A couple of weeks ago I got to spend some time with the Trimble family while they were vacationing in California. Erin emailed me several months ago to arrange a family session while they were in town from Arizona and I was thrilled to finally meet her and her gorgeous family. Erin and Brian have five beautiful little girls who were so much fun to photograph. They truly made my job easy! Thanks to Brian, Erin, Eliza, Libby, Ellie, Hattie and Ruby! I hope you guys had a great Disneyland vacation!

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It took a lot of restraint on my part to not take Weston home with me. He’s one of the happiest babies I’ve ever met, and he’s funny, too! I was so happy to finally meet him and it was great seeing Natalie and Sam again. We had fun playing around in the park a couple of weeks ago and I just adore these shots of this lovely family…

As you can see, Wes has the best smile ever. Cute baby belly laughs are really what make the world go round, I think.

He got his first taste of grass that day. I don’t think he’ll be ordering it again any time soon…

This next series tickles my funny bone. When we first met at the park, Wes did this thing where he raised his hand to the sky and sort of shouted, as if to say, “Oh, the humanity!” His dad told me he does this a lot and would love it if we could get a shot of him doing it. I was so excited when he did it again, near the end of the shoot. I crack up every time I look at this sequence, it’s so hilarious! I’m glad we’ve got it on “film” now.

Thanks for hanging out with me, guys! I hope not too much time goes by next time before I see you again.

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Jillian worked very hard on the details for this party and it really showed! There were lanterns, balloons and paper pom poms all over the house. She even made the cupcakes and cake, including the flower and butterfly fondant details. So impressed.

One of my favorite elements of the party was a time capsule that Jillian planned for Charlotte. She had every guest write a note to Charlotte for her to read on her 18th birthday. Such a great idea and so personal. I wish someone had done that for me!

Charlotte’s dad, Dennis, cooked up some wonderful butternut squash soup, a delightful salad and even croque-monsieur (fancy name for grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) for everyone to eat. Sophisticated food for a one-year-old’s birthday party? Maybe, but Charlotte was the only baby in attendance and she LOVED the soup!

When it was time to blow out the candle on her cake, Charlotte got a little help from her mommy. I love the look on her face. She was having fun!

I think it’s kinda cute that the balloons behind Charlotte’s head look like balloon antennae. Very festive!

Charlotte dug into her cake like a true lady. Barely made a mess at all – and she even used a spoon!

After gifts were opened everyone just sat around and soaked in Charlotte’s cuteness. She obliged by hamming it up for all of us.

Happy birthday, Charlotte! You are the sweetest, most adorable one-year-old!

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Here are a few of my favorites from our play date in the park.

So, like most boys his age I’ve known, Joey is completely obsessed with Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies. He brought along his costume, which mom and dad say he LOVES to wear as much as possible. Getting to put it on was his treat at the end of the shoot for being such a great little model. He had an absolute blast running around while wearing his Buzz wings and yelling, “To Infinity, And Beyond!”

Ninah was kind enough to let me indulge my artistic side with this one:

After getting those out of the way, we let loose a little. Ninah was all business up until I said it was okay to fool around–an activity she obviously takes very seriously:

She even recruited her cousin, who was hanging out behind the scenes, for some piggy back action:

And, of course, we got some jumping and running in. Wouldn’t be a trip to the park without those two activities! Note the Camp Rock outfit, which Ninah picked out special for our shoot. Jonas Brothers reprezent! (She thinks Nick’s the hot one, in case you were wondering):

I had a superfun time hanging out with Ninah. With a face like that and personality to boot, I know she’ll go far.

I think the best part about photographing kids is that for the most part they don’t try to pose. Heck, most of them refuse to pose. For someone like me, this is great, because you are able to better capture the essence of their personality in a photo. This one was taken during a company kickball game/picnic. It was a family affair and this kid is the son of a co-worker. He was a rambunctious one–in your face on the kickball field and unable to sit still when it wasn’t game time. I captured the shot just as he picked up the ball and tried to persuade his dad to get the game started. I like to think you can see the wheels turning underneath that curly mop of his, as if he’s thinking, “Hmmm, how can I get what I want?”