Baby Tilly’s 9 Month Baby Program Update

Another one of my shining stars this year is Tilly! Baby Tilly is now nine months old, which means that it’s time for another Baby Program update!

Alekos, Erin, and their gorgeous family are all amazing. Since they have been my clients for many years now, I’ve gotten to know them super well. I actually did a year in the life with them when Calix was little, so it’s fantastic to be able to keep documenting their story!

When I consulted Alekos and Erin on their goals for this photoshoot, their desire was an outing to Veteran’s Memorial Island in Vero Beach. I was totally down for that!

Veteran’s Memorial Island has a ton of great views and foliage, which makes it one of my all-time favorite places to take clients. Since I haven’t gone here with Erin and Alekos’ family yet, this photoshoot brought a little extra variety to their gallery.

Tilly, in turn, was so cute! Despite the early morning, she was so happy. The whole family worked magic behind me during her portraits, making silly faces and noises that made her crack up! It was a bonding moment for everyone.

I couldn’t be more grateful to this family for being so flexible with their time. I had travels and they had travels, so we did the session a little earlier than normal. They were such good sports. Especially Calix, who was a bit sleepy in the beginning of our session!

Erin and Alekos are also always super good at making our photo sessions fun for the kids, which made my job super easy. I’m always noting down tips and tricks from them, such as bringing something sweet for the kiddos!

As we explored the area, it was a piece of cake to get everyone to smile. The family really enjoyed the outdoors and the change of pace!

Since the kids were so focused on moving around and having a good time, this session turned into more of a documentary session with a few portraits sprinkled in between.

In the end, this early morning baby program update turned out amazing! Tilly’s nine month update is a day that will now be immortalized in pictures forever. I’m so glad that I was a part of it!

BABY ANIMAL SESSION SIGNUP!!!!!

Baby Animal Sessions are coming SOON!

We have two dates this year (click HERE to sign up):

Wednesday evening April 5th and
Saturday evening April 15th

We’re so excited to be partnering again with Sarah’s Party Animals - they truly are the best when it comes to animals and kiddos, and we have so much fun with our sessions every year! Sarah and Donna are bringing bunnies, chicks and ducklings to our sessions. We will be in Sebastian, Florida, at a field close to the highway exit. (You’ll be sent detailed directions and instructions after sign-up closer to our date.)

These are quick 15 minute sessions that focus on candid moments with your children and baby animals. While 15 minutes is quick, we can still get a few individual portraits as well as your children together. In the past we’ve had the whole family jump in photos, cousins and/or friends, and kids all ages from babies to teens. Everyone loves baby animals! (If you think your child might be nervous about the live animals, come prepared to jump in the photos with your child!)

Your session includes your favorite five edited high resolution digital images, and if you have trouble choosing, a gallery upgrade is also available! Your full gallery will be 25 images. If it’s easier to make two payments, just let me know and we’ll set that up.

Abby and I have been offering Baby Animal Sessions with Sarah’s Party Animals since 2018 (we did skip 2020), so when you sign up with us you know you’ve got the pros :-)

We hope to see you there!!!

xo

Sennu and Abby

A (Personal) Review of 2022

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!

At the beginning of a new year I like to pause, look back, and write a little recap of our previous year. You can click here for last year’s post (and from each post you can find a link to a previous year recap).

There’s a kind of a funny (not ha-ha) story why this year’s recap is so late. Abby and Andrew drove back from Maine to Florida, and before flying out I gave them my luggage, so I could fly with a lighter backpack. At the last minute I also took my laptop out, and stuck it in my luggage.

We all get delayed. First our flight is cancelled on our way to the airport, but we got a new flight for the next day. That one left hours late, but we made it to Florida. Rangeley got an ice storm and Abby and Andrew were delayed leaving town. And then they broke down in Fishkill, NY. For three nights.

When we finally connected, it was at Disney, so naturally I didn’t take my laptop out… And when we got home, I had four photo galleries to edit and deliver (I’m half way there now). So I’m a little behind on… everything.

In January 2022 we left Maine to return to Florida. It’s always a bit of logistics: Mae and I flew down on a commercial flight, Scott and his friend Marshall flew themselves down (and stayed in SC a few days due to weather), and Andrew, Abby and Oliver (the cat) drove down. Daniel our pilot was working, and likely few himself down too :-)

Scott and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary, and took a trip to St. Augustine and Amelia Island. Girls started horseback riding with Ms. Becky, and absolutely love it! Mae joined VBA Friday enrichment, and continued homeschool ballet.

In February Mae started orthodontic treatment with Dr. Vargas in Jupiter (she has a big surgery coming up). Abby started volunteering at Special Equestrians of Treasure Coast. Uncle Bob, Aunt Pam and Jessie Bear visited us!

Abby turned 16 in March! We got Disney passes again (after taking a break during Covid) and went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios later in the month. Abby and I photographed Steamfest.

In April we tried rock climbing with a VBA field trip in Melbourne. Grandma and Grandpa arrived by RV and stayed for Easter. And then Thomas came after them! I tried rollerblading for the first time and liked it. We had a great month!

In May Mae had a music recital at VBA & a ballet recital with her homeschool group. After she was done with ballet, we signed her up for a homeschool class at ELC on Wednesday mornings. Andrew, Abby, Mae and I went to Magic Kingdom, followed by a Seaworld field trip with VBA.

Abby got her driver’s license! She’s a great driver!

We also attended FPEA homeschool conference in Orlando, visited Animal Kingdom and Mae had an early birthday celebration at American Girl with Kyleigh & Phoebe. Mae finished 3rd grade! It was a full month!

In June we took a trip to Maine to get our house ready for the rental season. Braiden, Thomas and Rachel came to help too, which was huge! We had a ton of work! We got a new dock with help from a friend. Our water trampoline deflated our last night there, and our big freezer quit our second to last day.

Mae and I did a lupine picture session.

We got back to Florida needing a vacation! Mae and her friend Kyleigh did an art camp, and brought home amazing art! Abby (mostly) finished 10th grade!

July was a travel month, too: We first took a trip to Tennessee for a few days, and then Mae and I flew to Finland for two weeks. Finally! Our last two trips were cancelled by airlines (covid).
The guys also went to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh WI, and Sarah came to Florida to have sisters week with Abby.

August brought Mae and me back to Florida, only to turn around and fly to Maine. We all (my family and my sister’s family) met in Rangeley for our annual family week. Grandma & Grandpa came joined us for part of the week, too! We had such a special time together!

We also had a soft start to 4th & 11th grade later in the month. Thomas moved to Indiana to attend The University of Notre Dame.

In September we were trying to keep a good balance of school and hikes, enjoying the nature and being together.. Friends and family visited. Our friend Bill came to work on house with Scott and Michael (and teen crew as needed), and many projects were started and finished, including painting the house. Mae and I took a trip to Vero Beach (orthodontist & photos) during Hurricane Ian, and hung out with Andrew and Daniel’s girlfriend Madelina (plus her puppy). We lost power for 2-3 days, but there was no damage to our house. Mae and I returned back to Maine.

October was as gorgeous as the fall can be in New England! We enjoyed the foliage, and took many mini adventures in beautiful weather. There was also school and work. Braiden turned sixteen! Madelina came to Maine to stay with her two dogs, and then Thomas came for a visit. We took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge with Saina’s crew, and celebrated Celia’s early birthday. Scott & Abby flew back to Florida. Mae and I flew commercial separately, and went to Disney with Andrew.

We spent November home in Florida, except for Thanksgiving - which we had in Maine with my sister’s family. Andrew and Thomas made it also, Daniel had to work. Sarah and Glady spent Thanksgiving in Texas. Scott and I had a little mini getaway to Epcot & Disney Springs. It was a busy month with work, school and play!

Hurricane Nicole brought a lot of water to our neighborhood, but we were fine. We evacuated to Disney (I had a shoot) for 2 nights. That was a pretty sweet way to hunker down during a hurricane!

Early December we returned back to Maine, and brought with us Abby’s friend Tessa. The little girls promptly decorated the whole house for Christmas, and we had fun with snow, baking and getting ready for Christmas. We got everybody here for Christmas, even Daniel made it Christmas Eve for a day! Most of us caught colds, but it wasn’t as horrible as our Covid Christmas last year!

December is also our celebration month: Abby’s 16th Gotcha Day and Adoption Day, birthdays for the the quads and me. Such a sweet time with family!

We had a good year! Looking ahead at 2023 I don’t know what it will bring (we’re looking at a spring surgery for Mae, and some travel adventures, plus some big round birthdays…), but I know I can surrender it all in our Heavenly Father’s capable hands. In everything I can trust His goodness and mercy.

My sister recently quoted John Eldredge, and it really spoke to me. My prayer is it will bring some hope for you as well:

“Total surrender. This is not something to be feared — not at all. The only safe place for the things you care about is in the hands of God. Luke 17:33: If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. This is one of the great surprises of the Christian experience. We discover the joy of becoming a wholehearted person when happily, lovingly, we give everything over to God in order to have Him. There’s nothing that can taken from us anymore, because we’ve already surrendered everything. If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. Honestly - did we really think that by clinging to this world we could possibly save anything? Now we can approach benevolent detachment (surrender) by literally giving everything and everyone to Jesus, joyfully, with enormous relief. The secret of life is this: if we surrender everything to Christ - including everything we are, the totality of our being - He is then able to give us His everything, His all-in-all. And His all never disappoints.” John Eldredge

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 TO ALL! Thank you for supporting us - we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you all!

Much love,

Sennu (and Abby)

Martin and Shima’s Family Mini Session

Martin and Shima wanted a mini session featuring their three kids: Eli, Elise, and Evangeline. I was so happy to oblige! They booked me during my fall mini sessions, and I’m so glad they did.

Our first session together was years ago, when Elise was a little one, and those pictures are still some of my favorites! Martin, Shima, and the kids are a Swedish/American family. My husband is American and I’m from Finland, so we had a lot in common. I could even recognize a few Swedish words, thanks to my high school Swedish classes (tack så mycket!).

Fifteen minutes is such a short time with kids, but everyone did great! Many parents feel a mini session is the perfect amount of time (15 minutes) for kids to co-operate concentrate for photos. I let the parents make that call - they know their kids best. Some kids do better if they have time to warm up to their photographer, others do great for 5-15 minutes, and then are done.

Just a side note: when I have clients for a longer session and kids don’t want to participate, I like to give them a few minutes to collect themselves, and I’ll take pictures if the parents, or individual pictures of anyone ready to go. Usually the uncooperative ones get interested in something around them, and I can take some candid images of them, too. I also recommend for parents to have some great incentives for their kids to participate (if you know what I mean…. :) And remember to tell your kids what your expectations are before the session!

Eight month old Baby Evangeline is so adorable!!!!

My daughter Abby helped out as my second shooter. She took so many photos of Evangeline while I took individual shots of Elise and Eli.

Abby told me later that Evangeline was a little bit unsure of her and her big camera, but Abby went above and beyond to get these adorable shots!

These sessions all happened on a stretch of sandy beach in Vero Beach, Florida. The kids loved the chance to play in the sand and the waves.

Shima wanted to snatch one of the kids that would be suitable for Christmas cards. These photos are going to be awesome for Christmas cards, social media, and gifts!

Everyone did so well at following my directions. The kids were so excited to get their photos taken, and the whole process was painless and stress-free.

I can’t thank you enough for participating in my sessions, kids! You had great attitudes and awesome smiles, and I can’t wait to see you again soon!

Joey & Vanessa's Surprise Proposal

Joey’s proposal to Vanessa was a huge surprise! He had made up a whole story about how I was photographing Vanessa’s sister, and they wanted to come hang out and watch, and get a family photo at the end.

Vanessa’s sister was “late,” so I asked if Joey and Vanessa wanted some couple photos! Vanessa didn’t suspect a thing.

These two were the cutest! Dressed in classic white, they were perfect in front of a backdrop of ocean and sand.

Effortlessly gorgeous, Vanessa looked great despite the wind! It was the windiest day of the year so far, but we found a respite in the trees before the beach.

In addition to some posed photos, we took some candid ones, too! Joey and Vanessa weren’t averse to getting their feet wet in the ocean, so they played in the waves for a bit, enjoying time together.

It’s clear to me that these two are perfect for each other! They have a lot of chemistry in front of the lens. You’ve got to be really comfortable with each other to get such beautiful results!

Little did she know, Joey was preparing to ask a special, life-altering question!

When he knelt down, and asked Vanessa to marry him, she was beyond shocked! Realizing that it was the best decision of her life, she said yes without hesitation!

She was so touched. Crying tears of joy, Vanessa completely forgot about my camera! Now, we have the best reaction ever in photos!

Soon, tears ebbed away into joy, and the two spent the rest of their session celebrating the exciting new stage they had just stepped into. Thanks for letting me document such an important milestone for you two!