There is nothing I don’t love about my sessions with Will and Ella.  I love that they remember me and seem to look forward to my visits.  I love that they sometimes argue about who is going to tell me their latest story first.  I love that when their mom, Bailey, calls me every year to schedule their session she has only one request.  Images of them playing, and being who they are.  These two have so much personality and I always get a kick out of watching the dynamics of their relationship.  Being twins, they share so much on a daily basis.  They are each other’s best friend.  And sometimes, are each other’s worst enemy ;)   I’m sure it gets quite interesting having your greatest ally also being the one who can tell on you, in great detail, to mom and dad!

We shot this session at the farm where they will call their home in the near future.  There is a lot of construction going on inside the house, but the yard was free reign!  Thinking back on all the years I’ve photographed these two, it seems like there is always one who is more eager to be in front of the camera than the other.  And it usually flip flops from year to year on who that is.  This year it was Ella and she reveled in having my undivided attention while she gave me a few of her brilliant smiles!

Ah, yes…the divided household.  The women are Reds fans, while the men love their Cubbies!  At the time of this session, Bailey was still awaiting the arrival of the newest member of the family.  Now that baby Zack is here, time will tell which team he will root for!

My man, Will.  He’s was little more stingy with his real laughs and giggles, but I managed to trick him into a few.  He’s too busy running and being a boy to care about getting his picture taken ;)

I remember being a kid and trying to get away from my brother when he got too close to me too, Will ;)

And time to play….and they wore.me.out.  We started off running down the hill beside the house at FULL SPEED!

…and they kept on running.  Notice Will trying to push Ella to make sure he will win the race ;)

And we ended with rolling down the hill, over and over.  A favorite thing that has been repeated a couple of times now at their sessions.  It makes me dizzy just watching!

And I’ll end with my favorite of them :)  I just love them!  And I’m already looking forward to having Zack in the mix when he’s old enough to keep up!

I have THE cutest nephews in the world.  Don’t pretend like you don’t agree with me ;)

With summer being so busy around our house, I am sad to admit that I haven’t seen much of my nephews recently  so I was more than surprised to find how BIG Killian has gotten!  He is already sitting up and soon to crawl (if he hasn’t started that in the few weeks since we shot these.)

I wish I had a picture of my brother at this age I could post….Killian is the spitting image of his daddy.  The face, the smile..the red hair :)

I am in LOVE with his knee rolls!!!!!  Nothing better than a chubby baby ;)

And we can’t forget about big brother Rogan!  Now Rogan looks like his mommy…but acts like his Dad!  He is non-stop GO all day long!   He always makes me smile and freely gives kisses whenever I ask.  He knows how to keep Aunt Erin wrapped around his finger ;)

Love to both of my boys today and always :)

And now, part two of Erin and Matt’s engagement…this time in downtown Chicago!

After shooting their farm session at my house, it seemed only fitting to meet on their turf!  Their front steps were a perfect place to begin :)

Confession:  I have never been to Chicago before!  I know, I know.  I have driven through but I’m pretty certain that doesn’t count ;)  Matt and Erin wanted a lot of well-known landmarks incorporated into their session so they led the way!  SO GLAD Matt volunteered to take on the traffic!  What’s so fun about shooting in a place you’ve never seen is that while Erin and Matt pointed me to the locations they liked, it was a fun challenge to find the best light in those places…which sometimes meant finding a new location within another!

It’s official.  I’m in love with this city!  Subways, cute bus stops and the L?!!!  Yes, please!

One of my favorites below!  Erin and Matt are such a classic, classy couple:)  It was so enjoyable to tour the city with them.  Matt would give me details about the architecture with bits of history and Hollywood added in.  I’m sure when I wasn’t shooting them, I looked like a stupid tourist ;)

A quick change followed by a stop at Millennium Park.

Erin you are sooo gorgeous!!!

Back on the road, we attempted to get to another area of the city…but traffic was horrible!  We gave up and headed over to Wrigley Field for a few images outside the stadium….or so we thought ;)

What we weren’t expecting was to shoot INSIDE the stadium!!!  Still outside, Matt walked away from Erin and myself to talk to a gentleman selling Cubs tix (he was legit and worked for the stadium!).  Erin and I could not figure out what he was doing!  Erin made a comment that Matt was probably smooth talking his way into something grand….and she was right!  He returned to us grinning like a little boy, holding three tickets to tour the field!

Matt.Was.Giddy.  Being a huge Cubs fan, Matt has been to many games, but never has he sat on the bench in the dugout, stood in the batters box or touched the grass.  We were very limited on where we could go during our tour and the light was not ideal…but we made it work!

One of the best afternoons I’ve ever spent with a couple :)  Erin and Matt, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!  I have so enjoyed our journey thus far and am beyond giddy myself looking forward to your wedding and reception this fall.  I’ll be back in the city before we know it!