Welcoming Baby Sam to the Family :)

Oliver was one of the very first babies we ever photographed, so it was a complete delight to get to see him become an older brother recently! He's already figured out that the best part is trying to make his new little brother smile, and at 3 months, Baby Sam is a bundle of joy :) Here are some of my favourite images from our recent session with this lovely family..

I love that we photographed Oliver on this same quilt when he was just a few weeks old, and now it's Sam's turn :)

 This was probably the trickiest part of the session (Oliver just wants to run and jump at this point!), but these pictures ended up being my favourites! I love the range of expressions between
the two of them :)

Rasha & Wil: your family is absolutely beautiful and it was such a joy to hang out with all of you! We look forward to seeing these hilarious brothers grow up together :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

Sweet Baby Henry at 3 Months Old :)

It seems like just a few days ago that we were photographing Baby Henry's debut when he was less than a week old, and now all of a sudden he's 3 months old! Older brothers Cameron and Oliver still think he's pretty great, and so do we :) Here are some of my favourite images from our most recent summery session with the whole family..

Cameron is pretty much the family joker, and had so much fun tickling his younger brothers!

It was definitely one of those days where being near a splash pad was a great idea :) Henry's still a bit tiny for that kind of excitement, so he just chilled out in the shade :)

Sarah & Mike: we can't believe how wide-eyed and smiley Henry has become in such a short time! We had a blast at the park with you guys, and can't wait to see you all again soon!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Meet Jacqueline & Ted's Super-Adorable Newborn Twins :)

Jacqueline has asked me to photograph many pretty things over the past decade, including her lovely Soak bottles and her awesome brunch wedding at the SoHo House, but none of them come close to the session we had recently with Jacqueline & Ted and their newborn twins :) As I was looking through the images after, I couldn't stop laughing out loud, and the expressions on their little faces nearly killed me with cuteness over and over again. Consider yourself warned ;) Meet super-adorable and tiny Stella and Felix..

Of all their adorable little features, I think the toes are my favourite!

 This is where it starts to get crazy cute - these two look like they're having a heated discussion about something very important (probably deciding how best to out-cute fuzzy Leo!)

 I love how it looks like Stella is whispering in Jacqueline's ear, and Felix is whispering in Ted's :)
(in reality, Stella was trying her best to eat Jacqueline's hair!)

There are no words for how adorable these last few images are..

Jacqueline & Ted: the biggest of congratulations on your super-sweet new family members:) We instantly fell in love with Stella and Felix, and can't wait to photograph them again throughout their first year!!

xo

Jessica + Norman

{are you expecting twins? Email us at photo@jessicalin.ca and ask about our special Twins Promotion!}

Kites! Bubbles! Twins! Awesome Family Portrait Session :)

Twins - obviously - means two of almost everything. Not just two babies, but a double stroller, two cribs, high chairs, car seats, wardrobes. Maybe bunk beds when they get a bit older. And, as we learned in our recent family portrait session with Nicola & Andy and their twin boys, it also means twice the fun! See for yourself..

 I especially loved the way the boys would set each other off, and their giggles were contagious :)

If you've never seen the look on a child's face the first time he flies a kite, I highly recommend it. Absolute joy :)

 And then - bubbles!! So much fun!!

Time to relax a bit after all that excitement :)

 Nicola & Andy - no kidding, this was one of the most fun days we've ever had :) Maybe all your days are like this, but we felt very lucky to be invited along to capture the love and joy of your family! Thank you so much (and thanks for being so well prepared!), and can't wait to show you the rest of your photos!!

xo
Jessica + Norman

Welcoming Baby Henry to the Family :)

We recently had the pleasure of meeting Baby Henry for the first time :) As a third brother, he has been born to experienced parents and two very excited older brothers! Things were a bit chaotic at times (as all parents can relate to I'm sure), but wee Henry just took it in stride. Here are some of my favourite images from that day..

Sarah is an amazing knitter, and made this gorgeous blanket. She and Mike both made Henry's sign using the yarn left over after the blanket was made :)

Daddy entertaining the two big brothers while we spent a bit of time with Henry :)

I love his perfect Superman pose (below), his wee smile, and of course - the tiny baby toes!!

(I'm not the only one who thinks his toes are pretty great!)

I love the range of expressions in these last images - Oliver's at an age where he's quicker than 4 adults and kept "escaping", Cameron is an old pro at being photographed and can be quite the ham, and Henry - apart from one big yawn - just chilled :)

Sarah & Mike: as always, it was a complete pleasure to capture this exciting moment in your family's history. We had so much fun photographing and being entertained by your three sweet boys - the two of you are doing an excellent job :) Can't wait to see you soon to show you the rest of the images!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Katherine & Mike's Brick Works Family Photos :)

Katherine & Mike have two busy, active boys, so we thought it would be fun to do their family portrait session somewhere that they like to spend time playing together as a family. Luckily, the Evergreen Brick Works is not only fun, but one of the most beautiful spots in the city this time of year! Here are some of my favourite images from their session..

If this family decides to start a rock band, I'm pretty sure this (below) will be the album cover ;)

Julian is an engineer in the making - you can see the wheels turning as he builds rows of bricks or figures out how something works. Little Kiran takes the rows of bricks apart as quickly as Julian can build them, and has one of the most enthusiastic "chasing" smiles ever :)

 Everyone enjoyed the pond, where we saw a turtle and some ducks :)

Katherine & Mike: you and your boys were an absolute pleasure to spend the morning with! We had so much fun, and can't wait to make an album out of your great images :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby Oliver Turns 1!!

We've actually been photographing Baby Oliver since he was still in his Mommy's tummy, and had such a fun year capturing this little guy as a newborn, 3-month-old, and 6-month-old baby :) The year has flown by, and before we knew it we were at Baby Oliver's first birthday party last weekend! We had so much fun, and - as you can see from the pictures - so did everyone else..

The Birthday Boy :) It was so great watching him play with the bubbles!

Sarah did a fantastic job as always: making rainbow cupcakes as well as this mini three-tiered cake for Oliver to enjoy. She even made a bucket full of colourful felt monsters for the kids (and photographers!) to take home :)

One of the entertainment highlights was this inflatable pool full of balls - I love this action shot of Big Brother Cameron! And how heart-meltingly adorable is the little snuggle sequence below?!

There was also a circus tent and crawl-through tube that were as fun to photograph as they were to play in! Plus - balloons, which were second maybe only to bubbles in terms of popularity :)

I love these images above - Oliver covered in berry juice, and Mike and Cameron giving 

him fits of giggles!

And then.. drum roll.. cake time!! (Cameron did a great Big Brother job of helping to blow out the candle)

The cake was a big hit :) And how sweet is that perfect tiny icing hand print on Sarah's jeans??

 

Just over a year ago, we took a photo with a stack of three hands.. and now there are four :) 

Happy Birthday Baby Oliver!!

Sarah & Mike: True story - on our way home, I got a bit nostalgic and said to Norman, "I wonder how many more years Cameron will think it's hilarious to be tickled and chased around the room? I wonder how long we've got until these boys aren't young enough to think that playing around with us grown-ups is fantastic, and instead we become embarrassing weirdos?" and he said, "I guess that's why it's important to Sarah and Mike to capture this while they're still young." You guys are awesome, and thank you so much for sharing your special family moments with us!

{to put it in a bit of context, this is now the 10th time we've photographed Cameron in his sweet little life, and the 12th time I've photographed Sarah & Mike, so it's maybe understandable that I'm pretty attached to this lovely family ;) }

xo Jessica + Norman

Spring Fun: Amanda & Sam's Family Portraits :)

When Amanda & Sam first came to Canada from Australia, they thought they'd stay for about a year. 5 years and two super-sweet kids later, and they're still here :) We recently had tons of fun hanging out with their family.. playing trains, reading (and chewing on!) books, and going to the park on a gorgeous early spring day. Here are some of my favourite images from this playful and candid family portrait session..

How sweet are those smiles?!

There was multilingual toe-counting (a first for me, and I have to say a pretty awesome way to count toes!), and Baby Sister patiently sat still for lots of kisses from Big Brother - super-cute!

Amanda & Sam: we loved spending time with you guys and your adorable wee ones! Thank you so much for having us over to capture this fantastic time in your family's history :)

xo
Jessica + Norman

Solene & Jerome's Adorable Fall Family Portrait Session :)

Last weekend we had the pleasure of going to Riverdale Farm with one of the sweetest families :) From the minute we first said "hello!", Solene's beautiful smile absolutely melted my heart.. Jerome kept his smiles a bit more secretive, but when he shared them they were pretty adorable too :)
Here are some of my favourite images from this super-fun and relaxed family session..

When it comes to photographing families, these sorts of images are my favourite - the ones that aren't posed, but just show the family hanging out and goofing around together - and I feel like they're also the ones that actually capture childhood and the chaotic joy of having a young family the best :)

Not only did we visit some of the animals at the farm while we were there, but Cynthia, Jean-Pierre, and the kids had the perfect Halloween costumes to fit in with the barn setting!

Cynthia & Jean-Pierre: both of you and your adorable kids were so much fun to photograph - thank you for allowing us to capture these memories for you, and for having such a great group Halloween costume! :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby Duncan and his Big Brother Sam :)

Kim is one of the very first clients I ever had, way back when I started my business at the dawn of the new millennium. This of course seems like ages ago now, and we've known each other through over a decade of "growing up" - both in our businesses and in our lives. I've had the pleasure of photographing Kim's gorgeous jewellery, as well as the beautiful fall day when she and Paul got married. More recently, we were there to photograph their first baby, Sam, when he was 6 weeks old. And now, the latest adventure in their lives - Baby Duncan :) Duncan is a very sweet and smiley baby, and Sam has taken very naturally to being a big brother.. it was so cute to see them together!

We started off with little Duncan on his own, showing everyone he's just as strong as his brother was...

Every now and then, Sam would jump in - he's a very busy almost-2-year-old and rarely stays still for long, but he's also very adorably fascinated by his tiny brother :) 

Sam & Baby Duncan also gets to spend lots of quality time with their Grandmother, who lives just around the corner..

Amongst all the chaos, there are also these lovely moments that define being a family - tickle fights, giggles, kisses, and reminising :)How sweet is that little face?!

Kim & Paul: It was such a pleasure to spend time with your family, and to get to know Duncan and Sam even better :) Through all the busy running around, I hope these images will remind you that there are also some moments that are still(ish!), and that even the busy chaos is beautiful and perfect :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby Oliver's 3-month-old Family Trip to the CNE :)

What better way to spend an afternoon than with a couple of sweet little guys at the Ex? Cameron - the Big Brother at 3 years - had such a blast with rides, reptiles, dancing, bubbles, running, riding tractors, playing drums, and probably a million other things, that we could barely keep up with him! Baby Oliver - being less independently mobile so far - was easier to keep track of, but no less entertained :) How sweet is this little face..?!

I seriously can't remember the last time a couple of hours contained so many different excitements :)  

Sarah & Mike - thanks again for allowing us to tag along on your perfect end-of-summer day of family fun! I'm not ashamed to admit that we came home and had a nap after this ;)

xo Jessica + Norman