Ok, so like I said, if I don’t post every day or almost every day then it probably means I am in the hospital, which I was, and just got out and am fine and lovely and all is good so no need to worry. It was just a side effect of a medication I was on for my old evil witch disease (Crohn’s), and so I am not going to take that med anymore.

The best part, though, of coming home from the hospital, is how enthralled and in love my children are with me and I with them. To work out some of the unconscious worries of mommy being in the hospital again, we made a full out hospital room.

We got one of those tall, stand up fans (as the IV stand) a spatula taped to the top of the fan as the bag of fluids holder. A Ziploc bag filled with dirt as my water and potassium fluids. A piece of dental floss to connect the bag to the spatula,  Then we taped a zillion straws together to be the tubing that went into my arm, and a piece of tape to hold it in place. There. Mama is all better. Tomorrow Dr. Elijah will be patient Elijah and I will take care of him.

He was so sweet, he even massaged my feet with lotion and wrapped them in saran wrap (long story, another side effect from that awful medication).

So right now I am sleeping in my own bed with my two sweet babies and am happy and content and feeling better.

If you have called or emailed me in the last week, now you know why I have not responded. But will try to catch up quickly (but not too quickly) in the next week.

xoxo stacey

ps. how gorgeous is this mother and her sweet little newborn Mary Claire?  And how sweet and chubby is that little baby girl? As always, I will post more when I get some time but here is one of the photos from the mother’s maternity portrait session, which I will, too, post more photos of soon:)

Meet newborn Indira. She is one of my best friend’s new baby. First baby. She tried so many times to get pregnant, and had such a difficult and sad time, and we were sure that she would adopt, which we were happy and excited about, but now look! She has created the most beautiful baby on earth with no help from the doctors.

I am so, so happy for her. And obviously this little girl is an old soul. I need to photograph most newborns asleep because when they are awake they look off, one eye half closed, arms flailing. But not Indira. She is a calm, buddha baby. My Elijah was a buddha baby, too, and is now so thoughtful and present (expect when he is incessantly whining).

I just went to my friend’s house for a few minutes to take some photos.  But I am now in love. And have caught the baby fever.  Again. It seems like EVERYONE around me is getting pregnant by accident. I love that.

xoxo stacey

Sometimes it just feels good to cry, you know? I was trying to explain that to Amelia yesterday.  But she did not understand. That was expected since I knew I was talking to a two year old, but I still tried. And this is why.  I have been on my own with the kids for a week as Adam is at a conference in Seattle. It really has been great. I have been not working much, and just hanging out with the kids.

BUT-Amelia got the stomach flu. And if you are a parent you know that the stomach flu is the hardest illness to go through with a child because there is nothing you can do to help them so YOU feel horrible and helpless, too, but also you get NO sleep at all bc you are rocking and comforting a small child while constantly being thrown up on and trying to get loads of loads of laundry in.

A friend of Elijah’s took him for the afternoon to the Boulder Creek Festival and it was going to be just “mommy and Amelia time.” And she wants me to sew her up some pink pillows and blankets so we went first to Safeway so I could get money from the bank there and pick up some much needed groceries and then go to the craft store.

Well, halfway through shopping I hear a cry from the cart (I was off in the milk area), and I went back to check in on her and Amelia held out her two little hands and they were full of spagetti. The spagetti she had eaten earlier that afternoon. What a good girl! She made it all nice and neat so I started to run the shopping cart over to the produce isle to get a platsic baggie to start cleaning up and then she just got sick all over the place.

I then ran the cart to the customer service department and sincerely mumbled my apologies to the lady there that had a really astonished look on her face and then we BOOKED it out of there.

We were *almost* home and that is when I realized a wasp was stuck behind my glasses. I realized this because the wasp stung me, while driving, and I almost got into another accident (I totalled my car about a month ago).

I was keeping it all together though. I had it handled. I am a tough mama.

So, three blocks from our home I see blinking lights behind me and I am GETTING PULLED OVER. For speeding. And yes, I was speeding. I had a throwing up child half naked in my backseat and I had just gotten stuck by a wasp.

As the police office came to the car I made a point to shake out Amelia’s spagetti-filled shirt out the window so he could see. Then I told him my little sob story. But I could not locate my lisence or my insurance card (brought the wrong wallet, of course).

So, instead of letting me get my sick child back to the house which was within viewing distance, he took his pretty little time in his police car doing whatever they do that takes so long when they pull you over.

After 15 minutes of Amelia screaming because she was hot and sick and just wanted to go home and get OUT of that carseat, I finally went around to the other side of the car and took her out and just rocked her.

The police officer finally came up to me, gave me a ticket for no insurance (which I won’t have to pay because ireally DO have insurance), and told me that he could have ticketed me for a ton of things but decided to give me a break.

And I don’t know why, but I just started crying. I guess it was bc I was grateful to him. But I think it was more bc I was so overwhlemed by everything and it just felt so good to cry.

And that is why I was trying to explain to Amelia that sometimes it just feels good to cry.

Tonight is another night where crying just feels good. I have to figure out how to teach her that while at the same time teaching her by example how to really be in touch with my strength as a woman.

These are the important moments as a parent.

So, I really HAD to get that out. Just like I had to cry tonight, because it just feels good to get it all out sometimes.

Anyways, I wrote all that and you read it so I am going to post a photo for you as a thank you.

More tomorrow when our nanny comes back and I asked her if she would come early so I could sleep in and she said ‘yes!”

I am going to miss just spending the day with the kids now that our nanny is back, but sleeping in is like gold to a parent with a child that has the stomach flu.

xoxo stacey

ps, “just one” turned into “just three” as I pulled up fthese photos from a new disk to my computer from that session the other night. I liked these-they were sweet. But the photos of her three other children are my favorites, I will post those soon, too.

pps. It is now 5:30am and having our nanny come in early so I could sleep in was futile-I told her 7am and amelia woke up bright and shiny (and loud) at 5am.

…i am putting up a few photos from Sammy’s birth of him breastfeeding for the first time, which (to me) is one of the most beautiful things to witness (next to the actual birth itself).

I am a huge breastfeeding advocate, for the many obvious reasons, and was fortunate enough to be able to breastfeed both of mine until they were two years old. Amelia, almost three now, still likes to sneak into my shirt and find a nipple and try to squeeze the milk out. Is this was too much information to share with my clients? Maybe so. Hopefully the dads don’t read this blog.

That is it for tonight, I am going to get some well earned rest. I spent the day just hanging out with my kids, it was so nice to not worry about business and just chill in the backyard with them, sidewalk chalking, treerope swinging, and sandbox water tunnel making. A relaxing day, for sure. Then I spent all evening working on photos, so a perfect end to a perfect day.

xoxo stacey

ps, I will post more of newborn Sammy’s birth photos soon! Just wanted to get a couple photos up tonight…

pps, I always “go” to my own blog and read the post and look at the photos right after I publish it to make sure it looks ok. And I do have to say what you are probably thinking right now-that is one big breast on my computer screen:)

pps,I meant because the photo is so large on the screen, I was NOT commenting on the size of the breast itself, like you were.

I know, this is a super heavy photo post. I am up at 1:30am, that is not too late, editing photos, after just getting back from visiting my dear friend, Kim, and her family and doing a little portrait session at this gorgeous location she found in Englewood.

Of course, I DID bring my two little ones, and the first two photos are of them. How freaking sweet are they? I LOVE them. I brought along another Kim, who is mentoring with me and helping out, and I was teaching on shooting into the sun. And Elijah and Amelia just love to ham it up, so we could not help but get photos of them, too.

Ok, so I have not posted newborn Sammy’s birth photos yet, but will soon. They are really grainy bc he was born at night and in the hospital, and I do NOT use flash, especially at a birth (what birthing mother would tolerate THAT?). So, I just need Kim to run the photos through her spiffy little noise program and then I will put them up on the blog.

So Sam is now 13 days old, and apparently he does NOT like to be photographed. He was just not a happy newborn tonight. But, what we got was sweet, and I still love all the photos, even when he is crying. He can do what he wants.

The last set of photos is of me. Me, me. Kim took photos and video while I was shooting and hanging out with all the little ones. So, this is just a behind the scenes peak.  Can not wait to show you all what the video is for! It is going to be fabulous.

Ok, off to bed at a decent hour tonight.After having the best day just chilling out with my own kids, not working, then spending time doing what I love (being a photographer), I can really rest well tonight. It was a good day.

xoxo stacey

I just wanted to get something up tonight-I just got back from photographing a birth-being a birth photographer is really the best job in the world. I actually charge way less than I would a normal session for photographing births simply because I LOVE to do them. I became a birth doula at age 21 just for that reason and now that my first passion is photography and my second passion is babies (well, my first passion is MY babies, and then other people’s babies and then photography).

Anyways, beautiful baby Sammy was born tonight at 8:17pm, the birth photos are amazing and I can not wait to post them! One for tonight-I will post the color photos from baby A’s session tomorrow-I am on my laptop so the black and white is all I have right now-and no watermark or anything.  Just happy to get a photo up, any photo, just for tonight. Especially a newborn one. I love this baby, she is close to my heart. Love those eyes! Isn’t she gorgeous? True, she is over 6 months old now, I have a million photos to post from before I took my medical leave, so I WILL be able to post photos every day now. Off to bed now!

xoxo stacey

ps, check back tomorrow and let me know if you like my black and white photography better or my color better. I *really* want to know. Do I have the talent for black and white photography? I like to think that people are attracted to the colors in my photos, but just had a client who told me she preferred black and white photography, so I did all the photos in both color and b&w, and so now I am wondering. So leave a freaking comment already! I got over 500 unique visitors to my blog the other day, so I KNOW you are reading this. So tomorrow, i expect some comments.

The best, easiest, most-likely-to-please mother’s day gift you could ever imagine giving your wife who gave unbearably painful birth to your child(ren) and who dedicates her life to making a beautiful family life for you and them is now being handed to you. Handed right over to you in a really simple and easy way.

You guys may not follow my blog, but if you are reading this post-then it means your wife probably does. And SHE knows that my husband forgets every event-bc I write about it EVERY time it happens. My husband does NOT follow my blog, and I guess that is a good thing.

So, do the most simple, most meaningful thing for your wife this mother’s day and give her the thing she wants most-beautiful, real, breathtaking photos of your little ones. What is the one thing you would make sure to take in a fire after grabbing the kids and the pets? Photos. That is really the only thing that is priceless to a mother.

And I have to tell you a few things, bc I have been doing this a long time and I KNOW how much dads just love getting dressed up in their stiffest Sunday clothes and painfully smiling on cue to the camera while they pinch their kids from behind to do the same.

That is NOT me. We pick a beautiful outdoor location, like Chautauqua or Wonderland Lake, and we walk around, and just have fun talking, running, throwing babies up in the air (and catching them too), playing one-two-three swing, blowing bubbles. NOT smiling at the camera but instead laying a blanket in the field and reading your little one a book, or giving him fits of giggles with raspberries on his belly or tickles in place of the mechanical, frozen family portraits.

In fact, I hate the word portrait. I only use it sometimes because I want people looking for family portraits to find my site on google. Otherwise, I would NOT call my photos portraits EVER. They are more like real, spontaneous capturings of who your child is in this moment of time. But nobody ever googles ”spontaneous-capturings-of-who-my-child-is-in-this-moment-of-time-photographer,” so instead I fake-use the word “portrait” every now and then and people can find me.

When I send your wife the info on how to prepare, I will say things like “DON’T wear your sunday best. I love jeans and a good t shirt. Dress real. You want to remember who you guys were back when, right? Not who you wanted everyone to think you were.

I love the photos of my mother snuggling me as a baby in her cute 70′s bootie shorts and hippie tank top. Not the one where she is wearing a dress suit with shoulder pads (what WAS that fad all about anyways?) with a black backdrop behind us, and yes, she is pinching me to smile at the camera. Which one do you think is framed in my home?

Bottom line: a family photography session with me is painless, and could actually (gasp) be fun and enjoyable. And if you STILL doubt me, then just suck it up and do it for your wife. Because she is a great mother. And it is mother’s day.

So, I have two options:

Option 1: A mini photography session. I will either email you a gift card to print out yourself, and you can place it in a card of your choosing, OR you can pick up (in south Boulder) a beautifully wrapped gift card. This spring’s mini sessions ($195) include a 20-30 minute session with me, 10-15 beautifully edited images in an online gallery, 1 mounted 11×14, and 2 mounted 5×7 prints. No additional purchases required.

Option 2: A full custom session which I am offering at 20% off for Mother’s day, I will tailor a very special 1 to 2 hour custom photo shoot for you and your family. The $200 session fee which is actually $160 at 20% off gets you 35-45 beautifully edited images in an online gallery, and an in-home proofing session with my amazing sales manager Reg, who looks like Angelina Jolie (yeah, I am REALLY pulling the out sales tactics for the daddies here now). She shows you samples of prints, canvases, albums, etc… and helps you order from her ipad. Bc dads love Ipads. It’s true. There is a $400 minimum purchase requirement IF you love the photos, which you will, because I actually do create really beautiful photos of you and your children.

Again, you have the option of having a printed gift card for the full session or picking up a beautifully wrapped gift card. I am not trying to overuse the word “beautifully” here, it is just happening, bc it is late (2am), and I am late in posting my mother’s day mini sessions.

So, email me at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or call me at 720-310-0336 or 720-345-4674 and I will get the gift card to you asap so you can a) stop worrying about what to get for your wife for mother’s day. Bc she made it super easy for you (as I do for MY husband) by forwarding you this email or b) so you can take back whatever lame kitchen item you got her and get her something she will love forever. Can you believe for christmas one year my husband got me a dart board and an electric blanket? He did. It is true. Sad, but true. A dart board. A dart board. And I was pregnant with his second child, which makes it even worse.

I DO limit my mini sessions to 25, and they DO get filled up pretty quickly. This is actually NOT a sales tactic, but is really true, so if you want the mini versus the full be sure to email or call me today. The full sessions are limitless, and can be used any time.

The fine print:

*Mini sessions must be booked and held before July 1st, 2012.

*All mini sessions are held at Wonderland Lake in North Boulder. Bc it is gorgeous there and it is easy for me to get perfect, beautiful photos there in a short period of time. Or Martin Park, bc it is also beautiful and you can see the flatirons from there, and it is south Boulder versus north Boulder and the drive makes a difference for some babies.

*If you are doing maternity or newborn photos, these must be done in my home studio if it is a mini session. If it is a full session, I come to YOUR home so it is a bit easier on mom. If you live in south Boulder I will make an exception and do a mini maternity or newborn session at your home.

*All session fees are non refundable and must be paid in full to reserve your date.

*extra prints and digital negatives can be purchased separately.

*mini sessions have limited availability (25 is my limit)Anything more than that just makes my family and I crazy. In fact, 25 is really kind of on the verge of crazy.

xoxo stacey

If you are wondering….the workshop I led this weekend was FABULOUS! It went much better than I expected. I am still a bit sick, so that was a challenge,  so there were a few things I forgot to bring and a few things I will change, but overall I feel like the participants walked away with a TON of info to digest and the product companies are going to walk away with THE most amazing photos.

Let me tell you about a photography workshop. Basically, it is you and 6-12 other really amazing or amazing but-just-starting-out photographers that get together for a week or a weekend and focus on ONE topic. This topic happened to be baby and child and maternity lifestyle photography. Which is a very specific niche of family photography that I LOVE to do. Just LOVE. Not only do I get to capture the beautiful, quirky expression that your child makes right now that you may one day forget, but I get to use that expression to sell products that I believe in. Do I believe in wearing your baby? Yes, I think it is one of the most important things you can do for your baby (if you can, otherwise, some good laying down, belly-to-belly-time works, too).

So, I only work with products I believe in, because I want that company’s customer base to see in my photography just what I see-warmth, love, nurturing, bonding, fun, etc… I mean, I photograph all sorts of baby products, from pants and dresses to teethers and strollers. I probably wouldn’t do an ad campaign that aims at showing how a bucket seat (aka, the infant carseat) is convenient (insert cheesy man’s voice here) “not only for the car, but wherever you go!”). That would just make me sad. We have to pick up our babies and hold them tightly, right?

So, this weekend, I had the best time. I got to teach 8 other photographers how to do a type of photography that I am so passionate about. I have already gotten so much feedback but am also going to send out a detailed questionnaire so that I can perfect this workshop and take it to other cities-focusing on bringing together local, mom owned companies with photographers in their area (I also believe in keeping it local). Babyhawk IS in California, not Colorado, and so are a lot of my product clients, but for the workshop purposes I hope to be the one to network together local companies with local photographers. Just a little added bonus of the workshop IF you decide to do one-you will be connected with clients and thus be able to start up this new part of your business that focuses on baby products right away.

Photographers: if you are interested in this workshop (I think I am going to be able to keep the cost low) and want me to bring it to your city, PLEASE email me at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or leave a comment in this post’s comment section. I am thinking Utah next. Why? Because it is so close and because there are SO, so many fabulous photographers there.

So, to continue, the workshop is divided into teaching and shooting, and of course I teach as I shoot.  I organized 7 baby, child, or maternity product companies, many of them local to Boulder or the Denver area, and we would spend about 2 hours shooting, then 2 hours teaching. It was a fast, packed weekend, but was SO much fun and (at least the participants are telling me this) the photographers left with feeling confident shooting products and knowing how to get lifestyle product photography bookings.

We got really phenomenal images for the companies that participated. Here are just a few from one of the Baby Hawk shoots I did. I wish I could post them all but that would be WAY too many photos. I AM going to try and post every day so there are a ton of images coming on to the blog, so you *may* see more of Baby Hawk when we did their second shoot at the Boulder Farmer’s market. These particular photos were taken at Chautauqua in southwest Boulder.

Can you tell I am happy? I am.

xoxo stacey

Beautiful and perfect in every way? Yes. Greta is such a delicate, angelic newborn. She was so sweet and sleepy and snugly with her mom. Everything is perfect there. It reminds me of when we had Elijah-we had at least three months where everything was blissful and there was a blanket of peace over the house-that is how it felt at Greta’s. And believe me, I know the difference-Amelia’s first three months were heated and so fiery. Just like her. And of course she is perfect and beautiful in every way. But would I say delicate and angelic when describing Amelia? No.

So, I live in cohousing, which is an amazing collaboration of multigenerational people who feel like something is missing from modern American neighborhoods. I spent 9 months watching Claudia grow this beautiful baby, who lives just across the pedway from me (pedways are inside-the-block-sidewalks so the kids can play safe away from the street). Claudia, who happily tolerates my 2 year old who will NOT keep clothes on, who let’s her help seed plants and pick weeds even though she is in her birthday suit, has just had the most beautiful baby EVER.

Congratulations Claudia and Nat, I can not wait for our little ones to grow up together. I hope Amelia ends up being a GOOD influence on Greta, but if Greta ends up wanting to be without clothes a lot as a toddler, you can not blame that on me:)

xoxo stacey

This is one of my sweetest families. If you have had an in-home proofing session with us then you have seen the beautiful album from when Mom was pregnant with Scott and Riley had just turned three years old. Then, 6 months ago I had the honor of doing baby “socks” newborn photos. I LOVED those newborn photos, I hope dad is over the fact that we put babylegs on his baby boy in his birthday suit.

Anyways, update on health. I felt awful yesterday-almost just went into the ER. But took mega doses of steriods and felt better this morning! Life is good! Get me on some new experimental drug and let’s go. I am ready to be healthy.

Can’t wait to photograph 21 month old Lincoln tonight! It is a beautiful day in Boulder and perfect for photos. Here are his newborn photos if you are curious, wasn’t he the sweetest? Look at that face! Those eyes! His expresssion! Can’t wait to see him again after all this time.

xoxo stacey