Meet Laila; a beautiful, spunky seven year old I had the privilege to get to know last week! From the moment I got her mom’s email introducing me to their family I knew I was excited to meet them. Maybe its because Lauren is the same age and is such a fun little ball of personality in front of the camera, but I had a feeling Laila would be the exact same way. I think seven is just such a fun age because even though they seem so much older and far past that “baby” stage, they will still want to curl up on your lap and snuggle when no one else is looking, tickling is still a guaranteed way to make them smile, and they just blow you away with how much they are learning ever day. I think its easy once kids get past that baby stage to neglect family pictures, but as you will see when you scroll down, Laila’s sweet 7 year old personality comes through in all of these images below, and that is SO worth capturing! Happy viewing, friends! 
a little thumb wrestling action: 
My absolute favorite of the day :0) 
Laila takes karate lessons, so I asked her to practice some of her moves on her dad :0) 
Somehow I don’t think this is a move they taught her in class ;0)
One of the reasons I don’t do “mini sessions” is because usually takes kids a few minutes to warm up to the camera before I start to see their real personality come out.. it didn’t take Laila too long before she relaxed and found herself a little stage to give us a performance of her favorite song :0) and then she sang for us the entire rest of the session! :0) 
I know these last three are pretty similar, but I love them all and how they each show the progression of Laila’s smile :0) 
Happy Wednesday!
The photographs are simply beautiful. The photographer is outstanding as she captured beauty on film. The captions were so on the mark!
These pictures are simply BEAUTIFUl!!! The photography is superb!
These are beautiful family photographs, Jessica! I am so happy to see that Toya and her family used you as their photographer!