want to know something weird about me?heh, that sentence was bait...it's honestly not that big of a secret, more of a look into me as a photographer.a little of my weirdness is:it's harder for me to photograph my own extended family than strangers I've just met.weird, right?I've thought and thought about this and wondered at why this is,and I think I've come to the conclusion that it's because of my mom-ness.it happens to the best of us. ;)I laughed earlier this week when one of my seniors declared that she was never going to get old or "mom-like",I laughed because I said the same thing when I was eighteen too.I'm doing my best to grow old gracefully (okay fine, I'm not so graceful most of the time - my insta-story is proof of that)but the "mom-like-ness" was one that crept in on me and I didn't even really care that it did.the girl in today's post is our families lanie-bug.can you call her that? um, no.she's my second niece and this is the visual I have of her (along with the older ruckus in the photograph below):I know she's not the baby with the cutest cheeks and dimples anymore cause I've seen her grow up and she is incredible at it.she is kind, she is smart, she is incredible at student council and organizing events,she is well liked by everyone, she is a beast on the softball field,she is stuuuuupid funny - as in I don't think I've ever seen someone more fit for SNL than her,she is obviously beautiful...yep, she is an amazing girl that I admire.BUT.enter in the mom-ness factor...or aunt-ness factor in this case.it is difficult sometimes to separate the "lanie-bug" that I watched as a baby grow up intothe incredible woman you see in the pictures below.I'm laughing now because I legitimately pep-talked myself before her session:"jen. she's freaking 18. shoot her like any other freaking 18 year old you meet. be cool. BEcool." ;)so there you go, my weirdness and my lanie-bug's gorgeous coolness that hopefully came out in these portraits.bottom line, I love you lanie...always have, always will...and I think the world of who you are and who you've become.