I first met Stacey on a bride’s forum when we were both planning our weddings a few years ago, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. But I finally got to meet her and her adorable son, M, a few weeks ago. I think M looks *just* like his mom-they share the same brown eyes.

M is almost a year old already, so Stacey wanted to have a few first birthday photos captured, as well as the traditional Christmas card image.

Stacey told me that she is okay with a few crying images-sometimes they are so cute when they are crying, and who hasn’t felt this way about the holiday stress before?

Stacey found some very adorable outfits for her son, including this sweater with the tie knitted into the design. It also matched the last few fall leaves left on the trees outside.

It was pretty chilly outside, but M actually really loved the weather and playing in a little pile of leaves. Grandma provided the classic Radio Flyer wagon.

And there was another adorable hat too! M is starting to stand up, take a few steps, and get around on his own, and he took a few tumbles. I don’t have any children, so I’m always way overprotective. But M is a tough, active little boy-nothing fazes him. I could easily see him playing football some day! And Stacey is such a good mom, letting him have fun, freedom, and the ability to be a kid!

Lastly, having sweets is a really, really rare treat for M. I don’t think he was really sure what to do with the first birthday cake at first. And he’s the first baby I’ve ever photographed that wasn’t super interested in tasting it-but he really loved smearing it on the closest wall, which made us all laugh. 🙂

Thanks for choosing me for M’s photos, S family! It was wonderful to meet you and I hope you enjoy your images!