Cheers to another fun-filled year of so much JOY!! I couldn’t love these Merry Farms Christmas Mini sessions more if I tried! We had fresh snow, whipped cream, snow-ball fights and a WHOLE lot of snuggles. We also froze just a bit but warmed up at the farm store and got seriously into the festive swing of things with choc-chip cookies and twinkle lights too. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the sweet families who braved the chill and joined me this year!
I don’t know about you guys, but 2018 flew right by me like a speed blur! Building a business while raising two baby boys will do that to you I guess! It was a year that I will look back on as a year that challenged me and changed me. But it will also be the year I look back on as the year I really chose to slow a lot of things down and where I chose to find the joy in the ordinary, everyday moments that mean the most.
I also chose to get back to work only ten weeks postpartum because a couple of my most favourite clients ever had asked if I was offering mini sessions and I had a bunch of new families reach out too. So, I kissed my sweet babe goodbye for the day and got back behind my camera. Take a browse through the gallery below and I’m sure you’ll guess how happy I am that I made that call! Delivering images of families casually posed all tightly together, as well as those magical moments of fun in the in-between, is one of my most favourite things in the world. But typing this blog post looking at my images on the Christmas cards that went out this season to spreading joy and connect with loved ones? That always tops my heart-warming holiday list!
If your holiday season is a hard one, I hope these images spark a little bit of hope for you. I hope you look at them and then log off and go love on the special people in your life. I wish you love and light and LOTS of laughter this season and throughout the new year. Thank you for being here, you have no idea how lucky it makes me feel!
Happy Holidays!
xx
Sprinkles on whipped cream was just the tiniest bit of a hit with the kiddos this year! I’m thinking this will be a returning feature for my annual simple sets to get those genuine smiles and to help those small characters come out quickly for the fun! 
Funny story: I asked each family what they would like their sign to say to make things a little more custom and to give them some holiday card options. My mini sessions are always 30 minutes in length and I usually leave a 15 minute buffer between clients to clean up the sets, so I thought I would have plenty of time to change things up. I’m still a bit of a snow rookie though! So I didn’t account for the letters being too cold to stick to the board or my fingers being a bit too cold to function while handling a miniature alphabet. So what did we do? We laughed, held up a blank sign in each session and I put my photoshop skills to the test when I got home. Sometimes a change of plan is actually the best thing that can happen. A selection of holiday greetings were given to each family and I won’t lie, I’m pretty obsessed with how they turned out (perfectly imperfect and all!)
Top tip for anyone attempting to include cookies in your sessions: hide them in the trees and save them for last! Once the little ones have their hands on them, it’s going to be a tough call to get any other images without cookies/no cookies + tears! Abi wasn’t too sad to have cookies for breakfast! *Also, always check for allergies with your clients before giving kiddos anything that could trigger them. 
I LOVE that Kristin & Joey included their fur babies in their session. It’s always a little more tricky to manage in the cold and snow but it’s ALWAYS worth it! I like to suggest you bring them out for the first few family shots and then they get to go keep warm in the car while we wrap up your session. 
Can you believe little Jack braved the cold with us at just four weeks old! He was the champ of the day for sure! 
Little Luca is getting a big brother in the New Year so we had to carve out some time during their session for some of these shots and also a couple of their truly GORGEOUS preggy mamma too! I’m sure you can guess how many feels I felt during this session and while I admit to happy crying WAY more than I used to, I also feel so much more connected to my mamma clients now that I’m one myself. Tara, you make this look so effortless! I know just how hard it is to grow a human while running around after one too but I’m thinking of you in these final weeks and cannot WAIT to hang out with you and the famiy again in the new year to meet your new addition. 
Caitlyn described her toddler as the head of her household in my client questionnaire and I had such a laugh because we have one of those around here too! But what a sweet little queen bee Miss Isla was for her session! The apple of Daddy’s eye for sure and I LOVED how Caitlyn took my outfit suggestions in her client guide and ran with styling their little family of three for this one. 
I have a full blog post of these guys coming in the new year because I have been photographing “Hud the Stud” since he was growing in his mom’s belly and I couldn’t adore him more. A referral from one of my amazing October brides, Lindsey reaches out to me regularly to keep their images up to date as this little dude grows. Having this family in front of my camera is like hanging out with old friends, JUST the way I like a session to feel!
Worried your toddler won’t play along with poses? I don’t expect them too. I always like to encourage some movement and fun and a snowball fight for these three was the perfect activity to get some laughs going.
Woah, that was a long one! If you got all the way to the end, here’s a virtual cookie! You deserve it! Now, go soak up some magic and come back for more fun in the New Year!
xx
