Dec. 4

The fourth day of December was spent with Grandad! Emma got to spend the whole day with her Grandad and she LOVED it. L-O-V-E-D it. From the second he walked through the front door, she cried out, "Dad-dad!" and ran up to him with her arms outstretched. It was so precious. She's been on him like glue ever since.

The picture above is Emma heaven -- sitting on one of her grandparents' laps with Elmo on the TV behind her and Elmo on Grandad's laptop in front of her. My awesome father-in-law Wes came up from Oregon on some of his days off (he's a cardiac intensive care nurse and works four 12-hour days on before he has eight days off) to hang out with Emma and give me some time to go on a photo shoot and run errands. Emma loves hanging out with all of her grandparents and James and I feel so blessed to have such helpful, caring parents. The whole time Wes was here, Emma said, "Dad-dad!" over and over and over throughout the day/evening/next morning. She'd run up to him and hug his leg. It was adorable.

These pictures pretty much illustrate how Emma spent her fourth day of December. And they're actually a fun experiment for me because it shows the different ways my camera can light up a photo when it needs some artificial light. The first and last pictures in this post are taken with my SB-800 flash. The second and third are with the on-camera, pop-up flash (not my favorite tool). I was not always ready to capture these cute moments so sometimes I had to use what was quick and available (i.e., didn't have time to take out and attach the SB-800). Just a random fact for you photog enthusiasts like me. :)

While Emma was having a fun day with her "Dad-dad," Emma's mommy was out having a blast on a photo shoot. I got to try out my new backdrop and shoot my first cake smash session with an adorable 1-year-old and his creative momma. I also just realized I never shared the big news on this blog -- our business has a new online presence! Check out http://www.amandakayphotography.com/ for the new look and some posts ... and to see the Christmas-y cake smash pictures I was so jazzed to get yesterday! The colors in the pictures definitely got me even more into the holiday spirit! A great, beautiful way to spend the fourth day in this blessed month.