The delightful Miss Julia came in for her one-year session earlier this week. I can’t believe she’s already a year old! She brought big sister Olivia in with her so that we could get some sister shots. I love their sparkly “1″ and “3″ tee shirts! Here is one to tide you over till Saturday, Carrie. Thank you so much for sharing Julia’s first year with me!
It is officially back to school time! McCurdy started first grade today at a brand new school and it sounds like he’s going to like his class and his teacher. The school needs to work out some kinks in the pickup/dropoff process (I never thought it could be worse than last year at the old school, but somehow, it is) but the building is beautiful and they seem to have a great group of teachers and administrators.
We have had a busy day and I am not blogging from the “big” computer so we’re going to skip This Week’s Picks for today. But here are a couple of shots of The First Grader being silly after school today.
As always, we are closed on Mondays but I will be back in the studio tomorrow morning to answer all phone calls and emails. I hope you all had great first days, too!
Mr Chance was back in earlier this month for his six-ish month session. He’s such a strong kid and such a good sitter already! I love this little guy… he reminds me a little bit of his brother at this age, and while I thought that Bryce was laid back his brother Chance seems really laid back. Plus, he’s every bit as adorable. His mom and dad are Aggies so we had to show that he is ready for football season. Mindy and Guy, I love spending time with your family! Thank you!
Another of our recent Little Blessings Babies, Presley came in last week for her 6/7 month session. She is such a sweetheart! Her mom and I were talking today and we had thought that maybe she was teething on the day of her session, because she seemed “not quite herself,” but she still did a wonderful job. Her mom said that when they got home, sure enough, a tooth broke through. Poor baby! She still looked beautiful in her portraits… what a little trooper. Thanks, Presley!
Meet Addison, from our latest crop of Little Blessings Babies. Addison’s older sister Ainsley has been coming in for portraits since she was this age and she is always such a joy, so I was excited about meeting this new addition to the family. Miss Addison is every bit as sweet and beautiful as her big sister! She’s got a very sweet personality, and the most amazing blue eyes. She was in last week for her 6 month portraits, but I never did showcase her 3 month session, so here are a few portraits featuring a slightly younger Addison. 
Thanks, Jennifer and Addison!
I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! Charlotte started her first day of PreK 4 this morning, and she was so excited. She looooooves school and has been counting down for weeks. We left early (probably for the only time this year) and I took a few snapshots of her before we went in to join the other kids in the gym. She has a great teacher and there are a few old friends from PreK 3 in her class, so I know she’s going to have a wonderful year.
One down, one to go. Public 1st grade does not start till Monday, so Mac has a few more days of freedom.
We’re finally getting some rain after a very dry summer. But it has been raining so steadily that when we went out earlier to get some groceries, all of the low areas were filling up with water. I remember that this same week last year we had a lot of rain and some flooding, too, because we had to reschedule some portrait sessions.
We decided to stay close to home for the rest of the day and so far, the kids have made a bedsheet tent, put on a dance show in the living room, and made me come up with an iMix of rainy day songs. We are going to have to put off our weekly library visit because of the weather, but they still chose a book to share with you all.
I love the illustrations in The Dick and Jane Collection. Mac loves it because it’s easy to read — actually, it is how he learned to read. So now Charlotte is learning with it, too. It’s a classic. The stories are very simple and are not the best for parent-to-kid read-alouds, but they’re perfect for new readers.
This week they’ve chosen a video in addition to their music pick, because we have a new favorite in our house. Sesame Street: Old School is so much fun to watch. Parents will love seeing their old childhood favorites again, and the segments are timeless enough that today’s kids will learn and still be entertained. The biggest plus for me: no Elmo. Their pick in Music is also our favorite segment. I know that if you’re anywhere near my age, you probably won’t be able to resist singing along. I’m listening to it while I type this and it takes me back to just before dinnertime during my elementary school years, before we had cable.
I’ll be back in the studio tomorrow to return all calls and emails. Have a great Monday!
Presley came in today for her 7 month session and she was such a sweetheart. She’s teething but she still did a great job at her session! Here is a sneak peek for you all. See you next week!
I showed a sneak peek last week, but here is more from Sweet Aubrey’s session. We had so many cute shots, but here are some of our favorites. Thanks for letting me spend this year with your family!
I know that many of you have been waiting for me to announce the dates for our Fall Charity Sessions and the upcoming Limited Edition Sessions, so here you go!
Bring your little ghoulies and ghosties for our annual Pumpkin Patch event! I turn the air conditioning waaaay down in the studio so that everyone will be comfortable in their costumes or their adorable fall outfits. Whichever outfit you choose, I guarantee that these sessions will be a lot of fun. Sessions are scheduled 15 minutes apart and we will NOT be offering clothing changes this year unless you would like to book two time slots. Our pumpkin patch set changes a little every year and is designed for children only, so it is appropriate for sitters up to age 12.
Session fee: $25 in canned goods OR a $25 HEB Gift Card to go to the San Antonio Food Bank. We will be ordering on site right after your session, and this is one of our most popular events every year so session times will book up very quickly. Call us at 830-214-1725 or email me at info at shelbylane dot net to get on the schedule. The appointments for these sessions are NOT TRANSFERABLE so if you can’t make it, please let me know so I can call the next person on our waiting list.
I haven’t officially decided on our theme for this year, but our special holiday sets are always unique and always gorgeous! What you see above are samples from the past two years — and both sets were great for either fancy holiday outfits or more casual winter clothes. These sessions are a great way to get last-minute portraits for gift-giving and for holiday cards. Sessions are scheduled 15 minutes apart and we will NOT be offering clothing changes this year unless you would like to book two time slots. Our holiday set is designed for children only, so it is appropriate for sitters up to age 12.
Session fee: $25 worth of NEW (still in the packaging) toys PER CHILD or a $25 Toys R Us gift card (again per child) to go to the Medina Children’s Home. We will be ordering on site right after your session, and this is one of our most popular events every year so session times will book up very quickly. Call us at 830-214-1725 or email me at info at shelbylane dot net to get on the schedule. Again, the appointments for these sessions are NOT TRANSFERABLE so if you can’t make it, please let me know so I can call the next person on our waiting list.
You might remember these from the spring — our Urban Sessions were so much fun! They’re designed for older kids and we can only photograph them a couple of times a year because of the weather. But we will be offering these again in September for our regular in-studio session fee of $150. These are great for walkers up to the pre-teen set and would be perfect as holiday card and gift portraits. We can only schedule one of these per day, because of lighting, so if you’re interested please call me asap to get on the books.
When was the last time you had a family portrait created? If you had to pause to think, NOW is the time! Portraits are heirlooms that are passed down from generation to generation. THIS is the year to get everyone together and capture this moment in your family’s history.
Our September and October weekend sessions are booking up quickly… if you’d like an outdoor portrait, we can only do one or two of those per weekend, so please get with me NOW to reserve your ideal time. We also offer in-studio sessions to make scheduling a little easier on your family. Once sports and dance and other school and church programs ramp up, it will be harder and harder to find the time to schedule, so now is your chance! Check out the gallery on our site for some samples of our family portrait work.