Sit back and let me tell you a little story that happens to be about hope, inspiration, blessings, strength, courage, bliss and love, just to name a few:) I have tapped into many forms of photography as I have put myself through school these last 8 years (my own college without grades;). I have loved every part of the journey and am so grateful for every photo that I have physically been capable of taking. Since my life shifted 2 years ago, I felt myself floundering a bit with my photography. All of the sudden the perfect outfits no longer mattered. I found myself wanting to lurk in the outskirts and be the observer, not the orchestrator of every shot. I know what feeds my soul now. I know what pictures make the parents laugh, cry and FEEL…and they are never the ones where we head swapped to have everyone looking the right way;) For this reason, I found myself saying “in the next year (mind you, that was 2 years ago) I am going to go into homes for 1-2 days at a time and get the real moments. I want everything…the fits, the snuggles, the naked booty dance to the nose pick and wiping it on the wall moments. I want my clients to forget that I even have a camera in my hands. I want to celebrate their life exactly how it is and celebrate the very uniqueness that separates them from every other family for that matter. Not only families…what if you could see a series of pics of “a day in the life of Mom” before she met Dad. What did she like to do, where were her favorite places to hang, who were her friends? I want to follow the young musician, the incredible dancer…whoever you are, I want to know you and to know you means that I would like to photograph you!
Which leads me to one of my proudest stories I have told lately. These are my friends Mark and Lindsey and you may remember them from here 
I was blessed enough to tell their love story before it expanded. They were one of the first “Day in the life” shoots that I did. Mark called me about a month before Lindsey was to give birth. She and I had dreamed about me being able to be there to capture the birth but they live in Cali. These two are so into surprises and Mark takes the cake on this one. He planned and willed this beautifully, perfect moment to take place. It really couldn’t have worked out more amazing. I talked to Lindsey around 2:00 in the afternoon with beginning signs of labor and by the time I got there on the next flight, it was 9:00 and it was go time! I was there for the whole Shabang!
Mark’s mom was patiently knitting the whole time. I love this picture, not just because of the moment, but because of the awesome pictures behind them;)
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We stayed at the house until midnight and then it was off to the real show…
These moments with Mark are incredible for me. There was nothing more beautiful than watching his emotions go from admiration, confusion, helplessness, nervousness with everything inbetween, and ending is sheer joy:) The ultimate dance of support in their marriage that they have never experienced to this degree. The ultimate gift from a wife to her family. The insane gift from God that none of us will be able to fully wrap our minds around.
From the time of being admitted to the birth it was less than 5 hours and she barely made a peep. Did I mention this was her first:)
Is there anything more intense than going from the moment above to this amazingness!!!!!
I mean how lucky am I? I got to be there for the WHOLE story…down to the moment when we all discovered for the fist time that she had this adorable dimple:)
The difference from being on drugs or a c-section…if you see his watch it’s 5:30 something and she was born at 5:19am and Lindsey is already on the phone with her mom and sister sharing her epic story!
SHEER BLISS!!!! This one is making me cry all over again…PS I was hysterical at this point trying to take pictures, not wanting to miss a moment.
ELATION!!! There isn’t anything else that mattered in this moment for these 3. This is the glue that will bind their love forever. This is the moment that no woman will ever forget if she was one of the lucky ones to feel the ultimate love and approval (from within and from her spouse).
Welcome Jersey Lou…the little heifer that she was coming out of her momma well done;) lol
I had the important roll of using the sucker on her for the first time! I don’t know if there enough words to describe how proud I was of my friend on that October day. I was honored to be a part of something so intimate and filled with greatness exploding in our hearts for years to come. How do you thank friends enough for gifting me with this story. I have never felt such gratitude or felt more special outside of my own birthing stories. I feel like I am the luckiest girl that they would share this moment with me…which is in turn was going to be shared with my whole blogging world;)
To Jersey Lou….I hope that these pictures and this amazing video help you to get a glimpse at how amazing your parents are and how much love you were surrounded with as you came into this world! Your Mom is going to be modest when she tells you about the story…but I will tell you that she is nothing short of a ROCKSTAR the way she brought you into this world.
I couldn’t help but feel stronger than ever that this is the ultimate gift that God puts on this Earth to show us that anything is possible. If we can make a HUMAN BEING…then what is stopping us from knowing without a doubt, that our bodies are capable of healing ANYTHING. Our bodies already know what to do whether it is getting rid of cancer, healing damage from MS or making and birthing a baby…it’s our habits, lifestyles and minds that get in the way. Thank you Lindsey and Mark for loving me. For sharing so many reminders and tools that I needed to witness again to carry on my journey of healing. And for gifting me with one of the most special moments in my life. I was able to witness a birth closer to my own then I could have dreamed up…so that I could take a moment to proud of myself all over again and to see the magic that God gave us 3 times! Today my heart is full of gratitude and I am thankful you are all in my life!