Just before I left Adelaide, I squeezed in one very last-minute shoot with this little guy. I remember when he was born (actually, I remember BEFORE he was born, when his mum sailed through her pregnancy and made it looks so easy) and I can’t quite get over how big he is now! He has these gorgeous sparkly eyes — they really look like this in real life, it’s not photoshop magic here folks. He’s going to break hearts when he’s older.

(If you have these sort of coloured balls in your house, I will always beg that we get them out for photos. I love them.)

I’ve never seen such a great reaction to hide-and-seek as N has, check it out. Where’s daddy?!

He’s also about to become a big brother very soon!

Melina and Jace, thanks so much for having me over to take these. I’m so glad we could fit them in before we left, and I can’t wait to meet the new bub when I get back!

Even though I’m the first person to scoff at Apple’s “revolutionary” ideas (like putting a flash on a camera — great idea Steve, too bad it took you FIVE YEARS to implement something that should be standard) I have to admit that I love my iphone. It’s an average phone, but the apps make it perfect for me. And strangely enough, one of the things I love most about it is the shoddy little 2-megapixel camera! It’s so imperfect that somehow, it’s perfect. Normally I’m a little picky about my photos. OK, maybe a LOT picky. But with my phone I can ignore all that stuff and somehow I find it really liberating.

Little snapshots of my life. Going to a gig; enjoying the sunlight at lunch; our engagement party! Taking trips, friends and family, everything from the little things I do every day like walking to the bus, to things that are new and exciting like travelling.

These little everyday things are suddenly a bit more significant, because I won’t be doing them much for a while..why? Because in two weeks from now I’ll be on a plane headed to Japan!! Mark and I are going to live there for a year while I teach English. It’s been a dream of mine to live in Japan for years, and even though I’m also nervous as all hell, I’m SO EXCITED!! And even more excited that I get to have this adventure with my amazing fiancee by my side.

And even though I’ll have all new everyday things to snapshot (and yes, I’ll be getting an iphone while I’m over there because I’m pathetic and can’t survive without it for a year) I like to look back on this sort of thing. It’s good to appreciate the little things in life, don’t you think?

Funny story about this session — I was standing in the kitchen chatting to H’s lovely mum, and it turned out she taught Reception at my school when I was in Year One!! Sometimes the whole “everybody knows everybody in Adeaide” thing drives me nuts, but this time it was really cool! Although Jane… I have a confession to make…ever since we realised that, I feel strangely compelled to refer to you as Miss Hannan. Haha!

We were lucky that morning. The clouds parted, the rain held off, and we were able to head out to the park across the road to do some outdoor shots. Even though a lot of people think of winter as gloomy, cold and gross, I love it! Overcast days give a beautiful even light, and rugging kids up in bright knits and colours is a really cute way to add some colour and punch to photos. Shooting in summer is a hot sweaty pain… winter all the way baby!!

H was much more interested in leaves and grass than having her photo taken. When we distracted her too much she started giving this HILARIOUS baby pout!!

She has the best serious deadpan expression. It’s so, “How YOU doin’ punk?” Luckily we also got some giggles when mum brought out the best duck impression I have ever heard come out of a human mouth!

She was so patient while we played winter dress-ups and rugged her up in scarves and hats…but only to a point ;)

After denying her the pleasure of dirt, grass and leaves (sorry sweetie) we went back  inside for a few more shots. Even though she was probably a bit over the camera by that point, she still pulled out some ADORABLE poses to finish off our session — look at those baby blues! Her eyes are so amazing I could hardly bring myself to do any in black and white, haha.

Jane & Tony — thanks so much for letting me spend the morning with you and your little girl. She is so sweet and was a blast to photograph! Keep practising those indian yells kiddo ;)

Dear Liam,

You are the coolest little guy ever. Before you were born, I worried that maybe you wouldn’t like me — but you are such a happy little sweetie that so far, I don’t think there is ANYONE you don’t like! Good news for me! Your big gummy smile is irresistible and you put me in a good mood as soon as I see you flash that grin.

(GEEZ you look like your mama in this photo. Which, by the way, is pronounced “Mamamama!” and since you have mastered “dada” you might wanna work on that! ;)

(And you look just like your dada in this one!)

I love watching you grow up and you are a joy to be around. Stay awesome, little guy.

xx Jess

This sweet little girl was 6 weeks old when I took these photos. Isn’t she pretty? I love her little pixie chin and those bright blue eyes! And since she was a c-section baby, she has a perfect little head, haha.

She was really alert for a littl’un — check how strong she is too, keeping her head up like that! I can’t wait to see how she grows up :)

Luckily the existing fur-babies in the house love her too :)

Mark and Kate — you guys are already such cool parents, and I LOVE your style. Anyone that has already figured out how to play guitar hero while carrying a newborn baby in a sling rates very high on my list of awesome people! Congratulations on this adorable little cookie…I’m looking forward to seeing her grow up and take some more photos of her as she gets bigger :)