A & A at the beach with Aunty N

Every child needs an occasional day at the beach!  As a parent, the thought of sand and bugs everywhere makes me cringe, but once I'm at the beach and see the excitement in my son's eyes, I forget all about the mess.  Other than beach time being fun, the beach provides a great backdrop for photos.  Learning how to deal with shadows and people around you is a learning curve, and I'm on my way to master it.  Here's a peek into my latest session.

And we can't forget about the little sandy details:

I had a blast hanging out with this family!  Looking at these is a little bittersweet, being it's past Labor Day and all Chicago area beaches are closed until next year.  I'm already looking forward to some beach time in 2016!

Welcome to the world Baby Izma

I had the pleasure of meeting Izma when she was just 4 weeks new, and boy is she adorable!  Something about being around a newborn just puts a smile on my face; it's partially their innocence, partially their reliance on those around them, and more than partially their tiny little bodies and adorableness.  Izma's Mommy wanted to wait until she was about a month old so we could capture some pictures of her awake, and some of her in dreamland.  Usually around two weeks new, babies are less likely to sleep through a photo session and are not as open to being shaped into poses.  Izma however, was quite the trooper! Here are some of the results from our session together:

 

 

And here's big brother Kais.  Kais had his mind set for days on not wanting to be in any pictures.  With some convincing from his Dad, Kais let him know that he might be interested in participating if the photographer was nice.  So we made conversation about toddler things and Kais watched me work, showing a lot of interest in what I was doing.  Kais became my little helper by reading to Izma and making sure she was okay.  With every pose he came closer and closer to her.  By the end of the session, he was holding Izma close and saying how he wanted to be a photographer one day!  

 

 

And lastly, we have Kais' first picture taken with a DSLR.  Welcome to the Nikon family kiddo!

Zayna's cake smash and session with big brother Ayman

Rain, rain, go away, we have some pictures to take today!  Unfortunately, my tune of the day wasn't as successful as I had hoped, so we had to do a little improvising and change our plans of a photo session at the park.  I headed to a book store with Ayman and Zayna where we ended up with these beautiful pictures of the two.  It amazes me how a three year old already fulfills the role of "big brother" by making sure his little sister is safe and happy at all times.  Vice versa, even at one, Zayna already looks to Ayman for his guidance and approval   Check out how sweet these two are together:

 

I love Zayna's expressions in those last two photos!  A few days later, we got together again to celebrate Zayna's birthday with some cake.  It was the first time she tasted something so sweet, and she kept coming back for more.  At first, she was being extremely cautious and kept glancing at her parents to make sure she wasn't going to get in trouble.  But once she figured out the whole cake was for her, she went at it.  

Big sister Ariana and 3 month old baby brother Sahir

I was so excited to spend my morning with Ariana and Sahir.  Ariana was so cooperative and loved being photographed!   She was happy to shower her little brother with hugs and kisses.  Working with three month olds gets a little tricky, because they have figured out the difference between being held and being left alone, and they are almost impossible to pose.  I think we still figured it out though; here are some of the pictures from our fun little session.  I can't get over how adorable they are together!  Thanks for letting me capture this moment for you!

Mommy and daddy didn't feel like getting ready, and who can blame them with two kids to look after!  But here is their perfect little family.