Amy Gray

Every year around this time, I get to do the most FUN photo session with Kendra, Gabe, and their growing family. This year, there were some special baby curls to photograph, because little Max (2) is about to have his first haircut. Kendra wanted me to be sure to get Max’s sweet curls before his big-boy cut!

Kendra is an amazing San Diego mom, a photographer herself, who keeps up with her three boys like a champ and always has creative ideas for their photo session. I love that their family sticks with the consistent beach location at the Hotel del Coronado, boys decked out in matching dark green OshKosh overalls and the special Santa hats knitted with care by their Auntie Megan.

Kendra and Gabe’s kids are all boys, ages five, two, and one.  She shared that getting ready for the session can sometimes be stressful. You wouldn’t know it! She is a graceful and patient mom who goes with the flow and allows things to unfold naturally. She said this year at naptime Elijah (5) was so excited to go to the beach he wouldn’t go to sleep. Max (2) fell asleep and then woke up after 20 minutes, and Rafa (1) wanted to sleep and was super grouchy at first, but he finally started having fun and cooperated well!

We all had high hopes for the Santa hats, but Kendra said, “Rafa is a summer baby and apparently I didn’t train him to wear hats!” Eli and Max loved theirs, though, and they did a great job of keeping them on.

Kendra said, “Eli loved running in the water, pulling Amy’s new red wagon, playing on the lifeguard tower, and running down sand mountains. He asked if we could come back soon when we can go swimming (and we did, we took them all last Saturday!)”

“Max is our middle boy. He will turn three in January and Daddy is making me cut the curls off I am dreading it, but Daddy says it is time! I really wanted to remember his beautiful curls and Amy got the best pictures of his hair in the sunset, running, wearing the Santa hat from front and back—-so we have it memorialized even though I will be sobbing soon when the day comes to cut it!”

Kendra said, “Gabe loves Amy’s photo sessions because she doesn’t overshoot—she is quick and efficient and not overly posy so the photos always surprise us, how did she possibly nail all these great shots with our rascals??!?”

“We often walk in the neighborhood with the kids after dinner. We call it ‘The Moon and The Stars Walk.’ It helps transition to bedtime, sometimes even puts the baby to sleep in the stroller. The moon came out and Max said, ‘The moon!!!’ Amy got a sweet photo of Max, the moon, and the ocean.”

Kendra is usually the one taking pictures of Gabe and the boys, so she loved having photos of herself and the baby, and herself and the boys where they were super connected.

When asked about her favorites, Kendra said, “I love the family shot of us in the water and the tide is getting us all wet. I also like the family shot of us on the sand mountain and Max just took off down the hill in front of us. He is very independent and loves being outside.”

“We always do a big xmas card thru Minted and a calendar. I am a photographer so I have made a few Graphistudio albums from past Amy Gray family sessions, One year I made a collage print on the Minted website. It’s hanging above our fireplace.”

I was pretty sure I would love working with Tressa from the moment she contacted me, and I was right! She is so kind, and I love how she recounts her family’s experience in San Diego and in our photo session! I’ll let her tell her own story:

“We traveled to San Diego with our three young children for my cousins wedding. The trip was so special because the entire extended family attended and it gave us time to catch up and spend quality time together. It was so fun to see my younger cousins spend quality time with our children. The laughter, smiles and joy will be imprinted in our minds for a lifetime. We stayed at Paradise Point and it couldn’t have been more perfect for a young family or wedding venue. The setting was absolutely beautiful and the staff was incredibly helpful and kind. Traveling across the country with three young children can be stressful, but arriving at the beach and being with family made it so worth it. I vacationed in San Diego as a child, so it brought back so many wonderful memories. We plan to make it a tradition!

We hadn’t done a formal family photo session in two years and the kids have changed so much. We planned to do a session in St. Louis but as soon as we found Amy’s Instagram page, we knew it MUST be done at the beach. Our entire home is very much styled “California decor” (think Serena and Lily) so the photos would be a perfect compliment.

We also wanted to capture each child’s individual personality as they are truly coming into their own right now.

I’m a perfectionist by nature so I tend to overthink everything, and I had a lot of concerns going into the session. What were we going to wear? Was it going to be sunny? What if it’s windy? Will the kids be too tired from the wedding the night before? How would we get ready, travel forty minutes without anyone falling asleep, and transport three carseats in an Uber? Would any of the kids be shy with the water?

But it worked out! OH MY GOSH, there are just so many favorite memories! The biggest one was probably Hunter (5) falling in the ocean midway through the session. It was the moment you either want to cry because “the pictures are going to be ruined” or you embrace it and roll with the tide. Literally! I think we all held our breath a bit when he surfaced, not sure of the reaction. When he popped up, said “I’M OK”, stripped off his shirt, and kept on running, we knew the pictures were going to keep us laughing for a lifetime. Amy calmed us down and took control, forcing all of us to just get WET!

I think the neatest memory is how clearly the entire shoot is imprinted into our minds and hearts. Remembering every smile, giggle, pose, and twirl during the session. Watching each child smile into their daddy’s eyes had this momma’s heart melting. And taking a moment to just walk on the beach with Troy while watching the kids just be kids….you can’t put a price on those moments!

It’s incredibly difficult to just pick one favorite! So many images truly capture the heart of our family! All of the individual pictures of Troy and the kids just melt my heart.

And the incredible individual and action shots of the kids are perfection.

Pics of the three kids bring tears of joy to our eyes!

The picture of Troy helping me down from the lifeguard tower represents his true dedication to teaching our boys how to treat a lady.

The picture of us running down the hill represents how active we are together as a family, always laughing though it….

The picture of Hunter coming up after falling in the ocean just makes me giggle.

Photos of just Troy and me are such good reminders of how this amazing family came together. Mom and Dad…! So thankful Amy captured those somewhat quiet moments.

We will definitely use the photos for our Christmas card this year! We will also use them in our photo gallery upstairs in the kids hallway and in our entryway frames. Grandparents have already requested theirs! Oh, and they are scrolling on our computers constantly while at work. 😊”

I LOVED reading all this from Tressa, and I can’t help but add a few of my favorites of this lovely (inside and out) mama. Isn’t she the sweetest? And isn’t that the most gorgeous dress?

Tressa and Troy are associated with Residential Real Estate Team – Coldwell Banker Gundaker in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. Check them out if you’re in that area and need real estate assistance!