happy new year!

this was from a while back. i had wanted to capture a nice, classic, and clean shot of the girls. i think i did and love it.

but then our session evolved into something more candid, unplanned, and playful…

looking at them cracks me up. and love seeing kk try her hardest to do whatever big sister is doing.

different styles. different sides captured. which do you prefer to capture? candid or classic?

it was a nice september afternoon. kk accompanied me into the city for a dr appt and afterwards we enjoyed some hard-to-come-by one-on-one time walking around xintiandi. she loved the yellow lines and i loved the undivided time with her. can you tell she likes being out and about?

this makes me wish i was about three feet tall again.  so. much.fun.

after a couple weeks of rain, it was nice to make it out for a walk on a clear morning.  somehow, the sunlight feels particularly enchanting after the rains… which makes me not mind the rain so much after all.

spent a fun-filled morning with these kids.  this is a special sneak peek i know their mom will appreciate.  i was especially looking forward to this session when i learned they were a family of three girls like ours!  perhaps we will get to have one big girly playdate sometime.
love all those gorgeous deep brown eyes.  each girl has her own distinct personality which keeps it interesting!

my bugs’ lives – stages that are fleeting and ever-changing into something beautiful.

hope you had a happy halloween.

a relaxing sunny morning, visiting relatives, picking oranges from their backyard, the bright colors, and a cute model = inspired.

whenever we walk this stretch in our neighborhood, she exclaims “钓鱼! 钓鱼!” (fishing! fishing!)  we find a fallen willow tree branch, she takes it and proceeds to “fish”.  (thankfully) she has yet to fall into the water, but has no qualms about going right up to the edge.  similarly, i admire the way she goes at most things full force, with no fear.

on a more superficial note, this was also the first time i got her hair up into pigtails.  a new look for her.  =)

Look who turned 5 last week.

At the age of five, she…

… has her own sense of style.
…loves pink – always picks the pink set of dinnerware, refuses to share it with her sister.
…has developed quite the love of princesses – she plans to live in a castle when she grows up and wants a tail like Ariel for her 6th birthday (she thinks ahead a lot).
…will automatically translate what she hears in Chinese into English or vice versa, depending on who she is repeating it to
…is very sentimental – i wonder where she gets it from…
…is generally very timid, but willing to hike mountains and climb along rocks in a creek to catch shrimp
…loves her family, traveling, hotels, the swimming pools in the hotels, drawing, craft projects, road trips, the snacks she gets to pack for road trips, dancing around, and even photoshoots (most of the time)
…our beloved first daughter and so excited to turn 5.

(the sign she is holding says “5 years old” plus her birthdate… my standard mugshot set up for these milestones)

Thought I’d take a break from the newborn photos and show some of my older two.  I have mentioned before here that I took up a personal photo project last year with another friend to make an ABC Book for my girls.

Well, I finally did finish it and am so happy that I did.  Aside from it just being a fun way to go through your ABCs, I love how it captured my girls through the course of a year – things they liked, places we went to, particularities of whatever stage they were in.  There is a story behind each picture.

I printed it through Asukabook, who did an amazing job.  And I was surprised, flattered, honored, when they made it their Book of the Month in January.  Thanks Asuka!  If you head over to their site, you can see the complete book. (i.e. here are a lot of images to make up for all the blog entries i have wanted to post but never did)

I also had smaller versions printed and sent to all the grandparents for Christmas, and it was a huge hit.  A perfect brag book.  I think they’ve all memorized the book by now. =)

And I am realizing time really does go by much faster the more kids you have.  Can’t believe it’s almost April, and I am blogging about a January occurrence.  And we one quarter into 2011 and I am still writing about 2010.   Yet for some reason, I still fool myself into thinking I will catch up on everything eventually…