Almost

Be sure to check my website (www.stephanieantshel.com) tomorrow for a new year's greeting.

the cutest

little boy I know...

Snow troopers

Definitely snow troopers!!! This fun, fun gang met me for an outdoor snowy session today. It was cold, the snow was deep and one sister lives in SUNNY CALIFORNIA so she wasn't really amused by the weather! Or... was she????!! She did enjoy the mini snowball fight!!!
I love so many of the images from this session - it was hard for me to decide what to use for the sneak peek. I'm looking forward to getting your gallery ready. Thanks again for the fun in the snow and for being such good sports.

Now that it is officially winter we're enjoying the snow! We think Poppy will love it when he arrives tomorrow night!

he is not normal

My kids are infatuated with bandaids. Bandaids heal all wounds, including imaginary boo-boos to the eyes.

silly

maybe it is just me, but I think I can hear them laughing????....

bah humbug

(I'm not really feeling bah-humbugish, but I thought this picture was cute!)

lovely family

I don't think I've ever been to a session that has run so smoothly as this one. Three children ages 7, 5, and 2... a potential wild card of a situation... typically the 2 year old would be all over the place, the 5 year old might be a bit contentious, and the 7 year old would be ok... maybe get a bit bored after awhile. WELL... enter this lovely family.

The entire time I was at their house I NEVER heard a cross word from one child to another sibling, I never saw a squabble, no one fought over toys, no one threw a temper tantrum, the three children actually did EXACTLY what I asked, and they did it with a smile on their face! Their parents were as pleasant as the children. AND... mom was SICK and pregnant. Amazing. WOW. WOW. WOW.

I had a great time... and loved the energy in this family.

They are hard-core, and I mean hard-core Steelers fans. They start them young in this family...

Did I say hard-core? They all have "terrible towels" even little brother has a "terrible toddler towel."

Big brother practicing to be the next Steelers' QB... well, maybe in a few years.
Did I mention how cute they are??


Mom said every year they celebrate their father's Chinese heritage by wearing a traditional Chinese outfit for a photo. Very sweet.


They also play in a band. They are pretty good, but don't buy tickets to their show if you have a headache!

Ho, ho, HO

Look who visited our church over the weekend!! Ho, ho, ho... SANTA!! We had pancakes with him!!!
I love the expression on Jack's face. You could never tell that he was the one who was so excited to see him!
When asked by Santa what they want for Christmas, Addie replied, "a barbie." Jack said, "a firetruck."
They are excited!
Oh, and by the way... yes, those are the outfits that my children wore to church that day. There are certain battles that I choose not to fight and that was one of them!!!

3 month old love

I visited my little friend, Baby J, over the weekend. He has grown and grown from the last time I saw him at 6 weeks old. He's a happy, mellow guy at 3 months.

I like the hat. Do you think he does? He loved tummy time, but was very serious during it. I tried all of my best jokes on him, but he just looked at me with his huge eyes!



He did share lots of smiles, though. Cutie pie.

A guitar hero and his baby brother

LOVED this family.
Adorable.
Little big brother likes to play guitar just like his daddy. I added a bit of texture to this photo.
And he likes to rock... well... like a rockstar.

Little baby brother is too cute for words. He's a doll... a sweet little guy who fell fast asleep during our session and we had fun with him! For all the dog lovers out there... so sweet.
Thank you, thank you, thank you guys. Your children are beautiful!

He makes #6

This little guy, born just over a week ago, joins a family of five. Five children, that is. Prince P has one older brother and 4 older sisters, two great parents and one old and happy dog. He is a LOVED little baby, and oh.so.cute (even if he didn't snooze much for us!). Check out the toes on this little guy. I love the detail of every little line and mark on his little feet.
Thanks for having me over today.
Enjoy every inch of that little babe.

A beautiful family

Yea, no rain today for photos! We were able to get outside (even though it was just a tad chilly) and take some lovely photos of this beautiful family.

Twins. Can you tell??? And younger brother who just rounds out the cuteness in this family.
Wish I had a minute to post a couple more, but they'll have to wait for the gallery! Jack is incessantly chitter chattering and I can't even think straight!!!

Thanks, thanks, thanks guys for being great sports! It was great to meet such a nice family.

Beauties

I had a fun little quick session this afternoon with two beautiful young ladies. Not only are they gorgeous on the outside, they have beautiful souls. They are so lucky to be growing up with such wonderful parents - I just adore this family.

These two sisters probably wont always see eye to eye!

A classic...

And another, in b&w...

Folks... this is what will happen to you if you eat too much turkey and stuffing tomorrow at Thanksgiving dinner. Please, use caution when filling your plates.!!

Thumper

Meet Thumper. He lives at Addie and Jack's school and makes home visits on the weekend. I let Addie sign up to bring Thumper home this weekend, as a birthday treat. Thumper is nice. Thumper hops. Thumper is VERY soft and cute. And, Thumper poops. A LOT.

Addie likes to put Thumper in a box when she is coloring.

Jack likes to hang out on the floor with Thumper.

Addie just loves Thumper.


Here is Jack in the snow. More snowy pics to come.

We're heading to the bowling alley today for a special birthday celebration with friends. Yea!

Happy Happy Birthday

Addie is FIVE years old today!!!
Yippeee!!

Click here for a link to a very special slideshow I made for her!

We're having a great snowy birthday today!

Almost Five

A new haircut for Addie.
Short! So cute.

Here she is donning a couple of new pre-birthday digs... Hello Kitty tee and a new sparkly headband. She was also wearing her NEW pink sparkle shoes -- picture to come.

Speaking of pictures to come, stay tuned on Saturday for a very special blog posting...

COLD

We got rid of our rain from yesterday, but now we have COLD cold air. Even colder out in the country! The wind was whipping today, but these four siblings were troopers.

You should hear this guy play the piano. Wow, he can jump, too!


Playing around with color/texture again with this one. I kinda like the feel of it - dreamy, soft, sweet...

I liked this one in b&w, too... but I love it in color.

Notice how his hands are in his shirt in this one... mom and I tortured them by making them keep their coats off... It was cold (and I had my coat on). Thanks guys, for your patience and for having me out for photos!

striped tights

Thank goodness we moved up our session, scheduled for next week to today. Couldn't have asked for better mid-November weather for photos!

Look at how cute this little guy is... I mean.... puh-lease - CUTE.
And his sister is a girl after my own heart with her striped tights and adorable black shoes. Not to mention her smile that would brighten any day.
I have only begun to quickly peruse these images and am finding wayyyy too many that I love!
Thanks, thanks!!!

She's a biker.

Addie learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this week. It literally happened overnight. I'm amazed! Now, that's all she wants to do! It's so great!

cousins, cousins, cousins!!

A VERY quick posting of some pictures from this afternoon... haven't even had a chance to decide if these are favorites or not, but they stuck out when I quickly browsed through.

What do you get when you add 4 silly kids with 3 cousins???
7 awesome, silly, energetic and wonderful kids!!!!!
and one crazy mother who needs to go back to her plastic surgeon for a refund. she seems a little lumpy!!!