Joy to you

The Christmas season is definitely a fun time of year around here. One of my favorite days of the whole year is the day we get our tree and decorate the house. This year Marlie is at such a fun age for the season. She is giddy with excitement about anything Christmas related. She screams with joy any time we see even the smallest display of lights. Tate boy doesn't know what is going on, but it is fun having his little squishy body to snuggle by the tree and his badly head to rub this year.



I wish you all joy this season. Screaming, giddy joy. And that includes myself. I can't help but wonder that if I really understood the gift we are celebrating if I too wouldn't be bursting with child like joy. I think I've posted this quote in years past, but I love it so I'm doing it again. It really sums up what I believe about Christmas...

This is Christmas, the real meaning of it.
God loving, searching, giving Himself - to us.
Man's needing, receiving, giving himself - to God.
Redemption's glorious exchange of gifts!
Without which we cannot live;
Without which we cannot give to those we love
anything of lasting value.
This is the meaning of Christmas -
the wonder and the glory of it.

- Ruth Bell Graham



Have a Merry Christmas!

Tate boy 8 mos 7 days

My little man. I couldn't pick just one picture for this month because I wanted to remember all of the funny little faces that you make.



Having you around makes this Christmas season even more fun. You aren't crawling yet but you love to roll over and pull off the tree skirt.



You've been giving out lots of slobbery kisses lately and it is adorable.



Happy first Christmas Tate boy. Love, Momma

Amy & Mark get married

A few weekends ago Amy & Mark got married in a tiny little chapel with their families in Columbia, Missouri and celebrated afterward at a big party with friends and more family. Before you get your panties in a bunch about how I said I'm not doing wedding photography anymore, Amy is one of my nearest and dearest friends and so, of course, I jumped at the chance to be her photographer!

Isn't she the cutest bride you have ever seen?


And she married this tall handsome guy...



It was a gorgeous day to get married and everything about the wedding was perfectly Amy and Mark. Click here to see an slideshow of the day or scroll down to see a few more of my favorite shots. Love you guys, Congratulations!

cyber Monday - free shipping

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful! Our holiday and weekend was wonderful mixed with horrible. Family, food, and relaxing with a dash of fever and stomach flu thrown in. Ah well, you take the good with the bad.

Today is cyber Monday and we are running a deal on name collages. If you purchase 2 or more then you will get free shipping! That's a $20 savings at least people. Name collages make great gifts. Head on over to the "shop" page of my website (erinduggin.com) and order today. Enter the coupon code holiday2011 to get the discount. Badabing badaboom your holiday shopping is done.

Tate boy - 7 mos 2 days Marlie - 4.5 yrs

Oh Tate boy, you are getting so big. You are still so baldy. I love to rub your peach fuzz head against my face. This week you have caught your first bad cold. There have been lots of boogers and not much sleeping, but somehow you still keep grinning at me with that wide smile and scrunchy nose.


Miss Marlie, this is you on your first day of school this year. Looking at you in this picture makes me tear up a bit. Look how grown up you are! You amaze me every day with the funny things you say and the new things you are learning. You are a great big sister to Tate. No one can make him smile like you.

Love you both - Momma

John and Lindsey + Caroline

One of the things I really love about my job is watching the lives of my clients unfold. A few years ago John contacted me about coming along with him and secretly documenting his proposal to Lindsey. It was so fun watching her reaction when he got down on one knee and capturing such an important moment for them in photos. A year or so later I had the pleasure of being their wedding photographer.



I was excited to hear from John and Lindsey this year that they were expecting their first child and honored that I would get to do their maternity and newborn photos.



Caroline surprised everyone by making her entrance a few weeks early. Good thing we that maternity session in when we did! What a beautiful family...





Congratulations you guys! She is beautiful!

Jen & Steve + their three cute kids

Last week I got to spend some time with my friends Jen and Steve and their three cute kids. They booked this shoot with me a looong time ago and the day had finally come.



Their youngest, Nathan, is the cutest little butter bean you ever saw. He had the whole family cracking up.





I love these two moments I was fortunate enough to catch...





Such sweet little faces...





Jen suggested I get some balloons for the kids. So...I did. I got 36" ones. They were so fun! We started with 4 and ended up with two. That's the thing about balloons, you can't do somersaults with them :).







Thanks for a fun afternoon guys!

Amy & Mark

One of my closest friends Amy is getting married next month to her love, Mark. I met up with them in Columbia last weekend for an engagement shoot.



Are they cute or what? This is what happens when you ask fun people to harness their inner model for a "sultry look". Love it.



Mark has an awesome truck that was his Grandpa's. We took it out for a little spin.




Love this one...



And then we enjoyed the last few minutes of the sun and played in a field for a bit.





Can't wait for your wedding guys!

Tate Boy - 6 mos 6 days

Tate Boy, I can't believe you are six months old already. Its all going a little too fast for me. I thought sure you would have lots of dark hair and hazel eyes and here you are with those baby blues and peach fuzz. I love it. You got your first tooth last week. You are so sweet and gentle. You have been trying out your voice a lot lately and so far you sound just like Prince when you scream. Its hard to remember what life was like before you were around. We love having you in our family.

I'm back...with Beth and family

Its October already. The weather is beautiful, the leaves are changing, and I am back shooting after taking 6 months maternity leave. Who better to start back up with than my friend Beth and her always adorable fam?



Lily is always on the run. She kept running up to me and holding her arms out so I would pick her up. Its hard to resist that little face...






Oh Westie, you always make my heart melt. I remember when you were a wee nugget.







I snapped a few of Beth and Kurt at the end of our shoot. Look at those smiles, you would never know that both kids were screeching in the stroller.



Love you guys.

I am all booked up with shoots through November, but if you want to brave the winter weather for a shoot (sledding pics?!) or want to book ahead for spring then shoot me an email... info@erinduggin.com

beach withdrawals

We spent last week at the beach. Just the four of us. The long drive there was rough, but once we got there it was wonderful. Marlie loved the beach. She was the perfect age for playing in the ocean and the sand.



Tate boy was a little dream boat. He took long naps (I did too), and let us cart him around wherever we went with a smile.





We read books. We put the kids to bed early and ate dinner together on the balcony. We played scrabble. On our last night we went out to the beach for our own little photo shoot. Which is kind of funny because it pretty much means we got dressed up and hoped someone nice would walk by and take our picture. And a nice man did.



And then I took some of my favorite people.





My heart skipped a beat when I snapped this one...



Such a nice vaca. And Now I'm having beach withdrawals. Thank you Terry and Mary for another amazing week at your place!