This past April was my first annual Celebrate Mothers Mini Session Event.  It was three days of just mamas and their babies (of any age!).  Along the way, I learned a few things I'd do a teeny bit differently next year, but what I got out of it the most was HOW MUCH LOVE there is between mothers and their babes.  Oh, my.  Each session left my heart warmed!  And so did the COLLAGES!

My first session was with Lisa and her girls, Kate and Anna.  Anna is now THREE and I also got to shoot her six month photos (see them HERE). If you look, you'll see some things never change - she broke down during that shoot and she broke down during this one!  One of the things that endears me most to Lisa is how she loves the photos of the kids losing it!  It's just such a natural part of motherhood/childhood - I love mommies that embrace it!  (See Anna down there in the corner?  Still so pretty through all the tears!)  We got her to smile eventually, though.  The shoot was in my backyard, so we had her hop on the YELLOW swing (much more desirable than the green one, you know), and that improved her mood immediately. 

By far my favorite "perk" of this session was the mother-child collages.  Each mother wrote a little letter to their children describing what they wanted to remember about each child at this age, and each child drew or wrote (or both) a love note to their mom and then they got a complimentary 8x10 of their collage.  Isn't it adorable! 

For the first few people who signed up, I had a gift.  I let them purchase a $1 gift session to give to a mom in their lives who meant something special.  Lisa chose one of her daughter's teachers, Michelle.  Then she showed up with HER mom, so we had three generations!  So sweet!  Little Chandler (isn't that a great name?) was the sweetest - and look at those eyes!!  

Here's Michelle and Chandler's collage:

I'll be sharing the rest of the sessions soon!