Rainy Boulder day. I am working on a super secret project at the moment. Well, it is not totally a secret, but I want to wait until I am *almost* done with it to make an announcement. I have heard it is important to contain the energy about something you are excited about so that it holds it’s power. Yes, I live in Boulder. Yes, I went to Naropa. Yes, I believe in harnessing the power of excitement. This is about one year of ideas and brainstorming in the making, and I am glad I got a rainy day to work on it!

One photo of beautiful baby Patrick for now, more to come!

xoxo stacey

Well, baby is probably already here, as this is a shoot from over a month ago. I am still plugging away and getting a ton of photos up on the blog! It does not help that Amelia now has a stomach bug-poor baby. I was up all night with her. You know those nights-where you are just rocking them, rubbing their backs, and doing what you can to get a little water into them. And the laundry! It was never ending before, but now, forget it, we are going to be behind on laundry for a week. She seems so much better right now, though. I am thinking this was just a 12 hour bug. Thinking? Maybe the right word is hoping.

We had a great weekend though. We went to the air show in Longmont, we watch Goonies in the Park with the kids (north Boulder has outdoor movies every weekend), we bbqed, as always, played outside, and Adam got his tattoo finished (finally after two years!). It was a great weekend and the weather was perfect.

Anyways, loved these gorgeous maternity photos and wanted to be sure to post a few. Here are a couple of photos I posted right after the session. Love all of Lily’s personality!

I love this family. This was my second time photographing them, and they are all so sweet with each other. A perfect family, really. Well, at least what I get to see of them at the portrait session! This is one of those shoots from two months ago in San Francisco, that I have still not gotten around to blogging because I am behind. But I did want to share these, because I love them. Look at those first two! They are both just oozing sweetness. The flower, the teddy bear. Come on. And they have the best dad, I love that one of him picking up Cole and taking him away. A good end to a great session. This family actually ends up doing two mini photography sessions with me every year. I think mom likes the ability to have her kids fresh for each one, and she can have different locations and different looks and lots of clothing changes for everyone. It works out really well. Check out the awesome photo of Kylie in front of the Golden Gate Bridge last year. One of my favorite photographs of all time. And then you can see their other two sessions here and here.

I won’t be back in San Francisco until next year. I am thinking of doing some sessions in Chicago, I just have not had time to plan anything at all. Seems like the summer is just flying by. I have to plan a trip to TN to see my family, so if you know of any families in the Nashville area that might want photos please forward my info along to them. It would be fun to do something there. Of course, my parents live literally in the middle of no where, on 30 acres by a lake. It is so beautiful there, but there are no families for me to photograph. Anyways, more tomorrow!

xoxo stacey

I wish I would have gotten a better photo of my husband’s face while holding this baby. He is SO in love with all the babies that come to visit us, and yet says he does not want another. He is the kind of guy that goos and gagas over babies. He loves to hold them, and make funny noises and faces at them, and he does not hold back nor is he embarrassed at all-he just simply is so good with little ones and adores them and they love him right back. He would probably hate that I posted this photo of him because he has a double chin in it, but I am not worried because Adam never looks at my blog.

This is Ms. Stacy Ziegler’s new little baby. You can see some of his birth photos here. He is already 2 months old! Time has just flown by. It was nice to catch up with you last week, Stacy.

We had a great father’s day! We went camping up in the mountains above Boulder. It was Elijah’s first time and he was so animated and excited about everything-especially the fire. He tended to the fire all night and all morning. We cooked, sang songs, played-it was awesome. Then we came home and had a really relaxing day-and even looked at a house we want to buy. Yes, we are *hoping* to buy a new home, but we want one that is big enough and that is  in our cohousing community in Boulder to come up for sale, and nothing is at the moment. But, there is one person considering selling, so we looked at it. I know, it is totally premature to announce this yet. I am just soooo tired of living in a small townhome that does not have any storage, whatsoever, nor does it have the simple spaces like a front hall closet, or a pantry. The storage space in the new house would be bigger than my office is at the moment. I am sure we would be fine staying here, but now I am just constantly daydreaming of what I would do if I had an actual closet that held shoes and jackets. Or even a place for a mop and broom.  We have no idea what this new house would cost though, so it might be totally unrealistic. We shall see and I will be sure to update.

xoxo stacey

Such a beautiful little newborn baby. I first photographed him on the darkest, gloomiest Boulder day yet this year, but somehow (because he is gorgeous) I still got really great photos. Since his parents live close, I stopped by a week later to take a few outdoor photos. So the first four photos were done at 2 weeks, and the last two photos were at 3 weeks. Look at how much more awake and aware he is at three weeks! I honestly love photos of awake newborns just as much if not more as the sleepy, squishy ones. The problem is, when a newborn baby is awake, their arms are flailing all over the place, their eyes are often crossed, usually one eye is closed or half closed, and those type of photographs do make you feel as cozy and warm and blissful as the ones where they are all curled up on their bellies and sleeping soundly. But Luke was so calm while he was awake, and it was easy to get him to look at the camera, which is unusual for a newborn.

Happy Father’s day to all! I am happily spending the weekend camping with my family in the mountains above Boulder. Hope you all have a beautiful day!

xoxo stacey

Look at that sweet smile! I photographed Matthew a year ago when he was just a newborn baby. You can see his newborn photos here. Wasn’t he just so beautiful and tiny? I love those photos of him. And now he is a big one year old, walking around. Dad just got a dslr so has been photographing him with the flash on a lot.  So every time I clicked the camera he winced a little. I had to be fast.  But even that face was so cute! This was a couple months ago now, I think, as I am super behind with blogging. But, their big canvas just came in yesterday and it is so gorgeous! I love seeing what images people pick as their favorites to display in their homes. They picked the second photo below, which I love, too. Great seeing you guys again! You are a beautiful family and I loved seeing how big Matthew is now.

So, today things are pretty mellow. We were supposed to go camping, but I think that is canceled now due to issues at Adam’s work. For those of you that don’t know, he is a behavior analyst. Basically, he creates behavior plans for child and adults with autism and developmental disabilities.  It is so great (most of the time) to have a co-parent that is a behavior analyst. It means that our children’s behaviors are always very manageable and easy to correct. I mean, I was not sleeping at all-for two years. And within one day, Adam got Amelia to go to sleep by herself in bed. Yes, we now just place her in bed, and shut the door. She sings for awhile to herself, and then falls asleep. How the heck did he do that? I have been complaining for forever about the major sleep issues I have with her. Life is good.

Hope everyone enjoys the beautiful Boulder weather this weekend!

xoxo stacey

Expect me to be posting a ton of newborn photography in the next few weeks. It seems like everyone in the Boulder area had a new baby last month! What was going on like 10 months ago that I don’t know about? This is newborn Trea, pronounced like Tree-a, which I think is so pretty, simple, and unique for a little girl. I heard a program on NPR a few years ago that said that girls tend to excel more often on average when they have unique names, but boys tend to be less successful in life when they have unique names. There were other factors, too, like if the name was phonetically easy to pronounce, or if the name sounded too foreign, etc… I guess it is good, then, that we named our son Elijah, rather then what we gave him for his middle name, which is Sirius, and I think a little to far out there for people. Though, if you live in Boulder Colorado then it would probably seem pretty normal anyways.

This is such a beautiful little family. They live up in the mountains above Golden, in a great mountain home. I personally could never live there. Coming from Illinois, it just really freaks me out driving in the mountains. I was so nervous getting to their house, and it was summer. Imagine how I am when it is winter, or even if it is just raining. To be honest, I hate driving at night too. I also just don’t like driving period. So I stay home a lot. Which is fine, because other than photography sessions I don’t really have to get out that much.

But anyways, they were young and sweet and all totally in love with each other. I love shooting families like that. Well, the young part doesn’t matter. But they were just so happy and calm and in love with little Trea, who was also so happy and calm. Mom had a really great birth, too-a lot like my own. You can read my full birth story here and also see the gorgeous professional photos from Amelia’s birth, or even watch the video. Yeah, I put it all out there on my blog (don’t worry, it is all tasteful and beautiful).

Dad runs an awesome bluegrass festival in Portland if you want to check it out, www.stringsummit.com. They have the sweetest life. Dad gets to do exactly what he wants and stays home with the newborn until festival time, mom is a first grade teacher, they live up in the mountains in Golden in a beautiful home. Life is good.

Well, technically Amelia is not a newborn. She was born 6 weeks early, spent some time in the NICU, but is home now and doing so well. We did her newborn photos around the time of her actual due date, so she is the *size* of a newborn, though she has been here much longer. She is such a sweet little trooper! Imagine going through all that? Mama is so strong, too. She went into labor not too long after I did her maternity photography. But now Amelia is doing well and is home with mom and dad. Her photo session was perfect too, the photos of her were all so beautiful. It was hard to choose which images to show on the blog, but here are a few favorites. Don’t you love her name, too?  I am a bit biased, as I named my baby Amelia as well. But I do just love those old lady names that are classic but a little different. Amelia, Azalea, Adaline, Eva, Emma, etc…

So, the weather here in Boulder is so beautiful this week! I could not be happier. It reminds me of being on vacation-only missing the salty smell of the ocean. My Amelia and Elijah are doing better (see my last crazy post). Amelia’s two year molars are coming in, though, so it is not the easiest of times with her. Especially after just weening her. I had to break down and pump yesterday-my breasts were about to explode. I could literally feel the skin stretching because they were so full. I do NOT want to see what they are going to look like in a few months here. But still, a small price to pay for getting to breastfeed my daughter for almost two years.  Am I sharing way too much information here? Oh well.  I figure if I talk about it to my mom clients on a shoot, why not declare it to the whole world, right? Either way, I am turning some heads with my new double d’s.

I am working on father’s day plans today. Adam has been the best with the baby lately that I want to make it really great. So, we are going to go camping for the first time in 8 years this weekend. I think both kids will do fabulously, but we shall see. I will take some great photos to post next week. Then, the kids have made him cards and crafts, and we will make him a big breakfast Sunday morning, then I scheduled him a deep tissue massage for the afternoon. I also made him an appointment to get his tatoo filled in more with color (He has a huge dragon on his arm). Then, a nice dinner. Sounds perfect, right?

xoxo stacey

That’s all I have to say right now-she’s mine. Had a wonderful weekend (well, not really). Photographed some sweet newborns. Got some really awesome newborn photography props-cocoons, hats, a hommock. Bbqed a lot. Stayed up late with first a sick baby, then a sick 6 year old. Spent a total of 8 hours staring off into space while my baby screamed in my face. Nothing could comfort her. Oh, well-occasionally Dora. Yes, I am actually in the middle of a fight with my husband at the moment because I let both of my sick children watch Dora while sick. Did I mention Adam was gone most of that time and they were SICK? You really gotta do what you gotta do. If he were here all day with a screaming baby, and tried to walk her in the sling, bounce her in the sling, sing to her, read books to her, talk to her, tell made up stories about wonderful magic lands to her-he would also either try 1) to pawn her off, or b) put on freaking Dora. It just is what it is.

Last night, I swear, I went a little crazy. I spent TWO HOURS trying to put Amelia down for her nap.  Then, I got in my car to drive that little baby around to get her calm. Well. Adam drove my car last, and guess what? As soon as we got onto 28th street, the car stalled. Why? Adam left me on WAY below E. So we finally got back home, with yes, my still screaming baby, and I am done. That is more like DONE.

So, we had arranged for our wonderful neighbors to take the kids for our date night. And I am super fried by this time. You moms know exactly what I mean. Baby crying and screaming and fussy all day, with no help, and nothing that you can do to make them feel better. So, Adam was a half hour late. And in that half hour he became the devil. I kid you not. I had thoughts about screaming at him as long as Amelia had screamed at me. In his ear. (I weened Amelia 5 days ago, so the disclaimer here is that I *might* be a little hormonal and emotional at the moment).

Somehow, I managed to pull it together. I put on my pretty purple dress and swanky heels, actually brushed my hair and put on make up, and was ready to grab his arm as soon as he came in the door.

But, *just* as we were about to leave, Elijah started saying he had a headache. Sigh. Thermometer. 101.2. Ok, he is six years old, he can get through three hours and just watch a movie at the neighbors with a temp of 101.2.

I am so not that mom. I am the hold-you-til-you-all-well kinda mama. I am the type of mom that wakes up 9 times in the middle of the night when her kids are sick to feel their heads and make sure they are hydrated.

But last night, I was out. that. door.

We had a great dinner at the mexican restaurant in the 29th street mall (love the food but the margaritas are not up to par with a night of I-am-getting-a-break-for-two-hours-from-my-freaking-screaming-baby). Went and saw X-Men (which was awesome. I am a sci fi nerd, for sure). Had a nice walk. Then came home for a night of 103 temperatures and 2 hour sleep intervals. Someone please tell me I deserved those few hours out. I totally did. I did.

So poor Elijah has had a high fever all day. Cold compresses, tylenol, and yes, I did let him him watch Dora. Ok, so here is the real kicker. I had a newborn shoot this morning, so Adam took the kids for four hours. And what did they do the whole time? Watch tv. I kid you not. But, at some point, Adam decided that they should never watch television again. Ever. So, when it was my turn to take them, I read books with them, snuggled, baked a cake with them, made a wonderful dinner of sweet potatoes, peas, steak, pasta with carrots, red peppers, spinach, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, walnuts, and mozzarella cheese. And, after getting up every two minutes, and not being able to eat my OWN meal because Elijah was delirious and so tired and crying, I chose to take him inside and put on a movie so I could EAT. Finally. So now we are fighting because I let my child watch a 20 minute episode of Dora. And now you know the sordid details of my marital drama.

I figure it is totally worth sharing, because it is what is real. If you do not have these kinds of fights-especially when your babies are sick and you are both fried from no sleep and giving nonstop all day, then you are not being honest. This is what is it to be a parent. And to all my newborn clients out there-prepare yourself for those sick days. It is better to know how hard it is than to believe all the people that make it seem like a breeze. The sweet moments outweigh it all, more than a million times over, but believe me, when you are in the thick of it with sick children+no sleep, it is painful. Let’s be real.

xoxo stacey

ps-Adam really is a truly wonderful dad. I weened Amelia on Tuesday morning and he has been putting her to bed and sleeping with her and waking up severeal times a night with her since. He is simply amazing, other than the I-will-let-the-kids-watch-tv-ALL-day-but-it-is-unacceptable-for-YOU-to-fiasco.

I just need to get it out sometimes.

This was SUCH a gorgeous location. We did these at the Japanese gardens in San Francisco (yes, I am posting a lot of the San Fran shoots from a little while back). It was just so peaceful there. The air was so clear and crisp and fresh. I felt so at ease there. I wish I could have had time to just go there and quietly walk around. It is a *little* different to be chasing around a 4 year old. Such a sweet little family. Check out mom’s awesome crafting blog, I love it! Paintcutpaste.com So many wonderful projects to do with kids. I am going to have Elijah scroll through the blog today and pick out his favorites for us to do this summer.

So, I am not going to write a lot today. I am feeling a bit sad. I stopped breastfeeding Amelia on Tuesday morning. I feel really good about the timing of it. She is 21 months and totally ready. She is handling it really well, too. It is still a hard thing, though. Adam says this is our last baby (he wants to adopt a child next). I have not really believed that it is our last baby, I think he will change his mind. But, there is that possibility that I won’t have another, and that my last baby is now a big girl. It is all so bittersweet.

More tomorrow. Hopefully this icky Boulder weather clears up so I can start shooting again!

xoxo stacey

ps, here and here are Novi’s photos from when I was in San Fran a year ago. Love to see her grow!