I didn’t know it at the time, but I met sweet little Parker when she was the size of a peanut. Literally! I photographed Parker’s parents (Caitlin + George) for the first time two Octobers ago – on a windy Saturday afternoon in South Philadelphia. I loved them together, and it was so evident how well they loved together, too. We romped around the local dog park with their dogs Bruno and Zeus and talked about the parts of Philly that we all love (I spent most of my first 8 years there.) Little did I know that just a few days before, they’d found out they were expecting!

Since that day, I’ve photographed little Parker three times. We did her newborn and 6 month old photos in their home in South Philly, and then life brought them all down to Charlotte, North Carolina just a few months before she turned 1. I hopped a plane to capture photos for her first birthday, and it was the most magical treat to pull up to their new house and see sweet Parker STANDING at the door! I nearly died. How could this child – who was standing and walking! – be the same as the kiddo I’d seen crawling around on her parent’s bed 6 months before? TIME ACTUALLY FLIES. I’m a momma, and I still forget this every time.

Our original plan was for me to fly down on Saturday afternoon to do a documentary session on Sunday morning, but let’s be honest – put me in a house with my camera, and nothing to do but hang with a 1-year-old for 24 hours? I’m gonna take a lot of pictures. We had the most amazing time catching up, and Parker did all the totally, completely ordinary things that I LOVE to capture when I’m in a client’s home – taking all the toys out of the toy box, playing with the pups, changing diapers, and even waking up from naps (ok, the going down for naps are pretty exciting too.) Lots of treats were had too, including one epic double-scoop ice cream cone that I’m still dreaming about.

I love this sweet little one and her family, and I’m so grateful to have captured so many milestones for them over the last two years! PS, if you peek at the first photo in this post, you’ll see two shots from our windy afternoon session a few years back hanging on their fridge!