8 more weeks until Kaylynn's due!

My best friend from junior high, Julie, is pregnant with her first child.   I know that she has always wanted to be a mother and that this baby girl will be spoiled rotten!

Julie and her husband, Matt, started dating our senior year in high school.  They waited to marry until after Matt graduated from college, bought a house and now that they've made it their 'home', have decided to make a family!!!  I am super excited for them and cannot wait to take their first family portraits!!!  Here are a few shots from our session...

I think she might be a Daddy's girl...she was kicking during this shot!  Loves his kisses!

aren't they just adorable?!  She's gorgeous pregnant!

Jaclyn, Kevin and Jackson

WOW!  What a gorgeous family!  And fun too!  Jackie, Kevin and Jackson live right on the water, so for their session we decided to meet at the beach.  Being a typical four year old boy, Jackson was ready to bury himself in the sand and jump in the water right away!  Mommy was not having him ruin his clothes before pictures though ;)  He was awesome and in the end, got to splash and play in the water with Daddy.   Here are a few photos from our session...

Cora and Crew :)

This is Mr. and Mrs. Street....

Together, they raised my friend from jr. high, Cora, and her older brother, Joe.  Cora and I have kept in touch over the years through myspace.   She recently messaged me and asked if I was available to take some family portraits...a gift for her mother's birthday.  I was delighted, to say the least.  Nothing means more than people from my past acknowledging who I've become.  It's one of the greatest compliments ever.

Anyway, here's a shot of Cora, her brother and the parents...

They're a great looking family, right?!  I think they were taken aback when I started the session by asking them to not be so posed :)  They are used to studio portraits and my style is more of a relaxed, fun, candid style that captures the individual essence of the family I'm shooting.   They caught right on and I think the portraits turned out awesome!  Although. I must say Cora's husband can be a little "too relaxed" in front of the camera! haha  He's a ham!  Check these out...

   

He has a GREAT personality!  Hilarious!

And here is the final family portrait...

Thanks Cora!!!  I had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!  Maybe Christmas cards?  ;)

Before and after......

WOW!!!  I have finally mastered my editing style :)   Notice the softness in the skin and the slight color difference in the hair compared to the original.  Nothing dramatic, but definitely obvious to me.  

before...              

                          

                                                                                 

after...

Sweet sleepless nights...

On May 30th, 2008 Glenn and I welcomed our third child into the world...a healthy

 baby boy weighing in at 8lbs 7oz (did I mention he was 2.5 weeks early?!)  Since his arrival I seriously have not slept more than three hours at a time.  Almost two months later... it's finally catching up with me! hahaha  I don't mind though.  Chance was my third c-section and first boy, so for safety reason's we have decided that if we want more children... it will be through adoption.  Being that the process is so expensive and potentially emotionally draining, adoption is a dream of ours and nothing set in concrete.  With that being said, Chance may be our last baby.  *tearing up*  I have chosen to slow down and embrace every moment...even the 5a.m. feedings.  Once his belly's full, he is usually wide awake and ready to absorb the new world around him.  His sweet innocence and complete vulnerability and helplessness consumes me sometimes to tears.  I am so in love with a little person that hasn't even developed a personality of his own...he can't even smile yet!  :)  Yes, I have experienced these feelings twice before...with my four year old, Dreama, and almost three year old, Grace, but there's a slight difference with every child.  I love them all, but each a little differently.  

At night, with Chance wide-eyed and ready to hear my voice, I don't struggle for things to say to him...I just say what's on my heart.  It's funny because my husband holds him and loves to talk to him, but the only thing he manages to get out (over and over again) is, "Hey Buddy!  Hey!"  I giggle and without fail he shoots me a look and asks, "What should I say?  I'm just not good at talking to myself."  I tell him I speak of everything from how much I want for him and his sisters to follow their dreams to how much I hate doing the endless laundry pile!   Chance gives me the same stare he gives his Daddy, so I know that no matter what we're saying to him he just loves to hear our voice...but that doesn't keep me from melting just the same.  I'm in love :)

Midnight thoughts:

I'm exhausted just thinking of the responsibility I have chosen to carry on my shoulders.  I am a mother of three.  It's my job to mold these little people into responsible, productive and thriving adults.  Childhood should be filled with innocence, laughter and big dreams, but somehow I have to incorporate teaching my children about 'strangers' and drugs all while attempting not to rob them of their childlike views on the world.  I can't isolate them, I can only try to incorporate my morals and values into our every day life and pray that they make wise decisions as they grow older and more independent.  It's sad and it's scary.  I have  one chance and I hope I'm doing things right.  

Wow, that last paragraph went really deep!  I think I need to lighten things up a bit!  ;)  Life with Chance is amazing.  He completes our family and we couldn't have asked for anything more.  The girls must believe that their new baby brother is a doll.  If they could, they would hold him every second of every day.  He is the luckiest boy in the world to have sister's as much in love with him as they are.  

Big sister Dreama...

Big sister Grace....

Motherhood and photography go hand in hand for me...I couldn't imagine me without either.