Oh Boy!

Oh, baby, it's been too long since I cuddled one so brand new as you (7 days old)! And so so long since I photographed such sweetness...

Lucky for me, I have a couple new friends here in Wyoming with BRAND NEW babies and one due next month!



And thanks, Mom, for my new adorable owl hats. I {heart} them!

More of my new little one...

I have had a hard time getting enough time and energy to shoot, edit, and post this new little thing. Here are a few more!

My little burrito. This little blanket was sent to me by a mission companion. I'm in love with the blankets she sends (I have six now because she sends me two every time I have a baby!), and I'm especially in love with this one! I think it is gorgeous. And it's soooo soft! Yum. The edging around it makes me want to learn how to crochet. As soon as my mom gets home from Nepal, I'm going to have her teach me this art.




Little nakey. Not a single accident. What an angel!




My personal favorite of the shoot. :o) Big bows on little heads make me happy. Still burrito-wrapped too. Bright-eyed and beautiful! LOVE THIS LITTLE THING!!!!

Me and Mine

"Princesses. Hah. More like wild animals."
(quote from Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses - my girls obsess over this movie, and it's my favorite of the Barbie movies we have, which is a lot)

My sister-in-law, Auburn, came over this evening to take pictures of me with my three beautiful daughters. It was fun. I guess a young family just has to realize that family pictures from here on out are going to be challenging. At best. :o) Some families pull it off. Not mine. Ha ha. We had fun though.

Thank you Auburn for being willing to take these for me. I know you're only 31 1/2 weeks pregnant and really wanting to be on the floor photographing a crazy bunch of females...so thanks. You're the best! I know my man will love them!

Auburn got to have some fun with my studio. It's too hot to shoot outside these days, so we set up the studio. Studio shooting is actually really fun for me. I love shooting outside too, but not when it's 116 degrees outside.

Here is a look at the action.




You have no idea what we went through to get Alice to sit and smile...




The next picture is actually a miracle. No face-swapping was done on any of these!




When you see the next one, you might have a small clue of what we went through with Miss A. Even Claire was wondering what the heck was going on. Do you love Claire's eyes? Ha ha. I do.








I really love kissing my babies. Perhaps too much...






And after the wild animals went to bed, I took a few of Lanie. The studio is still up, so we might get lucky and have more pictures tomorrow! I've been a slacker on pictures of my own newborn.



This dress was sent to us by my sister, Deb. We LOVE it!



Miss Lanie is 3 weeks old now and we are loving every ounce of her! She is a great sleeper (thank goodness!) and puts up with all kinds of "love" from her sisters. Claire is soft and gentle and Alice is, well, Alice is soft and gentle sometimes. She means well. :o)

Miss Lanie

Welcome, welcome, my new baby girl! Oh how we love her deliciousness! In case you can't tell, her sisters are completely enamored with her.

{front}



{back}



This is her baby announcement. I'd say that's a record for getting in a photo shoot and design within a week of birth. At least for me. :o) Wish I could have sent out more, but hopefully you will enjoy looking at it here!

Jacob Boyd

This little one was the BEST nakie baby EVER. He didn't get the blankets dirty or wet, and he stayed asleep! I almost didn't want to try other poses because he was being so good! Ah, love newborns. Love them. Can't wait to photograph mine in June!

Thanks for the great shoot, Heather!

Maggie's Sneak Peek

I've been slacking on my sneak peeks... I've been a bit out of it lately. I blame the pregnancy, but I think it goes a little deeper. It's hard to tell when you are sick for real or if it's just pregnancy sick. Anyway, I'm grateful for it if it means I get to have another one of these little things! My new baby better watch out. I actually know how to use my camera now (mostly), and it's going to be the most photographed newborn ever of life. All these babies are doing a number on me. I'm finally feeling hungry for the baby. Not the loss of "freedom", if you term it that. It's just gotten so easy to chill with the toddlers. Anyway, this is not about me, this is about Maggie. Let me tell you about Maggie.

My sister, Deb's husband, Dave's medical school roomie's wife is Stephanie. That's a mouthful. Deb and Stephanie have never met, but are good friends through email, blogs, common bond of medical school debt, etc. Debbie was telling me about how Stephanie & her hubby were here in Arizona--having been selected as the adoptive parents of a new little baby, but how their story was so inspiring. They have adopted one other little girl who is three now. They have been selected four times as the adoptive parents, but the birth moms have backed out last minute on two of them. It's amazing how many opportunities the birth mom has to change her mind and the roller coaster that sends the adoptive parents on. Adoption really is a miracle. It's fun to read Stephanie's blog because she is sort of an expert on adoption processes. This time she took it into her own hands and actually went through A LOT to find a birth mom on her own. The process takes so long if you put it in the hands of agencies. Well, Stephanie turned out to be a bit of a fan of Kristi Ellingson Photography, and because I was so inspired by her story, and because they happened to be in Arizona, I was thrilled to get to do some newborn photography for them.

Enjoy. Here is Miss Maggie (I know I stink at narrowing my sneak peeks down lately. Oh well. Eighteen pictures are fun to look at. Which is YOUR favorite?):





The teddy bear is significant. They bought one for the birth mom too, so they can take pictures of her throughout her life to track how much she's grown, and the birth mom can look at the pictures and really be able to visualize how big the baby is. I think that's adorable. I'm sure the birth mom will appreciate that.
























A little sleepy smile for the camera...











Thank you again Mimi for letting me impose in your amazing natural light studio {AKA your living room} and for keeping my girls entertained during the shoot. Sometimes newborn shoots can be long because of feedings, diaper changes, trying to get the cutie to go to sleep, etc. So, I really appreciate Mimi's patience through it all each time. THANK YOU!!!

Beautiful Baby

This is my newest niece. Isn't she beautiful? Eight days old! Some of the shots remind me of my own little A. I'm sort of starting to kind of get baby hungry. It's sort of taking awhile for me to feel that way. But it will come. :o) I love babies, don't get me wrong, but I'm not dying for one yet! Good thing I still have five and a half months! :o)

I can't really call it a sneak "peek", as it is TWENTY-ONE pictures, but hey, who's counting? She was too cute to resist!

Here is Miss E:










Beautiful hat, made for my baby last year by Auntie Lara. So cute. I love having it for newborn shots! I need a boy one for the boys I photograph!












Mom, thanks for making my cocoon. I need a boy one now... I know you are on a mission in Nepal, but still... I need a boy one for all the little baby boys I photograph! :o)





She smiled SO MUCH throughout her shoot. She was asleep the whole time, too! No spit ups, no poops on the blankets, no crying. She was perfect. She must have been having visits from her little angel friends as she fell asleep. The smiles were so fun to capture!















This picture was actually taken AFTER the shoot, while she was just sleeping still in the good light of the living room. She's too perfect, wouldn't you say? I love watching babies sleep. They look so content, like the world really doesn't much matter yet.



If I am ever able to look this good EIGHT days after having a baby, I'll be one happy momma!