it seems i’m fast becoming the army-family-photographer-of-choice in brisbane! this is yet another amazing family who is about to say goodbye to a husband and father for 8 months. i gotta say, i’m so glad to be able to capture these memories for these wonderful families to look at and smile and laugh and remember and dream about the day they are all back together again!

a few fun facts:

- zane turned 2 today!
- he LOVED the water - the deeper the better!
- we all got soaking wet (hope your mobile survived, adam!)
- sonya got hit on by a drunk guy
- zane preferred rice crackers over my lollipops!
- i should bring chocolate next time! zane loved me for that 10secs of the sugar rush!
- this family is gorgeous!

all the best guys, and i’ll be in touch soon

ps, just realised I didn’t finish posting my photo-a-day photos here. will do that tomorrow!

love the mud, and the reflections, and the smiles in this one!

adorable, isn’t he?

there were storm clouds rolling in…..with the sun peeking behind. gorgeous, isn’t it?

their gorgeous dog, luga (i know i will have spelt that wrong, my apologies!)

the colours are a bit muted in this one, which i don’t normally do, but for some reason i loved it like this. something about all that white maybe?

i sometimes get worried about photographing girls…i don’t “know” girls, so worry i won’t know how to relate to them. i never worry like that with boys. i know that all i need to do is run with them, encourage stupid faces, or in taj’s case, get him to try and hit me with his scooter!

a few things (i’ve decided i’m better at dot points, lol):

- sarah has her own hair and beauty business (check it out here - she is amazing!).
- she also has 2 adorable boys, tyler and taj.
- she introduced me to this very cool tunnel, that is literally 5 mins from my house….i’ve driven over it a million times and never knew it was there!
- 2 year olds make you run
- 8 year olds love to pose

tyler

taj

this is oh so familiar (my boys LOVE to pull faces for photos!)

love this one of sarah and taj

this one is my absolute fav

will be back in the next few days with the last photo-a-day photos!

way behind again. just can’t seem to find the time to blog these lately. but here we go.

day 20.
i’ve done this type of photo a million times. but i needed one for my photo-a-day book, as i love it so much! our street is so cool, i love that we can play out there with no fear of getting run over!

day 21.
i was hosting a workshop for the wonderfully talented dale taylor and today was the photo shoot to start it all off. my husband was going to be late home from work, so i had to take my boys…which really turned out to be a bit of a disaster, and I didn’t get anywhere near as many photos as i would have liked. i did end up with this one of max that is very typical of him! he loves to perform!

day 22.
this is the sunset that we would have LOVED at yesterday’s photo shoot. instead we were stuck with no sun and just cloud. this sunset would have made spectacular photos for our workshop. SPECTACULAR! but alas, it was not to be. instead it made for a spectacular photo-a-day photo for day 22!

day 23.
the last day of dale’s workshop and i was exhausted. the kids were playing peek a boo over the fence and this was all i had the energy to muster up! if i had’ve had more energy i would have made them move a bit so the house wasn’t in the background. would have made a much stronger photo. oh well.

day 24.
we had promised max a trip to australia zoo for his birthday, while ben10 was there. this was the last day we could do it. so off to australia zoo we went! it was a wonderful, hot, exhausting day. but totally worth it! also my big sister’s happy birthday. not telling how old she is!

day 25.
the kids are into making forts in our house. and they end up being huge and messy. but they love it! (and yes, max seems to be pulling a face of some sort in almost every photo. i’m very aware of that. can’t stop him though!)

day 26.
happy australia day!
subtitled: how many kids can you squeeze into one clam shell?

and lastly.
day 27.
sambo’s first day of school. something that i was excited and terrified about. i managed to get his lunch ready, and get there on time. that in itself is a miracle. sambo went through a few different emotions, and it ended up with us both crying when i had to say goodbye (i don’t think he realised i was crying though, hopefully not anyway). clydey was dropping max off at his new daycare and went through the exact same thing! at the end of the day, sambo came out with a big grin in his face and told us how much he LOVED his new school. he doesn’t go again until monday, so fingers crossed he remembers just how much he loves it, lol. i am so proud of him - my big school boy!

first of all, happy australia day!

and let me introduce you to the adorable abby. her mum and dad welcomed her into the world 11 days ago. and she’s simply gorgeous! the sweet little girl didn’t want to do much sleeping for us….but lucky she’s just too cute for us not to care too much!

congrats, sarah and mark on your gorgeous little girl. hope she slept all afternoon for you!

PS, have a huge backlog of photo-a-day photos to post on here - look out for Sam’s first day of school photo tomorrow and think of me as I prepare lunches and be dressed by 8am!!

these guys are waiting on their sneak peek, and my bed is waiting on me. so i’m going to keep it very short and sweet.

- this family rocked.
- this family was GORGEOUS.
- the light was so spectacular that i couldn’t convert any to b&w
- i got to visit north shore on the sunshine coast for the first time ever - which included a little ferry ride over in the car. so cool.
- i found out that only old people call it WWF. it’s now called WWE.
- i love my clients.

the girls - emily and georgia

the boys, harrison and max




my fave

thanks guys, i’ll be in touch soon xx

so our lovely weekend away means i’m a little behind the eight ball at the moment. i have sessions to edit. and photos-a-day to catch up on. and sneak peeks to put up. i promise i’ll get there. my apologies if you are waiting on me. once school starts next week, i should get back on track. well, that’s the plan stan.

so, for now i prioritise. sneak peek tomorrow. editing tonight. photo-a-day now.

day 14.
that was our first day of “ho-ye-days” as my boys call it (neither of them can pronounce their l’s. i make them say “lollies” and giggle to myself when they say “yoh-yees”). we met up with friends for a swim. these boys have turned into little fish in the last week alone. sam is still very cautious, but max….well, he’s always been the crazier of the two. sambo only let me get this photo if i let him get back into the pool. so swim he did (or rather, walk around in the water where he could touch). and i got my shot.

day 15.
our weekend at kingscliff. the boys loved being close to the beach, and loved having a pool in “our backyard”. they also loved running back and forth from the pool to the “sparkle” (took me a while to work out what max was talking about with this one!!!).

day 16.
sambo is getting more and more confident around water. i’m glad i didn’t force him into more swimming lessons once it was plain he was terrified. he’s coming around. and i’m sure he’ll learn to swim in his own good time. 12 months ago there is no way he would even get this close to the ocean. it was too big, too noisy, and just way too scary for him. and now look at him!!!

day 17.
home from our holiday. and the novelty of this photo-a-day challenge is starting to wear off. max was literally running from me. time for me to beg, plead, cry or blackmail to get my photos from now on.

day 18.
up to the sunshine coast (yes, we are exhausted!!!). a session took us up there, and as chance would have it, my nephews, and the boys’ much adored cousins are there too so we get to spend the afternoon with them. you can see poor lach’s sunburn…but he bravely played with the boys anyway.

day 19.
my gorgeous eldest boy. and he is gorgeous. or beautiful. it’s probably wrong to describe a boy as being beautiful, but he is. i never thought he would be - he was a fat baby. actually make that FAT baby. obscenely so. if you had’ve told me 4 years ago that he would be tall and skinny and gorgeous, i would have laughed in your face. i know mother’s are meant to think their kids are gorgeous…but i wasn’t silly. i mean, i adored him and thought of him as my gorgeous boy, but i knew he wasn’t actually gorgeous. he was fat, and smiley and happy, and seriously the best baby EVER. but he wasn’t cute.

i had to kind of set up this shot - he’s at that age where he gives fake smiles. (and i hate fake smiles!) he’s a bit complex, my sambo. well, not so much for me - he’s my mini me, right down to his personality. i *get* him, but not everyone does (including his dad!!!). i know what makes him tick, i know how to get him to do something (most of the time). he is headstrong (like me), and cocky (like me) and stubborn (like me) and super dooper, ultra cool (like me.) (ok, not so much with the cool for me). i sometimes feel a little sad for him - everyone loves max straight away. max is a little bit crazy (in a good way) and knows how to make people laugh, and he’s one of those really cheeky kids, but cheeky in a “how on earth do i get mad at you” way. everyone loves max. but sam is a bit more reserved, and it takes you a bit longer to get to know him properly. persevere and you’ll realise how amazing he is. he’s funny, and cheeky, and smart, and determined and brave and he is going to go a long, long way - i just know it. he’s sweet too (most of the time), and i absolutely 100% adore him. and god damn……i just can’t bring myself to cut off that hair! i know it’s wrong to think that his hair defines him, because it most certainly does not. but he just wouldn’t be my sambo without it. it will be a sad day when he does eventually decide he wants it chopped off. i have asked him many a time if he would like short hair, and he always, always says “nah, mum, i like my hair long”. although he has also said that he will chop it off when he turns 6. that’s in 6 months time. fingers crossed he forgets about that.

i grew up in the country, but i have long been a city gal. and this session made me aware of how i’m raising 2 city boys too! these 3 girls have experienced so much more than my boys ever will. i loved this farm, and the multitude of animals (please forgive me that i don’t remember many of the animal’s names).

kate, brad, emma, lara and lily…firstly, thank you for giving me an excuse to take my family away for a few days - we have had a wonderful mini holidays. and a very big thank you so much for a wonderful, wonderful afternoon. i so enjoyed being chauffeured around the farm by each of you! it’s such a gorgeous, magical place. enjoy the rest of your holidays xx

emma, the eldest

lara, and bella (1 day old)

lily, the youngest - who drives better than i do!

kate and brad

family shots (in various stunning locations around the farm)

the girls, rocking their new boots!

i think this was “lil dude”

lara and her pony - tiara (is that right?????) i think this might be close to being one of my favs from the day

and a sample of SOME of the animals there.

i’ll be back tomorrow with another session, then i will have to play catch up with my photo-a-day photos!

i know. i haven’t posted my photo-a-day for 3 days. eternally late. that’s me.

so. day 11. sam and amber. they are the very best of friends. or boyfriend/girlfriend as they most definitely call themselves. it’s achingly sweet. although i’m not sure how cute it will be in 10 years time

day 12. my crazy, wonderful, “get him into acting classes” child. i love him so. in order from the top we have his normal, sweet face, then crazy, angry, sad, and happy. as if you couldn’t tell.

and day 13. a haircut this morning for the 3 of us, then off to a friend’s house for a swim. and another swim. and i think we even went back for a third. max was asleep by 6.30pm and sambo wasn’t much long after! and i know max will hate me for this photo when he’s an adult, but seriously, how could i resist?

now, we are off on a small family holiday for 4 days. my apologies if i don’t get back to you with anything…..but i fully intend on staying away from computers! i want to spend our days on the beach or in the pool. and nights will be spent reading and relaxing. no work. well until saturday when i am doing a session for 3 gorgeous girls, which i really can’t wait for! my photo-a-day photos will be uploaded next week!

rachael booked a session with me after seeing jason and jacqui’s photos late last year. dan is also about to be deployed for 8 months. i couldn’t imagine being without my husband for that long…nor my kids - what you guys do is absolutely amazing, and i so admire you.

as you can see, dan is absolutely smitten with his girls. i believe he may have his work cut out for him when these girls hit their teenage years - look at those killer eyes on both of them!!! i guess it’s a good thing that dan must know his way around a rifle!!!

i know i probably (ok, definitely) whinged about all the rain lately….but wowee, i am loving all this green! i best get out and take as many photos as i can before it all dies off again!

rachael, dan, thanks so much for today. i adore your girls. good luck for the next 8 months. i hope it flies by as quickly as the last 8 months did. enjoy, and i’ll be in touch soon xx

lyla. check out those curls. and those eyes. isn’t she simply adorable?


alexandra - already standing up on her own at not even 10 months old. rachael, you’ve got your hands full with this one!

LOVE that drool

love me a good silhouette - one of my favs.

ps, will be back tomrrow with more photo-a-day photos.

i’m a bit behind. my apologies. we’ve had a big few days!

day 8.
my boys both got my hair. i’m ever so grateful for that - my husband had the thinnest of hair. and it’s dead straight. like “i’ve been using the hair straightener for an hour straight” straight. we always laughed how we have 2 boys with gorgeous waves, and if we were to have a girl, she’d probably get stuck with his hair, lol. we got lucky though. the boys have gorgeous, gorgeous hair. sambo expecially. although max doesn’t seem to have quite as MUCH hair as sambo (not a big deal, sam had his first hair cut at 6 weeks of age - the kid had a bucket load of hair!!!) - but max has more curls than waves. and when it comes time for a haircut, i get a little torn. i mean, max’s is a bit ratty. and a bit too long. but those curls. just look at them. what would you do? chop or not????

day 9.
max’s birthday. his 3rd birthday. last year he was in hospital having seizure after seizure, so we didn’t really get to celebate it. this year we hadn’t planned on doing anything at all (the boys want to go to australia zoo, and ben10 is there as of the 12th….so that was going to be his birthday celebration!!!). we ended up having a quick morning tea with some close friends. then a bbq dinner with my sister’s. i always make the kids a birthday cake, i can’t bring myself to just buy one. martha stewart…i am not. but i try hard, and the kids usually love it. mostly because i buy some sort of toy to put on top of the cake, to distract them from the total disaster of what is underneath. this year for max, it was a ben10 (of course) cake. the omnitrix, with a ben10 toy on top. i don’t think they saw anything other than all that green icing. suits me really.
happy birthday maximo. love you little guy.

day 10.
this year i’m trying to make family a bit of a priority. not that my job isn’t important, but i need to focus a bit harder, so that i’m not spending quite so much time at my computer. and i’m trying, i really am. i’m spending way more time with the boys outside. we go on the swings. we kick the ball around. today sam and i were outside with the water pistols (max sleeping). some of the kids in the street rode past on their bikes…and we couldn’t resist. we sprayed them too. an hour or so later…and it was WAR. there was myself, max and sam, against 2 of the older boys in the street. we were all drenched, and god damn it, we laughed! then clydey got in on the action too. we were all soaking wet, but we were having so much fun. no idea who won. no one really cared. it was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, and we made the most of it!
(2 photos today. couldn’t choose!!!)