Mother’s Day 2018. A special day for all moms, and really special for Lauren and I. We’re so blessed to have such an amazing daughter. I don’t believe I’m biased when I say, Maddie is an amazing little human. She’s a perfect balance between Lauren and me. She has my humor, Laurens beauty, a personality all her own, she’s just perfect.

I had the honor of photographing the kids for the 2018 Insperity Invitational S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Golf Event. This was my second year working with the group and it was another great day. The kids were ecstatic to hang out, run around, and play some golf! I don’t have much to say on the event that the photographs don’t say for themselves. Before I show the photos I’ll just say, it’s an honor to be a part of this event and to showcase these kids and the organizations involved in making the day and the entire tournament a S.U.C.C.E.S.S. (See what I did there, hehe)

Galveston bound: Lauren had a conference to attend in Galveston on a Friday afternoon, sooo, we decided to capitalize on that and make a weekend of taking Maddie to the beach! While Lauren was at her conference, baby girl and I played it up at the beach, digging in the sand, and playing in the water. Maddie was a little nervous about the water at first but I knew she’d love it if she’d just get her but in. Of course, being the papa, I am, I came up with a game. Run into the water when I was calm, and then run away from the waves so they don’t get you and don’t forgot to scream when running away. That game didn’t last as it was replaced by an even more fun game: stand and wait for the waves to smack you in the belly and face.

Nothing is easy with raising a toddler. THE WANT: We had a beautiful yellow dress for her to wear and wanted to get pictures of her with the family. THE REALITY: The dress didn’t stay on for long because, it wasn’t as easy to climb EVERYTING IN SIGHT, so it came off and shorts and a shirt took its place for a minute… or so mom and I thought… Recall that pro tip now. Later that afternoon we headed to my grandparents to visit. They weren’t home when I got there so we decided to take Maddie to see that ‘big dirt hill’ (Levee). I thought it would be fun and a good way for her to burn some of the limitless supply of toddler energy she has, but she climbed about a 1/3 of the way, then I dad had to carry her the rest.

Maddie is now an #OfficialTexan. It took two years, but Maddie Moop’s first Texas bluebonnets #texasbluebonnets session was a success. My wife and I have been wanting to take her since she was 7 months old, but life kept finding ways to get in the way, but this year that all changed! This season we both had some free time one late afternoon, 4 pm to be exact and we jumped on the opportunity and took baby girl to run around and see what happened. Our princess (emotional wreck to tell the truth) got to see the wildflowers. Due to the time of day we went, the location was pretty sparse, so I had 15 minutes or so to capture Maddie at any angle I wanted to capture her. However, it was 4 pm and that basically means high noon this time of year in Texas, which also means, the light source isn’t exactly flattering. So, what do you do when the light isn’t quite right? Simple, you work with the situation you’re provided.