…at pretty much all of their images tonight. (Totally dig "Supermom" up there!)

The beautiful Miss Emmeline was welcomed to her loving family in the warmth and comfort of her own home this evening. There’s something so incredibly magical about sneaking out to my car in the dark of night, looking up to see the lights still on in their bedroom, knowing that there’s a new life in there, and the rest of the world is sound asleep…totally unaware of the miracle that just took place.

Dying to just edit ALL of pics from her session right NOW. Seriously. This is hard for me.

There’s just something extra special about getting the honor of photographing friends…dear friends. Laura’s eldest was (is?) my eldest’s first love since they met in preschool a couple of years ago. Through that relationship, our own friendship grew into an easy understanding, a love of all things artistic, and sharing in the joys (and challenges) of motherhood. 

When my business was just getting off the ground, I found myself very overwhelmed with it all and struggling to enjoy being a mom. I would watch how Laura embraced motherhood with such poise…like it was her extreme honor to be granted such a job (hence, exhibits A & B above – grace under pressure). I used to tease her and call her Supermom and really, it’s true. I don’t think she knows this (well, now she does) but she is my living example of the kind of mom I try to be with my kids: involved, creative, nurturing, and willing to do whatever it takes to encourage her children to thrive. She’s been such a source of support (ie. letting us leave a Brett Dennen concert in the middle of his set because I was hurling in the lovely bar bathrooms thanks to morning sickness) and understanding (ie. following my escape that night, she didn’t laugh once as I sped us to Wendy’s where I proceeded to order and devour two cheeseburgers before she had even gotten 1/2 way through her own). She’s a great listener.  She has a knack for keeping things calm. Her family just glows with love and peace and it was my extreme pleasure to get to spend a few hours trying to capture that on camera.

And just like the troubles I had when trying to narrow down the images from their session, I’m finding it difficult not to blog them all right now. So, here ya go–the whole enchilada: 

I’ve been itching for a while now to try something a bit more edgy, different, more hip for babies and kids. Tonight I had a willing model ;-) and we gave it a go. LOTS of possibilities here for a *very* different and unique kind of children’s portraiture.

The baby. The colors. The light. The entire family. The entire evening.  All of it. Striking.

The boys ate my birthday chocolates today. Dad made them write me apology letters. The letters made me cry.  At least they were writing. :-( More homeschool updates here.

The October Xpressions Sessions are officially booked up.  If you’d like to be put on a waiting list if we decide to do more this year, please let me know.

…are when I can be just as much of a kid as the kid. Miss A…you’ve got great sassitude and it was wonderful to play with you tonight!

P.S. I have *one* opening left for the October 4th Xpressions sessions!!

P.P.S. You guys left more than 150 comments on the blog yesterday!  Wow!  I know I had pledged $0.50/comment, but let’s go ahead and bump it up to $1/per.  Thanks so much for helping me support Texas CASA yesterday and of course, for all of the well wishes.

…eggs benedict ready for me in the morning.

…flowers gathered from the yard by sweaty, tawny-haired little boys.

…handmade gifts proudly hidden for a week.

…a whole box of my favorite chocolates happily shared.

…a card from the princess that made me cry.

…anticipation of a birthday cake to be made this afternoon.

…a loving husband who put all of this together while juggling so many other things.

…looking forward to dinner with my sis on her birthday this week.

…realizing my mother has been at this for 31 years.

…another year closer to 40.

…being totally okay with that.

…feeling grateful for these 31 years.

…happy on my birthday.

*************

You know what? I feel like giving a gift today. I pledge $0.50 per comment on ANY of my blog posts today to Texas CASA.  Pass it on!

A quick note to let you know I have just a couple of openings left for the October 4th Xpressions Sessions in Austin.  There are also some spaces left for the December Xpressions in D.C. and Richmond. If you’ve been thinking about it, you’ll definitely want to snag one before it’s too late.  I’m making an exception for the D.C. and Richmond Xpressions: I will do them for families of up to 5…you’ll just need to pay for additional people.  Please contact me if you want to talk more.  If you’ve already booked, I’ll be in touch with you soon to finalize all of the details.

How do you like this pic my hubby snapped of me and the girl at the Wildflower Center?