Back in January, Elliot and I got the surprise of our lives when we found out we were expecting a third child. With six year old and nine year old girls we thought our family was complete. We thought we were finished having children. Seriously, I’ll be 40 in December and Elliot 47 in January. We’re too old for this, right? Well we kinda are, but apparently we’re not. I’ll admit to feeling shocked and not too happy the first couple of months, this was a change we weren’t planning on and I knew it would completely turn our world upside down. It didn’t help that I was sick through the first trimester. But by the second trimester I was feeling better and coming to terms with having another baby. Then we found out that we were having a boy. Now neither of us has ever been the type who cared all that much whether we had boy children or girl children … but we were ecstatic to find out this child would be a boy. Another big change for us! To quote Sarah, “I’ll have a mud buddy to play with!” And Elliot is hoping this means he’ll finally have someone in the family who might be interested in fishing and model rockets. By the third trimester, we were all getting impatient to meet our little guy, it seemed like time was alternately speeding up and slowing down. There were moments to savor of our final days being a family of four … mixed in with the anticipation of being a “party of five.”
To get ready we converted the dining room into my office/client meeting room, and converted my office/guest room into the baby’s room. And we moved the sofa bed to the playroom so we’d still have a place for guests. The nursery was decorated (thanks, Mom!), little outfits were hung in the closet, blankets were folded and put away. My wonderful, loving friends threw me a baby shower to get ready. It’s a good thing too, since back in December I donated the rest of the baby stuff we had left to charity so we had only a crib and a baby bathtub! We made another big change and bought … GASP! … a mini van. I always swore I would NEVER be a mini van mom. Ok, I’ll admit it, with its comfy seating, tons of room and other multitude of conveniences it has won me over. But shhh, don’t tell anyone.
After Sarah was born via c-section (after a not-so-fun 16 hours of labor that ended in a “failure to progress,”) I was told that was my only option for future births. Anna was delivered via scheduled c-section and this baby would be as well.
Finally, Friday, September 30th arrived and we headed to the hospital. At 11:41 AM we met our sweet son (8 lbs., 21″) and I instantly fell completely in love. I’d always said if I had a boy we’d name him after my grandfather, Joseph, a man who absolutely loved children. My other grandfather was just as loving, but um, we just couldn’t quite carry on Ambrose Fernandez. So at last Joseph Ethan Laramie was a part of the world.
I’ll spare you all the details of our hospital stay, and the fun of recovering from a c-section. We were able to come home Sunday afternoon and believe me when I say there’s no place like home.
Joseph is such a sweet baby, and we’re all doing really well. He’s thoughtful enough (so far, knock-on-wood) to only wake me once during the night for feedings, then again around 6 AM. Let’s pray that continues, please. It means I get rest.
Who knew I’d fall so in love with a pint-sized little baby?!
Pictures, you ask? Of course! The first four are courtesy of Elliot, as I was otherwise occupied.
Jacob is another sibling of a 2012 Senior I photographed back in 2012. While we’d hoped to capture the same beautiful fall color and cool crisp weather as his brother, my upcoming maternity leave and the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. Still, despite the warm-still-summer-hanging-in-there day, we captured some beautiful images in some of the same spots. Since Jacob loves to hunt and fish, his mom and I agreed that the Nature Trail on Green Mt. was the perfect spot to start, then we finished up downtown. Jacob was a breeze to work with!
I mentioned in an earlier post how much I enjoy getting to work with the siblings of past senior clients. I photographed Eric’s brother Brian as a 2010 Senior and this year was his turn. Eric has a really natural smile that made photographing him that much easier. I like it when clients make my job easy.
Once again I’m behind in my blog posts! Its been a busy season and I’ve really been enjoying meeting the 2012 seniors. What a great group! One quick scheduling note … as of September 30th my maternity leave officially beings. After three weeks I’ll resume editing/ordering, etc., and I’ll take on a very limited number of sessions as of 11/12/11. If you’ve already had your session, hang in there, I’m editing like crazy to try to wrap up in the next two weeks.
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I met up with Lindsie and her mom a couple of weeks ago for her session. Lindsie is gorgeous, plus she was a lot of fun to work with … not to mention so easy to photograph. We struggled with the light, especially at the end (this hazy, cloudy, lack-of-sun thing we’ve had going on this summer is killing me!), but we worked around it and captured a lot of beautiful images.
Have I mentioned lately how many fabulous seniors I’ve had a chance to work with this summer?! And believe me, Bethany was no exception. I had a blast shooting with her, and I’m so excited about what we captured. It was super difficult to narrow down to a handful of favorites! And even though it was another hot day, at least we had beautiful blue skies and sunshine for a change. And being 5′2″ myself, I have to admit I envy her 6′1″ height … not to mention her stunning blue eyes.
A couple of quick notes first … as a reminder, I’m having a baby at the end of September so I will be wrapping up shooting as of 9/10. My August dates are full and I have only two openings left for September, 9/6 and 9/9. I will likely open up 2 dates in mid-late November, once my doctor gives me permission to go back to work (six week recovery for a c-section). If you want one of those dates, its probably a good idea to speak up now. After that I’ll be resuming a normal work schedule as of March 1, 2012. December-February is usually my slow time so I think its a perfect time to take off and spend with my new baby boy.
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I love it when seniors bring along a friend or a sibling to their session. They are almost always more relaxed when they do, and it makes the session fun. Kaitlyn’s session definitely qualified as fun, and I think part of that was due to her sister and her mom. We trekked all over downtown to a number of my favorite spots, then finished up by using every last drop of sun light. It was HOT (as it has been ALL summer this year) but Kaitlyn looked gorgeous the whole time. I, on the other hand, was grateful to be behind the camera and not in front of it!
In case you haven’t noticed yet, I usually post sneak peeks on Facebook first, then blog about them in the next day or two er, soon. I try to always add an extra image to the blog post, so make sure to always check the blog, too. You wouldn’t want to miss that one in the middle right, of two stunning sisters.
On Thursday, I met up with Ashley and her parents, plus her sweet little dog Heidi. I’m kind of evil so I’m going to make Ashley wait to see the ones we took with her dog. I’m so excited about everything we captured and narrowing it down is going to be so difficult. Despite this awful August heat and humidity, Ashley managed to look beautiful and put together the entire time. I, on the other hand, did not! And she was so easy to pose it made my job a breeze.
In a previous post I mentioned how much I enjoy working with clients referred to me by past clients. Well repeat clients are especially wonderful to work with, too … and I love the chance to photograph the siblings of past seniors! So I was thrilled when Megan’s mom called to schedule her session. Her brother’s session was one of my favorites from 2010 and hers is quickly becoming a favorite too. Megan was a dream to work with — a stunning young woman and a natural to pose. We’ve split her session into two parts so be sure to check back some time next week for a sneak preview from the second part too.
I absolutely love it when seniors want to try something different, so my session with Carolyn really fit the bill when she requested shots at a creek. I *may* have actually squealed out loud with delight that she was willing to get in the creek. We put her mom on duty watching for snakes, and the three of of trekked across the creek for some amazing shots. Luckily the creek was fairly shallow and the bottom was easily visible. I’m so excited about what we captured. Thanks for being such an amazing sport, Carolyn, and I can’t wait for you to see the rest.
I love working with clients who referred to me by previous clients. They usually come to me already liking my work and excited to about their sessions. I consider it a huge compliment when clients love my work enough to tell their friends. So I was especially excited to work with Krista, who was a referral from the fun and lovely Faith from last year. And Faith was a referral from one of my favorite 2010 senior clients, Sarah. So when Krista and I planned out her session I knew we would have fun … and she definitely did not disappoint!
You’ve heard it from me before, big canvases look beautiful on your walls. They’re timeless, they fit in well with any decor, and they make a statement. I’ve believed that for years but for the longest time my own walls were in serious need of updating. Not long ago I finally had some of my favorite pictures of my girls printed on canvas BIG. And after our family session with the extra-fabulous Erin Cobb Photography, I had my favorite family image printed big, too. I have to admit, I keep asking myself “what took you so long?!”
Wondering what sizes they all are? Top left and bottom left are both 18×14, the middle canvas (the feature piece) is the largest at 40×30, the canvas on the right is 22×30.
P.S. I’ll be on vacation in Tampa, FL 7/15-7/22. I will have limited access to calls/emails so please be patient if you’re waiting for a response from me during that time. I may be able to take on a quick photo session while I’m there, so contact me if you’re interested.
I’ve gotten off to a (nice) slow start this senior season. Being pregnant I know I can only do so much in this steamy summer heat, so I’ve limited my sessions this year. Veronika actually won a Facebook contest I ran way back in January. She asked if she could save her session for the summer, which worked out perfectly for both of us. I was so excited when she chose the historical town of Mooresville for her location. I’ve been wanting to shoot there and this was the perfect opportunity. The location did not disappoint! For that matter neither did Veronika and her stunning red hair. I think one of my favorites is the one in the top middle where the sun is back-lighting her hair. And how adorable is her little dog Bama?! I had a blast working with you Veronika, enjoy your sneak peek! These are also on Facebook but I’m a bit late getting this blog post up for you. Better late than never, right?!
A little over nine years ago our life changed forever, in a wonderful way, when Sarah was born. We happily went along as a family of three until once again our lives changed for the better a little less than three years later when Anna came along. For six years we thought our family was complete. I mean I’m going to be 40 in December for goodness sakes … I’m OLD! Then in January, SURPRISE, God had other plans for us. I should have know better than to brag about my freedom of having both kids in school! In early October we’ll be back to diapers, late-night feedings, lack of sleep, lots of crying (the BABY, folks, not ME), as well as the joy of baby coos and gummy-smiles. I’ll admit, its taken us some time to adjust to the news. Of course Sarah and Anna are over-the-moon-excited and can’t wait. Needless to say the baby dolls have made a reappearance from the playroom, and soccer balls have been pushed under their shirts to show how pregnant they are too. Its taken me a little while to catch the excitement, but I finally have. I was less than thrilled to realize that our current Mazda Tribute just wouldn’t be big enough for our family-of-five-to-be … and I always swore I’d NEVER drive a mini van. I think I’m falling in love with the three C’s: the comfort, cargo space, and convenience of our new Toyota Sienna –if not the style!
What does all of this mean to my business? Well it means a limit of about 4 sessions per month, still focusing on tweens, teens, seniors, and their families. It also means I’ll be wrapping up sessions by mid-September. I’ll be on a nice long maternity leave from October until late February, to spend time with the new baby. Then it’ll be back to business as usual. Please feel free to call/text/email me with questions or concerns.
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