Last fall, our family decided to practice what we preach, and we hired a professional photographer (Amanda of Pure Lee Photography) to come over and document a morning at the Cutshall house. It was so enlightening for me to be on the other side of the camera for a change, and since it's almost photo season in Colorado, I thought I'd share what I learned.

Go casual and go dressy. At the last second, I asked Amanda if we could do a relaxed in-home session to start but then finish with some more formal portraits downtown Erie (which is just a few minutes from our house). I am so glad we did. I love the variety. We have candid pictures of the three of us sipping coffee on our couch, playing piano in our living room, and reading books floor. BUT, we also have photos of us looking our Sunday best. Sophie wore the sweetest, smocked Southern dress, an heirloom gift from Grandma, which was not-so-perfect for crawling around on the rug, but oh-so-perfect for traditional portraiture.

Go buy something new without spending any money. For my birthday when I was super preggo with Sophie, my dad gave me a gift card to Anthropologie. Well, I saved it for two years (two years!), and then I went shopping with my mom and grandma -- like I did when I was a junior in high school looking for my prom dress-- and they helped me pick out two outfits for the photo session. A casual gray sweater and a funky, teal dress that I fell in love with. I wore the former during our laid-back, play-on-the-floor part of the shoot, and I wore the dress for the portraits. Best of both worlds, zero dollars spent. I don't buy many clothes these days, so saving my gift card and spending for the shoot made everything feel like a special occasion.

Go trendy, rather than classic.Why not? I think it's fun to look back on the fads of yesteryear. If you feel good in it, wear it -- fringe, patterns, bold colors--go for it.

Go find the best light in your house. Natural light, window light. You need it. A couple days before our shoot, I set an alarm on my phone for the time of day Amanda would be coming over and walked around to see what the light was like -- then we made sure to take photos in those spots.

Go with the flow, yo. Sophie was cranky and hungry, so I had to stop (twice) and nurse her in front of Amanda. At first, I felt like I was wasting everyone's time. But, Sophie did so much better afterward, and I have a real-in-the-moment picture of the two of us while Sophie is nursing that I love. (I didn't post it. It's just for me. Suckers! Just kidding. But, there's a nice pun for you).

Go with the flow--again--yo. At 10 months, Sophie was teething -- and once again, cranky. So we stopped, and I gave her Tylenol which she immediately spilled all the way down her pink dress. So we took her dress off, and Amanda took photos of our naked baby in her bloomers playing on our bed. And boy do I love them.

Go print those bad boys.  Artifact Uprising offers free prints every once in a while (you pay for shipping), so follow them on Instagram because their photo quality is delicious. So good. I bought a $2 frame stand from Hobby Lobby, and my stack of prints fits perfectly in them. Every now and then, I'll walk by and change out the photo. So easy.

Go standard over mini. This might end up biting me in the behind, but I have to say that a standard two hour session is so so so much better than a mini-session. We didn't feel rushed, and I loved having the time to let Sophie play and be her quirky little self. Sometimes it takes a while to warm up and relax and unclench that jaw. If we can swing it, we're going to opt for a standard session at least every other year. And you know what? This is big: we're going to use our pictures on our Christmas card, EVEN IF we take our pictures in the summer when everything is beautiful and flowery outside. Why the heck not? We can always use a more "recent" (I mean, we're talking 4ish months, guys) mix of photos on the back.

Amanda we loved spending time with you, and we love your work! Thank you so much!