I decided rather than trying to keep up with peeks after each session I can just do a weekly update with the peeks I want to post and a little about my crazy life. With 6 kids, carpools, and a busy studio I thought it might be more fun to keep you all up on what is going on in my life in general, rather than just the pics 🙂 Not to worry I’ll keep it short and sweet! Enjoy my week at a glance…

It has been a crazy, but fun week. I hit my max of three newborns this week. I try not to take more than 2-3 newborns a week so I can devote all of my energy to the ones I have.The week started with a couple new to the Charlotte area, an FBI agent and his beautiful wife. They were in a few weeks earlier for maternity portraits and their son decided to come early. Too cute for words and a great sleeper 🙂 Take a peek at Cannon

The next little sweet pea was a baby I have been looking forward to meeting for a few weeks now. Her name is Faith, and oh is she sweet! We did lots of feeding, but managed to capture a ton of great shots. You may remember her mama who was in  a few months ago, we had a great time together creating some fun images 🙂 Take a peek at baby Faith…

Between all the newborns I also had the opportunity to work with a beautiful little girl who just turned one! I have not seen Isabel for 6 months and she has grown so much:) She was a joy to work with again this time.

My last newborn of the week is an NFL baby. Daddy is a running back out for injury right now. Mom is from here, so they have come here to be close to family. They are both as sweet at could be and they and their little boy were a joy to work with. Meet Brody…

My week finished out with a weekend away from the camera, minus the couple of snapshots I took at the game. We took a trip to my husbands alma-mater, WVU for a great football game against Cincinnati. WVU came out strong and kicked butt! That was a lot of fun for me, but more importantly, my husband hasn’t been to a home game in over 12 years! It was good that they won. The weather was 70* to boot! Can’t beat that for a great weekend. We had the chance to see a few friends and family there too. Glad to be home and looking forward to catching up on all of my editing and getting ready for Thanksgiving. I get to watch my daughter Savannah’s preschool Thanksgiving performance on Friday and eat some Turkey roll ups with Jack on Monday. Fun Fun 🙂

One last note, I also had a chance to photograph my kiddos this week for my Christmas pictures. I have not had a chance to edit them, but I did get a couple of fun ones in between the “official” Christmas card photo! Sweet Savannah also finally got her 4 year pics taken in between all of this!

This little 9 pounder came in yesterday and was insistent that he stay awake and see what we were up to 🙂 9 pounds sounds quite big for a newborn, but he still looks awful small in mommy’s hands! What a sweetie pie! Take a peek…

Well I seem to get all the beautiful, photogenic moms-to-be in the studio. I guess all woman are just extra beautiful when they are waiting on God’s greatest blessing, a child! Patsy brought with her many sweet ideas and helped stir the creative juices. We had a great session and came out of it with some amazing images! Best yet, baby’s name is Faith, so we got to play with that a bit too 🙂 Take  a peek!

I had a monkey and an angel this week! Sweet little Grace came in with her Halloween costume (as well as many more adorable clothes 🙂 and mom and dad just get the biggest kick out of her in her monkey suit so we of course had to photograph that! She is getting big so fast, seems like we just did her newborns:) Take a peek!

Little Sophia came in too and and isn’t she a little angel. I did her grandma’s maternity pics a year or so ago, and now sweet Sophia is here! Mom loved the pom pom hat and the angel wings so we had some fun with them! Here are her peeks….

And take a look at these lashes, Im so jealous!

I have been photographing this sweet family for a couple of years now. They are so much fun and their kids are just gorgeous! Here are the peeks!

Remember this sweet couple that was out for their maternity images a couple months ago?? Well sweet Elliott came a week late and to a very tiny mama! At just over 9 pounds, unfortunately mom ended up with a c-section. He is just absolutely perfect and sweet though, so worth the wait and surgery 🙂 Mom is doing great, better than most c-section moms I see! We had a fun session trying to get this very alert little boy to go to sleep, but once he was down we got a ton of great stuff! Here are his sneak peeks…

Enjoy

I met an amazing family this past spring. They came to me with very sad news, that their sweet little girl was diagnosed with anencephaly. A birth defect that would inevitably take her life. I watched this beautiful family go through something that most of us cannot even begin to imagine with such grace and peace. God truly does work in miraculous ways. I was able to capture some fun memories in a maternity session with their sweet son Jadon.

Skylar Tianna was due on my dad’s birthday, August 4th. I had plans to go to California for his 60th this year, and was sure that little Skylar would come early. When she did not arrive before I left I just prayed that she would wait for me to get back. She waited, and I was blessed to share the short but wonderful life she had here on earth. The hospital was full of family and many others just there to support this sweet family.

Skylar was born on August 7th and weighed 5lbs 14oz. She was with us for about an hour and 45 minutes. She was loved completely by her lovely mother Shannon and sweet daddy Mike, and greeted with love a kisses by her big brother Jadon. He brought me to tears with his precious smiles and his sweet comments “she’s so pretty mommy”. She was just beautiful and I can’t imagine God being more pleased with the way this family handled an overwhelming situation.

So many people I talk to as a Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep photographer and coordinator tell me how when faced with a diagnosis like this that often doctors do not give families an option to carry to term. They are often told the only thing to do is terminate the pregnancy. While some feel that would be the easy way out, I think even though it is hard to go through, these families that wait on God and carry their babies until it is His time for them to go, they will never have to question themselves. They have the great opportunity to spend whatever time God gives them with their child, even if it ends before birth.

Mike and Shannon lived in the moment and took it all in as they held, and loved their sweet daughter Skylar for the time they had. When asked, they said if given the chance they would not have done it differently. They have been given a great gift and they honored that gift by bringing her into the world to meet their whole family and to show her how much they truly loved her.

Instead of tears, there were smiles on this day. Skylar brought joy. What a little fighter 🙂 She brought love and peace into a sorrowful situation. I will remember her always and love her family for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of her life. Her memorial is Sunday, this is a slideshow I put together to share. Tears are inevitable so be prepared.

I was given this bit of information from a wonderful organization called Be Not Afraid, here in Charlotte, on a study that was done about parents who carry to term in a situation like this.

Isn’t continuing the pregnancy harmful to the mother’s mental health?

In an era of evidence-based medicine, it’s important to note that there is no research to support the presumption that terminating the pregnancy is easier on the mother psychologically. In fact, research to date suggests the opposite. Research suggests that women who terminate for fetal anomalies experience grief as intense as that of parents experiencing a spontaneous death of a baby (Zeanah 1993) and that aborting a baby with birth defects can be a “traumatic event … which entails the risk of severe and complicated grieving.” (Kersting 2004) One long-term study found that “a substantial number … showed pathological scores for post-traumatic stress.” (Korenromp et al, 2005) And a recent followup study found that 14 months after the termination, nearly 17 percent of women were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety or depression. (Kersting 2009) Termination is not a shortcut through grief. In contrast, parental responses to perinatal hospice are “overwhelmingly positive” (Calhoun & Hoeldtke 2000), and parents report being emotionally and spiritually prepared for their infant’s death and feeling “a sense of gratitude and peace surrounding the brief life of their child” (Sumner 2001).

What about the mother’s physical health?

Many life-limiting conditions in the baby do not pose any greater physical risk to you than the normal risks of pregnancy. It’s important to note that abortion also carries physical risks, which increase as a pregnancy progresses. The mortality risks of abortion after 21 weeks are slightly greater than the normal risks of pregnancy and childbirth. (Bartlett et al 2004, CDC) If there are possible maternal health effects related to the baby’s condition, physicians are trained to watch for complications and treat them if they do arise. It is rare for a pregnancy to pose a direct threat to a woman’s life. In those cases, maternal-fetal medicine specialists are trained to try to save both patients. If a threat to the mother is so severe that the baby must be delivered too prematurely to survive, the mother can receive urgent medical care while the baby can still be provided with comfort and treated with respect. In small studies of mothers who continued their pregnancies with babies who had lethal conditions, there were no maternal physical complications. (Calhoun et al 2003, D’Almeida et al 2006)

Here are some cuties from my sessions in California this summer. I did a party as well as my beautiful niece and nephews. We had fun at the park. I even did a pet session with the most beautiful Golden retriever ever, Mr Dru Thomas. It was so nice to be at home in Cali, the weather was 70*-74* and no humidity, what a treat! It was so nice to go outside there, unlike the suffocating heat and humidity we have been experiencing here in the Charlotte area 🙂 I still love it here, just have to love it from my air conditioned house 🙂

Here are some of the fun images I captures along with some of my kiddos at my dad’s 60th bday party.

Enjoy!!!

Phoebe

Jake

Nathan

My beautiful sister Devon…

Mr Dru…

My kiddos…

My crazy Family!

This beautiful couple came in to have a fun, unposed as much as possible session. Mom is from Venezuela and is just gorgeous, as well as a total natural in front of the camera. She was just so comfortable in her own skin and was just a very sexy pregnant woman. Her hubby and her look so in love in there images! We had so much fun, cant wait to show them! Take a peek…

Well I have been quite busy with so many new summer babies on there way. I have worked with so many great mommies to be, and am so excited to photograph there new little ones in the next couple of weeks! Are these mommies just glowing? I do suggest if you are looking to do maternity photos, here are some tips… Try to schedule your session some time between 32 and 35 weeks. You want to look pregnant, but not be uncomfortable 🙂 Also, be sure to call at least 2-3 weeks before you’d like to schedule as the calendar has been quite full at Images by Faith this summer. Well here is the peek of the mommies I’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the past few weeks.