We went on a hunt for a praying mantis that I had seen earlier in the prairie during the maternity shoot I did today. We did not find it, but Elijah and I are now planning an entire habitat now for a praying mantis and hope to catch one soon. Either way, a good time.

I have the most beautiful baby in the world. She really is, I just adore her. She is such a bright part of my life, how did I get so lucky? And we live in utopia. Really, I think we are some of the luckiest people in the world. This is our front yard-filled with sunflowers and vegetables. Our front yard. I don’t know, I just feel like I really lucked out in this life. Not just where I live (Boulder is good), but my children, our friends, my husband, my ability to take photos that people like…I got really lucky this time round’. Hope I can keep up the good karma.

Words can not even describe how special the bond between these three babies are. I was so busy photographing them, but could still tell how connected they are, and it is clear in this picture.  And I just have to say this, but I am sure it is obvious- big (as in bigger) brother is going to kick some serious butt in the future if anyone messes with his sisters. I just love them! The girls (right) are twins, and brother is obviously not identical – he is twice the size:) More photos to come!

Also, to my photographer friends-can you believe we got THREE 5 month old babies to sleep naked for us? AND we were able to cover all their little baby parts? I took some pull back shots and will post them too in the next few days.

Just one for tonight as I am  headed off to bed-Adam has been out of town and we JUST night-weened Amelia. So, no fun for mama. It means no sleeping. Ironically, the first night he was gone she………big build up……….SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT.  I couldn’t believe it. I still woke up three times for Elijah and 3 more times just on my own out of habit, but Amelia slept from 8:30pm until 6:30am. This is unheard of. Ridiculous. I am not sure why on earth I thought she would do this two nights in a row. I was sorely-sorely disappointed last night when she woke up for long stretches of time multiple times. Advice for you with new babies-never expect anything to go well with sleep. Just be pleasantly surprised if it does.

Owen is such a doll! He was so sweet during our entire session. He looked at me a like he had  no idea what this crazy lady was doing, but he would roll with it. It was so much fun. There were so many great ones to choose from it was hard to choose for the blog post. Mom brought a really cute truck for him to ride on. We also had several outfit changes, but the ones that ended up being MY favorites were the ones of him with no shirt and the stripe-idy pants. Oh, and that hat. So cute and it really brings out his gorgeous eyes! At the end we let him smash a cupcake for his one year birthday. I think he is even cuter with the cupcake on his face, what do you think? Happy birthday Owen!

p.s today is my Amelia’s birthday. 1 year old! my baby is 1! A year ago today I was giving birth to her. I am so glad that we got through this year. I am not gonna lie-she was not the easiest baby. SO colickey the first 6 months. But we got through it, and now she is this bright, beautiful, shining, happy, fun little girl that I look forward to knowing more and more everyday. I love you Amelia!

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My good friend Kim recently wrote this blog post on what it means to have photos of yourself with your little ones. It just really hit home for me. I always think I look awful in photos, that my skin looks bad, I look fat, I am making a weird face. I only want to look in photographs like I do when I look in the mirror when I get ready to go out at night. But that is not reality. And, one day I am going to wonder why I did not think I was smoke’n hot the whole time I was this young. I really need to appreciate myself better. And besides, my kids are NOT going to care what I looked like in photos when they grow up. They are going to be thinking, “wow, mom was so young!” and “she clearly loved us so much.” So, I need to get more of my friends to take photos of me with the babies-it is so, so important to me. Here are a few that Kim did for me the other day at Amelia’s 1 year birthday party. Aren’t they so sweet? I love them! Thank you Kim! Oh, and isn’t that naked pic at the end the best? I love it! I will be doing a big blog post with my own photos from the party soon, so keep a lookout:)

Beautiful Cale Palmer. I don’t think they make new born babies any cuter than this. Isn’t he just perfect? I was scheduled to do my friend, Danielle’s maternity photos yesterday afternoon. When I called her in the morning and she did not pick up, I had a feeling she may have already had the baby. I got a call later from the hospital, Cale had arrived!

Danielle was AWESOME. She did a totally natural birth in the hospital. For those of you that have read my daughter’s birth story, you know that if I had been in the hospital instead of at home I would have had an epidural FOR SURE. I am not going to lie to all of you soon-to-be mommies that read my blog. Childbirth is painful. But, just like Danielle, both of my births went super fast and there were no complications. So even if it did hurt a ton, it was over before I knew it. But Danielle-that is amazing. When I told my husband that Danielle had actually done a natural birth in the hospital, he said in his MOST sarcastic voice:  “Wow, a woman actually breathing through the pain, what a concept.”

Men. I can’t tell you how much that comment pissed me off. Just bc he has been with me through two natural homebirths, does not mean that he has ANY idea of the kind of pain we feel when giving birth. He made it sound like it was not such a big deal, that women have been giving birth with no meds for thousands of years, so it is not a huge feat when you are offered drugs during the most painful experience of your life, and don’t take them. Ooooh, don’t you just want to shake them upside down sometimes? Danielle-I give you permission to hit Adam next time you see him:)

Anyways, I just love taking brand-new baby photos in the hospital. They are just so new and fresh-even just a few days makes a huge difference. If you are interested in having photos done right after the birth, please contact me. I have a mini package where I come to the hospital for 15-30 minutes and get some of these wonderful, brand-new photos.

I have just been sitting here thinking about how busy I have been, and I have not had a shoot now in two days and I am feeling really sad about it! Once I start shooting every day, I get into such a groove and I LOVE it SO MUCH! It becomes the highlight of my day. I just love meeting new babies and seeing the ones I have photographed in the past all grown up. I love3 finding those unique expressions that are true only to that one child. I just have the best job! I know I am going to curse ever writing that since my super busy season is about to start (everyone will be booking sessions here in a week or two for their Christmas cards and presents). For now, I should just learn to settle down and enjoy the space. But, my new office manager, Kellie, is rock’n it and things are going really smoothly now, so I am ready to take on more. I have Amelia’s 1 year birthday party tomorrow (a year went by way to fast!) and then am shooting twice this weekend, so that will have to do!  My cell phone just isn’t working like it should, so please call my other office line if you need to get in touch with me or if you have tried to leave me a message in the last week- 303-443-1834.

xoxo

stacey

And bc no post is complete without photos…

Beautiful Mia. We did not have the happiest evening of her life, but she sure was a little trooper as we set her down in different places and thought up all sorts of ways to get her to smile. She is teething right now, and I think that, combined with it being close to bedtime, just made her a little  upset that we were photographing her. But I don’t think you can tell by the photos. We had mama walk away, and then…walk back! Yes, it was that exciting and got us some giggles from Mia. Mama goes away, and…..she’s back! Big smile every time. She was also just like my Amelia, who is turning ONE next week by the way, where she got VERY happy when she found a stray piece of clothing-and immediately put it right over her head. And yes, that is pure happiness to an almost-one-year-old. I still love every single one of her photos. Even if she was not super happy, she was super sweet. But, my favorite is the last one, where she is just SO tired she can’t stand it anymore.  At what age do they stop rubbing their eyes with the backs of the hands when they are tired? My five year old does not do that. So I am glad I captured that, because that is definitely part of her babyhood. Don’t worry that she was teething, mom and dad, you are going to love every photo! Oh, and don’t you love those two long hairs sticking out in the second one? Priceless.

I have known Avery since she was just a newborn. She is so big now! I also took her 6 month photos, which are to this day some of my favorites. Those eyes are just huge! I just love seeing babies grow. Every time I do another shoot I get so excited to see how big they have gotten and how their little personalities have developed. Avery is just a sweet, calm, but ACTIVE little girl. We mostly just chased her around while she explored. Don’t you just love those two top teeth?  So cute! Can’t wait to see her again in 6 months!