She’s growing up..

My little girl turned 5 last week, got her ears pierced and starts kindergarten tomorrow..where did the last 5 years go? I wanted to do a little photo shoot with her to document this time in her life, and over the weekend, she was nice enough to let me do so. The beauty that I see in her in these pictures really takes my breath away, and sometimes I can not believe that I made someone this beautiful. She is sweet and sassy and stubborn and silly. She has moved on from the Disney princesses to High School Musical and I love watching her sing and dance around the house to her favorite songs. She is excited to start soccer and gymnastics, but most of all, she is excited that in kindergarten, she will make new friends, play on the playground and learn to read. The whole social aspect of little girls has me a little worried, it’s not easy being a little girl.  I just hope, that as she starts this new chapter, she does not lose the things that make her who she is.

Now, on to the pictures. I’ll be honest , for every great photo of her here, there are a dozen with fake smiles and silly faces. I’m learning with her though. When she stops “performing” and thinks she has outsmarted me, I capture a look like this..

Which also makes me happy in black and white.

I also get plenty of these, which is about as Zoe as you can get.

She picked this pose and is trying really hard not to smile.

But eventually, I get a laugh like this. My friend Lailah, who was shooting with me, is my only witness as to what I had to do to get some serious giggles.

Just when she thinks we are done, we sit on the front steps and talk about kindergarten while I snap away.

The eyes, the freckles, the smile ,the pouty lips..I love you Zoe!

And just one more that I had fun with a little different processing.