Birth photography -- Sneak peek #2

Here's a sneak peek of my second birth photography experience. This is the M. family. I met Mom Erin for the first time at a Gymboree class last year. Then, several months later I learned that she attends our church, too! She has a sweet 2-year-old son named Finnegan who you'll see when I share the other photos from this session. For now, here's a glimpse at the first part of the day Erin and her husband Ken welcomed their daughter into the world.


Getting prepped outside the OR.


Erin and Ken, soon-to-be parents of TWO adorable children!






They're ready to meet their daughter!

And here she is! Penelope Jean was born on September 23.

Daddy checking out his first daughter.




I am so honored to have been able to capture this momentous event for my friend Erin and her family. I'm grateful to have gotten the chance to know Erin better and I can truly say she amazed me with her calm and courageous attitude, her positive outlook and her upbeat personality the whole morning. Erin, I so look forward to getting to know you better this year! Stay tuned for more photos of this birth session with the M. family!

Birth photography -- sneak peek #1

Unbelievable. That is the word that keeps coming to mind when I remember what it was like to shoot my first birth. It also is the same word that I use when I describe what it was like to shoot a second birth just a week and a day after the first one. I have a feeling every experience will be just as remarkable, just as beautiful, just as unforgettable.

I had the privilege of photographing the birth of my sweet neighbor's fifth child last month. And then, I had the honor of shooting my new friend from church's c-section birth shortly afterward. I am still going through all of the images from both experiences (thank you for being so patient, April & Erin!) and I LOVE editing these. I also LOVE that both of these amazing women welcomed me into the room with them to capture one of the biggest days of their lives. I love how brave and unbelievably strong both women are and I will never forget the opportunities they gave me to be included in their "birth days."



For first peeks, here are the pictures of the birth of Cole Z., the third son (fifth child!) of my awesome neighbors, April & Dan. The photo above of is April and her best friend Mandy, who has been present at all five of the Z kids' births! What a lucky gal! Below is April and Dan holding their own baby pictures. April has made it a tradition to bring in baby pictures at each of her births -- ones of her and her hubby but also of her other kiddos when they were newborns. She said she loved to compare what each sweet babe looked like when they were first born.

I cannot express how patient, how strong-willed and how beautifully transparent April was throughout the whole process. She was a week overdue and her labor was long and slow ... up unti the very last hour and a half, when things just went super fast!


Walking the halls with Mandy.



Baby Cole, born Sept. 16, 2009. April brought that child into the world naturally -- without any epidural at all. It was her first completely natural birth in all of her five.





Apparently all of the Z. kids had that same little quivering lip.





The proud daddy and his new son.


Thank you so much April, for EVERYTHING you are to so many people. To your family, your friends, your neighbors ... you are an inspiration to me in so many ways and I am blessed to be your friend.

Stay tuned for more pictures from Cole's birth as well as pictures from the c-section birth of little Penelope!

Baby Katelyn

This beautiful family is the Raymond family. Little Katelyn was only 2.5 weeks old when I got to take pictures of her and her parents Christin and Dan.
Christin and Dan had great suggestions for things we could do for Katelyn's pictures. These with Dan, Katelyn and Dan's military helmet are some of my all-time favorite pictures. Also, this one below was their idea, too.

The Raymonds had this little picnic basket that we fit Katelyn into. I still need to collect some good baskets, bowls, soft pillows, hats and blankets to use on my newborn shoots. I also saw this adorable little doll cradle at Ikea that would be SO CUTE to pose sleeping newborns in.



Katelyn was awake for the majority of our session, which lasted three hours! She took teeny little cat naps but was such a trooper for so long. We were hoping she'd stay sleepy so we could pose her a bit more but this alert little one was much like my own sweet explorer -- she wanted to see everything we were doing. Look how alert and focused her eyes are at only 2.5 weeks old!



Oh, how I miss snuggling a newborn!

Oops, how'd this one sneak in here? :) I just adore these! We took these in Katelyn's room. The green on her walls was so pretty and worked wonderfully as a background in these.



Aww. Think she feels safe right there? :)

Pure bliss.





















Christin and Dan had tattoos on their ring fingers under their wedding rings. There's a D on Christin's hand and a C on Dan's hand. Isn't that a fun idea? I love this one, of the two of them basically holding hands as they cradle their firstborn.

Staring up at her daddy...

In Katelyn's nursery.

Christin and Dan, thank you for welcoming me into your home and introducing me to your sweet daughter. I loved all the ideas you had for your pictures and it was truly an honor to take Katelyn's first pictures!