This past weekend, I had the chance to photograph another of my Mother’s Day Photo contest babies…this little gal was the #1 winner of my contest! She is photo #3 here. It was so fun meeting you guys and little ‘Poop’…she is a doll!

I can honestly say that these are some of my absolute favorite clients. Baby Lucienne was one of my very first sessions in my photography career…I photographed her as a newborn and as a 6 month old. I was blessed to photograph her again yesterday, at 14 months old. She keeps getting more and more beautiful, and is the sweetest, smartest little girl ever. She can speak French, I kid you not!

Dino and Ronne, thank you SO much for coming to me again and trusting me with your precious little girl’s photos. I love all of you and hope you enjoy your sneak peek! I’ll get the rest of them finished up this week for you. :)

Last weekend, I finally got to shoot my brother in law and his family! I’ll keep this short and sweet…hope you guys like them! Love you! :)

She’s here!!

My condensed birth story: I had been having 5-6 contractions an hour all day long Tuesday. By 6pm-ish, they were getting to the point where they were pretty regular, but still 7-8 minutes apart. They quickly progressed and by 7:30ish, they were coming every 2-3mins. I drove myself to the hospital at this point (my husband stayed home to get the kids into bed, and to see if this was actually it or a false alarm).

The contractions continued at the hospital. They monitored me for about an hour and I was about 3cm. My doctor came in and broke my water at about 10. It was a whirlwind from there. I went in and sat down on the toilet because my stomach was upset, and honestly, it felt better to sit there. I was amazed (and slightly concerned) with how quickly these were becoming unbearably painful. I’ve never had a super fast labor before so I really didn’t know what to think. I sat my hiney on the toilet for about half an hour. I had let my doctor know that I wanted an epidural…been there done that with the natural childbirth thing and had no desire to experience it again. He came and knocked on the bathroom door about 10:30 and asked if I was okay (I was slightly embarrassed), so I drug my IV pole and all of my attachments (and very much in pain body) back into the room.

My husband was on his way so I asked if he could wait to do the epidural until he got there. He literally walked in a minute later, so my doctor put the epidural in. I was concerned because it didn’t seem to be working for some reason. I could feel everything on the left side of my body. My doctor had me roll to that side to see if it would help. Instead of getting better, the pain was exponentially intensifying, and suddenly, I felt that pressure down there. I freaked out…I was in shock…it couldn’t happen this quickly!

Before I knew it, I literally felt her head…I screamed for them to get back in there because her head was coming out! Sure enough, she was ready to be born. Not 30mins after exiting the bathroom (lol), Octavia Susan was born, kicking, screaming, and feisty. She made her grand appearance at 10:58pm, Tuesday, June 23rd. Weight…6lbs10oz, and length…18.7″. Apgars of 9/9. We’re home now and trying to rest up as much as possible…she’s healthy and beautiful.

Lots of photos to share…I’ve been having a little too much fun. Who could resist with a perfect sweet girl to available to take shots of whenever I want?

Her hospital pics…

And some I’ve taken at home. This is too much fun! I just love this little girl *so* much…we are so blessed!

For all of my ILP buddies, my first attempt at ‘the pose’…haha! Since receiving the invaluable advice to have baby ASLEEP while doing this (and not trying to eat Dad’s hand), I’ve had much more success. See the above shots. =P

She must really love her Daddy! All of these shots, so much potential for disaster, and no accidents!

Her first little smile…NOT gas!

Kissy Lips!

Eyes wide open…

Proof that a 1 week old baby CAN smile! She was wide awake!

Mommy & Octavia (it’s rare that I get on the other side of the camera)