Gabby turns 5 today! My baby is really not a baby anymore….

I look at this picture and a flood of emotions overcome me. I could cry. I remember that day (2.1.07) like it was yesterday. The delivery was quick. The doctor handed me my little girl just after this image was captured. She was so warm, so wet, so beautiful. This photo takes me right back to that special moment. I have a lump in my throat.

When I look back at all the photographs Keith has taken of our children – I can easily say that my favorites are of their births. I have documentaries of both our girl’s births that are so beautiful, so thoughtful, so unbelievably special.

I am so fortunate to have such a fabulous husband, my girls have the best dad in the whole world and we all benefit because he also happens to be an amazing photographer.

Thank you Keith. I love you.

I love my kids, but every once in awhile I feel overwhelmed raising them. There are times when I am impatient or tired or think life is challenging. But then I try to put it all in perspective and realize that these frustrating moments are fleeting, just growing pains for Keith and I as parents and Isabella and Gabby as kids.  This is stuff every parent goes through at one time or another. And some parents go through much more.

A recent email reminds me of how lucky we are. These tiny little blips in our family life are so inconsequential to what some family’s grapple with on a daily basis.

A few years ago, Keith arrived at a family portrait session – 3 children and their parents. The kids were just adorable. As he was having fun photographing them – the parents mentioned that their little one, Henry had a debilitating condition called mitochondrial disease. The little guy could not eat solid food – he was fed through a feeding tube. “In his first three years, Henry had 12 surgeries and procedures, dozens of diagnostic exams, over one hundred doctors’ appointments (with over a dozen specialists), hundreds of physical therapy sessions, taken several medicines, and the list goes on.  And, of course, he had (and has) gear.  He has a feeding pump, a nebulizer, feeding tubes and other stuff, an IV pole, bags that depressurize his stomach, a back pack to carry his pump, leg braces, and . . . .  You get the picture.”

That’s about the time Keith took the above photo of Henry.

Since that time, Henry’s older brother has also been diagnosed with the same disease. Yet somehow, the parents have found the strength to start a foundation called Henry’s Hope, adopt another child (2 of Henry’s siblings are adopted), write a book called Three Candles and help other family’s with children that  have life-threatening conditions.

The email was from Henry’s dad – just keeping us up to date on the family and sending us a link to the Three Candles website.

Talk about putting it all into perspective.

A grand adventure is about to begin – Winnie the Pooh

Being pregnant is the beginning of something absolutely new – there is no doubt about it.

This couple is so happy in love and off on their new adventure. I love how in love they are. All the good adjectives you can think of describe them. Fun and Funny, happy and beautiful. I feel the first picture defines this – the trust, the love, the togetherness.

While this gorgeous mom to be has a lovely 10 year old girl (sparkly eyed with strawberry hair and freckles, just adorable) - her new adventure with baby girl #2 has already begun.

It’s funny, ever since I have had my own children I get a certain sense of nostalgia in all sorts of different situations. When we are photographing a wedding and it is time for speeches, I invariably start tearing up when I hear the parents or siblings or best man tell stories about the bride or groom – I think of how that day is going to come when my heart overflows reminiscing about stories from my children’s childhood and how proud I am. Or when we are photographing a family portrait session, I can envision my children running around having a great time having their photograph taken and how important those photos are going to be years from now when the parents look back at them. Or when an engagement session takes place, the couple’s interaction demonstrates their love for one another – the love that may or may not one day lead to them having children but regardless, they are on a beautiful path together. Or the senior portrait session that reminds me in its simplicity of the beauty of youth and how quickly childhood gets away from us as parents.

When I first looked at these pictures – as we were about to start editing, I began thinking about this boy’s mom. How proud she is. That her little boy had grown up to be a self assured young man who loves his dirt bike and loves his skateboard and will happily be attending ASU in a few short months.

And then of course I started thinking about me. That one day, my two little girls are going to graduate from high school and be grown ups. That made me both happy and sad.

When the images were ready, I sent mom a link to the slideshow. I couldn’t help but mention this to her. As we chatted on the phone we discussed what a bittersweet time this must be. As a parent you must be so pleased to have reached this milestone, to have raised a child to be so proud of. You are so happy that they are going off to college and wish them all the success in the world -their amazing future lies before them. But somewhere in your heart there is that little pang of sadness, your little baby is gone forever.

Oh my! I can already feel the pain in my heart! (and I have about 12 years to go….)

Gabby’s birtday party was a few weeks back. She decided that she had to have her party at Arcadia Park in Phoenix. One might wonder how she came to this big decision. Well one day we decided to stop by that park, we had never been there before. She noticed a hot pink T Rex pinata hanging under one of the ramadas. It was then and there that she decided her next birthday party would be at Arcadia Park. Because of her love of dinosaurs – she had made her decision.

Keith brings his camera everywhere. As a mom, it makes me really happy having a children’s portrait photographer as my husband because I have loads and loads of great pictures of my children doing absolutely everything. For this party, he decided to set up a mini photo set to take pictures of all Gabby’s friends. Just one light and a battery pack. The pictures came out great.  A great little thank you for the parents.

This particular picture I thought was just beautiful. This little girl really did not want her picture taken. But with a little coaxing she was kind enough to go along.

Keith seems to have that effect on children – he can always persuade them with the camera and is always able to get a great shot.

When we were asked to do The Live Photo Booth at a 5th birthday party – we knew it would be both fun and full of adorable children. This is just a sampling of the great kids from a super cool birthday party at the Kids Zone in the US Airways Arena last week. In case you couldn’t guess, the theme of the party was basketball and the Phoenix Suns.

The Live Photo Booth is a hit at every event. But there is something so adorable about a photo booth at a child’s birthday party. After all, our photo booth originated at a 3rd birthday party many, many years ago. We were invited to a friend’s birthday party – so Keith decided to bring a backdrop, some lights and a camera. He set up a very simple photo booth and the kids just LOVED it. The Live Photo Booth was born.

Wow – this is one amazing little girl. Seriously, there is not one picture that she didn’t nail. She was just so at ease during the portrait session – smiling and exuding happiness. An absolute pleasure.

I love that she picked out her own outfit. A fluffy red tutu paired with a Hello Kitty tshirt – adorable! (Hard to imagine, but I think Hello Kitty just celebrated her 40th birthday! Yikes I’m getting old.) Oh and she picked out mom’s beautiful fuschia dress. A great choice.

This is what makes family portraits so special – the story behind the portrait session. When the parents look back at these pictures, they will remember that story – how their little girl chose the clothing for herself and her mom. How cool is mom that she went along with her daughter’s choice? I love that!

Her choice was fun and bright. Just like her personality!

Unfortunately, Keith and I do not escape as often as we should to photography galleries and exhibits. But when we do, we really enjoy ourselves. It usually takes an occasion to tear us away (during the day) from our work. What better occasion than Keith’s birthday to head on over to the Phoenix Art Museum and check out the Brett Weston (Edward Weston‘s son) and Sonya Noskowiak exhibition?

We tend to use most of our babysitting chits with the grandmoms for our working weekend schedules. As everyone knows, wedding (and portrait) photographers generally work on weekends – wedding photographers usually part of the day and part of the night. So needless to say, date nights are few and far between on weekends.

So dates sometimes have to happen during the day.

Lunch and a museum visit – can be oh so romantic!

If you happen to be headed to The Phoenix Art Museum, don’t miss this exhibit.

These twin 4 years olds are just beyond cute. Such sweeties with matching personalities.

It is funny when you start chatting with families and you realize how much you have in common. Luckily the twins were cooperative because after the family portrait session, the adults were able to chat at length about their mutual love for the Virgin Islands, both the US and BVI. Funny how paths cross. The conversation about the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke and the surly customs officers  in St. John (I don’t get it, how can you be surly when you are surrounded by paradise?) brought me right back to one of the most special places in this hemisphere.

Keith and I fell in love a long time ago with that area of the world. We loved it so much that we were married on St John surrounded by 65 of our closest family and friends. We have made several trips to that tiny little island in the BVI, Jost Van Dyke. Any one who has ever been there (painkiller, anyone?) knows how easy it is for your mind to think for a minute about staying there forever.

As wedding photographers, we have also had the good fortune of being hired to photograph destination weddings on the islands. Keith and I often let that crazy thought of relocating to paradise cloud our heads. We think about setting up shop as a photographer in Cruz Bay (I can envision it now) – and then reality sets in. Where would the kids go to school? Could I live on an island? What happens if someone gets sick? What about the grandparents?

I’ll stop dreaming, I guess that’s what vacations are for!

While we are sharing family photographs here’s a few more.

Isabella had her really good friend from school over for a play date – boy do these two enjoy each other!  Lots of laughs, playing, just being kids. It is so refreshing to see children enjoying themselves – I don’t think there is anything better than the laughter of children.

Look at Gabby in the background blowing bubbles – she is so cute!

It is always handy having a children’s portrait photographer as a dad, I must say. Our children’s childhood has been very well documented. I have a huge smile on my face when I look back at all the amazing photos we have. My next personal project is going to to design and print an album per year. Since no one has a house that can display all the great images we have, I have decided to learn our album design software and put together albums for the past several years. I will share my finished project – year by year. I think I’ll begin with 2010 and work my way backwards.

Don’t worry grandmas, you’ll get a copy of each and every one!