Celia's Birthday Party at The American Girl Doll Store

Once upon a time, a vibrant dollop of sherbet celebrated her third birthday at the American Girl Doll Store with her closest girlfriends.





Mind you, she has some very close guy friends, but the theme of this party just wasn't in keeping with their interests.






It was DEFINITELY, a party intended JUST FOR GIRLS!





It started with Celia selecting her birthday gift...





which was very simple, because she already had her mind set on Kit Kittredge.





Daddy had already given her a new outfit for Kit at home that morning...





so it was just a matter of getting Kit geared up in her birthday outfit





and both girls were ready for the party.





Friends began to arrive. First Maddie...





... then Phoebe.





They are three going on thirty.





We had a short wait before going to our seats, which was fine because we were still waiting for Lori and Kendall to arrive.





Here's Melanie and Cate. Melanie still has a month before William is born at this point, but Cate is ready to give birth on the spot and did so a couple of days later. Congratulations, Cate!





When we got our table, we started out by distributing the glamorishous party accessories.











At this point, the lovely Kendall arrived...





... and she was caught up to speed.






Lunch was soon served, and it was pretty amazing.






and before you knew it, the birthday presents were coming out!











Then it was time for dessert, and... wait! Who's birthday is it?





Oh, yeah. That's what I thought!





A fun time was had by all.









Celia's birthday celebration didn't end here, though. We headed out to the Build-A-Bear Workshop to, well... build a bear, which represented a huge step in Celia's "growing up" process... but more about that in the next post!

Worcester Family Photography; Melanie, Steve and Celia

When I was in Massachusetts to shoot Ariane and Steves wedding with Erika Sidor, I got to spend a lot of time shooting with Melanie, Steve, and Celia. First was our maternity shoot, after which Celia was looking forward to one of her own. She asked if we'd be going down to the basement for her shoot at least ten times. It looked like this was going to be a requirement once she learned that Melanie's maternity shoot took us to the basement. As it turned out, there wouldn't be time to go down there again, but we did go into the hallway, which is where we started her mom's shoot, and as it turned out, that was good enough for Celia!

They were on their way out to Boston for the day and I was headed to shoot the wedding, so time was a little tight, but Celia worked it like no other!

Celia, you're fierce!

The next day, we spent the afternoon at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston.

Steve was able to escape his busy schedule for a little while to hang out with us and Celia was thrilled.

I have a shoot here in June that I'm really looking forward to and I'm hoping the construction has been completed by then, but to make up for the "diggers" in the background, as Celia calls them, there was nothing that was going to overshadow the magnificent daffodils that were in early bloom.

I enjoyed the relaxing afternoon after the rigors of shooting a wedding the day before... and before Celia's birthday party at The American Girl Doll Store a couple of days later. That post will follow soon!

Massachusetts Maternity/Pregnancy Photographer: MATERNITY SHOOT... GUESS WHO?

Melanie is a relatively conservative person. Always was, always will be. So, when it came time to shoot her maternity pictures, there was no nudity...

no flowing sheets...

...no naked art photography whatsoever.

Okay, I get it...I get it.

But, wear this shirt...

"Seriously?"

"...A wife beater?"

Melanie and Steve live in an 1800's school house converted into condos and this building is spectacular, so we went through the hallway and down into the basement to get some good background on this windy, rainy, blustery day.

Melanie is not a big fan of having her picture taken.

But she was a good sport.

After all, we have to document the coming of William!

When we came back in, it was time to get Celia up from her nap.

What more can I say?..

Here's the New Yorker in her...

Certainly, I may be a little impartial...

but what a beautiful family!