New Ultrasound Photos & our maternity portraits!

Introducing, once again, our little guy, aka - “baby brother,” “baby hamburger” (he got this one when he was 6 oz – about the size of a burger – gotta love my husband!), “baby helicopter” (he got this one when we heard his heartbeat), and “what’s his name.” Now, he weighs about 2.5 lbs and is 28 weeks into his incubation. We had another ultrasound on Tuesday and got some great photos of him. (Here are his first ultrasound photos.)

He was playing peek-a-boo with his feet when we tried to get a glimpse of his face, flexible little man! I love that we can see his face filling out now. He looks a lot like his older sis, so far. He was trying to kiss his elbow while we were watching, too (already showing off by attempting the impossible!)

I also wanted to share our maternity portraits by the amazingly talented Nicole Jeren of Simplytold Photography. She flew down to help me shoot a wedding two weeks ago and we made time to squeeze in a quick session.

We took a quick jaunt out in a field right at sunset. They are just gorgeous. (Side note: If you live in Northeast Ohio, I implore you to hire her to do your portraits.) Nicole is gifted and works very hard to give her clients beautiful glimpses of their own real life. As a photographer, I hardly ever love how I look in photos, but in Nicole’s photos, I look like me. She catches my best angles and makes me feel comfortable. Of course, it helps that we are best friends. (You can see a few more maternity portraits here.)

So, here’s our growing little family. We are still taking name suggestions, but the deadline is November 8 (although I think it would be pretty cool if he were born on the 11^th).

Nicole, truly beautiful work. You just keep getting better. I love watching your progress and talking the biz with you. I am so blessed to have you as a best friend and that we can get together as often as we do. I miss you, friend.

August Goals | Update on the kiddos

This summer seriously flew by. My Uncle Jeff always told me that time goes faster the older you get. I’ve found that is especially true when you have little children. I am baffled at McG’s conversations (yes, conversations!) lately, and all the things she can do. She is such a little comedian (just like her Grandma Sally). She recently came up with a joke! No one quite understands the punch line, but it always gets a laugh!

Plus, I’m six months pregnant! I feel like it was just yesterday when we found out, and here we are only three months away from welcoming our little guy. I’ve got to get going on my nesting! Each time I’m pregnant I get a sense of urgency to get a million things done before the baby comes. I probably put too much pressure on myself and this goal list is a little daunting. As wedding season winds down, I’m hoping to have the time to accomplish all these.

August 2011 Goals:

• Finish designing my new website!
• Refinish a dresser I snagged to serve as my new office storage/packaging center. (Photos soon!)
• Finish Radical Bible Study (must read for all Christians serious about their faith!)
• Paint our living room (using low voc paint)
• Paint McG’s new room
• Vaca at the beach
• Vaca in the mountains
• Finish Spring Wedding Album designs
• Finish reading Jane Eyre
• Sell our house in New Bern! (Closing Date is set for August 31!!!!!)

Autumn 2011 Goals:

• Design and decorate my office  (my handy husband is finishing the upstairs of our new house, which will contain my new office!)
• Order new sample albums and books
• Paint our bed & bath
• Paint the kitchen
• Decorate the McG’s old room for the baby
• Have a Baby Boy!

 2011 Goals:

• Keep my inbox to 0
• Submit weddings, bridals, and engagement shoots to my fave blogs, including Southern Weddings!
• Be completely organized (I can dream, can’t I?)

Josh & Dez ∙ Waiting for Baby Aslyn ∙ Maternity Portraits

Dez & Josh are having a baby!  This is exciting for so many reasons. For one, they are going to be AMAZING parents. They are simply the two sweetest most uplifting people I know. Little Aslyn will definitely have no self esteem issues.

Two, they are my first bride and groom to come back to me for maternity portraits. This is one of my favorite things about being a portrait photographer. I get to mark the milestones in my clients’ lives and share in their joy.

Dez and I went on a trip to Ireland when we were in college and from that point on we’ve shared a lot of great memories. Josh and Dez were the bride and groom in my second wedding ever. They took a chance on me and gave me some beautiful portfolio images. My blog was not around back then, so I included some of their wedding images below.

Look at these two! Their joy just jumps out of these photos!

Josh and Dez, thank you so much for giving me this wonderful opportunity.  I am so thrilled it worked out!  I love these images and I hope you do, too. One of these days we’ll be able to have a real visit with you. We’re praying Baby Aslyn is healthy and strong! Love you guys!

Meeting Michael ∙ Eastern North Carolina Newborn Photographer

A few weeks ago, Mckenna and I drove to Ohio and Pennsylvania to meet a very special little boy named Michael.  Michael is my cousin’s baby. I cannot leave it at that, though. Michael’s mommy, Rachel and I are probably more like sisters than cousins, but then, all of my cousins are more like siblings than cousins. At least I think so. I have 13 cousins on my mom’s side of the family. Most of us lived within one hour of each other while growing up and some only ten minutes. We were all in each other’s business all the time, and although we are all spread out across the United States, we still meet once a year for the hometown fair.

A year and a half ago, four of us had babies within five months of each other. For three of us, it was our first baby. James, Michael’s big brother, and Mckenna were in that round of babies.

Last summer, we put together a photo book of all the great grandkids for our Grandpa. The last photo in the book was of James was wearing a “Big Brother” shirt.  We had Grandpa read the book aloud to the family when we were all together. They were astounded!

Before this post gets too long, I better tell you about this sweet little boy! He would sleep through the night if his mommy would let him. And isn’t he handsome! He is a pleasant little fellow and loves to be held, but is just as content in his bouncy seat or lying on the couch. Right now big brother isn’t all that pleased with him, but pretty soon they’ll be able to wrestle and romp around. Rachel’s husband Nick has a twin brother so they were so excited when they found out they were having another boy. James and Michael are 16 and a half months apart.

 

I had the privelege of taking maternity photos of Nick and Rachel when they were pregnant with James.

Can you believe this woman had a baby two weeks prior to this photo!

Below are all my crazy cousins, their spouses and children prior to the "baby boom," as we like to call it.

 Nick, Rachel, James and Michael, I can’t wait to see you again in the fall. Thank you so much for letting us hang out for the day and take photos. Love and miss you guys!