To me, one of the most amazing things about newborns are the immense possibilities. When I photographed Adalae on Friday she was 8 days new to this world. I couldn’t help but think about what she would grow to look like, what her personality would be, who she would become. She was a very sleepy girl for most of our shoot but when those beautiful blue eyes opened and searched around, it was so incredible to watch!

I also designed the baby announcement below which is included complimentary with a newborn session! I designed it to coordinate with Adalae’s crib bumper which was made from a fun Urban Outfitters duvet cover. Love it!

Elisabeth and Matt, thank you for allowing me the honor of documenting your beautiful Adalae! Much love, Erica

We started the shoot in the Dixons beautiful home. Brittney has major talent in the interior decorating department, I’m way jealous! I’m so excited to see her put the finishing touches on Baby Will’s nursery!

I looove this time of year! Not only do the Dixon’s have the anticipation of Christmas but also of Baby William :) We celebrated the season with hot chocolate and a chubby bunny contest…

…It was a tie ;)

Then we ventured into the cold for some beautiful photos in the snow! Thank you two for being so brave. I am SO thrilled with how these came out. You both are beautiful inside and out. Will is going to be blessed to have you as his parents.

Brittney and Patrick, thank you so much for allowing me the honor of documenting this incredibly special time in your lives! I can’t wait to meet Baby Will!

For those who don’t know, WPPI stands for Wedding & Portrait Photographers International and each year they hold a huge convention in Vegas…we’re talking 15,000 camera nerds ;) I read quite a few photographers blog posts about their past experiences and they were super helpful in telling me to plan out what you want to do. So plan I did! I created a schedule of what I wanted to do in my 4 days at the convention (which went incredibly fast) and I’m proud of all I accomplished! I went to the platform classes of Mike Larson, Bobbi + Mike, Jasmine Star, Jose Villa, and Jill La Fleur, did Showit meet ups with Nick of Spilled Milk and Jamie Delanie, took time at the trade show to decide what new album company I want to use, and most importantly spend time with new and old friends.

One of the best parts of WPPI was my husband stopping by. Those 4 little hours made a world of difference. Fred was off of work on Monday for President’s Day so we got him a free trade show pass and he came to see my world. My husband is amazing like this. He goes to boring business classes with me, crazy overwhelming trade shows, and showers me with his love and support. Ok, done gushing for now. First things first, we ate. Monday was our 6 month wedding anniversary so we went all out and did the lunch buffet at the MGM, wild I know. But really, it was great to sit down and reflect on our first 6 months of marriage!

After we were stuffed to the point of not wanting to move, we dragged our full bellies around the trade show floor and found Becker speaking at a booth so we sat, thank goodness, and listened. After Becker was done speaking, Fred and I stood up to go. Then I started muttering something about wanting to talk to him. Fred said okay and started walking over to Becker. I remained in place, shoes glued to the ground. Fred said I thought you wanted to talk to him? I said I do, buuut it’s Becker! Fred informed me that Becker is a mere mortal, not a photo god. So, I talked to Becker about my branding and he was so encouraging. I am thankful for my husband’s perspective. Fred is not in the photo industry and to him all these 15,000 people are just that. People. Fred pushed me and gave me the confidence that I was able to carry through the rest of the convention and talk to many more of the photo deities I so worship ;)

One piece of advice I have on WPPI is not to go it alone. The people you surround yourself with at a conference of this size makes the experience. The people I surrounded myself are just lovely. We took a little time to shoot each other in the courtyard of the MGM. We danced, and laughed, and enjoyed being our goofy selves!

Okay, I’m done with the mushy stuff now ;) Today is also a special day because two awesome sites have launched and I couldn’t wait to share!

The Urban/Anthropologie family just launched BHLDN, pronounced Beholden, and I’m in LOVE!  Not only do they have fabulous wedding dresses, they have dresses for bridesmaids or for you to wear as a wedding guest! They also have beautiful lingerie, shoes, jewelry, cover ups, and hair adornments. You don’t have to be a bride to shop here ;) I also love BHLDN because they have sized everything in typical street sizes, you receive your wedding dress straightaway (no waiting 6 months for it to come in!), and you can order multiple dresses and return the ones you don’t like – for free! Brilliant!

Fred and I aren’t quite here yet, but I can’t help but swoon over On to Baby! This site offers lovely inspiration from showers and birthday parties to nurseries and gorgeous newborn shoots. I can’t stand the cuteness! I hope this site gives you all sorts of adorable ideas for your next family shoot :)

It’s pretty amazing to have known someone their entire life. I was 4 when Eileen was born, I remember it clearly because I was wrought with jealousy. Seriously. I packed my pink ballerina suitcase with the essentials (toys and books) and stormed off down the driveway. I preceded to climb up on the back bumper of my parents mini van and peered through the glass into our house where my parents were clearly having a Kodak moment with baby Eileen and had already forgotten I ever existed. I made it to our next door neighbors lawn before turning around. Somehow I managed to overcome the jealousy. (This story was actually the start to Eileen’s toast to us at our wedding in August!)

I really love my little sister to pieces. It’s been amazing watching her grow up while we continue to grow closer together, the older we get. Which also is a little sad because we now live 2,000 miles apart. Eileen goes to school in Boston but will be spending the next 5 months in Quito, Ecuador studying abroad. I’m going to miss her bunches. Luckily Eileen and my parents are going to be here on Thursday to spend Christmas in New Mexico and I’m super excited for loads of family togetherness :)

I hope you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas!

Kinley was getting a little tired so to keep her happy we gave her the car keys…she was so surprised and proud that she made the car beep…her reaction…

Umm, hello gorgeous!

Tia just got this awesome tattoo so we had to show it off ;)

Her favorite flowers are tulips and we shot at just the right time of year for them!

I love this one below on the right, whenever I made Meegan laugh she closed her eyes and looked away, so cute :) I love seeing how people all laugh differently, such joy!

Her hubby Chris and son Aydin met us out in this beautiful wheat field for a few updated family photos!

I only noticed the title after I shot it…The Foot Book resting on those cute little toes :)