A Phoenix was born!

Monday March 30th, 2015.

Christina, 3 days past her due date, went to her weekly baby appointment. She was told she had been leaking amniotic fluid for four days and the baby had very little left as cushioning around him. She was immediately admitted to Labor and Delivery to be induced. With every contraction she had, the baby’s heart dipped. She was put on oxygen for the remainder of her labor and was flipped from one side to the other countless times in attempts to try and keep the baby’s heart rate up. “10 cm, she’s complete.” It was time to push! Christina’s 3rd boy would be here in no time. Seriously, no time at all. She pushed 3 times and he was here! I barely had time to take photos! And just like that, all the wait, pain, fear and anxiety was forgotten. That little face and shakey newborn cry filled the entire room with a joy so dense, it seemed almost tangible.

“The closest thing to perfection is a newborn baby.”

Welcome to the world Charlotte!

I received the text on the morning of February 26th at 7:48am. It read: “isn’t today a great day to have a baby?! 🙂 My water broke at 5:30am. Headed to hospital now.”

Yay! Charlotte was on her way! Little did we know that she had no plans of arriving until the next day. I waited with Allison and her family for 10 hours. Those 10 hours were a true emotional roller coaster for everyone, especially Allison. We laughed, told stories, she cried, we prayed, rested some and then around 1:00am we got the news, Allison was fully dilated! When it was time to push she pushed like a pro and after only 15-25 mins, at 1:55am, Charlottes sweet little cry filled the room, she had arrived!! With an absolutely beautiful pink color to her skin, she lay on her mamas warm chest while Allison took the moment in. This 6lb 13oz, 19.5 inch baby girl had just changed her life forever!

“There is a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.” ~ Laura Stavoe Harm

Baby Avarie 9 days new

Parents Jennifer and David are absolutely head over heels in love with their baby girl Avarie, can you blame them? She’s precious!

It took some work to get her to sleep but once she did, she was out and the photo shoot was on!

This is a music family so it was only right to incorporate some of their favorite instruments.

“For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mothers womb”

Jennifer and David are growing a baby!!

These two have to be the cutest couple that I’ve had the pleasure of working with! Their love is absolutely undeniable. They had some really cute ideas and brought along some awesome props that had such sweet meaning.

David often plays the guitar and reads to Jennifer’s belly so they brought along books and his guitar. While we were shooting he wasn’t just posing, he was actually playing songs and reading to baby Avarie. So sweet!!! Jennifer and David were softly whispering to each other and giggling the entire time like two teenagers experiencing a first love. It was such a beautiful thing to witness first hand. I hope the love shines through these photos and you can feel a bit of what I felt being around these two love birds. Avarie is going to be one very lucky little girl!!!

“A grand adventure is about to begin”

Baby Liam, 6 days new

This little guy is a natural in front of the camera already! The minute I picked up my camera and started shooting, he was all smiles. It was the cutest thing!

He must enjoy being a little brother to his very protective, older brother Jared. Jared was on top of things, making sure Liam was being held correctly and that he was comfortable. Funny how we all fall into our roles when a new baby comes.

“A baby fills a hole in your heart that you never knew was there.”

Welcome to the world Liam!

Finally! Liam has made his grand entrance!

Sunday, January 5th, 2014 at 8:10pm Angelica texts me that she’s 7cm and they are breaking her water. I figure it should take at the very least another hour or so until she’s ready to push, so I have time to get my kids to bed and head over to the hospital. WRONG! 8:22pm I get a text that simply says “9 centimeters”. I freaked! Ran to my husband and yelled, “I have to go, she’s about to have the baby!”. I grabbed my things and RAN to my car. I thought there was no way I would make it for the birth if she was progressing that fast and I still had a 20 min car drive. I text Angelica telling her to hold him in until I got there! Haha! As soon as I made it upstairs and in her room my phone goes off with a text from her husband telling me she’s getting ready to push! Talk about making it in the knick of time!! Her midwife had just checked her and she was fully dilated and ready to go. I got straight to work snapping away and before you knew it, at 9:34pm Liam had made his grand entrance into the world.

It was such a great experience and a beautiful birth!

“Birth is the sudden opening of a window, through which you look out upon a stupendous prospect. For what has happened? A miracle. You have exchanged nothing for the possibility of everything.”

-William MacNeile Dixon

Allison and her bump

We planned this shoot in the midst of Floridas craziest, most bipolar weeks of rain, cold and heat. Luckily the weather cooperated with us!

I absolutely love this park that we shot at! It’s beautiful and FULL of wildlife! I hate bugs but love me some animals! In our one hour there we spotted about 7 deer, 4-5 cranes and a raccoon!

Allison showed up with a wardrobe that fit the location perfectly as well as some great props! This woman comes prepared!!

We were giggling and joking the entire session, it was a great time! Allison is absolutely one of the most full of life, (literally), people I have ever met. She has a certain something about her that makes her such a joy to be around. It’s almost like a comforting, maternal feel. She is going to make an amazing mother to baby Charlotte.

“Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be”

Noah, 3 days new

Only 3 days old and this was already his second photoshoot! He is a natural!

Can I just start by saying what an unusually gorgeous newborn Noah is?? I mean I was staring at him in awe of how cute he was at such a young age!

Noah decided to smile for the camera ONCE during this session but it was for the perfect photo! Can you spot it??

Noah’s doggy “Mia” decided she wanted to be a part of the photo shoot a couple times so don’t mind the cameo 😉

“No one can really explain the way it feels to miss someone so much that the air you breathe feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. I’ll never be able to tell you how I do what I do but I can tell you why. I do it because not doing it isn’t an option. I know that a life without him is my worst nightmare, and this deployment is nothing but a dream.”
-unknown

What a Beautiful Little Family

They may be young but this couple knows what family is all about! Their love for each other and their gorgeous baby boy Leonardo just seeps from their seams! They can’t contain it and it’s such a beautiful thing to see!

Leonardo is a very lucky little boy to have parents who still have “it” and are building such a strong foundation for their family. They live and breathe this little boy and now that I’ve met him I totally understand! The moment you meet Leo you fall in love. Little man got cranky towards the end of the photo session but he was literally screaming and cheering his mom and dad on while I was taking their picture haha

It was such a pleasure photographing this little family…..enjoy!

“I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich.”
-Dan Wilcox

Sandra’s baby bump has her glowing, rain or shine

Sandra and I had a sunrise session on the dock planned but the crazy Florida weather had other plans.

Thank God for that! I’ve yet to do an indoor maternity session and was hopeful that the lighting would work in our favor and it did!!

During our consultation Sandra expressed that she wanted the session to really be focused on her baby bump. I think this was beautiful! She’s about to be a first time mommy and she already has that “all about baby” mentality, I love that!

We didn’t let the rain get us down completely! We took advantage of the gloomy weather and a cute umbrella she had in a closet 🙂

“There is such a special sweetness in being able to participate in creation.”
-Pamela S. Nadav