This family has certainly felt their fair share of struggles..and then some. In addition to dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina that brought them to Texas, they are now staring into the face of an illness that has gripped their lives. Cancer.  At the tender age of 33, Will has been diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor Cancer. Despite this, incredibly, the Steeles spirits are high. Their grace and positive energy was infectious and inspiring to be around. I am blessed to have met this wonderful family and hope my photos adequately show my admiration of their strength.

There is also a 5K run in honor of the Steele family on November 13. 

Here is a pic of me (far right), my mom, siblings and grandmother. The last time my siblings and I were all together at the same time was when my sister got married in 1992! WAY too long.

those are all pelicans being fed in photo right. I love pelicans…they are such interesting birds to look at. Darn…now I wish I had taken some close ups. I didn’t take as many photos as I normally do on this trip. Attempting to enjoy the moment, sun bath and decompress was high on my to do list.

Chloe with my brother Steven

And here is my attempt to get some nice portraits of the kids at the beach. This was a perfect opportunity for me to exercise my “go with the flow” skills. haha. The kids had other plans on their agenda of course. The bottom two make me laugh…Chloe was bellowing for her brother to come back after he had zoomed down the sidewalk and back up and back down and back up and….yeah you get it. Not listening basically. What I wouldn’t give for her to have given me a quick glance in the bottom left photo.

If nothing else, these two are absolutely crazy about each other. I hope that bond continues as they grow up.

We are also gearing up for Asa to start Kindergarten this month. Very excited about having a few extra dollars in my pocket! However, on the flip side, I am very anxious to see how Asa does. His behavior has increasingly become troublesome in the last year or so. That helpless feeling of “what are we doing wrong?” is creeping into our lives. Sean and I found an old picture of him while unpacking this weekend, he was about 2 years old I think, and Sean said what I was thinking “wow that was when he was nice” It’s very hard to admit we have gotten to a point where things seem to be out of control with him.

At any rate, I am going to take a step back from photography for awhile and focus on family. Some may already know this, but in addition to this photography business, I also have a full time job. Naturally, I’m feeling the pinch of being pulled in so many directions when I have an issue with my child. So the best thing for me to do is take a break, regroup, focus on what’s important and come back to this with a clear head. I do have a few sessions on the books and I am really looking forward to those, so no need to worry! Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble.

Please cross your fingers, send good vibes and your prayers our way that this all goes smoothly. We are currently homeless until we close on a new house. yipe! Oh and check out my little moving helpers…now that the bed frame is gone our bed can be reached by the shortest of legs and quickly became the new jungle gym.

When Amy contacted me she said her daughter was OBSESSED with Alice in Wonderland and even has a dress that looks like Alice’s dress and would I mind if we take some pictures of her in it… What!? Mind!? Are you kidding!? This is a kid after my own heart I tell ya! I showed Amy my daughter’s alice room and we knew we were a match made in heaven. lol. (btw the alice room has now been repainted *sniff*) So after some ice cream we hit the botanical gardens for a little “Alice” fun. This was so much fun and I can’t WAIT to do something like this with Chloe. 

this one below is my absolute favorite…as they finished walking down the aisle as newly husband & wife, they turned and embraced each other like this…completely oblivious to anyone else but each other at that very moment. Gives me chills at the raw emotion I was able to freeze in time. 

Keller Wedding – Jamie & Kyle from Jenny McCann on Vimeo.

To start, Melisa is my girl. A bestie. My “3am friend”. You know, that friend you can call at 3am to come bail you out of jail. (not that it’s happened, just sayin) She’s someone I have always been able to turn to, who was there during my highs and lows, who partied like a rock star with me but also sat on my couch to watch movies and girl talk. Never once wavering from true friendship. She is a gem. And Mike…Mike, Mike, Mike. The first time I met him Sean warned me “watch out, he’s a handful” Lol I will never forget that. So true.  Sean and Mike have been friends since they were teenagers and had a lot of “good times” together. Lets just say Asa won’t be hearing about any of their GT’s.

So back to these two awesome friends meeting.. oh about 7-8 years ago…if memory serves they couldn’t stand each other. So much for that idea. But love waited patiently for the right time. Once destiny plotted its course, the stars were aligned just right and a little help from social media these two lovebirds I call friends fell in love. It was hard and fast and even took me by surprise after all these years. Which now brings us to the wedding…the Vegas wedding! which has me both happy and sad. Happy because my friend is in love and marrying her perfect match, sad because I cannot go to the wedding and had to turn down a Maid of Honor position. *sniff* Vegas is just out of my reach at the moment. Regardless, I took some incredible engagement photos for them. I am so happy for these two and can’t wait to hear about the throw down in a few weeks. Love you guys!

Here are just a few photos from his official 5 year session. I did these in honor of him starting Kindergarten in the Fall. Aren’t they cute? Will share more later. We are very proud of this boy and can’t wait to see how he continues to amaze us in big kid school. Love you big boy.

notice the annie leibovitz book? Atta boy!

I went to Chicago to photograph this beautiful child born to my equally amazing and beautiful friends, Carla and Ryan. It seems impossible that I was just standing in their wedding and now photographing their first child. Time certainly does zoom by. They are natural parents and I know feel so blessed to have their sweet Emma. This little family has fallen into place like perfect puzzle pieces and I’m honored to have photographed the beginning of their journey into parenthood. Guys, hold this baby every chance you get, spoil her rotten! Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. You’ll be chasing after her before you know it.