Lucas's 18 Month Photo Shoot - There's a Surprise Inside!
If you follow me on Flickr and/or Facebook, you might have thought that I was a little stingy with the photos from Lucas's 18 month photo shoot - and you would be right. But, there was good reason. First, I like his mommy to have the first real look and get to pick out her faves and share them first, but second - and more importantly - there was a secret message hidden in a bunch of the photos - so I couldn't reveal many of them. But now that the news is out, I can proudly share that Lucas is going to be a big brother!
Now that his mommy and daddy have gone public with that announcement I'll share a few more of my favorite shots from the day - and the joy over the way Amanda and Steve surprised me.
Amanda had asked me to take Lucas's 18 month photos and we set the Sunday after July 4th as the date - just a couple of days before his actual 18 month date.
I didn't attend the family July 4th event (when, I now know everyone else in the immediate family found out our Amanda and Steve were going to have their second baby) but did want to see everyone so drove over to mom and dad's and dropped off Lindsay then headed to Johnny and Donna's. Amanda and I had talked about setting and what she wanted pictures of and we decided to highlight all of Lucas's favorite toys and things to do which involve tractors of all shapes and sizes, the dune buggy (a.k.a. the rail) and the "ninga-ninga" (that's a lawnmower to those who don't speak Lucas). Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and if we were lucky, a train might factor in as well.
So, I arrived and we walked out to the barn and Lucas started playing and I started shooting. I caught this pic within the first 10 shots and it has become one of my favorites.
And this one...
He coaxed his daddy into getting the lawn mower out and after a bit of a ride around and a small amount of fussing because it wasn't running anymore, I got this awesome smile. Seriously - this kid is ADORABLE!
During the day, I also got a good number of looks like this one. I'm pretty sure he's thinking, "You're nice and all and I like smiling for the camera, but I've got places to Go!"
Then, his mommy decided it was time to do a t-shirt change and she wanted to grab some "family" shots. I shot about 10 like this before my eyes focused in on what his shirt actually said. Then for about the next fifteen shots there was a whole lot of "Lucas - what does your shirt say!"
Photo shoot on pause...hugging ensued!
I shot loads more shots with the "big brother" shirt on and he had a grand time playing but I couldn't reveal most of those until Amanda and Steve shared their big news more widely.
These three are probably my absolute favorites from the day.
As I processed photos the following weekend, I posted this one on Facebook that it was making my heart all squishy. It still does. And seeing how much love Amanda, Steve, Donna, and Johnny shower on Lucas and how amazing he is - I can't wait to meet new Baby Stout in February and see how that little life blossoms in all this love.
Congratulations you guys! I'm so happy for you.
P.S. I know I haven't blogged in a while, but maybe with school starting back up, I'll get back in a rhythm again. If not, I'll at least keep hitting some of the highlights here every once in a while.