You ARE My Soul

"Let's do it," he said enthusiastically with a huge grin on his face. "Forget all the wedding planning, forget our families and friends," he added as he reached for my swollen hand. At 8 months pregnant I was beginning to retain water, everywhere. Brandon, my fiance, was efficient at making me feel cute with or without the extra thirty pounds. As he continued, he looked in my eyes and added,"Just you and me, together. It will be perfect." 

Knowing that the stress of a wedding was getting the best of me I began to consider it, again. This wasn't the first time we discussed eloping. It was an exciting idea we talked about from time to time, never intending to act on it. As I sat there and pondered the idea of getting married without anyone knowing, I got the butterflies. "Let's do it!"

Six years ago today that's exactly what we did- and we haven't skipped a beat since. 

Starting a family unexpectedly at a young age (Brandon 19, me 20- yes, I robbed the cradle) has been the most thrilling ride of my life. I love our story just the way it is. To think about where we started in comparison to where we're going I can't help but be amazed. Brandon and I are growing up, and we're doing it together.  

To Brandon:

Thank you for being such a fun partner to share this journey with. Thank you for being my best friend, my companion, my life, my everything. I didn't think it was possible to love you more than I already do, but every single day I grow more and more in love with you and the man you are becoming. You said it best: "You aren't just my soulmate, you ARE my soul." Thank you for completing me.

Happy Anniversary, I love you...  (    )

Ps- I stumbled across this photo of us from when we first started dating- embrace yourself, it's laugh worthy. 

Molly | Newborn Session + BTS

After photographing Camden and Colson I was excited to finally get my hands on a little girl. Little Miss Molly's grandmother came to my classroom one day and asked if I'd be interested in taking pictures of her granddaughter when she made her arrival. Without hesitation I agreed. Ahhh, a girl! And of course my mind ran wild- bows, scarves, flowers....

On the day of Molly's session I managed to talk my husband, Brandon, into joining me. Did I have ulterior motives for inviting him to a newborn GIRL session? No, not me- I'd never do something manipulative like that ;) Brandon was such a great help. He unloaded all my props and helped me get everything set up. During the session he took pictures of me in action which I have included below Molly's pictures. I was thankful to have him by my side. I must admit, he's a pretty good teammate. 

Little Molly is absolutely precious. Courtney and James- congratulations on your beautiful addition and thank you for allowing me to capture such a special time in your lives.

Behind The Scenes:

I've been wanting to include some BTS photos of a newborn session for a while now. I think it gives people a better idea of what my sessions look like. If you notice in the photo below, I have set everything up right in front of the back door in the kitchen. This location was the brightest spot in the house and worked perfectly. We moved the dining room table back and set up the props. In this picture you can see that I'm using my handy dandy bean bag and a chair to hold the heater. I'm trying to sooth Molly and get her comfortable. I'm very close to her so she feels secure. I have positioned Molly for an overview photograph here.

In the photo below I am in the middle of transitioning Molly to a different position/setting.  Often times when you move them they wake up. All it takes is a little heat and snuggling and they are right back to sleep (yes, I was falling in love at that very moment). In this photo I was warming her up before I swaddled her. My cardigan ended up being quite useful.

Below you can see that she's already been swaddled and put into position. You may wonder why I'm holding my camera like that. As strange as it looks, using my left hand in that way serves as a stabilizer for me. I usually only do that when I feel shaky or I'm seeing that my images aren't as crisp as I want. 

In this photo I am trying to get Molly to relax. Sometimes when you put them in an awkward position such as this one they want to fight it a little. By placing my hand on her back gently, but firmly, she feels secure. Notice the paper towel roll in the chair- I bet you can figure out what that's for ;)

I'm going to end with the photo below. In this picture you can see that I'm going for the "head on hands" pose- by far the hardest. I always do this one last because it usually ends up waking the baby due to having to move them so much. This pose is EXTREMELY difficult to get. Why? The baby has to be very sound asleep otherwise all the movement will wake them. I wasn't able to capture this pose with Molly, but I tried. In this photo you can see that I've got her feet supporting her elbows and I'm holding her wrists and head (very securely). I almost had it- just couldn't get her balanced just right. It helps having someone there to help hold the baby's head.

Surreal Moment

One short year ago a friend of mine who knew that I was interested in pursuing newborn photography sent me a link to a photographer that she thought I would like. Boy, was she right! Since then, I have admired Tracy T's photos. Her style and color choices are very similar to what I like to incorporate into my newborn photographs. Tracy T has such an artistic and natural way with babies. I truly love her work. She is an inspiration, to say the least.

Since then, I have been blessed with many opportunities to photograph babies. I had a session a few weeks ago with little Colson, which you can see again here. Kristy, his mommy, bought a few hats and a tie from Baby Cuddles Boutique for us to use during his photo shoot. A few days ago Kristy informed me that Baby Cuddles Boutique is featuring some of  Colson's pictures on her website :) Hearing the news was exciting, but actually seeing my photographs posted on her site was exhilarating.

Now, for that surreal moment (and to bring it full circle)...

When I went to check out my photos on Baby Cuddles Boutique's website, guess whose  newborn photos were right beside mine? Tracy T's! It may sound silly, but having my photo beside hers made me feel like I'm making my way to being in the big leagues. Although I know I have a lot of batting practice in store, (pitching lessons, too) I feel like I'm one step closer to being where I want to be. Heck, Tracy T shares a screen with me. I'll take it!


You can see us side by side here. Woo hoo!


(Speaking of the big leagues, check out my little graduate! Ariston is moving on up, too. Kindergarten, here he comes)