To be honest, I thought I had my work cut out for me when their mother told me that she wanted a photo of the girls together smiling. They were SO easy to photograph – they followed directions perfectly (even the 4 year  old!).  They liked being silly, which made me very happy. Mom and Dad got into the action easily too! This family trekked through the woods, walked up the rapids and spashed around Lake Superior happily.

At the end each of the girls gave me a present – friendship pins, drawings and a Loonie. All of these things now have a special place in my office.

Thank you Tina and Mike for a wonderful session! You have a gorgeous, fun family.

Trisha it was nice to see you again and I’m so happy that Dave could join us this year. You have a beautiful family!

I left this session with a big smile on my face. This is a family that loves to laugh and have fun – I hope their spirit comes across in these captures.

Thank you Caroline, Eric and Gabby – your fun spirit is infectious and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together! Enjoy your sneak peek!

This session was full of imagination and humour – we laughed a lot! Mackenzie spent a good portion of the session being a fairy and Gabe got to pretend to be a handbag (he was happy! Promise!).

Thank you to the G familiy for continuing to have me as your family photographer – I enjoy all of the laughs and unexpected captures! I look forward to our next session in December.

During Andy and Jenn’s maternity session, we talked at length about the fact that Lily was presenting breech. Their original plan was a home water birth – they had talked about this even before they got pregnant. So the possiblity of a c-section (which is often the first and only option given to a mother when she is carrying a breech baby) was quite far from the birth they had envisioned. However, they were very open to whatever the safest options were for the birth. They did a ton of research and spoke with midwives and obstetricians. It turns out that a c-section was not the only option they had (and it wasn’t necessarily the safest). There was a doctor in town who was open to delivering a breech baby vaginally. 

Here is a newspaper article about Lily’s amazing birth:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Giving+birth+natural/2788647/story.html

And here is an interview from CBC with the Dr. who was present:

http://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2010/04/transcript-of-cbc-radio-program-on.html

Following along with their journey has been inspiring. It is important that we question what we are told and be open to carving new paths. It is inspiring to hear of Drs. such as Dr. Posner who are willing to admit they have things to learn and who are open to change. It is exciting to hear that a family’s choice was respected.

As a newborn photographer I hear many wonderful stories of all the different ways that babies can enter the world. I believe that it should be the family’s decision on how that happens. In order to make good decisions we need accurate information, people willing to have open minds and stories like Lily’s to show there are options.

And finally, the sweet Lily and her family:

For her birth, we wanted Sheena to wait! Her parents had a home birth planned and it was not going to be possible if she was born as early as her brother was. Luckily, she waited and she had an amazing enterance into the world surrounded by her parents, her brother and the midwives. If you ever need a smile, ask a 2 year old to describe the birth of his little sister. What a special family this little one has chosen.

Thank you Maya, Graham and Kai for having me over to capture the newest member of your family. I love how relaxed and full of laughs our sessions are! Thank you, Sheena, for being such a good sport. I posted the final capture of our session – where you are clearly saying “phew, that was fun, but I’m beat”.

I love how teensy she looks here…

His parents are also photographers (www.scottleeroberts.com/) - which made this session:

a) Fun because we got to talk shop.

b) Nerve racking because they are  photographers too.

(way more of a) than b))

Miller’s daddy, Scott, and I have talked about blogs for a while. He likes the ones that tell good stories…so over the past two weeks I’ve been trying to concoct a decent true story to go along with this post.

I drive 40 minutes into work each day. Last week I was driving, drinking my coffee and (honestly) working out what I was going to say in this post . Scott got peed on numerous times…there has to be a good story there…. I guess I was focusing WAY too hard because during a sip of coffee I saw flashing lights in my rearview mirror. I quickly glanced down at my speedometer. &*$@*. I’ll spare everyone the details but this blog post will forever be referred to as “the expensive post”.

(and I will be forever greatful to the kind Officer who did not make this post as expensive as it could have been).

Thank you Scott and Nicole for having me over to capture your beautiful family. You guys are so creative, kind, talented, funny and annoyingly photogenic. I always leave your house inspired.

I’m so pleased with what we captured – her excitement about meeting the new baby (or is it eagerness to have it out ?) just shines through these photos. I think she is just gorgeous.

Thanks M for a great session. I think you are an amazing mother and this little one has made a great choice to be yours.

When we first started to discuss plans for the location of this shoot, it didn’t take long for us to decide that an outdoor setting would suit these two. We went to a local cross country ski park – thinking that the trails would be melted due to the the warm weather we are having. We were wrong and we regretted not bringing our gear! The park was beautiful  and we weren’t the only ones thinking that - we had to dodge a number of skiiers during the shoot!

Isn’t she gorgeous? A and J are naturals in front of the camera and with each other. This was such a relaxed, easy going shoot. Thanks so much for the fun afternoon – can’t wait to meet little Lily!

Just wait for the newborn post (coming sometime this month!) These two create beautiful babies!

Thanks for the great evening of photography, I can’t wait to meet your new little one!