What a fun session!! This was a special one for me...a celebration of family and friendship, and most of all, a celebration of Jane and Cheryl's marriage after many loving years together (go, Washington! Love Wins!!) After over a year and a half of close friendship with these four ladies, I am inspired by their love for each other and the people in their lives. 

The littles, Sarah and Katherine, are extraordinary. As the mother of two girls who love each other more than anything and yet fight like crazy, I am astounded by Sarah and Katherine's ability to stay in a constant state of "I like you SO much!!" They are best friends. And as for their moms, well they are just like their daughters. Jane and Cheryl are an awesome team. 

Jane, Cheryl, Sarah and Katherine, I adore every one of you! Thank you for your friendship. I know that I can speak for my girls and Dave when I say that we are all better people for having you in our lives. Love you gals!

xo,

Jaymee

If you were already swooning over this little heartthrob, just wait until you hear his name: IZO WOLFGANG OTA. I know, right?? This kid is destined for coolness. 

Izo's mama, Taurean, was my oldest daughter's very first babysitter and to this day I praise the sweet Lord above for plopping her into my life at that time! Suffice it to say, Olive was a "spirited" toddler, and thanks to Taurean, Olive survived those years and so did her mom (with help from wine). I have learned a lot about how to be a good mom from you, Taur! I can only emulate your incredible kindness and patience, even in the face of back-to-back stage 5 toddler meltdowns. You are a wonder.

And don't even get me started on Shogo! You'll never meet a nicer guy. He is generous and humble, an incredible artist (my words could not do justice to his work, so have a look for yourself at Tireman Studio), and an amazing dad, too. You can see it in little Izo's eyes-- he is just in love with his daddy!

Taurean and Shogo, I adore you. It is a gift to the world that you multiplied! Thank you for letting me into your snuggly little world, and also for letting me witness some sweet moments between baby Izo and his Baba Karen, too!! What a lucky boy to be surrounded in such love. 

Now it's my turn to babysit-- woohoo!! Congratulations, and so much love to you guys. :)

xo,

Jaymee

Okay, you guys.  The next time I complain about the rain, can someone just come over here and smack me in the face?  We spent the last Saturday of winter break up in Marblemount, WA with my dear friend, Jane, and her incredible daughters, Sarah and Katherine.  These three ladies (including Jane's awesome wife, Cheryl, who couldn't join us that day) are wedged into our hearts for so many reasons, but let's just make this trip to Marblemount reason #879 why we love these gals so much!  Every year, Jane and Cheryl take their girls to the Skagit River to see the return of hundreds of Bald Eagles that arrive to take advantage of the winter salmon run.  I am embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of any of this before, and I am so grateful to these friends for introducing us to this magical place! 

The girls tallied SEVENTY-TWO Bald Eagles that day.  72!!!  And also Great Blue Herons, Red-Tailed Hawks, a FOX (really?!), and a herd of American Bison.  Okay those weren't wild, but still.  Pretty rad.  We also got a tour of the Marblemount Fish Hatchery wherein the girls got to hold actual salmon fish eggs and, to their delight, got to see many disgusting, stinky dead salmon along the creek leading up to the hatchery.  Score.

We will definitely be adding this trip to our list of holiday traditions.  Jane, Cheryl, Sarah and Katherine, we are so grateful to you for exposing us to these beautiful hidden treasures right in our backyard, but most of all for your friendship and your great big, generous hearts.  We love you guys. 

Here's to a year filled to the top with adventures, love and friendship!

xo,

Jaymee

A few months ago, Dave and I were assigned a "buddy family" at our daughters' school.  We were stoked!  This was a new family to the school and they had two little girls also, close to our girls' age.  Well of course, the second we met Andina, Dennis, Amalia and Ava, it was instant love!  After a few months of getting to know these guys (Ava and my Iris are great pals in the same class), it was such a treat to photograph them on this beautiful, cold winter morning in Seattle.  

Little Ava is teeny-tiny and shy, and as sweet as they come.  And when she feels safe enough to come out of her shell, oh man.  This kid is all dimples and joy, stomping in the mud.  And she just loves her adoring big sister, Amalia.  Confident and all smiles, Amalia is ALL IN and takes such good care of her little sister.  It was so sweet to watch them together.  It goes without saying that their parents are rad, too.  I mean that's just how it works, right?  I'm so lucky to know them, and so honored to photograph their awesomeness!  OH, can we please not forget their sweet Rhodesian Ridgeback, Kayla??  She may be old, but this gal's got some swagger.  

Andina and Dennis, THANK YOU so much!!  I heart you guys.

xo,

Jaymee

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving day, I received a text from my dear friend, Carly.  It read, "I wanted to let you know that grandma Rosie passed away last night.  She died as gracefully as she lived, in her sleep without pain."  My breath caught in my throat.  I knew that Rosie meant the world to Carly.  When she talked about her grandma, I understood completely.  It was the same love I had for my own grandmother.  It's a sacred kind of love.  

A few weeks ago, I had the honor and privilege of photographing grandma Rosie on her 95th birthday, (SO amazing!!) along with Carly, Carly's mom, her husband, Peter, and their two adorable sons, Dylan and Henry.  ​In recent months, Rosie had struggled with remembering the faces of her Ones, but on this day, the second Carly and her family walked through the door, Rosie's face lit up.  If her mind couldn't remember their faces, her heart certainly did.  "Wonderful!  How wonderful!" she repeated, over and over again.  This was the kind of happy that is everything.  It's why we're here.  

​The rest of the visit was filled with I love yous and hugs and happy birthday songs.  It was a tremendous honor to meet Rosie on her special day and to document some serious love in this family.  Carly had told me how much she adored her grandma Rosie, what an incredible woman she was, and now I got it.  It also made so much sense to me, how Carly and her mom are both so dang AWESOME.

So this Thanksgiving, I'm raising my glass to moms and to grandmothers, and especially to Rosie.   How lucky am I, that I got to meet her?  I am so grateful.  Carly, I love you and am with you as you grieve this incredible loss.  

So much love,

Jaymee

Everyone, relax.  Today I met our future President and everything is gonna be okay.  I can't even describe to you how rad this kid is!  Meera is a little firecracker, a leader, and a badass explorer.  She spent our afternoon together jumping and skipping, looking under rocks, and investigating plants with such wonder and curiosity.  At one point, I turned around to see that she had fashioned a functioning bow and arrow out of sticks and plants.  It took her all of three minutes to do this.  No big deal.  And to top it all off, Meera is a total sweetheart.  All of this kid's awesomeness makes so much sense if you know her parents, Ritu and Peter.  These two are kind and generous (they have both dedicated their professional lives to fighting for social justice and human rights across the globe) and clearly love their girl more than anything.  I feel lucky to know these guys, and am deeply grateful for the chance to spend some time with this family.  Thank you, Ritu, Peter, and Meera!!

xo,

Jaymee

I know, I know...  They're perfect.  What's amazing is that when you meet this family, what stands out even more than their obviously fetching good looks, is just how NICE they are.  I always get a little bit nervous before a photo shoot, but literally the second I met Erica, Patrick, and their sweet little gal, Ella, all of those nerves melted away.  They were so kind and funny, and Ella was such a little trooper through the whole shoot.  The one that really stole the show, however, was their little chihuahua-terrier-sneak-attack-sniper mix, Lou-Lou.  This dog probably weighs less than a pound, but she OWNED Gasworks park that day.  Literally, there is nothing I can say that would give justice to how dang funny she was.  I so enjoyed photographing Lou-Lou and her sweet family.  Erica and Patrick, I am really grateful for the chance to meet you and your "girls." :)  Thank you for making my job so easy and fun!

xo,

Jaymee

Last weekend I had the privilege of photographing our dear friends, Nitya, Siddarth, and their hilarious, sweet son, Vivaan.  This shoot was so. much. fun.  I laughed so much that day!  If we could all be so lucky to hang out with Vivaan for a morning...  This kid is special.  He is kind and inquisitive and funny, and he loves his mom and dad so much.  And can we talk about his dimple for a second??  He kills me!  Sadly, this sweet family will be moving to Chicago in a few weeks, and they will be dearly missed.  Nitya and Siddarth, thanks for giving me the chance to capture some fun Seattle memories before your big adventure!  Lots of love to you guys.

xo,

Jaymee 

Grateful for these two little stinkers who make me crazy and so happy.  That's all.  Thanks for letting me indulge in this one!  

xo,

Jaymee

Okay, this shoot just about killed me.  I left this family feeling so happy and SO grateful.  To have the chance to document the experience of a brand new life coming into a family is such a great honor, and the Kendalls were amazing.  For starters, baby Madison has a dimple in her chin.  Mmkay?  If that weren't enough, her sweet big sister, Brooklyn, was so kind and gentle; I was just blown away that an 18-month-old could "get it" in the way that she does.  To see all of these guys together, though, it really makes sense.  I got to witness those tender moments between the girls and their grandparents and parents, and it really struck me how that love passes down through the generations in such a natural way. Heather and Russell, thank you so much for letting me spend some time with you and your beautiful new family of four..  I feel like the luckiest, and I'm so happy for you all!

xo,

Jaymee

Spring is finally here.  YES!  In the spirit of sunshine and the promise of sunny, warm days in the upcoming weeks (let's do this, Seattle), I thought I would share some photos from our first ever beach vacation with the girls.  It was sunny (and rainy), and so, so beautiful.  You guys know what it's like to travel with little kids [stabs self in eye with butter knife], but this time it was easier.  Cheers to sunshine.  It just makes everything better.  

xo,

Jaymee

Aaaaand, scene.  Seriously, how great is this family?  Keri and Justin and Jude and Maggie Rose, there are no words for the love that I have in my heart for you.  Jude and Maggie, your sweet brother, Gideon, brought some serious magic light on this day, and while I can't see him with my eyes, ohhhhh my goodness I feel him with my heart in every one of these photos.  He was there with you, as he is every day and always will be.  I love you all, my dears!  Thank you for letting me capture you in all of your love and hilarity and awesomeness.  

xo,

Jaymee

                                                                                        Photo credit for book cover:  http://www.CarlyBish.com

I LOVE taking pictures.  I just love it.  And with the digital era happening, it is so easy to let my hard drive just fill up with thousands of jpegs; images of everyone and everything that I love so much.  It makes me so happy when I look through them and yet, I'm not printing them.  Iris, my three-year-old, appears in not even ONE frame on our wall.  About a week ago, Iris noticed and with a quivering little voice, asked me why she wasn't in any of the photos.  Knife in heart.  Ouch.  The next day, Iris found a photo book hidden under a stack of books and this may have been the best day of her life.  Since that day, little she's been flipping through the pages endlessly, carrying it around everywhere she goes, bringing it to school, and sleeping with it (weird?  um, yes).  It made me realize that, until these jpegs are printed, they're just a bunch of pixels floating in outer space.  But when they are right there on the wall, in a frame, in a book-- these images mean SO MUCH.  

"That's me and Beansie, awww," she says, pointing to a photograph of her and Beans, chillin' in the dog bed.  I have heard Iris say this more than 5,000 times in the last week.  It would make me nuts if it weren't so darn cute, and TRUE.  Yep, that's you and Beansie.  That's how you guys roll.  And the thing is, I'm loving looking through this book, too!  It documents a whole year of love and hilarity and everydayness that makes our family what it is, and I am so grateful.  

Sweet Iris, you have my word that your silly face will be smiling back at you in our hallway, and I am ordering some new photo books this winter, too.  I challenge you guys to do the same!  

To make it easy, here are some of my favorite vendors:

• For prints, I love MPix.com.  High quality, reasonable prices.  Please, oh please, do your photographs a favor and do not print them at Walgreens or Costco.  The few extra bucks for some high quality prints will be well worth it, I promise.  
• For photo books, MPix does a great job, and I have also been happy with MyPublisher.com.
• For canvas wraps, once again I heart MPix.  I also recommend CanvasOnDemand.com.

Okay.  Now go print those jpegs!  Get them in a frame, on your wall, on canvas, in a book..whatever!  Just get them on paper.  I'll do the same.  

xo,

Jaymee

p.s.  Carly Bish, thank you again for taking our family photographs..  They mean so much to me.  I will be calling you in the fall for another session!  Please check out Carly's amazing work at http://www.carlybish.com

Some days, everything just falls into place, and this was one of those days.  I was so lucky to have a chance to photograph this family on one of those icy-but-so-beautiful winter days!  Tamar and Paul's little girls, Zahava (3) and 7-week-old Kinneret just. about. killed me.  I could have stayed there and played all day with little Zahava, and what a sweet big sister she is!  Tamar and Paul, thank you for a lovely afternoon, and you were such troopers in the cold!  I loved every second of our shoot.  

xo,

Jaymee 

Oooohhh my goodness.  How rad are these guys?  I was so stoked to spend some time with Therese, Mike, and their sweet little gal, Lillye.  Lillye is one cool kid.  She loves barbies, dinosaurs, and is a linguistics mastermind.  And so fun that Lillye's grandparents and auntie joined, too..  What a fun group!  Not to mention, the most perfect day at Greenlake.  See, this is why I heart my job.  Thanks for an awesome day, you guys!  

xo,

Jaymee

There is something so awesome about photographing people you love!  Randi and Nate have been dear friends of mine for years, and I was so stoked for the chance to photograph them with their sweet, funny, engineer-in-the-making son, Hayden.  This shoot was super special, as Hayden's "Mimi," "Pops," and his Uncle Mikey and Auntie Kathleen were there, too!  There is so much love happening in this family.  These guys laugh big and love HUGE.  Randi and Nate, thank you for trusting me with your photographs, and most of all, for your love and friendship.  I love you guys ridiculously!  

xo,

Jaymee

This year we were so fortunate to get to spend Thanksgiving (and Hanukkah!) with some of our very favorite people:  Stacey, Chris, Sascha, and Sage Fontecchio.  These guys helped carry us through the scariest year of our lives, and they have celebrated with us through every victory, both big and small. These are our people.  We are so grateful!!

Check this guy out!  The sign is fitting, if I do say so myself...  Love you, Davey!!

Is she not a little ray of sunshine?  

Chris did NOT mess around this year.  He cooked that bird to perfection.  Damn.  

CLINK.  Double-clink.

Here are these two goofballs three years later.  They are all arms and legs, minus the squishy parts, plus a little attitude.  What's the same is their love for each other.  I've been feeling a little sad about my girl suddenly growing up so fast, but I'm comforted by the steadfastness of the sweet friendships she has cultivated.  These kids are growing up fast, but at least they're doing it together.  Today I am so grateful to be Olive's mom, and equally grateful that she has a pal by her side who has loved her no matter what.  My heart just might "esplode," as my youngest would say.  Happy birthday, Olive and Maggie Rose!

  Fall colors. Yes, please.

I grew up in the Central Coast of California and while I will NEVER cry about 75 degrees every day and ice cream cones at Avila Grocery, I have to say that Seattle in the fall beats anything I ever experienced growing up.  The colors and the smells are so clean and beautiful.  They remind me of my grandmother, Lila, whom I miss dearly after seven years gone.  She inspired me to create, to love, and to follow the good in my heart.  For seven years, some of the last words she ever spoke to me-- "Your art is who you are.  Go and do what you love."-- have been on my heart.  And now with two girls in school, the leaves are changing, and feelings of gratitude and my grandmother's memory are soaking up everything around me.  I feel like it's time to do what I love.  It's terrifying and really, really exciting. Did I mention I'm terrified?  

Thank you all for the support and love!!  I appreciate it so much.  And remember, if you book a session, a portion of your session fee will be donated to New Beginnings, an amazing local non-profit organization that provides shelter, support, and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence. So here's to you, too!