No pun intended, but I’m going to go straight Brady-Style with you here in MB Photography today. Today marks Day #4 in my unofficial and unplanned blogging marathon. I’ve now passed the half-way mark and it’s all down hill from here. We have some weddings coming up (3 to be exact), some engagements and one sweet, little baby!  All the comments left so far have been super encouraging and have helped me “power through.” As I write this late at night because my computer has moved no faster than molasses in the winter time, I really do feel as though I’ve been running a marathon.

…then again, I’ve never run a marathon, but I’m just guessing that it’s pretty tiring.

Anyway, this post concludes our mini-series of the Ilardi Families, whose pictures took place in beautiful Corolla, North Carolina. If you’ve never been to the Outer Banks, you’re seriously missing out. So far, Rodanthe has been my favorite town and Bobby and I are heading to Hatteras again later on this summer.

I don’t ramble when I’m tired or anything.

Back to the Ilardi’s.  They are one of the most kind and loving families I’ve  ever had the pleasure of working with. I met with them last year at their homes in the Norfolk, Virginia area. I think I like them so much because they remind me of my own family. There are so many similarities between their family and mine, it just makes me smile every time I edit their pictures! This post, I’ll narrate a little differently and tell the story within the pictures instead of writing it here.

Thanks Ilardi family for spending ALL day Saturday with me and letting me get a glimpse into your lives yet again. I said it once and I’ll say it again… I’m casting my vote for family pictures in Mexico next year 😉 Who’s with me!?

These are the originals. This is where it all started. (And still going strong after 40-some years!)

Then the originals added some. This was their family.

They decided 6 was not enough… so everyone added one, but the originals stayed the same.

Then, they multiplied and the Parents (now Grandparents) were left with 8! And now their “little” clan of six suddenly became a HERD of 18!

Steve is the oldest (and by “oldest,” Steve, I mean the “first child.”) Steve has a beautiful wife and gorgeous daughter! All the girl cousins followed her around all day and just watched and imitated her every move. Can you see where girlfriend gets her smile from!? Mom, of course…

Now, I never got this cleared up on who came first, but for the sake of sibling rivalry, I’ll just put Jeff first. Jeff and Nadia tied the knot that day. I blogged about their wedding on Monday. They have a lovely little girl, Stepha who is clearly the light of their lives. And they are so in love, it just makes me happy.

Then there’s Melissa. Obviously, she has the best name EVER. Her husband, Dave, is pretty cool too. Get this: they have 5 kids. FIVE. And they are still madly in love with each other. They are so fun and I love how they interact with their kids.

…speaking of which, here are all 5. I had to go “Brady Bunch” on this one… They are all so different! They are all very mature for their age (especially Nathan, the baby in the middle), and it’s so cute to see them fight over who gets to hold the baby next! Seriously, some of the nicest kids.

Last, we have Tim and his lovely wife Christine. Christine was the organizer of everything photography-related that weekend and she is just awesome. I blogged about them and their sidekick, Grayson, yesterday. You can find more pictures of them HERE. Oh, and if you watch the slideshow at the top of this blog for a minute, you will see their little family from LAST YEAR up there (the one with the guitar).

That about wraps it up for the Ilardi family! Thank you guys for everything that day! I look forward to seeing you all sometime soon!