She skipped her nap because she was so excited to go see the animals at Wildlife Prairie State Park. We had a blast there, as we always do!

We grabbed ice cream on our way home – before dinner. Oops! Lauren was so messy – I guess they don’t have kids sized cones at Cold Stone Creamery? But she loved her cookie ice cream.

We got home & played inside – and then Lauren wanted to go out to play. Her favorite thing in the whole word is a bucket, a shovel & dirt.

She had on this cute yellow sweater with a new navy blue sleeveless shirt underneath. Adorable.

We soon noticed that she was just getting dirtier & dirtier. And we just let her play anyway. She was pretty well covered in dirt (and ice cream, from earlier).

And I think she had a blast today. Ice cream for dinner ( M&M’s for a treat for going to the potty! Yay Lauren!) is something we have never done, and won’t make a habit of it, but man – they are only young once! And her clothes will wash.

This is my girl – this is who she is. She’s messy, she’s fun, and she’s about to be 3 next week. *sniff*

Spring is here & Mother Nature is out to prove it – rainstorms galore. I hope that’s not the case for April 20 (Spring Mini Sessions) but we’ll just have to wait & see!

It’s always helpful for myself to have a few visual options on “what to wear” so I threw together a few fun looks – all which can be found through Zara.com

Other places I love to shop for littles? Check out my What to Wear page – I also have linked my Pinterest boards for you to peek through!

For families, the idea is always to coordinate, not match. Enjoy!

Early announcement : I’m pretty sure I’m going to be holding not one but TWO mini sessions next year!! A Spring mini session & then Fall. Spring will be children only – and more details will come in the new year. Can I just tell you that dad’s loved these mini sessions?! They are short, quick and to the point – and dad’s were loving that. Something to consider if you missed it this year …and if you had such a great time you can’t wait to do it again!

Meet the nine awesome families who were this years faces of the 2nd annual Food for Files mini sessions!

Again – thank you everyone!
~Rachael

Poor Hayden was sick on mini’s day – so we rescheduled – explains the different location ;)

It thrills me to review sessions & smile the entire time :) That happened here :)

Enjoy a little sneak peek! & happy Sunday evening!

 I just stinking loved Hayden’s curls!!! Cute cute cute!

I posted these sneak peeks on Facebook – however, as I’m learning the hard way – you cannot rely simply on Facebook to show others your work. I need to blog more & direct attention to my website. A tip for my clients & those who want to work with me in the future : If you want to continue seeing my posts on Facebook – - – come see my page! “Like” what I post, comment on it. Interaction is KEY to you seeing my posts at this point. That’s the way it’s now set up on Facebook. You will see what you interact with most. So please, show me the love on there! A “like” takes a fraction of a second but you are more likely to see what I post.

Here are the sneak peeks from the 2nd annual Food For Files mini sessions! I will post a photo of the canned goods going to help dozens of people in our community this holiday season. I thank you for donating!

Kinley was Miss Serious! She rocked the model look ;)

Colin was Mr. Smiley!!! Very happy boy!

Cadence is walking now!!! She has gotten so big, even since just July!

Averie & MacKenzie duplicated the special picture they took last year! Mom wants it to be a yearly thing :)

The Ralstons enjoyed time with their two favorite girls on this beautiful day!

Walker was the big man on campus, sporting his Varsity jacket ;)

The Eversole’s enjoyed their first family portrait in quite a while! Missy is a photographer, too, so she’s always behind the camera!

Liam is Mr. Entertainer. What a way to end mini’s – he was a hoot!!!

I have a pre-session questionnaire that helps me get to know more about my clients in advance. What Brittney wrote about her children really touched my heart – she knows them so well, and I asked if I could post what she wrote, because she said it best :

“Mason is a happy and very busy almost 4 year old. He is very smart for his age and often gets mistaken for being older than he is. He loves playing outdoors and has a very big imagination. If you were to spend a day at our house you would learn that he loves superheroes. Often times you will see him wearing his superman cape acting like he is rescuing people. For his birthday theme this year he asked for batman. We are doing batman everything, cake and decorations and letting him dress up as batman if he wants to. He also adores his little sister and she adores him too:)! Olivia turned one in June and has been walking on her own for about 3 weeks now. She is a very happy little girl and also very busy. She also loves the outdoors, picking flowers, grass , whatever she can get a hold of. When she is indoors she loves carrying her babies around hugging and kissing them. Her brother is the person in the family that gets the most kisses and also the person that makes her laugh the most:) Wherever Mason is Olivia is not far behind!!!”

- And this was exactly right! Mom knows best :)

We had such a fun time, and even played & chatted after the session. The Perry’s are a great family I hope to see again!

This was the jist of how the session went! Olivia one way, Mason the other!

I didn’t even ask them to do this :) They are just a happy couple :)

Mere & I have a special bond in that we grew up together & then we went through our first (and so far only!) pregnancies together. Our children were born 2 weeks and 1 minute apart :) I miss them not being here, but at least they  are only a short drive away.

We had a great time visiting & I can’t wait to get to all of the pictures we took! ♥

He saw a truck! No matter what he was doing, he would stop to watch the trucks go by.

I see you!!

Waving to this truck!

Gosh, you may not know it if you don’t look closely, but his teeth were bloody. Poor thing had just taken a tumble off the swing but never acted like anything was wrong!

The end.  :)

This was the very first photo I took of Maggie – this is exactly how she greeted me! Hello, sweetness!

I just think this is such a fun family photo :) Who needs all eyes on the camera. Psh ;)

I love the things we talk about to get real smiles :)

Ok, this was such a funny moment. Eva was making what looked to be a house in the sand – I said “Are you making a house?” after some more guessing and her saying “No” she finally said “I’m making a pile!” – So obvious, right?! I loved it! (Maybe it’s one of those ‘you had to be there’ things…lol)

The end!