Summer is almost here - I can see it in these photos!

Also the occasional swing works wonders for the spirit!

In our household, P and L stands for profit and loss. It has some sort of long-winded meaning in the finance world that my husband inhabits five (sometimes six) days a week. Right now I am making that motion where you bring your hand over your head to indicate that the topic is well over your knowledge base. I much prefer this P and L - Penelope and Lola. They were shining stars during our two hour shoot, and they don’t even know it yet! They might be slightly on the cute side.

You know those episodes of Oprah where they would have the makeovers? Come on - it’s OK to admit you had a peek at the occasional one. I watched one (OK, so several!) and my favourite part has to be the reveal, where they show the before and afters. You just felt so happy and excited for that person and their new ‘do’ and look (and pretty much every single time they were thrilled too), especially someone who was so deserving of it.

That’s exactly how I feel about this ‘reveal’ of sorts. When I photographed Lisa for her maternity session, she was seriously radiating joy and excitement in anticipation of her baby girls arrival. Stepping into their apartment it was like neither her or her husband, Kevin, had missed a beat since bringing their twins home. Both of them were just so happy, despite the lack of sleep, and eager to get their girls in front of the lens (after croissants and coffee - seriously, they are that organized!). Thank you Lisa and Kevin for making me feel so welcome and for the huge assists throughout our two hours.

Without further ado, welcome Lola Louise and Penelope Clarine! More to come from these beautiful bubs (and their parents) … .

Guess how old I am? Really - take a moment and just look into my eyes and really, really think about how old this little kitten face is.

Three? Maybe five years old?

Nope. When you looked, you missed the wisdom.

I’m sixteen.

Going on six.

And I love bacon.

Dani & Al. Canada vs Australia. Vegemite vs PB & J. Winter vs Summer. Cricket vs Hockey.

Could they be any less complimentary? Yet these two make it work seamlessly. 

Plus their dog is slightly awesome.

Taken at Hunter Valley Equine Research Centre in Scone, NSW, Australia.

Another good reason to miss home: hot chocolate @ Charlotte Cafe in Birchgrove.

He just goes …  and goes … and goes … and goes. But then again, what one year old pup doesn’t? And with the beautiful Australian bush to explore there’s simply not enough hours in the day to take in all those smells and eat all the roo-poo …  Oh wait, that was just a one time event! 

A good dog doesn’t happen without good owners - meet Salty’s human parents later this week.

Name(s): Salty, Salts, The Salt, Big Guy

Age: 1  … and a bit.

Hobbies: chasing tennis balls and ducks, attacking veggie gardens, pouncing on imaginary bugs (I need to look busy all the time!), pulling washing off the line (my grandma hangs it in the neighbour’s yard when I visit, so that’s more of a pastime now!), loving on pretty much everyone I meet, being sooky in the evening after a long day.

Dislikes: the dog who looks like me in the sliding glass door - I go round to find him, but he’s gone each time!

Loves: my owners, Dani and Al - they’re very cool people, the ball throwing stick that comes on walks with us, car rides with the window downs (smells!!), oh, and food!

Of course I can’t just post one photo of this handsome young pup … more to come …

The last two weeks have been crazy busy and this post is definitely a wee bit late, but I am going to get creative and frame it as a birth announcement. Lisa and her husband Kevin welcomed two healthy baby girls this past week! Congratulations to the new family! Born two minutes apart, those girls are truly twins and they should be proud of their beautiful mama who gave them such a good home while they needed one.

P.S: These are my personal favourites from this session.

Beautiful. Baby(ies). Bump.

So there are more photos of glowing Lisa and her double bump to come, but I felt that this photo (or rather this object) deserved a post of it’s own. It’s a beautiful ‘twin wreath’ handmade by Lisa’s sister in honor of the new arrivals. Apparently she had saved two of each beanie baby during a McDonald’s happy meal promotion and then creatively combined them with various balls of coloured yarn. Lisa teased her about holding onto the toys but conceded that, in this case, it was a good thing! Who would have thought a cheeseburger and fries could make something like this happen?

Meet Lisa - talented actress, singer, performer and mama-to-be to twin girls in one month. Between moving into a new (read: bigger for twins) apartment, spending time with her busy husband, and teaching up and coming performers, Lisa is the definition of busy. Did I mention she’s also currently starring as Glenda the Good Witch in a production of the Wizard of Oz? She brought so much energy to our shoot - maybe twins equals twice the radiance?

More to come from her maternity session …