The Powell Family | Family Session | Glenview Family Photographer

I won’t lie to you guys, because I suck at lying. I get nervous every time I meet a new client. Maybe it’s because I’m pretty awkward, and can say dumb things sometimes and then kick myself all day for sticking my foot in my mouth, I don’t know. But I do. Luckily when Nick & Jen pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car with their daughter, Harper, I immediately felt at ease when they greeted me with big smiles. Believe it or not, this isn’t always the case. There’s often fighting that goes on in the car on the way to an early morning photo session on the hottest day of the year thus far. I know I complain a lot about ornery dads, but if you dads could just be more like Nick, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about! Basically, on more than one occasion, dads get out of the car looking like they just got fired or something. Anyways, that’s not what was happening here so let’s move on.

I’m always at least 15 minutes early to my sessions so I walked through the location to pick out some spots. While doing that I was filming myself for an Instagram story (I'll post the video below for your entertainment) and was pleasantly surprised by a deer!!! I love wildlife and was at first just shocked, but then so happy to see it! Adorable! I walked back to my car and waited for the Powells to arrive. They were right on time, YAY I like them already! We had already rescheduled their session twice. Once due to something on my end, and the second time due to crummy weather. Surprise, surprise! Even being one of the hottest days of the summer so far, I think we were all happier about this date vs. the other two that were far too cold and yucky. Even at 7:30am it was already at least 80 degrees.

This session was to celebrate Harper’s first year! She was so so cute and has the most crystal blue eyes I have ever seen! She was basically a carbon copy of her dad. If you follow me closely, you know I have a soft spot for girls who take after their dads, since I do with mine!  I learned that Nick grew up for part of his childhood in Canada so he obviously played and adored hockey. Add 100 points for that. I was practically birthed in an ice rink and then preceded to spend the first 23 years of my life in rinks all over the state and region. Hockey is pretty much the only sport I know, but I know it well, so if you love hockey, come on over! Nick cracked me up because he was very nervous about having Harper on the bridge by the pond with no fence and sitting on a bench by herself. However, a few minutes later, he suggested sticking her on top of a tree stump that was easily 5 feet off the ground. To each his own, right?!

Jen let me know that she was actually pregnant with their second! I wouldn’t have been able to tell by looking, since she wasn’t very far along, so I felt special that she wanted to share that with me. I love knowing about pregnancies early on, it makes me feel important. HA! I truly enjoyed hanging out in the heat with these 3 and I feel like I’ve already known them for a long time! I hope I’ll get to see them again when they have 2 under 2!!