Sweet One Year Old {Downers Grove Photography}

Oh, the sweetness of a one year old baby girl! I love how she gazed around in wonder at the big world around her. Everything so new to discover. How she so patiently allowed us to have fun photographing her. How she lit up with smiles at my own kids as they dropped by the session. Such pure joy & light!

May you always know how cherished you are.

Grace & Peace,
Julie

Adorable One Year Old {Downers Grove Photography}

This week I had the joy of photographing my friend's one year old. {You may remember their adorable family from their red couch photos & beautiful adoption art}. The above photo cracked me up, I decided to write some captions for it... what would you have him saying?!

 I always love seeing the one year olds standing & it's also fun to see how they interact with a balloon.

 Daddy came solo as mama was out of town & he did good. I love the shot of Daddy & his boys. Then Baby K had just had it, so I did some new photos of his big brothers.

 The above is seriously one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. This little man is honestly one of my favorite people to photograph. He comes alive in front of the camera & is a beautiful child. I love the above not only for his adorable smile, but for capturing the moment when his Daddy was telling him a story to make him laugh. It was so sweet.

And, here is the "middle child"... oh, those eyes! He is more reserved than big bro, but can still pull off the cheese smile no sweat.

Love you guys! Happy Birthday Little K!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

6 Grandkids 6 + Under! (Downers Grove Photography}

A couple weeks ago at my red couch photo shoot, I had the joy of photographing my friend's family of 6 as well as her sister's family & the grandparents. We had so much fun & I am soooo glad "J" brought the silly glasses as the kids went wild.

Some things to note about this shoot:

1. SWEETEST Grandpa EVER.... while I was finishing up with the family before them, I could over hear him teaching his grandsons about the forest... & they are IN LOVE with their grandpa. It was so sweet. You can tell this man has waited his whole life to have this role & he thrives at it.

2. You have to love the grandma too (btw: most beautiful grandma you have ever seen, no?!) as she licks the lolly her grandson is sticking in her face!

3. So glad I snapped a pic of the sweet little grand daughter before she decided to melt down :( poor little thing is missing from some of the photos.

4. Also so fun to see families growing! The last couple we mentored when they were back in college & now we are all raising our families together!

I am honored to have created these memories for them!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

Love Covers All {Downers Grove Photography}

 This past weekend I held the 2nd annual Red Couch Event at a local park. I photographed 13 families in one {chilly} day & we had a ball!

 My dear friend, her loving hubby, and 3 adorable boys braved wearing "dress clothes", shivering lips & I was honored to photograph them.

 Snuggle up sweet baby boy!

A highlight was watching them sing & rock out with Daddy.

 Another highlight was witnessing the strong love between this couple, who have endured more than anyone's fair share of hardships in their life together. The joy of the Lord is their strength. I believe they are high school sweet hearts.

 My biggest highlight would have to be seeing how affectionate Daddy was with his boys. Both mama & dada have their PhD's {I am talking major brains in this family...}, but it is so clear that family & parenting comes first & they take such joy in their children.

 Here she is, the proud mama with her boys. Eldest brother was adopted from Uganda & middle brother was adopted from the Congo & baby boy was another gift from above. A true miracle.

 {art available here}

OH, & you may recognize her hands {& feet} ... as she graciously allowed me to immortalize her & middle brother shortly after he came home. All of you adoptive parents, you can thank HER for the inspiration of these verses!

Enjoy!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

2 + 2 = 4 {Downers Grove Photography}

 I have photographed this lovely family for the last couple of years. It was a joy to meet the precious little one, as he was quite a trooper on this windy, chilly day. I love the color choices mommy picked out ... 2 blue + 2 purple = 4 crazy kiddos!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

One Growing Family {Downers Grove Family & Child Photography}

One thing I love about family photography is getting to see those families GROW!

I photographed the above mama 2 winters ago in the snow for a magical maternity shoot.

And, last week, I got to photograph them again with baby no.2 on the way!

Big brother was adorable, looking for a baby in his tummy too!

Grace & Peace,
Julie

The Red Couch does it again {Downers Grove / Chicago area Photography}

oh, I have had the best few days shooting beautiful families like the ones above in the beautiful autumn colors!

some highlights of this shoot:

1. they are so fun; get kids on the red couch & they just go wild & silly
2. the parents are truly in love ... i love that the dad specifically asked for a photo of just him & his lovely wife
3. the dad's blue eyes... LOOK at those eyes!
4. my highlight may have had to be the fact that the daughter had apparently studied my previous blog postings of my red couch shoots & kept specifically asking for certain poses, "OH, wait! We have to do the one where we run around & our parents are exhausted on the couch!" "OH & the upside down shot!"

sooooooo. much. fun.

Thanks guys! Enjoy some of these preview images.

Once again, my weakness as a photogapher: I shoot too many & like them all.

Grace & Peace,
Julie