loulou::1 month

this is not an original idea. thanks to pinterest, i discovered a photographer mom with a brilliant method for keeping up with her son's development. i thought this would simplify some to the record-keeping i want to do as a mom... i haven't been as good to do this for charlottes., but, i'm going to start documenting more of what she is saying and doing in a similar fashion.

Age: 1 month
Weight: 9lbs. (gained 19.5oz in 14 days!)
Length: don’t have a current measurement… 20.5in at birth
Size: 0-3 month clothes; started wearing size 1 diapers today
Eyes: Blue, and a little crossed since they don’t focus well yet. So cute.
Hair: You were born with angelic, shiny blonde hair, about a ½ inch long… it has grown some this month.
Teeth: none

Nicknames: LouLou, Louisa-Greys., the loulounator, loulou lime, and louritto [when swaddled and resembling a burrito.]
Sleeping: knows nighttime from daytime… sleeps well with noise around… has a long stretch in the morning, shorter naps throughout the afternoon/evening, and a longlong stretch at night. I am still pretty sleep deprived because we have an hour nursing stretch around 3am then our morning starts around 5am, nursing, then getting up with charlottes… you prefer to sleep on your tummy, but, unless you are closely monitored, i put you on your side.

Naps: throughout the day [see above]. nothing scheduled as of yet.
Eating: breastmilk, and loving it.
Movement: you are a mover… like to be put on tummy; you try to kick and hold head up. When being held, you hold up your head and look around some, bobbing lots.
Milestones: being born! nursing.
Outings: first outing with just mommie and charlottes. was to mail some things at otter coop; you slept the whole time… first outing as a family of four was to Krause berry farm w/ aunty karla and JB… first time out just the four of us was to get ice cream in ft. langley one evening; you had to nurse while we were at both of those places.
Favorite toys/activities:  eating and sleeping, being swaddled, being talked to and kissed!
Words/sounds: we call you “snorts” sometimes because it tends to be something you do a lot. You get hiccups a few times a day. You coo and grunt… your cry is louder and more intense than charlottes. was; i wonder if you are particularly passionate.
Memorable moments: one moment, memorable for being scary, was your first night home. You choked on mucus and didn’t breathe for about 15 seconds. Daddy and I were starting to get very concerned ‘til you coughed out the flem and proceeded to burp a bunch… sort of heart-stopping for a few moments. There’s so much in your first month to remember!! The first time we saw your face, found out that we had another girl (just what we wanted!), when charlottes. met you in the hospital, introducing you to many friends and loved ones. Mimi and Grandy and LeaLea have been here a week and it has been wonderful to watch them enjoy holding you.

personal:: home, for a moment

charlottes. and i returned home from ontario at 11pm on good friday. marks. welcomed us home to a clean house! we spent saturday unpacking and doing laundry, and i grocery shopped. i was pretty tired by the time evening rolled around, so, it was nice to go out for dinner with roy and julie. easter sunday was a gorgeous day. we joined our church family at parkside for brunch and easter service, came home, and put charlottes. to bed for her nap... a few moments later, our friends from ontario, john and julie, and the j.crew, pulled into our driveway! this past week has been full of good times with their family. we had an activity or outing every day, but, mostly, just enjoyed everyday life together, something we haven't gotten to do since our move to BC nearly 4 years ago.

here's a shot of our little fam on easter sunday. marks. was obviously dapper in his suit...






































the j.crew. adorables, all of them.

 

annnnd, i'm showing now! here's an updated pic w/ my bebes... 










 































































on wednesday, we fly out for alberta, for some time with our bro and sis, simon and karla, and their little man, jensen... i have a few photoshoots booked while i'm away. i'm always excited to shoot in the prairies and coolies of calgary and medicine hat! i've been busy editing photos from my time in sarnia. thank you to all the friends and clients who booked a session with me last month; i am enjoying reliving our moments shared together, and will share some sneak peeks here soon!!

~*

personal:: oh, blogger.

i've known for a couple of weeks i should check in, catch up, and look ahead here, both in the interest of updating friends and clients on "work, and life!", as well as means of getting my thoughts together on some things, but, it just hasn't happened 'til now. ah, well! i guess most photographers do this at new year's, following the grand post i love of "favorites and best-of's", but, you are sadly the beneficiary of just one image of that sort.

i haven't spent hours going through every.single.image i took last year in order to pick this, but, i knew right off which image most stirred my heart when shooting in 2011. it stuck with me, and is printed on my office wall. this is kevin and cody-anne, friends i met shortly after moving out to BC [he is the lead singer for the Left. you can check them out HERE, and cody-anne is his hard-working and stylish wife.]... i won't go into tons of details of a story that isn't mine to tell, but, i know i can share that, for a while in 2010/2011, kevin and cody-anne weren't going to make it as a couple. miraculously, their hearts changed toward each other and God brought them back together. a few months later, they hired me to shoot their first-ever Christmas card session. five minutes into our shoot, they were bursting with the news they were expecting a baby [they had just found out the night before. :-)]! this shoot was filled with joy and i can't wait to share more favorites soon. i love this image for the hope and renewal it represents. no relationship is irredeemable, no heart is beyond hope in Jesus... for me, it's incredibly satisfying on a personal and professional level to capture connections shared in a relationship, and this shot does that.

speaking of babies [or bebe./bebe.'s, as i refer to them.], i'm expecting, too. hooray :-).  here's the 18 week snaps of "bebe.03", lookin' mighty fine. he/she is, apparently, very busy, according to the ultrasound tech, and my insides, on a daily basis.

 this pregnancy followed a heartbreaking miscarriage last fall, so, this time we took our time announcing it to family and friends [and now to the world wide web, hello!]. it's been a good pregnancy thus far, with a LOT more tiredness and a little bit more nausea than with charlottes., two years ago. i am due in july, so, i'm fully intending to live in our pool the last month or so of this pregnancy, and will endure the final weeks by planning all the summer birthday party options we will have in the years to come! this week marks the "halfway point" as i am 20 weeks. the following are a couple of pics taken over the weekend during my 5th anniversary getaway with marks... let's remember i'm 6' tall so there's a lot of room for bebe. to grow before i show.

so, by way of summing up my inactivity on this blog [can also be read as, "my best possible excuse".], some things just don't get done if you need a nap everyday of the holidays and january! in ALL honesty, my body shut down once i finally had a break those last couple weeks of december [and marks. wisely refused to let me bring my laptop with me on holiday!]. i had miscarried bebe.02 in september, and we were able to host family for most of october, who helped a ton, while i grieved and healed. suddenly, in november, it felt like i was hit with more energy than i'd had in over two years [most likely from catching up on a lot of sleep in sept/oct.!]. i hit the ground running, took as much photography work as i could, hosted marks.' 30th birthday party and a huge Christmas party a few weeks apart, helped with our church Christmas parade float [we won first prize!], and organized meals for a friend... november and december were so incredibly packed for me, i am pretty sure i came close to my breaking point. i spent a lot of time over Christmas and new years re-prioritizing myself mentally, making some decisions which would enable my roles as wife and mommie to once again take the priority they deserve, and took time to listen to marks.' concerns about my weaknesses and habits [ouch?]. very healthy process, and something i still need to evaluate consistently. knowing we are adding another bebe. in the mix this year has been an excellent motivator to focus on "us"; marks.' desire is to do everything he/we can to protect what makes our relationship special. i'm a blessed woman!

around the first part of january, i had a big revelation, and i've been really looking forward to writing about it here!! it wasn't long after the new year, facebook started growing abuzz with status update from my friends who were planning to attend WPPI in las vegas, in february of this year... this event/conference/trade show is considered the mecca of wedding photographer's networking/inspiration/resources, and, from an outsider's viewpoint, it's a little bit like a cool kid's club, too. it would be a fun event to attend on many levels, and one which would be of benefit to any photographer who is looking to grow their business or refresh their purpose, i'm sure [at least that's what i've read from the blogs of those who attended this year ;-).], but, for all intents and purposes, it was a catalyst for an important decision in my life... annnnnyway. i have awesome and talented friends who were going to WPPI, wondering who was going, and someone asked if i was planning to go... the instant i read the question of whether i would attend, i experienced a rare and awesome moment of absolute clarity: i don't want to be a wedding photographer anymore. and that is that! i can't articulate how freeing it feels that i have no intention of booking another wedding for the foreseeable future. i have felt super excited about this decision. i think it is healthy for my creativity to close the door on something i'm not as passionate about... and since then, i've felt more inspired, and lighter, in general... my website may not fully represent this change of directions, yet, but, it will soon, and in the meantime, i can recommend some of the most talented wedding photographers you will ever meet! so, ask away!

there's my valentine, the darlingest girl you will ever meet. i have been savoring my time with her the past couple of months. having lost one bebe., and now pregnant with another, my heart is full when i look at this precious girl as someone i get to spend my days with. i am deeply aware of how fleeting it is, my time with only her, and my time with her here. it's already been almost 2 years; this blows my mind. how we spend each day counts. i don't want charlottes. to grow up thinking mommie would have rather spent the day sitting in front of a computer screen than with her! there is work stuffs that need doing, and fortunately, i have a beautiful/talented friend who also runs her own photography business with an almost-2-year-old girlie. charlottes. and violet get to have a semi-weekly playdate at each others houses, and we get a day once-a-week to work in our home office. it's a great set-up [and works really well most weeks, like when charlottes.' doesn't have swim lessons on conflicting days.].

this winter has been my busiest yet. i don't usually book many sessions in january and february because of unpredictable and gross BC winter weather, but, i've had quite a few sessions both months! it's been awesome work, too, which i will [eventually] share here. it's been confirmation that i'm on the right path. it hasn't been too much work, but, it's been absolutely the amount i hoped for. the spring looks promising, too!

next week, charlottes. and i are hitting the road [or skies, i guess.] for the deep south, visiting my family once again. i'm excited because i get to sink my teeth into a few personal photography projects while home. then, we're off to sarnia, ontario, for a week [see my previous post about the mini-session event!], and back home again. later in april, our family is headed to alberta for a week-and-a-half, and i have a few sessions booked during our time there, too! i can't wait to shoot in some wide open spaces again!

that said, if you are in/around any of the areas i will be during this time, and would like to try to schedule a portrait session with me, feel free to ask! here's the dates/locations of my travels::

march 16-19th~ fairhope, alabama
march 20th-28th~ birmingham, alabama
march 29th-april 6th~ sarnia, ontario, canada

april 19th-26th~ medicine hat, alberta
april 27th-29th~ calgary, alberta

((i'm booking shoots for the fraser valley for may and june, as well, then plan to take a break this summer, you know, so we can meet bebe.03.))

if you read this far, you totally deserve a gold 'tar [star, as charlottes. would say.]. thanks for your faithful readership! 'til next time.

~*

bebe. gray:: newborn and at home in the coolest nursery ever.

i was given opportunity to shoot gray's newborn photos last november, right before the holidays. then, the new year arrived and life was busy for us all, so, it wasn't until last week that i had a little visit from gray and her mommy and aunty to pick up their images [they came for tea and a lovely conversation! my clients are such beautiful people, inside and out!]... seeing as though her folks have their image disk at home with them now, i thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites here! i loved shooting in gray's nursery; it's absolutely inspired and so peaceful, like gray herself. enjoy bebe. gray!

gray's fabulous parents!

her daddy is a surfer.

to finish our shoot, we had to take a family "movember" shot. what a fun idea!

sneak peek:: bebe. gray

hey look! someone matches my blog perfectly. we must be meant for each other.

cloverdale, bc, family session:: the miltons

a month after having my charlottes., i met lori+kolby when i shot maternity portraits for them. lori and i connected instantly; after all, as a brand-new mom and a mom-to-be, we had plenty to talk about during our session :-). lori was an incredible client, from her willingness to drive over an hour to my house for our shoot, to her resolve to limit her session to the 1 1/2 hour we'd agreed to. as a working [yet, very new at it...] mom, i totally appreciated how considerate this girl was, and by the time we were done that first session, i knew i had made a friend. probably the best thing about this job is the relationships you build with wonderful people.

fast forward a year, and we have ourselves a little man named beckett, who just turned one! we met up last month to celebrate their family of 3 and had an incredible time together. i love how palpable their love and devotion is for each other. lori exudes energy and has the most generous heart for people. kolby is calm and the perfect counterpart to his wife. and beckett is a delight; we pushed our luck with his sunglasses, but, as you can see in the final shot, he doesn't stay unhappy for long... i look forward to more time with them in the future, both as friends and favorites subjects.

i call this his "future breaker" shot.

check out my little photographer's assistant!! she and beckett shared snacks and laughs during our shoot ;-).