{Babies} Lauren

What a fantastic, special session this one! Remember when I posted their first session (albeit significantly long-after the actual session)? Well, sweet little Lauren had a big heart surgery, so when Wendy emailed me asking me to do a session documenting her "badge of bravery," as they call it, I was so excited!

We also did some family pictures, but the star of the show was Lauren. This is such a great age, when they are sitting but not crawling, because you can get so many shots of them! She was straight-faced for most of the session, but between Mom, Dad, Grandma and another friend, they did get some smiles out of her.

It was an incredible honor to photograph this beauty and her badge of bravery. May she continue to be healthy and live a life of bravery and strength!













{Wendy brought all these paper cut-out hearts; what a fantastic prop!}




{She also brought this Tiffany & Co. necklace that she had engraved, which says, "Lauren 02-08-12" on one side, and on the other, "I love you"}


{She's a wide-armed smiler! I love it! And yes, that is Wendy's wedding dress she's in!}






{I hope they redo these two pictures like this when Lauren gets married. Of course, she'll be standing in front of Chad instead of on his lap, but you know what I mean!}

{Family} Chad & Wendy

Somehow, I ended up forgetting to post this session that happened back in March. I don't know how I could have possibly forgotten this beautiful family of four, but I'm glad to finally be posting it!

Anyway, Chad and Wendy have two adorable kids, Riley and Lauren, and this session was not just to capture Lauren as a baby, but to document her pre-surgery, pre-scar as she had a major surgery coming up in just a short while from our session. She was such a sweet little thing, and Riley was so gentle and loving to her!

Chad and Wendy, you were both so laid back and easy to photograph - I enjoyed the session I had with you and look forward to our next one, seeing how the kids have grown and celebrating Lauren's successful surgery!

{Baby} Camryn

I was contacted by Carmen and Chris to do some baby pictures for their newest daughter, Camryn, at 6 weeks old before they moved out of town. We do have lots of connections including church and being friends with Chris' sister and family. They also have a 2-year-old daughter, Claire. Have you caught the name thing yet? Chris, Carmen, Claire and Camryn. I am certain I called them all the wrong name more than once, but they were very gracious about it.

While Carmen spent some time nursing Camryn, I took the opportunity to chat with Claire, uncover (quite easily) a variety of expressions, and then let her and Chris play trains together for a while. The focus of the day was to be on Camryn but I simply could not keep my camera off of Claire for her personality, cute curls and beautiful eyes. What a stunner!

Of course, photographing Camryn was such a delight too - though newborn pictures are recommended in the first couple of weeks, there is something equally wonderful about a slightly older baby who has gone through all the skin 'stuff' that newborns do, and have filled out into that even roundness that comes from a few weeks of eating well! And obviously, she is absolutely beautiful!!!

Thanks, Chris and Carmen, for inviting me into your home before you packed it all up. I enjoyed my time with you and hope you are feeling settled into your new home and community!



{The faces of Claire!}




{Poor sweet thing, she stepped on a block with her barefoot! Ouch!}




{Bottom right - matching hand positions!}










{In the top picture of this set, something totally unintended happened and I truly don't know how, but I love it! Camryn is in perfect focus and it's like the camera was rotating and blurring the rest of the picture. It was a fun one to come across and I love the effect, though I'd have no idea how to achieve it again. A one-of-a-kind photo from me!}

{Family} Cam & Leaerin

I remember Leaerin from high school because she was both in my sister's grade and because she is Bree's sister! So it was fun to see how life has changed for her from being a high school student, to a wife and mother of two :)

Canaan was a bit undecided about getting his picture taken, but with breaks here and there for some play time, he definitely lived up to his end of the bargain and I was able to catch some good shots of him being super handsome! Plus, a little help with some bubbles went a long way right at the end of our session.

And sweet little Alexis (Lexi) was happy as a clam! She was great fun to photograph, has gorgeous blue eyes and gave us some huge smiles.

Thanks Cam & Leaerin for bringing your kids in and allowing me to photograph them and the four of you as a family!

{Newborn} Joshua Michael

This session is a favorite for me because this is little guy is nothing short of a miracle. Joshua was born to our dear friends, Gerdi & Sarah, 5 days early with lung and kidney problems. Sarah's mum lives out of town and was on a holiday when Joshua was born and Gerdi called me to be with Sarah during those initial hours, which I was honored to do. There was a lot of waiting involved as they worked on him and attempted to stabilize him before transferring him to another hospital; Sarah didn't get to see him for hours after his birth. He had a hole in his underdeveloped lungs and major complications with his kidneys - a condition called Posterior Urethral Valve.

Joshua and Sarah were transferred to Children's Hospital by ambulance and Gerdi and I followed behind an hour later; there was a lot of waiting for them to stabilize Joshua before being able to see him. I also brought along my camera because there was so much uncertainty about how things would turn out, I wanted to give them as many pictures of their sweet baby in case their worst fears came true. Following into that room where Joshua was and having them get to see him for the first time hooked up to all those machines was very emotional. It was such an honor to be there to support them and pray with them through that evening.



My husband and I went back when he was two weeks old, where he was looking significantly better and almost ready to come off his ventilator as the hole in his lungs had healed and he was breathing mostly on his own. What a significant change from the first day!







Exactly one month after he was born, Joshua was officially discharged from the hospital (though he'd had a few day passes on Christmas to be home) and has been doing so well since then. Other than a bulging belly, he looks to be completely healthy and does indeed continue to amaze his doctors who did not think he would make it. He still has regular check ups and blood tests that get done and is under the care of doctors, but he really has made remarkable progress!

So, when Joshua was home, we planned to do a photo shoot of him, but then we had to wait until his baby acne had cleared up, so we finally managed to do his photo's just before he was three months old. Welcome, Joshua! You are so loved!

{Oh, baby blues!}




{I absolutely love top picture below; he is definitely a fighter and this picture just happened to be a captured moment that showed his fighting spirit}






{He has this lion as a symbol of being a fighter}


{Look at those cute rolls on his shoulders/back!}