Keegen::1 year old!

At first, she contacted me last fall for family photos, but the timing never seemed to gel right. When I got a call from her this spring, I was hoping for the best: Little Keegen was turning one and Ashley was going to gift him with a session all his own. A week or so before the session, I saw a post from Ashley on Facebook asking for prayers that Keegen would be able to keep his finger. "His WHAT?!" I said outloud, thinking, "There goes that session" and "How in the world does a 1-year-old lose part of a finger?!" 

Sure enough, Ashley called me the next day to confirm that we wouldn't be in any water for our time together and I assured her that his cast wouldn't get wet. I also encouraged her to postpone the session until the cast was removed, but Ashley was bound and determined. This was to be Keegen's birthday present on his actual birthday. Period. When you're a single mom of 3 boys, you have license to be slightly determined. :) Without further adieu, here's Mr. Keegen:

Part of me wanted to crop his cast out of the photos while shooting, but there were other moments that I definitely wanted to document this big event in his life. Keegen hasn't started walking on his own yet, (though he took his first unassisted steps at this session!!) so to get around, he crawls. When you have a cast on one of those appendages helping you walk, well, Ashley and I nicknamed him Mr. PegLeg for about 5 minutes. :) You might catch a hint of his cast (covered in an orange sock for extra protection) in this post.

Being that we were commemorating his first birthday, we felt it fitting for some smashing of a cake. One of Keegen's Godparents, Becky, was on deck to assist with this shoot and brought the main prop-the cake! She did a great job of selecting a super colorful one and brought along a "1" candle.

Why does Keegen have clothes on for this smash the cake episode? It was roughly 65ish degrees outside and slightly windy. We had plenty of wipes on hand and spare clothes for the ride home!

At first Keegen was rather shy of this bright, squishy thing before him. But Godmother, Becky, laid some frosting on his upper lip for good effect and once he got a lick of that....it was gung-ho from there! So much so, his feet wanted in on the action...

The rest of this messy face was ALL Keegen:

Ashley, I'm so glad our schedules finally aligned for this session with your youngest Little One. I'm looking forward to June for all three of them together!! Keegen was a joy to photograph and I praise God that he will be able to keep his sweet, little finger. You are in a category all your own, Ashley, and have a strength that I don't know I'll ever posess. Keep truckin'!
Will continue to pray,
Carrie
PS You can view the rest of our session HERE.