While talking to Haley before her’s and Han’s session she told me something along the lines of, “My friends have told me I had better warn you that Hans and I are really gushy and lovey. They’re worried you might think that we’re faking it for the camera.” I am pretty good at spotting what is real and what it fake when it comes to how people are acting, but I thanked her for letting me know and got even more excited for their session. Seriously you guys, Haley and Hans are the cutest, most in love couple, and it’s obvious that they are the real deal. I joined them for one of their favorite morning rituals, walking up to the bakery not too far from their house. There was a moment when Haley went to use the bathroom and Hans looked at me, his face full of love, and said “Isn’t she just the cutest?!” The love is so huge and so real! Then we went back to their home and they made and drank tea together, something they often do. Simple, perfect, them being them.

Spending a couple of hours with them, really got me excited for more of this type of session. A family doesn’t only exist when there are children involved. Capturing love, silly faces, little glances, that’s what this is all about. Every family has all of these moments, whether there are children involved or not.

So here’s my shout out to all of you couples without children. Have your pictures taken together. Get a session done. Plan some time doing the things that you love to do together and have someone capture and show you your moments. You won’t regret it.

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Haley’s response to her slideshow had me in happy tears:

“SHELLEY I AM IN LOVE WITH THESE PHOTOS!!!!! *swoon* Wow you are so talented. I have no idea how you captured that many good ones lol. It just felt like a walk but you captured the treasure. Wow. I'm in tears.”

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**With any of my shorter length sessions I offer 10-15 mins of loosely directed portraits if that is something that a family wants. There are a few pictures in this slideshow that are not purely documentary. The love is real, their reactions are real, but this couple wanted to reenact something they’ve done together every year, so we made that happen for them.

There's quite a bit for me to catch you up on!

At the end of the school year I spent time during nine different days documenting at Milo's school. I have been going through and working on the thousands of photos and I am loving the pictures I made while there. I am so happy that he is at the school he is at, it is such a good fit for our parenting and our family. The slideshow I am sharing below is such a good representation of what a day in his school is like. Watching it has brought happy tears to most of the moms who have seen it. (myself included of course) If you know me, you know that to me that is a success. I love you ladies!

I also recently, had a Day in the Life session, photographed the birth of my nephew, spent a couple of days with my photography mentor the amazing Kirsten Lewis in Denver, photographed two families there, came home and two days later spent Sunday at an all day retreat with the equally amazing Natalie Fuoco of The Designed Life and five other inspiring women, and then last night I met up with another group of inspiring small business owner women at The Spark Collaborative's monthly Happy Hour event.

It has been an inspiring and fulfilling few weeks!

I think now it might be time to plan to go camping, head to the beach with Milo, and maybe visit our friends while they vacation in North Carolina. 

Milo recently turned five. FIVE! I love seeing how he changes as he gets older, how much he surprises us with the things he understands and says. We are in awe of how imaginative, strong, loving, and funny he is. We are those parents who can't believe how cool we think our kid is. But I’ll be honest, five is a BIG KID number and it kind of made me miss my baby a bit. My little guy I wore everywhere and nursed for years the one who wouldn’t sleep unless he was touching me and who totally tried to say I love you back one time when he wasn’t even talking yet. I found myself crying and sad and having so many feelings I didn’t quite know what to do with them.

On the eve of Milo’s birthday, after making his cakes, both blueberry and chocolate, and wrapping his presents, I went up to bed feeling a bit melancholy. Thinking I would watch a show or read a book to take my mind off of how I was feeling, I got into bed. Tim was still downstairs, so I was alone in our room. I ended up just sitting there for a bit, in the spot where five years before I was in labor, where I was at the beginning of my biggest dream coming true (and the beginning of the pain, I’m still real about it). I am a sappy human, if you know me, you know. So I was there, feeling all the feelings.

Every night Milo goes to sleep in his own bed, but ends up crawling into bed with us somewhere between 12am and 4am. It’s something Tim and I welcome him doing for as long as he wants to. He comes into our room all slowly, eyes barely open, if at all, and often grinning. I usually hoist him over my body and he curls up between us and falls right back to sleep. I found myself wishing that Milo were already in bed with me, but it was too early and I didn’t want to go get him and wake him. Plus I do like a little time to myself where he isn't cuddling me so closely you'd swear he was trying to crawl back into my body. At the very moment I was thinking about how much I’d love for him to be there, in he came, earlier than he ever does. He came in in his usual fashion, slowly and sweetly, but instead of wanting me to pick him up and put him in bed next to me, he crawled up and into my lap and fell right back to sleep. It was like he KNEW, he FELT it too. The universe knew exactly what I needed and delivered. It's hard for me to even express how this felt. Exactly five years from the time he was preparing to leave my body and join me and Tim, he sensed what I was feeling, or maybe in his sleep he was feeling the same, I don't know. Whatever the reason, however it happened, he knew. I held my baby, my almost five year old baby for the longest time. I soaked up his smells and basked in the feeling of our connection and how much I love him. Eventually I decided I was ready to go to sleep too and moved him over next to me, but I think otherwise he may have stayed there all night. 

iphone selfie of us on the eve of his birthday. 

The first time I met Marisa I was a very new mom who was struggling greatly with breastfeeding. I was in tears with each and every feeding and I was reaching out everywhere I could think of for help because I was not ready to give up. Marisa saw my message and offered to come over that evening to help me. I remember being in shock. "You will come over now?!" Typing this brings tears to my eyes remembering about my struggle, but also her kindness and willingness to go the extra mile to help another mama. She made me promise not to clean or worry about the house and showed up that evening with her youngest (who is now the her middle daughter) in tow. She sat with me and helped me try and figure out why we might be having such a hard time. I will never forget her kindness and the kinship from a fellow mama I had never met. 

Fast forward almost five years and now I have been privileged enough to spend time with her and her three daughters capturing their moments. My impression of Marisa has always been that she parents with ease and is not easily rattled by her children. There is a calm to being in their house. She takes each moment with them in stride and you can see that she truly enjoys watching them each be and become who they are meant to be. Those are three lucky ladies to have a mama like Marisa.

Marisa, thank you for having me! I hope that I get to capture you and your three daughters as they continue to grow and become the amazing women that I know they will be. I also plan to come back and spend some time with you guys on that amazing property that you have ;) 

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Have you chosen a Christmas gift for your partner yet?

Are you struggling to figure out what you can possibly give to them that shows how much they mean to you?

I have the answer for you.

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Show them the beauty of your everyday life with a Moments of Motherhood or Day in the Life session.

Do you often find yourself running out on Christmas Eve, braving the cold and the crowds to try and figure out something your partner will love, only to end up buying something just for the sake of having something to give them? From the comfort of your couch, you can get them the gift that they will cherish forever. The gift that will show them that you really are paying attention, that you see and value all that they are to your family. 

This is a session that is easy, fun, enjoyable. Your session involves no posing, no planning, and the results are heirloom photographs that your family will love and look back on for generations. 

Not only will your partner love this, but this is the gift that keeps on giving because when your kids are grown they will have these pictures to look back on and reminisce about what their childhood felt like, the love, the laughs, the cool couch that is now considered vintage. They are going to love looking back and remembering with these photographs.

Get your partner in the picture. So often mom is the one taking the pictures and there are almost no family pictures that include her. Book her a Moments of Motherhood or a Day in the Life Session today and let her see how much she is valued, how much she is adored, how much all the little moments add up to the beauty that is her everyday.

Give her the gift of seeing herself and your love for her in your family pictures. 

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To make it even easier for you, on top of you not having to leave the couch, I have put together an all inclusive, limited time holiday package that includes:

-two hours documentation in your home or on location

-AND the high resolution digital files

SOLD OUT!

 

Quantities are limited. Sessions must be booked for January or February of 2018. Valid for weekday sessions only.

Available for purchase through December 31, 2017 or until the limited number of sessions are sold out. 

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Tim and I tried to get pregnant for three years. One day Tim was about to take the dogs for a walk. I was sitting on the porch. When he called Lucy down to the walk so they could leave, she glued herself to my legs and refused to leave me. When Tim came up on the porch and tried again to get her to go with him, she basically tried to crawl behind me. Tim immediately said to me "Maybe you're pregnant?!" After three years of negative tests, I said no way. But he was right, Lucy knew it before any of us, and about a week later I finally got my positive test. And for the next nine months Lucy did not leave my side. These are my two babies. I'm so happy to have captured their love, a love that started when Milo was basically a glimmer in our eye, just the size of a little lentil, a lentil that Tim and I didn't even know existed yet.