what will you be...

...are you a girl {like i get the feeling you are} or a boy?

* * * * *

this is my very camera-shy mama-friend... 

i have no idea why she's so camera shy, 'cause she's freaking gorgeous and photogenic. {surely she believes that she is, too, and is just being modest... 'cause my camera loves her! and i know my camera well... it never lies!}

i most recently blogged about her being with child here... much earlier in the pregnancy, right after they had made it public knowledge. shortly before that, the six of us had gone to the beach together... to celebrate babies and summer's end. i've known her since before she was married. i watched her get engaged, then married {when i, myself, was about as pregnant as she is right now, which is why i don't have wedding photos}, and now have had the privilege to watch her become a mother as her belly grows more and more. 

it's so very exciting. and needless to say, i can't wait to get that little peanut into my arms to say hello for the first time. i still precisely remember the day when she and her husband visited isaac to do the very same.

anyway, isaac and i just spent a few hours with them yesterday, as sweet kellie is on maternity leave and her bobby had not yet gone to work. we giggled and chatted and ate gummy bears and talked baby-stuff. i got to see the nursery for the first time {so precious!} and they got to play with chase isaac and keep him from tearing their place apart, thereby getting much needed practice at the art of wrangling and reigning in a little one.

but most importantly, i was able to squeeze in an impromptu maternity shoot... and it's a good thing, 'cause she only has one month of pregnancy left... maybe less if they end up having to induce two weeks early.

as i said, she was a little hesitant. i remember that... not wanting my picture taken at that stage. i mean, i wanted pics to document my belly and that stage of pregnancy, but i so didn't feel like i had any business being in photos. however, i also remember having a friend gently encourage me to let her take them, even though i didn't feel up to it. i was glad kellie let me convince her, too. her dress was gorgeous, her face was glowing, and she was way beyond beautiful enough to take part in her own photo session. 

we simply set up an area for her to sit and stand in front of some windows that were allowing light to pour into her home. these shots are not technically perfect. but they caught the beauty of her smile and bump, and i'm okay with that. i so want her to be, too. i want her to appreciate having these photos some day... something to look back on to remember exactly how this amazing time was. i'm pretty sure if i had not gotten some pics of me eight months pregnant, i would have regretted it.

this was my biggest argument and plea in trying to convince her.

as you can see, she relented. and wouldn't you say it was the best decision on her part? isn't she beautiful?

it was to be a fun little mini-shoot. i liked the casual aspect of it... it always helps when you know your subject well. what you don't see here is all the laughs we had in between shots... and all the sarcastic snickers and banter back and forth, as only true friends could do without scarring the bind of friendship.

after a while, i could tell she was getting slightly exhausted from standing... oh, how i remember that too!

so i switched to photo-journalistic mode and stopped making her pose. i just let the camera roll as isaac climbed up onto the couch to hang out with his auntie and future pal/playmate.

these ended up being some of my favorite shots. they had a vintage quality about them... partly because of the dress she is wearing, partly because of the vintage couch she is sitting on, partly because of the old car isaac is playing with, and partly because of the way i processed them. but mostly because of kellie... she is a stylish, throw-back, young, hip, mama with an old soul. and i've always thought she had a very unique look that harkens back to former days... sometimes jacki-o-like, sometimes seventies fashion-model-esque. the latter in these photos, especially...

cute, no?

isaac also spent some time with "uncle" bobby. there's something about uncle bobby that isaac is so drawn to. he can get isaac to laugh so quickly, and isaac will follow him around like no other. i'm guessing he's good this way with all kids. but i like to think it's just isaac that he has this bond with. either way, it's a blast to watch them hang out.

so i'm glad i got a few pics of them doing just that...

after a few hours and many laughs, i knew i had to get my little guy packed up so we could drive out to see his grandma for valentine's day. but not without the mama-and-dada-to-be together for a few photos. like i said earlier, i am happy to look back and be able to remember my pregnancy through many photos that a couple of friends took of me.

but one thing i regret not getting more pictures of was mr. b. and me together during the pregnancy. he was usually at work when the light for taking pics was good enough. so i have very few of us both during that time. for these two, i wasn't able to get much more than that. but the few i did get, i like very much. they were some of my favorites of the day.

now that i think about it, it's not just for kellie and her soon-to-arrive baby that i'm happy to have taken these pictures. i've got selfish reasons, too!... i want photos of her in this time of her life. i will treasure these always. i think that's what you do... you treasure the photos... the memories... of the ones you treasure and love.

so, i'm sorry kellie... you're just going to have to grow accustom to this, 'cause i'm going to be following you around with a camera for a quite a while when that sweet little person gets here!... for you and me! so get used to me and this black contraption constantly strapped around my neck or perched in front of my eye. we are not going anywhere, my camera and me! ♥

simple math

once upon a time, kellie met bobby.
they fell in love and got married...

bobby.

kellie.

and baby makes three!!!

a couple weeks ago, i posted about our time with them at the beach. i had to crop out her belly on any of the photos that showed it or not include them altogether, because they had not yet announced their pregnancy. but now it's officially out... announced to the world to everyone in facebook-land. so now i proudly display the mama belly in all it's super-duper wonderfulness.

she's only at eleven weeks in these photos... but that's bump enough to receive daddy kisses!!

these two have been longing to have a baby {i know that feeling} and had a difficult time with it for a bit. {i know what that's like, too.} i am so happy for them to see that dream finally fulfilled. and i am so very happy to be able to get some early pregnancy pictures of them, too. it is one of the biggest joys i have as a photographer... to capture these moments in the lives of people... people pictures of people moments. it's why i do what i do. and i never want to stop.

that said, i'll reiterate just how dear these two people are to my husband and me. they have showered so much love on our own little one since before he was born. absolutely two of the sweetest people ever made. how nice to know they've decided to keep up the tradition and make a people of their own {for which i am selfishly happy for isaac's sake... a close-to-home playmate for him!}.

congrats to you, bobby and kellie!! blessings on you and this pregnancy and that little one. you've had our prayers from the day you told us the news, and will have them until the day baby hits the scene outside mama's belly. we can't wait to meet her! {i say "her", 'cause i've decided that is what they are having, even though not a soul knows what the gender is except maybe their doctor. but trust me... it's a girl!}

on fathers and mothers

fathers...

happy tuesday, all! how are you this fine day?

me?... i'm coming out from under a break-from-blogging rock. in fact, after a very busy weekend, i'm coming out from a crashing-and-resting rock, too.

two weeks of planning and trying to make a first birthday party happen {among several other pressing things in our lives} just about took the wind out of my sails. so much so, i was not able to get on my blog sunday to write about father's day.

and i certainly was not able to get on here to reflect on {and post photos of} the birthday party the day before. i was spent in every way. so i needed a couple days to recoup.

anyway, i sort of regret not doing something on my blog for father's day, because it was a special father's day... so close on the calendar to when my baby boy turned one. and only the second father's day for my husband. special to us both for those reasons. extra special to me because it was also my dad's birthday.

here are mr. b and isaac, captured the day of the birthday party.

i just LOVE this photo of the two of them. i don't have to go into it very much now, because i often write about this in other posts throughout the year... but i adore watching mr. b. as a dad. i could never get enough of it. isaac absolutely loves his dad. they have so much fun together. and the older isaac gets, the more giggly he becomes in response to his dad's playfulness... so, of course, the more i love to watch them. i also observe the patience mr. b. has with isaac. sometimes, it's a bit convicting, 'cause i realize that i could probably work on that part of me as a mom. i am not surprised by his patience, because he has been equally patient with me for the last sixteen years.

though i'm a couple days late in saying so {because you can only say such things on holidays, right? *wink*}, i am so grateful for the father that isaac has. i don't know of a single person that could be a better dad in all the ways that matter than he is.



mothers... my own, myself, my friend...

but here i am today to write, not just about dads, but about moms, too.

sunday was not only father's day for me. it was also my dad's birthday. sadly, i found myself thinking very little about my own dad. he passed away in 2006, and every father's day since has been difficult for me. but each one gets a little less difficult... a little less sad. and i think that is especially the case for last year and this year... because there is a new father in my life... my husband, the father of my son.

i guess that with so much to celebrate in that regard, it takes away the sting of missing my father. but when i think of the two together... my dad and my husband as a dad, i do get a little sad to think that my father does not get to know my son {and vice versa}, and he does not get to see my husband as a dad. but i know he would be proud of my husband, and i am quite sure that he would adore my son. so i relish those two sureties.

but i feel bad, because i hardly thought of my mom and how she might be struggling on such a day. truth be told, i was quite out of it on sunday... dwelling on the birthday party from the day before... celebrating all the things that made it special, but also beating myself up for all the ways i felt that it fell short... more to come on that.

all in all, though, it was a wonderful day. here is where the mom part comes in. of course, my mom was at the party. she did so much to help. she made lemonade. she made iced tea. she put together some photo balloons for decorations. she cut and taped up some signs that i had printed out. but most of all, she was there for people. it's people that matter most to her. and that was evident by the stories i heard and the things i witnessed... how she reached out to others. she made a mess in my kitchen, and i found myself irritated at her for it. then {on sunday morning} i heard a story of how she reached out to one of my friends at the party, and i felt pretty rotten, because it reminded me of what is most important in life... not picture-perfect kitchens or martha stewart photoshoot-worthy pitchers of lemonade... but people. and i knew my mom cared about a person at my party over the lemonade, and that turned my silly care about messes on its head.

she loves my baby boy. and she worked hard in the 90-something degree heat, going up and down stairs, making trips from the house to the party outside. and she was there for me, for my husband, for isaac, for my guests. and that is what matters most. i thanked her later. she said, "that's what moms do." i hope to be a mom like her some day. i will fail as a mom. my mom did. she still does. in little things {like spilling lemonade all over}. in big things. in things in between. but i decided yesterday morning, i am going to start focusing on her successes, her acts of kindness and sacrifice, her love, her jobs done well, her care for people over things. i think if we all did that for all others, we might not mind the failures so much. and why shouldn't we do it? isn't that what we would want from others for ourselves?... to not remain fixed on our failures, but to give us a chance and celebrate the things we do right and well?

the people in my life that have remained close to me through thick and thin are those kind of people... because i stuck with them through their successes and failures. and they stuck with me through my failures, short-comings, quirks, bad habits and patterns, off days or longer periods of life when i was not myself, moments when i was so focused on myself that i lost sight of them... i could go on and on. and they stuck with me through my successes, too... celebrating right along side me.

that is what moms do. i'm happy to have a mom who left me that example, especially now that i am a mom.

speaking of moms... isaac and i will be off shortly to see the new baby boy of a dear friend. i had the honor and pleasure of taking some baby bump photos of her a few weeks ago... she was kind enough to let me practice on her, as i had never done a maternity shoot before, and it is something i want to get into after i get some practice.

this is one of my favorite shots. little charlie was in the tummy, cooking up nice and healthy, and it was a blessing that he had come so far... something that many were praying for after seeing what her first son went through when he came into the world.

anyway, now charlie is out and healthy and beautiful! i hope to take some pictures of him today. congrats to chris and pete on their brand new beautiful baby boy!

thanks for all the birthday wishes to isaac last friday. i'll be back with more birthday party photos soon {i hope}.