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fresh. pure. perfect. | Tina Ramirez Photography | Central Illinois Newborn Photographer

The title pretty much sums up this little man. He is just perfect.

I had the pleasure of meeting little {C} who is just starting a baby plan. I cannot wait to watch him grow.

His Mommy and Daddy are sooo in love with him. Can you blame them though?


Daddy was such a good sport, tolerating the scorching hot room and getting pooped on. :)



Look how happy he is in Mommy's arms.


{C} is probably one of the longest newborns I have ever photographed. He liked stretching out too. I think he was just showing off ;)


I love his delicate little back wrinkles, his smoochable lips, and his long eyelashes.


Chris and Ashley, thank you for having me photograph your little blessing. I am excited to begin his first year of portraits with you.

Enjoy your sneak peek and I will let you know when his gallery is ready.

The "G Man" is bringin those eyes back | Tina Ramirez Photography | Central Illinois Child Photographer

I can't believe it has been a year since I first photographed {G} for his newborn portraits. You can take a peek at them here

and then his 6mo portraits here

I just adore this little man and he just cracks me up every time I am around him.

He LOVES his Lego's and he's really good at putting them together. He is very coordinated and can build these huge towers. Makes me feel like I must be slacking with teaching Gianna to do these things.



Now here are those beautiful eyes that stop me in my tracks EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.



Just hangin out with Dad :)


Enjoy your sneak peek Leigh Ann and Justin, more to come soon.

Elmwood's First Daughter | Tina Ramirez Photography | Elmwood, IL Newborn Photography

Move over Sasha and Malia, you've got nothing next to little miss {L}.

I posted one other portrait of {L} with her Mommy and Daddy here .

{L} is exactly what you would picture a perfect baby girl to be. She has perfect skin, tiny toes, luscious lashes and beautiful blue eyes. She was the perfect little sleeper too (after much convincing that nothing exciting was going on without her).

We started off the session wonderfully too. She got comfy and relaxed... then proceeded to prove to her Daddy why keeping extra shirts around is a great idea :)

I couldn't help but squeal a little with delight when Mommy brought out this adorable hat!




I love her tiny little toes poking out here.


Look at these lashes! Watch out Daddy, I have a feeling she is going to bat these suckers at you quite a bit when she wants her way :)

Just one because I couldn't wait | Elmwood, IL Newborn Photography

I couldn't help but post one up of little Miss {L}. She is so sweet and I just love this portrait. It makes me envious because I would have given an arm or leg to have a portrait like this with one of my kids.

Not only are the subjects wonderful, the light is so warm and soft.

Enjoy!

Fabulous number 4 | Tina Ramirez Photography | Elmwood, IL Newborn Photography

I hear all the time, "Four kids, Wow, that's a lot." While I agree that 4 kids is quite a handful, there is nothing more surreal or humbling than when you plop on the couch at the end of the day, you look over at your husband and your 4 kids are all piled on the couch with you. It makes you take a deep breath in and thank God for such a wonderful blessing.

There truly is nothing like it and now Mollie and Rich know what I am talking about.

They have been blessed with gorgeous baby number 4, Miss A.



They chose to be surprised with the sex of the baby and big sis could not be happier at having a little sister.


She even gave me a little smile :)


Another miracle, getting 4 children to cooperate for a portrait. They did fantastic though. This portrait is a definite favorite in my book.

Soon to be, Mommy of 3 | Tina Ramirez Photography | Central Illinois Maternity Photography

My sweet cousin Amy has been blessed with 2 little boys.


She and hubby Bob are being blessed with a little girl this time. I am sure she will be just as beautiful as her momma.


Amy just looks STUNNING! I remember when she was pregnant with Jack and thinking about how pregnancy looks so good on her.

This is one of my favorites from the session. I LOVE Jack's face. He is so sweet and has that touch of boyish charm too.


I think Sam was just stunned that we were letting him play with paints and draw on mommy.


It was amazing how baby girl was kicking and moving while the boys were driving their cars over her. Either she wanted to play too or she wanted them to leave her alone.





Silly Bob thought he was all done with pictures after they got married. :) That's what he gets for having a beautiful wife and adorable kiddos though.


Enjoy your sneak peek!

Chunky Baby {E} | Tina Ramirez Photography | Central Illinois Newborn Photography

Little Miss E



She is so adorable. I love love love chunky babies and {E} is just that. Pure squishy joy!

After doing her momma's maternity photos a few weeks before, I wouldn't have guessed that this big baby came from momma's little belly.



She was a stubborn one too. She did not want to fall asleep and miss out on all the fun. It took a while of bouncing, rocking and swaying but she finally fell under my spell. For a little while it was a close battle of who would cave first but, in the end, I won.

After I had her good and out, she was putty in my hands :).



Her session was not without the frequent "accident". Daddy got the most of it though and took it all in stride. She didn't let mom totally off the hook either.



Thank you Sara and Steve for letting me come over, photograph and snuggle your little one. I loved every minute!

Absolutely Adorable and much Anticipated Baby {A} | Tina Ramirez Photography| Peoria Newborn Photographer

I have been waiting 9 long months to photograph this little lady. She did not disappoint. She was an absolute JOY to photograph. She stayed asleep through dogs barking and the heater falling off the table.

"Breathtakingly Beautiful" is how you would describe Miss {A}. Her skin is perfect, her hair is so soft, and her features are so delicate.

I know her Mommy and Daddy are absolutely in love with her, and I can see why.


I love to capture the tininess of a baby in proportion to Mommy's hands.



Seriously, who looks this fabulous after giving birth? I know I sure didn't! Charleen has always been beautiful, but motherhood certainly agrees with her. You just feel this energy when you are around them. Daddy is sure one lucky man to have 2 beautiful women in his life.

I love how little {A} has her tiny fingers touching Mommy's.



So sweet!


Thank you Charleen and Kristian for letting me come over and capture these moments. She won't stay little for long! I hope you enjoy your sneak peek.

Come on ladies of ILCCI! Leave Charleen and Kristian some comments. I know they would love to read them.

Gallery Wrapped Canvas Sale | 24 hours only

For the first time EVER, a Gallery Wrapped Canvas SALE!!!

This sale is for 24 hours only. Ends Saturday 1/23/10 at 5pm. My company is having a sale on canvases so I want to pass that along to you.

Order now and take $100 off the canvas pricing.

Regular Price Sale Price

16x20 $250 $150
16x24 $275 $175
20x24 $325 $225
20x30 $350 $250
24x36 $425 $325

Get that Christmas gift you were really wanting!

Don't have a specific image in mind? That's OK. Order now and reserve your canvas for a future session.

What is a gallery wrapped canvas?

Truly one of the most spectacular things I have available. Your photo is printed on a canvas material and stretched over a 1.5 inch frame. The back is covered and hanging hardware is in place. These come ready to hang and place on your wall.

Let me know ASAP if you want to order one of these so I can put the order in to my company before their sale is over.

And again, if you want to order it now and use it in the future, that is an easy option.

Happy Mother's Day!

To Me!

Now, I know you are all thinking, "Wow, Tina has really lost her mind. Doesn't she realize it is January?"

Yes, I do know that it is January. The thick winter coats and the bruises on my backside from slipping on the ice are frequent reminders.

But my lovely children gave to me, the best present a mother could ask for. I had a certain shot in my head and told the kids that I wanted 1 shot. Of course the big kids moaned and groaned. Craig even told me, "Alright, you get 1 shot, that is it." I explained to him that in order to get this 1 shot I may have to click the shutter more than once but I wouldn't make them change positions, backgrounds, etc...

After promises of a movie and some goldfish snacks, my children gave me this:



A mother's dream. A photo of all of my children looking lovely.

I love everything about it. I love CJ's somber, soulful look, as this is what he usually gives me. It defines "him". I love Craig's crooked little smile that reminds me of the day when he was 3 and we had to go to the ER twice in the same day for stitches to his lip. Gabi's beautiful gaze which opens my eyes to how quickly time goes by and what a gorgeous little lady she is turning into. Then Gianna's chubby baby-ness, her deep brown eyes that are duplicates of CJ's, her crazy untamable hair, and her sweet face that looks so much like her big sister's did when she was a baby.

"Well being a photographer, I'm sure your home is filled with beautiful images of your children"

Unfortunately, not true. Ever heard of the shoemakers kids? My kids are so sick of my camera that they run and hide whenever I pull it out. Gianna is the only one who can't run yet, but she is getting really fast at crawling.

Just to show you that my babies aren't always perfect angels, here are some outtakes:

Testing lighting:




"Craig, please don't strangle your brother"


After the above picture, its no suprise that CJ was trying to get away



Well, at least 3 of the 4 are looking at me.



This was the last picture. Gianna had eaten right before we started. Gabi was bouncing her on her knee, trying to make her happy, and possibly squeezing her a little too tight.




So how many shutter clicks did it take to get that 1 special picture?

12

Smoochable Sweetness! {B} 6 days old

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. I love my job! I get to photograph these adorable little babies, hold them, rock them, and snuggle them. It really doesn't get any better than this.

I was excited to meet little baby B and he was just as sweet as I had imagined. He has the most perfect little lips, perfect for smoochin!


He is absolutely adorable and I am so glad he is part of my baby plan because I am looking forward to documenting his first year.

He even gave me a little smile.


He had his share of fussy moments (as most newborns do) but he really loved to be swaddled. Mom had this perfect little blanket that coordinated with his nursery. I love the blue and brown combo.

And of course, I had to throw in one of the new family :) I love the sweetness of this one. There is something about dramatic black and whites that always end up being my favorites.

Help Elmwood Elementary win $100,000

Please help Elmwood Elementary win $100,000. The school is in the top 20 of the US CELLULAR "Calling All Communities" Campaign that is NATIONWIDE!!! If the school makes it to the top 10 by Friday they win $100,000 dollars. If you will let me enter you please send me your email address, home address, and birthdate. They will not be hounding you to buy anything. It is simply a contest!! If you want to enter yourself you can go to ANY US Cellular store to get a card with a code for the contest. Make sure you put your vote toward Elmwood Elementary! PLEASE!! Think about what an elementary school could do with $100,000!

Anticipation | Peoria Maternity Photographer

Officially my first shoot of the decade :)

I was so glad I got to photography Sara's beautiful belly. We had been talking about this at work for a while but had to reschedule our first appointment due to holiday craziness. On January 1st, we finally made it happen.

I always have a difficult time picking out pics for my blog sneak peek but this shoot was exceptionally difficult. I opened the files and would say "Oh, I love this one. THIS is it." Then I'd see another and say "THIS one is perfect, its the one." And again, and again, and again. I couldn't pick a favorite. There are so many beautiful ones from this session that I just couldn't choose.

Sara looks absolutely stunning at 36 weeks. Pregnancy looks so good on her. As I'm sure you can imagine, it is just too hard to pick favorites when your clients are so gorgeous.


The nursery is all ready. Just waiting for little baby girl to arrive at the end of the month.





Thank you Sara and Steve for allowing me to capture this beautiful time in your lives.