Growing #2

It feels so different this time around. Growing life. Unexplainable really. I just feel like hibernating. Hibernating and growing this baby boy. Feel like any outing is a big deal, feel like I'm not really wanting to share many moments. Feel greedy with my time with Maisie. With our family of 3 plus Frank. Feel like I just want to cuddle up in our big cozy bed with my little family and just snuggle.... for days. Feel like all the time I have... is reserved for people who come with only love. Good intentions. Good hearts. I'm all about good hearts. In fact, I'm more about good hearts than anything else. Negativity sticks to pregnant girls like those little burrs that stick themselves onto your clothes unannounced in the woods. So, as much as possible I seem to be self preserving and avoiding the burrs. Essentially, I'm hiding out at home. It also has a lot to do with being close to my bath tub, which I swear I live in while pregnant. Our hydro bill is through the roof. But, it's just so cozy. Turning down perfectly awesome get togethers... Hibernating. There are times in my life when knowing a deep inner peace comes easily to me... and times when my skin is perhaps just a little too thin and needs a bit more armour to protect the peace. That is apparently, now.

I had the immense pleasure last weekend of photographing one of my favorite families in the snow, on their gorgeous little farm near my house. The snow was falling and I was OVERCOME with the complete magic of it all, and of their shoot... so much so, that I got in my car to leave, and texted my girl Shannon to see if she would photograph our little growing family in the snow. I just couldn't resist. (Around here snow usually lasts about 2 minutes before it turns to slush, so I knew our time was fleeting). Being the extra awesomely spontaneous gal that she is, she agreed. In fact her text read something like "Sure! Why not! Can do anything!!! Happiest elf!!!" Now... to convince Bryce. He walked in the door with Maisie and I gently proposed my idea... he paused and replied "sounds great". (He's a smart guy). We had nothing ready, were all battling colds, threw ourselves together... and ran out the door. Our shoot took about 30 minutes and I can't even stand how much I love them. I feel like they totally reflect how I feel right now. Who we are right now, and the snow, just melts me. (along with the extra bouncy and wild 2.5 year old). I love that if I hadn't done that amazing family photo shoot, I may not have been inspired to do more... I may never have texted Shannon at the exact right time for her to say yes, and we may never have these snowy maternity photos in the woods... as the snow was literally gone and turned to slush the very next day. "It is astonishing how short a time it can take for very wonderful things to happen". Truly. It is. I hope your Christmas and holidays were bright, merry, beautiful and full of a little hibernation too. Here we are, full of us. In a moment of snow and peace.

***So grateful for my wild friend Shannon who puts up with me bossing her into different locations and positions and asking her to 'leave more room behind' or "can you crop it more like this"... I must be soooo annoying! Thank you so much for putting up with me!!!! xooxoox I'm truly your photo slave for life! You are patient, kind and totally amazing. We love you. THANK YOU. OUR FAMILY IS SO GRATEFUL!!!****

What to expect.

What can you expect when you're expecting another member of an already wonderful family? You can expect your family to be more than it was before. You can expect your ability to love to somehow expand. To stretch. You can expect a sore body but a quiet excitement bubbling within your already beautiful family. You can expect the connections shared within your family to branch out and become more beautiful than they already were. You will anticipate someone special, but not know them yet... which makes the eventual meeting that much sweeter. I love this family, growing another beautiful soul... Looking forward to meeting the new addition, when he arrives. xo This beautiful bunch look familiar?? They come all the way from Port Alberni to see me every time, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be such a big part of preserving their family history, and memories. Here they are expecting Blake... and when he arrived.

Maternal Musings

The thing I love about a maternity session with a first time momma, is that everything is unknown. That feeling that you want to control things, but you can't. You don't. You want to know when the baby will come, what the baby will look like, whose eyes? lips? You are praying for a healthy baby, a good birth. You are afraid of the unknown and terrified of not being good enough. You are expecting the worst, the best... the most. You have no idea what is about to happen. You are uncomfortable, like, seriously uncomfortable. You have gone through so much growing this baby and you have no idea, that the best really is yet to come. Or at least, that is how I was.

What I love about maternity sessions is that through the photos, you are transported outside of your own discomfort and fear, and are somewhere on the outside, looking in at the most glorious parts. The way you grew that baby. The way your body grew the eyes you are yet to know, the feet that will touch the earth, the hands that will draw all over your bathtub with crayons, the mouth that will say the whole alphabet at 21 months. The way you didn't know how to grow vital organs, but you did it anyways. The way you did your very best, even when you were convinced that you weren't.

The thing I love about a maternity session is that it is true love, struggle, devotion and unconditional love... celebrated. All you ladies growing people... You go girls. You grow those babies, you eat that chocolate, you cry, you laugh, you pee 25 times a night, you online shop, you cut your hair, you get a pedicure, and you celebrate you. Because you are awesome. Growing people is no small matter, and YOU should be celebrated.

maggie eagle

beautiful belly

maggie and bridget

whole family

Bridget

bw

off into the distance

Can't wait to share Bridget and Jeremy's beautiful baby photos {check back on Monday}. Their New Years baby Ben, has already arrived. {and he is INCREDIBLE} for now... here is their maternity session with their gorgeous Newfoundland pup Maggie. xo

Seriously Shannon!!!

Seriously? I love these images. How gorgeous is Shannon? This session has been booked for ages, and it wasn't until recently that we realized we were in the same prenatal yoga class. I had such an amazing time creating these images... I feel so fortunate to meet such amazing people. To photograph such milestones in peoples lives, and to get to convey the beauty I see in everything. I know for sure, being pregnant... you don't exactly feel glamorous and pretty all the time (or most of the time), and I can't tell you how much I love being able to show expectant mothers how gorgeous they really are. Shannon, you my dear... are radiant! Perfect.

Memory Lane

Having been shooting photos happily all day in 2007 at Lindsay and Peter's wedding, I was tired. I walked over to where Bryce was standing, and laid my head on his chest, like I had been doing it every day for years. Except, I hadn't. I snapped out of it... and we just stared at each other and laughed... Peter nudging me, "yup, sparks are flying". I felt like everyone one was on to us, although neither of us seemed to have caught on yet.

Bryce and I have known each other since forever. High school sweethearts if you will. Somewhat like magnets we have always been drawn to each other. We had both been following our own paths, him chasing after an amazing hockey career, myself somewhat of a pirate sailing the globe as a photographer with Princess Cruises. Both being raised in Campbell River, we always wound up in the same circles. So it was no surprise that a few years ago at Lindsay and Peter's Campbell River wedding we were again found at the same place at the same time. This time was different however, neither of us were leaving again. Both single. We had both decided to stay put in our home town, at the same time. Sometimes timing really is everything.

In any case Peter's premonition on his wedding day was right, and here Bryce and I are with a house, a puppy and building a studio/suite in the back yard. Life is wild like that.

As for Lindsay and Peter, having known them both for so long, and watching them become the warm and loving couple that they are, I was honored to not only photograph their wedding and family photos, but also their maternity photos. Here are a few of my favorites from their session. The light was beautiful, their dog Mackenzie HILARIOUS, and watching them through my lens, couldn't help but smile.

Here is one of my favorites from their wedding a few years ago. The happy couple and I, Look at them now!! Love them all wrapped up here Beautiful people in a Beautiful British Columbia Love this one of Lindsay Their dog Mackenzie was truly hysterical, popping in and out of the photos whenever he felt like it! Can't wait to meet the little one, so very soon! Love you guys!