Grant & Tabitha Maternity

Last week, I was privileged to do a mini-shoot with my wonderful housemates, Grant and Tabs, who are expecting a baby boy any day now (she's due on the Feb 1st). It has been really fun to be with them on this journey towards parenthood and we are super excited to meet baby Xander.

When we first met Grant and Tabby, we were amazed at how quickly we connected with them and how easily it was to go deep. They are so open and real and we have loved connecting with these guys on all kinds of topics. They both carry maturity and wisdom beyond their years and each have their own unique sense of humour that always makes us laugh. They have been such great house-mates and we love how much they dote on Sophie, stopping in the hallway to make her giggle, letting her play with some of Xander's toys in their room, and just enjoying who she is. We just know they will be such fun parents and hopefully lifelong friends. Love you guys!

Newborn Squared

Today, I'm enjoying the rain and taking an editing day to catch up on recent shoots. It's nice and cosy, I've had my cup of tea, John is making a fire, and I'm settling in to enjoy the dreariness outside that oddly enough warms my heart.

Here is a sneak peek on the newborn twin photo session I did last week. Absolutely adorable babies:

A Gaia Wedding

I was super privileged to photograph this wedding last November at the Gaia Hotel, in Anderson. Despite the super rainy and dreary day that pretty much turned all our well-laid plans upside down, this wedding was too much fun! Gina and Matt definitely know how to throw a party.

The rain meant that the ceremony got moved inside, and we had to strategically place all the pictures so that the entire bridal party wouldn't get completely soaked, but the day continued smoothly with lots of laughs along the way. As John and I spent the day with the groom and bride, respectively, we learnt a lot about this sweet couple. What great friends they were. How they both made each other better people. How great Matt was with his soon-to-be step-son.

Their vows were sweet and funny, and had everyone crying, even me! The unity sand involved Matt, Gina and her two kids and was beautiful to see. The reception was a lot of fun with a lot of dancing.

All in all, we had a fantastic day and it was so great to see such a great pair of people commit their lives to each other. It was such a privilege for us to be there.

The Help + Sneak Peek

I've watched The Help a couple of times and the second time I saw it, this scene just stayed in my head:



I've found myself saying that to myself at random throughout my day and seeing how powerful it can be to speak something positive over myself. It can be easy for me to let my insecurities dictate who I feel like I am, and for some reason, these three little statements counter those insecurities pretty well.

I've also changed it a few times to fit what I need in that moment. This afternoon, at my first newborn photo shoot (with twins!!!), I started feeling nervous and overwhelmed. In my head, I just said, "Be confident". And for some reason, that made all the difference and I started feeling relaxed and, surprisingly enough, confident! Later on, I thought to myself, "Hey, that was like that thing she did in The Help. I should have said "You is confident!"

"You is kind, you is smart, you is important." I think I want to start saying something like that to Sophie every day.

On another note, I'm busy editing, editing, editing from the wedding back in November and here's a sneak peak (this wedding was tons of fun!):

New Year's Resolutions/Hopes

My New Year's Resolutions:

- get pregnant! Yep, we're trying for a second little one.
- continue to work towards healthier eating and becoming 85% vegan. It's hard. Cheese is in my blood.
- leave behind negativity in my life. It's something I've been working on for a few years now and am needing to see another facet of it be dealt with. I want to be a positive person!
- go to Switzerland and England. I really need to go visit my Swiss family and I would like to visit friends in England. We just got $800 of United vouchers yesterday so we're hoping we can use that plus miles to go to Europe sometime.

My hope this year is that my photography business continues to expand. We would love it if John's work hours could decrease as I pick up more work and then we can both be super involved in raising Sophie. He's a bit jealous of all the time I get with her! ;) I also would love, love, love to book ten weddings for 2012.

And just because I always must post a pic, here's my sweet baby and I in our new Chucks (well, her's are fakes, but still so cute!):