Aidan's First "Real" Photo Shoot

Back in February, I happened to stumble upon a post on a local photographer's Facebook advertising a "Cute Kid Contest."  I had actually become acquainted with this lady on Twitter, and had chatted briefly with her a couple times, but that was the extent of our relationship up until the contest.  For fun, I sent in a photo of Aidan for the contest.  The grand prize?  A free session with her!  I was so excited at the idea!

A week (and 133 incredible votes!) later, Aidan was declared the winner of the contest!  I was beside myself with excitement.  Chelsey had said that our session would take place somewhere around May.  I thought it might kill me to wait so long, but it actually wasn't bad at all.  Plus, as she pointed out when we set the date, an 8 month old is much more fun to photograph than a 5 month old!  Personality comes through so much more at this age.

A week ago, we showed up for our outdoor shoot at the location that Chelsey had chosen.  It's a place that is known as a safe haven for migratory birds, so it's very woodsy in places and very open in others.  I was intrigued as to how things were going to go, and maybe a little nervous.  Chelsey had told me that most of the shots would be of Aidan, but that there would be a few family shots too.  Sounded good to us.

Over two incredibly enjoyable hours later, we were finally parting ways.  Chelsey is not only a great photographer and all around extremely sweet person, she and her husband are also soon-to-be adoptive parents.  Needless to say we felt an instant bond!  We had lots of laughs, swapped stories about adoption, and just had so much fun.

Although Chelsey may not be able to tell, I really did try my hardest not to bug the snot out of her for our "sneak peek" photos, which she estimated would take about a week to be posted.  I just KNEW that she had captured some incredible images and, well, I've never been accused of being incredibly patient.  Ha!  But tonight, it happened!  She tagged me in a post and I knew exactly what I was about to see.

Without further adieu, I give you: OUR SNEAK PEEK.

Next Friday, we'll get to see the rest of the photos - 35 to 40 of them in all, maybe more.  After this little teaser, I absolutely cannot wait to see what else she has created.  So excited!!

I can't stop staring at these pictures.

I really can't believe that's our kid.

How did we get so lucky?!?!