5 1/2 years ago when my oldest niece was turning 13 I decided it would be a good year to do some teen photos.  I was fairly new in my photography journey and I needed a pretty model.  So Ashlynn and I had fun exploring downtown Littleton.  Then when her sister, McKenzie, turned 13 I repeated the process and it became tradition!  This year it was Adah’s turn to get her 13 year old pictures.  These sessions are my favorite!!!  The girls love to play model and I love to spend time with them and spoil them with pictures.  Three nieces down…..one to go!

I think it is safe to say that all three of my nieces are beautiful and they all have the cutest freckles!!

Both Adah and I love the fact that we get taken for mother/daughter all the time.  Because I am a #boymom it is nice to have a girl around….and I love that she looks like me!  Mostly because of the freckles, dark hair and greenish/brown eyes.

Not only is this young lady beautiful….but she is such a joy to be around!!!

She was born on a particularly difficult day.  My brother-in-law’s (Paul) mom had just passed away unexpectedly and it was the morning of the funeral when my sister started having contractions.  We all went to the funeral (except my sister) including her husband who was officiating the funeral.  I swear that she kept the baby in out of sheer will power (she is really strong and stubborn so if anyone can do it, she can).  Dan rushed to the hospital as soon as the funeral was over and we went to the reception for a few minutes before heading to the hospital ourselves.  We didn’t have to wait long before Adah made her appearance.  What a joyful ending to a particularly difficult day.  And 13 years later….Adah continues to be a joyful spot in our lives.

She always squeals “Auntie Lisa” and runs to give me a hug EVERY time I see her.  Even if it has only been a day or two.  It makes me feel so loved.

Another of her greatest qualities is that she is SUPER helpful.  You guys….this girl could put away her own laundry at 18 months.  I can barely get my 13 year old to put away his laundry.  Julie always brought Adah along to parties and baby showers and she was always helpful.  Often little kids tend to get in the way when they are trying to help…..but from the age of 2 or 3 Adah was legitimately helpful.

I am working on a new branch of my business and I wanted to use my new studio to get some pictures for my new business.  I also wanted to try out the new studio co-op that I am a part of.  So I booked a Saturday morning and reached out to see if Adah wanted to do some pictures for her 13th birthday and to get some stock photos at the same time.  It was a win/win.    Here is a little preview of what I am working on.  Clearly I needed a helper.  Thanks for the use of your hands and legs Adah!

Once again….Adah proved worth her weight in gold and she helped me so much.  We only had the studio for 2 hours but we were able to get over 130 (final edits so I probably took more than 300 photos) photos of Adah, I did a quick model shoot for another teen (blog coming later) and I got a ton of photos for my new adventure…..all in 2 hours.  There is no way I could have done it without her!

She organized and set up this photo for me while I was doing Delaney’s photos.  Didn’t she do a fantastic job?

To know Adah is to love her.

Another thing I love about her.  Low girl drama.  I am sure there are times where there is girl drama, but for the majority of the time…..she is pretty easy going and has a great group of friends.

If she is this beautiful now, in the awkward years…..she is going to be drop-dead gorgeous in a few years.  I can tell you that I did not look like this when I was in 7th grade.  Let’s just say I had really short hair and a perm…and I had a heavy hand with the blue eye shadow (hello 1991).  Not the best years of my life.

Not sure if you paid attention earlier….but I now have a studio!!!  It has amazing natural light and the cutest furniture.  This couch is the prettiest, ugly couch I have ever seen.  But somehow the ugly mustard color was a perfect compliment for Adah’s gorgeous eyes.

At the end of our time at the studio, Adah threw on my black CC hat and we got a few more pictures in front of this cute brick wall.

By this time she had perfected the serious face.

Happy Birthday Adah!  I love you so very much and I am so thankful that I get to be your Auntie!  I hope your day is as amazing as you are and I can’t wait to celebrate you!

Want to see my other niece’s 13 year blogs? Click here to see McKenzie’s 13 year session.  And while I can’t find Ashlynn’s 13 year blog…..check out her senior pictures from last summer.