ;)

And I'll close out with a close up of miss Kira, in an image which is likely to make my favorite 10 of 2010 list at the end of the year.

Big waves and bigger love | la jolla family photographer

I was very excited when Alice told me she wanted to do her family session in La Jolla cove. I'm one of the few San Diegans, I'm sure, who had never been there. Not that I didn't want to - just never found enough motivation to go. But thankfully she picked this spot because it was just beautiful - almost as beautiful as their growing family. Try to keep an eye out for Alice's little bump - she's just over halfway to welcoming their second cutiepie.

We're gonna post a lot of the fun, sort of out takes so we don't ruin the surprise of their holiday cards this year...

Kisses for daddy...

Seriously, and I mean, seriously adorable...

Del Mar got a little more beautiful today...

I'm fighting the onset of a what feels like another cold, so I'm going to keep my yammering to a minimum on this one. What I definitely want to say about this family is that

[1] umm...could they BE any more gorgeous? Seriously, the lot of them.
[2] they are as sweet as they are gorgeous. I had such a great time just hanging out with them. And lastly,
[3] Grandma didn't make it into the blog today, but I wish I could bring her to all my sessions! There should be an award for unofficial assistant of the year...because she would win! An award and cookies. :)

So let's get to the pictures! Make sure you're sitting down because there are a lot of pictures in this sneak peek!

Here's miss Addison...adorable even from behind ;)












HOT!











Leah and Mike, it was such a pleasure to meet you all this morning. Thank you for choosing me to document such a special time in your lives and I am so looking forward to meeting:

Party of ten!

Ok, I have had an abnormally busy weekend and sadly must admit that my brain is somewhere between sauteed and fried. So that said, I'm going to attempt to keep this post short...well, as far as my babbling goes. Yesterday I had the privilege of photographing my largest family to date: 10, count 'em 10 people! 8 adults, one newborn, and one two-year old (which, as parents know, is equivalent to two adults since they somehow have the power to be in at least two places at once! lol). You should recognize a couple of familiar faces as I photographed Erin and Jesse when they welcomed their newest, Gabriel, into the world a month ago. Well, Erin's family decided that they wanted to take this opportunity to get portraits for the whole family - covering four generations! I am so honored that they picked me to do this for them. Had a great time meeting all of you!

Norah, Gabriel, and their grandparents

But just because they're grandparents, doesn't mean Liz and Jim can't make things sizzle!

Of course hotness like that breeds hotness like their lovely daughters! check out Jackie, Erika, and Erin working. it. out!

Even the ocean is drawn to her!

Jim and his lovelies!

LOVE this photo! I have a very special closeness with my mom, so I always love seeing that in other mom/daughter relationships.

The ladies looking fabulous (with a little help from uber handsome Gabriel)

The gentlemen were not to be outdone, no siree.

And I'm posting this one because it's very typical of a shoot involving toddlers. They're pretty much in their own world most of the time and I love how Norah is more concerned with her "bribe" than with me and my stupid camera! lol

I hope you guys enjoyed your sneak peeks!