Oh man, picking the photos for this blog post filled me with so much longing and happiness. Longing because I got to hold Lawton last week and he is already 5 months old and so changed already from his wrinkly little newborness. This afternoon that I spent with this dear family seems like just days ago (except for the bare feet in grass part), but yet here we are in February with children growing out of pants faster than you can check off the days. Happiness because nothing makes me happier than seeing big families love each other well. And this family makes that top priority. I’ve been photographing them for 10 years and every new soul they bring in does not half or quarter the love, it doubles it.

I basically showed up and started shooting and photographed until everyone was spent. I wanted to get individuals of all the children in their **that stage** wonder. The bruised eye, the reluctant glance, the preteen attention to a just right hairdo…all of it. Not only was that newborn stage flying by so fast we could barely take it in, all of these children are growing every single day. I wanted to capture each child with each parent and got some truly tender shots.

In the end, I just wanted to gather it all up and inhale it like the most beautiful, fragrant bloom.

So immeasurably glad to know this family and to watch all their little sweeties grow.