welcome baby ivy! | to be continued...

My beautiful friend Kristin just welcomed her first baby into the world and I got to meet her for the first time today. We are doing some fun newborn pictures in the next few days so check back for those...

It was heart warming to see Kristin and Tommy with their baby girl and I was so impressed by what quick work they've made of making their Mom and Dad roles look easy. When I came in Tommy was in a comfy chair and Ivy was passed out on his chest while he played video games. I had so many flashbacks of the hours Jesse spent in that position and I was reminded of what we called "Daddy magic" - something about a Dad's chest is just a baby's perfect place. I got to hold her for a minute and then Kristin came out and I'm pretty sure she could smell her (in a good way) because she immediately started looking around and kind of whimpering. As soon as she was in her arms, she was serene, at peace, and they had that new perfect bond that words can never describe. New parenthood is a such a cool thing because both the baby and the parent are perpetually learning, and loving, and it's all unconditional. I never get tired of being a part of that. Here is a sneak peek of baby Ivy and I can't wait to take a million pictures of her toes (which are perfect by the way, like every other little part of her).

So many congratulations and all my love!

take a deep breath; it's 2010!

Happy NEW Year, friends! Call me crazy, but starting a new year is one of my favorite things in the world. To me it means... rebirth, renewal, letting go, welcoming the new, having time to reflect, appreciating what you have, changing what you don't want, all in all - a big opportunity. I was always raised knowing that every day is a new day, a new opportunity with a new series of decisions to be made. Instead of this being a cumbersome thought, it was always liberating to me to know that in life's series of choices, we have the power to change our mind, to change our lives for the better, every single moment, every single day, and every single year. For some reason, although I have this subconscious thought in my mind the New Year holiday is a day that we are forced to remember all of those little choices we make, big choices, and all in all - how we are in control of our happiness, of our life, and of the path we choose.

In the New Year, I am committing to a few things... In my personal life, I am making up my mind to give as much as I possibly can without any expectation, to seek out joy even at the times when it isn't so easy to see, and to take time to remember to appreciate all of the beauty that surrounds me. I am blessed to have a perfect, happy, fun girl who brings so much joy to my life and who I am learning from constantly. Being a mother is the coolest thing in the whole wide world. As if it wasn't amazing enough to give birth to a perfect little person that I created with someone that I love so much, to watch her world get bigger and be able to be such an integral part, is nothing short of mind blowing. I am so lucky to have a partner that shows so much love, appreciation, respect, and is always, always my soft place to fall. I have been so thankful in 2009 and am anticipating 2010 with open arms and a wide open heart.

In my business, I want to spend a lot of energy really honing in on what I, uniquely, have to offer and building that vision. I have a lot of new ideas and I'm excited to share them and really begin to grow my business. It is my dream, my passion, what really makes me tick, keeps me up at night, and where I truly lose myself - In a good way. I feel lucky every day to be able to express myself through an art form that can also help other people remember such important times in their life. It's a win-win and I'm stoked to be a part of it, and know there will be nothing but good things in 2010. Thank you to all of my clients for making my dream come true and for appreciating me along the way, you have no idea how much it means.

I hope this in this NEW year, everyone is reminded that every second of every day we have a decision to make... & something I just found that I wrote a really, really long time ago but still find to be totally true and relevant, "at any point, you have the ability and free will to choose one way of being over another. the same goes for thoughts, actions, and beliefs. you have the power to choose love over hatred and fear, peace in the presence of conflict, and truth over deception, to make room for the reality of who you are. apathy and laziness is a cop out really and only you can decide to expand your horizons and thereby, enrich your mind and ultimately, your life. it is solely you that can make the choice to look outside of your microcosm to gain a broader perspective of the world. to travel, to truly listen, and to embrace things that are outside of the norm of daily life. to break away from the vicious cycle of societal standards and create your own mold. to choose to be unique instead of common, to change the things you have the power to change and acquire the wisdom to know when to accept the things you can't. if you awaken and liberate your own mind, you allow yourself to take full advantage of the beautiful opportunities that life has to offer. you can seize the moment, or you can just be along for the ride, but when you look back, i think the times that you chose the high road are the times that you are going to find the biggest sense of pride and enjoyment. if you remind yourself to be awake and aware of your continually developing consciousness and state of mind, it will manifest itself into how you live and the extent to which you enjoy the life you are given."

YIPEE! That was a lot of words. Thanks for listening :)

procrastination ignites my christmas spirit!

I can find lots of reasons not to be productive sometimes. If you know me well, you will know that procrastination is one of my greatest talents. Like right now for example... while I should be cleaning my house and wrapping presents, I am looking at cute pictures I took of Zoe yesterday (when I should have been doing my piles of laundry). I will work on this in the new year... maybe. What I've found awesome is that when it comes to photo-related things, I don't have this problem. How lucky I am to have a "job" (still hard for me to call it that) doing something that I never tire of. I am ever so grateful. Even if I am totally guilty of procrastination, I love my camera because it makes me stop and take in all the little moments that I don't want to ever forget. Especially now. If I can bottle them up, in a sense, my laundry can wait.

On another subject entirely, the holidays kind of stress me out. I totally want to be one of those people that gets their Christmas shopping done by early December and enjoys the anticipation of Christmas, singing Christmas carols (god help anyone who ever has to hear me sing), drinking hot chocolate and being all jolly. But, everrrryyy single year this is me: "I am totally going to start my Christmas shopping in August this year." [End of December comes, usually Christmas Eve Eve]: "Our Christmas cards are late again and I still have 23498 people to shop for!" I am not a shopper. I wish I was like a lot of girls I know with the "retail therapy" thing. Totally opposite for me! Shopping makes me super anxious and just isn't my thing. However, when I walk out of the store, bags in hand, I am totally stoked. I love coming home with the big pile of things, I just don't like the process of getting them. Even though I'm totally beating myself up about all my procrastination habits, there is this giant Christmas spirit burst that hits me on Christmas Eve Eve... and it's awesome! It's like it doesn't feel real to me until I'm anxiously and excitedly rushing around, finding fun things in weird places, wrapping presents, staying up too late... and then I have the satisfaction of having it all done and enjoying our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning traditions.

This is our second Christmas with Zoe, but my baby is totally turning into a kid, and I'm okay with that! (I swear). She's really starting to like toys and new things, and she gets the cutest little concentration face, like she's really WORKING playing and learning with her stuff. I'm really excited for her to get some new things this year and really experience Christmas for the first time. Plus, giving is totally my favorite part and it couldn't be more fun to give to a family that you're so in love with. And because no one likes to read that many words without something to look at...

I call this "there's no place like home."

and this, "oh, holidays!"

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! I can't wait to share more of our Christmas and New Years, oh how I love a NEW year... :)

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

Today when we woke up the light was a little brighter and there was a little bit more of a glow coming in the windows. At first I figured we just slept in (which is a rarity that I cherish) but when I pulled open my curtains it was snowing like crazy. It ended up snowing all day long, and is still snowing as I write this. We had the coziest, most awesome family day. I can't remember a snow like this since the blizzard of '96, I suppose because there hasn't been snow like this since then, duh. If you know me at all you know I complain entirely too much about cold weather and have been quoted saying I could go the rest of my life and not miss below 60 degree temps one bit. While I still maintain that is true, a nice big powerful powdery white snow is pretty magical. Jesse started his stew in the morning, we had a big breakfast, I took a shower until I ran out of hot water, Zoe danced her butt off to some good blues, and we just relaxed and played with eachother all day. Zoe seemed pretty amazed by all the snow and kept pulling on the door knob, and we kept trying to explain that it was FREEEEEZING. I think tomorrow once it stops we'll take her outside to play in it, although, it is nearly as tall as she is...

This was the view out of our kitchen window as the sun was setting. I don't know if you can tell but the snow is UP TO THE WINDOW. There go my herbs!

Our dogs were hilarious in the snow. Shiva (the one on the left) is suuuch a princess, but I was so proud of her braving the snow and totally loving it. Their ears crack me up.

We also finished our Christmas cards today...

...of which we didn't print NEARLY enough. So for those of you that I love and didn't get one, here you go friends!

Zoe signing her autograph with her concentration/writing face. I love how she holds her pen, what 1 year old doesn't hold it with a fist? Genius!

This makes me smile; Dude trying to leap out of the snow that was up to his eyeballs. :D

Hope everyone enjoyed their day!

antoinette + ryan: holiday session.

Antoinette & Ryan, (and Kali, Delilah, & Shokie their super cute pets) invited me into their home to capture some photos of them at Christmas. They had a really cute little apartment, and it was so cozy and Christmas-y. I loved it. Their pets are a HUGE part of their life and are totally like babies to them. I love it when people are really into their pets, and I kind of fell in love too because well, look how cute they are...

Antoinette and Ryan were so cute. I used to work with Antoinette (she's a super amazing massage therapist) and I love her to death. She's probably the sweetest person I've ever met. Plus she's funny and really gorgeous so, Ryan is happy! I met him for the first time this day and he is awesome, too. They balance each other out perfectly, and I loved to see how comfortable they were with each other and how much they LAUGHED. I love seeing someone I think is awesome be happy and in love. That is the best.

Aren't they comfy and cute?

Ryan has a phobia of smiling for pictures but I tried to catch some of his lovely smile.

Ok.. on to their babies! Get ready, they are the cutest things in the world! This is Kali, she's awesome and I am in love with this picture because it looks like she's laughing. Dog laughs are the best! She was such a lush, the second you touched her she rolled over for a belly rub (and she has this perfect heart on her belly of missing hair, hmmm... angel!)

Next is Delilah, the one year old princess girl. I love how she's showing her teeth for me. She is scrumptious.

And last, but definitely not least, Antoinette's baby Shokie who got to eat lots and lots of cat nip for hanging around taking pictures. She was chunky and awesome and I envy her life just a little bit.

Back to the beautiful couple, looking all content... Antoinette's eyes, seriously! Gorgeous!

Being all Christmas-y and cute. :)

I just love the feel of this, haven't been able to put my finger on exactly why.. I think it's because I can just feel her comfort and contentment I'm pretty sure, and I love it.

Thank you guys so much for having me; have a happy holiday and fun new year! You guys rock.