Oh, She's Born With It!

I know all mamas say their kids are “model babies", but I think Waylin was born for the camera! I mean, she’s almost two, so she’s not giving the photographer 40 frames of different faces to snap, but she takes direction REALLY well! And most of the time, she just naturally models without even knowing that she is. She knows when to flirt with the camera, when to smile, where to look/stand, etc. My FIL was there for a portion of the photoshoot and even he said that he couldn’t believe how photogenic she is! It must be all that “practice” she gets with her mom’s iPhone. * snap snap * (I photograph…EVERYTHING!)

When I designed the ideas behind this photoshoot, I wanted it to be about her and what’s current in her life. My in-laws have had chickens ever since I could remember (even back when Ben and I first started dating). As you’ve probably seen so many times throughout this blog, Waylin likes chickens! 🐔

Another part of Waylin’s personality is that she’s interested in old things and wild hair. MIL has saved a TON of old toys from when her kids were growing up and Waylin gets to play with them! You know that saying that you always hear: “They don’t make ‘em like them used to!” Well, that’s absolutely true when it comes to toys. Toys nowadays are so cheaply constructed and poorly designed.

I wanted to do a retro theme to show this little slice of her personality that is kind of an “old soul.” She prefers the Oldies radio station when we are in the car together and is far more interested in cartoons from even before my time!

She’s always had interest in guitars. Ben has one on a stand in his room and almost every morning, she likes to strum on it with the pick. She played her first rendition of “Smoke on the Water” with her dad last year. Check it out:

ENCORE! 👏

I had this idea of hanging disco balls in the woods for her photoshoot. You wouldn’t believe the prices they charge on disco balls these days! So, I had to improvise! I bought little disco ball ornaments and hung them from the trees with a package of vinyl records.

I also bought the vinyls on Amazon which came as a bundle of various records. I didn’t know what I was going to get, but they were really cheap! I think I got 20+ REAL records for $8! As I pulled each one out of their sleeve, it was a fun surprise to see what I got. Can you believe that there were TWO Fleetwood Mac vinyls in my mystery pack? TALK ABOUT FATE! ❤

There was a U2 one in there too and it had someone’s dried ramen noodles all over it. That made me smile because I really don’t like U2 and whoever owned that vinyl thought the same! 🤣

Those bellbottoms are my absolute favorite! And actually, they are very popular in children’s fashion right now. #makingacomeback

I mean, what more can I say? She is insanely gorgeous. That long, wild Courtney Love hair, those big beautiful blue eyes, ugh! It’s all too much! She’s is everything!

And now we get to the messier side of her personality! She isn’t afraid of a little dirt! In fact, she comes home from daycare covered twice a week. There was a day recently that her teacher said they had to change her pants because they were filthy. They had no idea where she got so dirty because the playground was dry. They didn’t see any piles of water/mud and none of the other kids were dirty! 🤷‍♀️😂

Yes, she’s barefoot in the patch! 😍

She has spent many days this past summer checking out all of the pumpkins in the patch, touching bugs and walking in the mud. So, the apron and clean white shirt is kind of ironic! 🤣

The pumpkin she is holding is one of the first pumpkins she picked from the patch! I love the colors on that gourd! 🎃

We all laughed pretty hard when we broke out the whipped cream and she hugged the can! For some reason she didn’t like the taste of the whipped cream when she tried it at the photoshoot.

I tried my best to get her to give it a chance, but nope! Look at those little hands on her hips! ❤

I asked my in-laws to grab a picture with her at the very end! I absolutely loved this one! One thing that is very comforting for me is that Waylin is part of a family that loves her. It’s sad to think that some kids don’t get to experience that kind of endless love. She (and we) and very lucky! 🍀

These pictures were taken by Josephine Leonard Photography. We were so excited to work with her again! She did an amazing job capturing what two is all about! ✌