Sara & David are not engagned….yet.

Sara is my niece and she and David were kind enough to allow me to photograph them & build my portfolio.  They are such a great couple….so relaxed and at ease with each other.  They seem to fit together perfectly:  no pretenses, no pretending, no point to prove.

Can I tell you how much I love them and the fact that they were up for anything?  They let me play & experiment with some ideas I had.  They traipsed through the tall grass, climbed hills, sat in the dirt, dodged other people and went along with all of my random, disjointed, crazy & sometimes ADD-ridden thoughts without ever questioning it.  They chased the light with me, even if they didn’t know that’s what we were doing.

I cannot even express my love of this one….it makes my heart sing!

Hello, beautiful!

A couple just for fun….

And this one…..oh how I love this one.  I feel like I snuck in and caught a perfect moment in time.

Thank you so much, Sara & David, for a great night!!

N had a very early and very dramatic entrance into this world so she was seven weeks old when I met her.  Normally newborn sessions are done in the first two weeks of life while they are still sleepy and flexible so I was a little nervous going in but she was absolutely perfect!  She slept almost the entire time and didn’t mind too much as we moved her around.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, C family for allowing me the come to your home yesterday and capture Miss N’s first weeks!

They have such an effortless love and I know that they will have many happy years to come….

Thank you, Paige & Garrett, for the wonderful evening!!

Miss K is so kind hearted and one of the smartest little girls I’ve ever met.  I could spend all day just listening to her talk….she is wise beyond her years.

The first time I met Z he was only days old.  I can’t believe what a little man he is becoming!!

Thank you for a fun morning–I can’t wait to see you again!

M does some modeling and wanted some new head shots so we did some traditional posing but she also brought her guitar and I can’t even tell you how much fun that was!

I am so excited to get the session completely edited but for now here is a sneak peek.

Once upon a time there was a young woman who dreamt of a family.

This family included a loving husband and a gaggle of children.

Those children wore frilly dresses and pink ribbons.

She imagined a life of braided hair, fashion tips and boyfriend advice.

It never occurred to this young woman that her future would include blue layettes and hockey sticks.

Imagine her shock when she went in for her sonogram and discovered a little something she didn’t expect.

She was a taken aback.

This was not the plan.

Her life was a “No Boys Allowed” zone.

But you came anyway.

In a perfect world she would have taken one look at you and known that it was meant to be.

But that wasn’t the case.

She knew you were coming.

She bought the clothes and the bedding to prepare for you but still she wasn’t ready.

What was she supposed to do with this foreign creature?

It didn’t take long, however, for that young woman to realize that you were exactly what she needed.

You were quite possibly the easiest baby in the world so when you cried you broke her heart:

As you grew she came to realize what a happy, content & pure soul you had:

And then you went to Kindergarten and you both grieved:

As much as she  prayed it wouldn’t happen, you grew:

….and grew…..

….and grew….

…..until suddenly you became a young man:

…and in the blink of an eye the young woman wasn’t as young as she thought.

She was once again put in a position where she wasn’t sure how to deal with this alien creature who was thrust into her world.

But she had enough experience under her belt to know that this, too, was a phase and that the two of you would get through it together.

She knew that although you might pull away from her for now you would always remember the days when she gently tucked you under her wing and tried to show you that even when the world seemed hurtful and unfair you would always have a soft place to land.

She knew that even when you didn’t want to admit it,  nothing could replace your mother.

She knew enough to take a step back and allow you to dive head first into the deep end of puberty & watch you flail your arms and gasp for breath, knowing that you would eventually resurface and find yourself.

And maybe, just maybe, you would wipe the water from your eyes and see her standing on the sidelines, cheering you on, waiting patiently for you to return.

And you would smile.

She knew that eventually you would realize that she loved you more than anyone would ever love you.

She knew that at some point you would have enough clarity to see that although she wasn’t perfect as a mother her love for you was infinite.

And in that she found peace.

Love,

Mom

We’ve known it was coming for a while.  In November the vet told us it was a matter of weeks.

Fast forward to mid-April and his body finally gave out and he was unable to stand on his own.

I could tell you that he was the best dog in the world but that wouldn’t be truthful.

He was quirky and skittish.

When he was a puppy he chewed a hole in the wall of our rental apartment.

He nipped at my kids numerous times & he was impatient with all children (we would lock him up when people came over).

He barked too much and literally stole food from our hands.

I kicked him out of our home twice as a puppy because I couldn’t handle his idiosyncrasies but I always took him back because he was a part of our family and I couldn’t imagine life without him.

In contrast:

He loved us unconditionally.

He protected us fiercely.

He was the smartest dog I have ever encountered.

When we moved into our current home he instinctively knew where the property lines were and never did his business outside of those lines.

He knew that when I put lip gloss on it meant that I was leaving the house and he would bark incessantly .

He was somehow able to distinguish between when I was gone for everyday errands and when I left for uncommon reasons.  He was in a panic when I returned, thinking I might never come home again.

When I miscarried several years ago he laid at my feet for hours while I wept, occasionally putting his face in my lap to remind me that I still had him.

He was my Marley and I was his Jennifer Aniston. (Well, if Jennifer was a 5’5″ overweight brunette with a big nose and and a pension for biting sarcasm.  )

You will be missed, Cy, and I’m pretty certain that doggie heaven has an endless buffet of pizza and bread just for you.