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Mamarazzi
Reid is officially 6 months today. He is the most adorable, sweet and wonderful baby ever. I love every minute with him! We had a little photo sesh today during the big kids rest time to mark the occasion. Enjoy!
I love the start of a new year. It always feels like such an exciting time to me. A time where the past doesn't matter as much and what's ahead is key. It's just so nice to start fresh, to set out to accomplish new goals whether they be spiritual, physical or professional. I have some of each this year it seems. From a photography standpoint, I have lots of things I'd love to accomplish like to get in the frame more with my kids, learn to shoot film and do a project 365. A 365 is where you take 1 photograph every day for 1 year. Of course I can take more than one and most certainly will some days but the idea is to be in the habit of shooting daily and push myself creatively. Since I'm not totally sure I can complete a full 365, I'm doing a 100 day challenge to start and see where it goes from there. So far, I'm loving it and I think I'll keep it up but I just want to be sure I get to 100. Ha! The thing I am loving the most about this project so far is that it is forcing me to see beauty in our everyday moments. I didn't really think there would be any kind of a theme to this project but I'm seeing that emerge after this first week and I would love for that to continue. The reason I first fell in love with photography was out of a desire to document the lives of my children and now as a professional it is so easy to lose sight of that when I am super busy with client work. So, it feels so great to get back to some basics while creating some images that I know I will always treasure. The first day, new years day, I took a portrait of each of my 3. Then each day after I just took one. Ellie getting her t-guard on to stop sucking her fingers, the next day playing with Daddy, taking down the tree, my little 3rd sickie drooling up a storm and Beck checking out the first snow of the year this morning. I hope you accomplish all your goals you've set out for yourselves this year! Thanks for looking!
Merry Christmas from our family! We have been spending this Christmas eve baking cookies and getting ready to spend the next few days with friends and family. I pray you have a blessed Christmas with your family as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus! Merry Christmas!
It has been FOREVER since I did a personal blog post and I thought our beach trip would be the perfect thing especially since I won’t be prego for much longer so I better get these “maternity” pictures of me posted. :) This year has been really great. It’s been very challenging but really good for me. Every time I’m pregnant, I feel like the Lord takes me through a refining process and this pregnancy has been no exception. He has been molding me and shaping me. Revealing things to me about my mothering and even just personally that I have needed to turn over to Him. I love the Lord for that. It’s not easy but it’s necessary. Even though I know we’re about to enter into another crazy season of life by adding a new little one to our family, I feel like the Lord has told me over and over that he will be a blessing and a help to us. Recently, He has comforted me with this verse…. “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him” Psalm 28:6-7. I am so thankful that He hears me (us) when we cry out to Him! This mommy gig is no joke and I need the Lord EVERY day! I am thankful that He is my help! Our family is notorious for having bad experiences with vacations. From passport issues to really bad illnesses, I was pretty sure we would never go on another vacation. And if you have little ones, let’s face it, vacation is just not quite as relaxing as it used to be :). But thankfully, we decided to put all that aside this year and accept any craziness that came our way. I am so glad we did because we had the best time together. We swam and ate and played, rode bikes, took long walks on the beach, looked for crabs and made lots of wonderful memories together. I left feeling refreshed as a wife and mother and even a photographer. I really enjoyed focusing on shooting just my family and in a new environment.
If you’re here for the pictures just keep scrolling! haha! I just wanted to share one more thing. I am so thankful to all my clients for supporting me as an artist. I really just love getting to do this and have gotten to meet some really great people. I’ve loved all my past clients and I’m looking forward to meeting lots of new families already this fall. If you are wanting some fall photos, be sure to contact me soon because my fall schedule is already almost completely booked. Again thank you for everything. We are enjoying relaxing and enjoying one another these last few days as a family of 4 before we meet our little guy. There will be lots of shares of him when he gets here!
This is quite possibly my favorite session ever and BONUS! it is of my own son! He turned 4 last week (which I cannot believe) and told me he wanted a super hero birthday party. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I knew we had to do this shoot together. He doesn’t exactly love the camera, it’s a photographer’s child thing, so I was over the moon at how much fun he was having and how much he was totally working it for me. I had a blast with him! He is truly such a special and wonderful child. I feel totally blessed to be his mama. It’s hard for me to believe he is already 4 years old. I remember the days of holding him and snuggling him when he was a newborn just like it was yesterday. Thankfully, he still lets me do that some but he is just growing up so fast. Children truly are such a blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful that God chose us to be parents to Beck. Happy 4th Birthday, baby. I love you. -Mommy
I am always trying to improve in my photography skills. I am a natural light photographer and sometimes indoor natural light can be a challenge. Since I do all my newborn sessions in my clients homes, I never know until I get there what kind of light will be available to me. We recently moved to a new home and we love it but it unfortunately doesn't have the best natural light in the summer because we are surrounded by thick woods. So recently I've been thinking, what better place for me to practice my indoor natural lighting skills than in my own home. So today I had my best model help me out before nap time. :) This was the result of todays exercise and I loved the way it turned out. Hope ya'll have a great weekend.
This week my 2 nieces came to stay with us. I can't believe how they've grown up! And wow, they have grown up to be such beautiful girls. I've had a lot of fun with them this week and I've had so much fun taking photos of subjects who stay still :) Here are a few of my favorites from last night.
I have a love/hate relationship with cloth diaper. The hate part is the obvious...the washing and the spraying. But this is all about the love. The. Cuteness. I admit it. I confess. I love cloth diapering because it's just so stinkin' cute. Ok, I do love it for other reasons but the fact that they're so cute doesn't hurt. Most of Ellie's diapers are the same one's we used with Beck but I recently found out about Oh Sew Smitten's diapers and got some for little sis. I love them because they are so adorable, they are super breathable and they are incredibly well made. If you cloth diaper you should totally check her out. Support a WAHM who does fantastic work!
Happy Father's day to all you Daddy's out there! We are so blessed to have Aaron as the head of our home. He is a wonderful husband and loving father. We celebrate him today and are so thankful for all he does for our family. I am also so thankful for my own Daddy who has always loved and cherished us. For him, I am so grateful. I couldn't have asked for a better Daddy growing up. And my grandfathers. My Papaw and my Pawpaw (in heaven) both love their family with all their hearts. I am so blessed to have such Godly men in my life.
There's this litte spot where a bunch of wild flowers grow in our neighborhood and everytime I drive by there, I can just see my Ellie playing in the flowers so yesterday we took a little walk and did just that. Today she turns 18 months so I thought it would be great to do some portraits of her. Listen, I know she's mine and maybe I'm a smidge biased but I'm pretty sure she's the prettiest little thing ever! I can't believe she's already 18 months. She is such a sweet blessing to our family and we are so honored that God gave her to us. Love you baby girl...
Check out those lashes!
This morning, a few minutes after Daddy left for work we heard him beeping his horn in the driveway. He had returned home with this little guy. And seriously, it is like Christmas in June around here. My kiddos have been giddy all day. Sadly, for them (but not for Mr. Turtle) he got away while we went in for lunch. Hope you are having a fun Monday too!
This afternoon I had a session canceled due to a crazy pop up thunderstorm. It came out of no where! Black clouds, high winds and rain. It didn't take us long to realize this was no environment for a 9 month old, so I went on home. Of course though, about 30 minutes after I got home we had the most gorgeous and beautiful light outside so I decided to take the kiddos outside and have a little family session of our own. I couldn't help but think of those who were affected yesterday in Oklahoma by those devastating storms. I felt overwhelmed with the fact that my family is safe and here with me tonight and we can sleep in our own house. We are praying for those who don't have this luxury tonight and praying that the God of all comfort will be their refuge in this time of need.
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" Psalm 34:18
I got the idea from another photographer momma friend to do a quick 2 minute portrait session with my kiddos to snap several different expressions no matter what they are and putting them together to have a little snippet of my little one's personalities. I was so excited to do it because hers were so cute. Here is my version. Give it a try yourself! Have a great weekend!!!
"Cutie Pie in aisle 6....Cutie Pie in aisle 6"
Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather today. We're ready for Spring around here! How about you?
I shared these on my personal Facebook page yesterday but they are just too fun not to share here too! I love having a girl! But trust me, I had to act quickly because these didn't stay in for long. Please excuse here skinned up nose. She bit the dust in the parking lot at church on Sunday. Enjoy!
I wanted to start a little series called Mamarazzi where I can post some personal photos. If you are a Mama, most likely you are a member of the Mamarazzi. I certainly am! I following my kids around like they are celebrities(to me they are!) I've always loved photography but my kids certainly have been the catalyst for me to improve on my skills so that I can look back in years to come and see these moments frozen in time. This time it was a snow day. We don't get a lot of snow here in Knoxville and in fact this snow was gone by lunch time, so we had to savor it while we could. It wasn't much but by golly we built the best 6 inch snowman you've ever seen! Beck had the most fun trying to catch the flakes on his tongue and Sissy watched from the kitchen window. Three days later, we enjoyed a walk this morning wearing short sleeves. Gotta love East Tennessee weather. Hope you're having a great weekend!
