yet again, the gal knocked me over with her creations… these are a few of her new wreaths – all original and just awesome.. i believe you can see (and purchase) them in person at Style in Kingsport..  she is also doing custom home decoration for the Holidays.. Can’t wait to get a call from her to go and get photos of a house transformed by her.. really, can’t wait.. !

are these not fabulous?  the silver magnolia is breathtaking in person.. it was my personal favorite.. but they all are just amazing – and detailed

see more.. www.tiffanyfineflorals.com

rarely do i get the fever for another child (even rarer is it that i get newborn fever – still too sleep deprived) but seeing this little guy today – OH MY.. i miss this age..

JW turns ONE year old on Tuesday!  I met JW’s mom, Jamie, a few months ago and thought the world of her right away.. great fun she is..   but all i knew was she and her husband had a little boy..  i just love meeting people in one situation and then later seeing them as parents.. and jamie (and john) were so fun to watch with jw.. he is a typical one year old – learning new sounds, “uh-oh” was one I heard lots today.. crazy fast – i mean that boy can book it across the floor!  and fiercely independent – as long as mom is within sight.. but i swear – he is just the happiest little fella… so nice to be around a happy little babe and parents who enjoy watching them explore – even if it means getting a bit dirty!

I so enjoyed my day with this guy..

hope you love..

if you know me at all, you know i love the Biltmore.  LOVE.. we stop there at least once a month to just run around the grounds.. picnic, ice cream, just to stop and smell the flowers.. walk the trails.. hang out at the River Bend Farm.. and when ever I get the chance to meet friends there for the weekend – I am there..

every afternoon at the Inn there is Afternoon Tea.. and this was the first time Abby and I really made it – we’ve attempted to before, but never actually made it to the Tea.. Today just the two of us headed down early in the morning – got there at 10 and had reservations for Tea at 2:30.. Abby was such a joy today!  we walked all over the grounds, toured the house at a 4 year old’s pace – she’d never been in the “castle”, so we started on the second floor where the crowds were very thin and just walked.. when she was really interested in something, she would look at her map and ask a question.. other than that, she would just make the coolest comments..  I loved seeing it through her eyes.. when we were outside, i kept my camera handy this time and she let me take her picture – a lot.. here are some of my favorites..

18 steps ahead.. always

the fish fountain is her favorite..

THEN we headed to the Inn for Tea.. of course, we had to change dresses..  even i took part and dressed up, of course, no pictures of that tonight.. As a super cool surprise, my mom and dad came up and met us at the Inn.. Abby had been talking about how much she missed them all day and when we walked in the Inn and she saw Grandpa Brad, she got the biggest dimply smile.. she cried when she woke up on the drive home because she missed them so much and wanted to go home with them!  we had a wonderful – wonderful day.. it was one of those days you have this picture perfect idea in your head.. and the day was BETTER than than for me.. i hope Abby got some great memories out of it.. she LOVES TEA!!

she was asleep before we were out of the Estate..

the past couple of weeks have been – let’s say – trying.. emily, our 20ish month old, has hit the terrible two’s full speed ahead.. it has been bad… she has been bad.. just a rotten-tantrum-screaming-throwing-toys-pulling hair-crying little gremlin..  i don’t really remember this with our older two, but my mother assures me Abby went through it!  With our first, Cooper, he pulled some of this, but he had both tom and my undivided attention – so it was not to this extreme.. emily has been terrorizing the kids.. she finally realizes the power she has to DESTROY Lego cities Cooper builds, to ruin Abby’s play make up..  anything the kids treasure – Emily is after.. and then with me, she just will throw her little body on the floor at my feet as I am trying to make dinner (because any mom knows 4:30 – 5:30 is the worst time of day EVER)..

because i do indeed work – even though my photography is FUN and i enjoy it so much, i still spend a bit of time away from the kids because of it.. happily i get two full weekdays with the kids – and do not do a stitch of work those days -well, i try not to!  but i’d begun dreading these days with Emily!

finally the other day i decided to try to figure out why the sudden change in my happy little blue eyed snuggly girl.. and ya know, it really was all my fault.. not that she should behave the way she has been, but I was not paying attention to what she needed.. (i swear all i need to do is watch one minute of Super Nanny to realize it’s horrible parenting that yields horrible kids)… so Emily and I have a new attitude – an adjustment.. she is my helper, my unloader of the dishwasher, my put-these-cans-in-the-pantry-one-at-a-time gal.. and it’s going much better..

sooooo this was some of our time from yesterday.. MUCH better!

~~  October 17th and 18th  ~~

Last year I did a few  “I just want Christmas Pictures!!!” sessions..   and they were a huge hit.. in fact, i ran out of them..

So this year, I set aside an entire weekend in October for these.. this is really the only time of the year i do these – and i hate to call them “mini”.. but they are not as long as a normal session..  i am sooo not about MINI sessions and the “in and out quick” idea… because – i LOVE getting to know everyone.. but my regular customers who i photograph 2-3 times a year LOVE these and you know i love ya’ll!   All you have to do is show up for these sessions – I have a great studio with AWESOME natural light streaming in that is perfect!!   A couple of traditional looking backgrounds, a couple of simple “nicholle” backgrounds..(probably even a few tiffany arrangements to adorn)  this takes the stress out of having to choose a location for you – and allows you to just choose  the perfect outfits for your family and come here and let me entertain your family for a few minutes while we work on getting your Holiday/Fall pictures.  These sessions will last no more than 30 minutes – still allowing plenty of time to capture your family as you want them captured – silly, serious, smiling, screaming – what ever you are looking for!  I will also have lots of Christmas and Holiday cards to check out too..

shorter simple sessions.. less money to invest.. less stress..

As always, you will have a private gallery to look over your proofs which will consist of 5-7 images..  All orders must be in by October 28th.  Quick turn around to get things ready for gifts/cards!

Please email or call (276.791.1725) to reserve your spot.. Session fee is due at booking to reserve your time

available times are below..$200 – check out what’s included

luke  showed up with his mom and sister – all three of them WAY taller than I am..   i ran in to a couple hiccups with the height adjustment for me..  i would say – stand right there and Luke couldn’t even fit.. I should have brought a step stool for me.. other than that….   luke – you made my session so easy..  awesome sense of humor – gorgeous blue eyes.. and a well, an awesome sister/stylist..  very fun laid back senior session – Luke was up for anything so long as we made it fast and painless.. which, we did!

i was cracking up at some of these, there are so many great ones, but a few great outtakes – from the “poser”..  i suppose i won’t blog those…

here is a peek for you guys..

contemplative…

serious..

love this one..

more soon!  hope you love these

are all children sick right now or are my kids just trying to make me feel needed?  Hacking coughs, runny noses – constant grumpiness..  the house was out of control this weekend – but is looking very nice now (and the floors finally are not sticky)… and gosh, getting ready for Monday morning – the lunches, snacks, soccer stuff.. and I only have one officially in school..  tom and i watched Emily, she’s our youngest – will be two in December, well, the big kids wanted tom to take them to school this morning and emily was not about to be left out.. she went and grabbed her shoes and screamed “MY BACKPACK”  which we all know is her lunch box.. and she snatched it off the floor, went to the door, put her hand up in the air and said, “BYE, GIRL”..   Tom and I just about cried – how can she be that big already.. ?

i’ve had so many awesome sessions lately, and i am proofing and editing and designing and ordering and packaging and delivering like crazy – but have neglected the blog a bit.. I think I have officially ordered 15 separate families Christmas Cards now – and it’s not even October.. they do look fabulous!  I don’t expect things to slow down until December – but that is great!   I just really enjoy working with my clients – i really do..

taylor and casey’s mom, lynnia, was probably the first person i met when we moved to bristol a little over 3 years ago… she is just one of the best people i know…  creative, kind, patient – she makes me see the world a bit differently..  we’ve tried for over a year to get this session together and finally, finally we did it!  lynnia and steven’s girls, taylor and casey, did great.. they are soooo wickedly smart..  they were 4 steps ahead of me the whole time..  i had a lot of fun with them – literally running after them..  – and really enjoyed getting to see what makes them work..

and capturing their pretty faces, dimples, lost teeth, and pretty eyes..

miss casey…

the family (with baby gloria and puppy)

and pretty miss taylor

and the girls doing what they do best.. silly.. silly!!

can’t wait to show you the rest!!

this session was on a perfect fallish evening (in August – strangely cool weather we have had).. just a bit cool with perfect light.. i had a wonderful time with abby and her mom, heather.. my cheeks hurt after.. 6 year old’s are a fun group.. after years of “SMILE” you have to untrain them to give real expressions – figuring out how to do that is my job..

Well this little gal – Abby is a fun, adorable, silly 6 year old.. we met in abingdon and just walked and hung out.. i loved the interaction between these two – you can really see there is a great relationship.. abby had me laughing – fantastic little sense of humor, and laugh..   the way she looked at her mom makes me hope my Abby looks at me that way someday…

here are a few to hold you over until the full session is ready..

yeah, they are both gorgeous

i just like that one.. 6 year olds lose interest fast – have to keep them moving before boredom hits..  a non-silly, non-bored still shot is nice..

it’s just them.. love that..

doesn’t that just sum up a six year old girl…

hope you love them!

got to school this morning – on time!  cooper was so excited to go.. and i was doing okay – i did okay all day – until pick up line.. seeing those little guys come out, i started crying.. Cooper had a bad cold last night and i wasn’t even sure he would go to school today, but he was well rested and ready to go..  it was great to see so many faces i knew and kids that cooper already knows.. made it a bit easier on me.. but it’s not supposed to be about me, is it?  ugh..

well.. here the three are this morning – Emily was NOT having it – wanted Daddy to hold her..abby was just excited to have a reason for pictures.. the girl love getting in front of the camera!

walking with me.. he looks soooo big in this picture

and a sleepy girl – lots going on – she just wanted daddy

and pick up!  he had a great day “I LOVE that school!  It was AWESOME”.. it was like “the BEST DAY EVER”..

he hasn’t stopped talking about it yet..