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

Wonderful day. Bolder Boulder, Boulder Creek Fest, hanging out with the kids while adam was away at his conference in Denver. Big bbq with kids’ parade, face painting, etc… in my own lovely neighborhood. Super windy Boulder day, but all worked out just fine. So, one newborn photo for tonight, as I have been alone with the kids ALL weekend and adam is giving them a bath and then I will be ON duty again way too soon. Sigh. Amelia is teething. Do you know that feeling when they just want to be ON your body all day long, when they want to devour you? Come on, moms, lets be real. It is great being a mom, and we HAVE to say that out loud, but when that baby is digging in to you with her fingernails and trying to crawl up you to be back inside you, you just want to scream, right? It is not just me?

Hard to say when I am looking at this beautiful newborn photo. I have been with newborns all week. In Boulder, Lafayette, Denver, Erie. I have NEVER photographed so many newborns in such a short period of time. I LOVE it! Makes me want to have another. So bad. Until…Amelia starts teething and wants to crawl back inside me and won’t stop screaming. But, this is really, truly what being a parent is-wanting it, and not wanting it sometimes. Just have to say it out loud. It is what it is:)

Bolder Boulder photos to come soon…

xoxo stacey

Here is just one image of all the beautiful ones I got during this newborn shoot. More to come! Thanks again Melissa, for knitting me up so many hats and cocoons so quickly, they are gorgeous!

I had the most wonderful mother’s day ever. Amelia woke me up at 5am, but then Adam got up to let me sleep in. When I awoke again, there was a huge breakfast, potted flowers, kid-colored pictures all over, and cappuccino all ready for me. The weather in Boulder could not have been more perfect. We just hung out outside all day. Barbecuing, playing with the kids, doing nothing. Perfect. And then I got to do a photography session in the evening for a family I have not seen in a year. And it was the perfect session. The baby was happy, the light was gorgeous, and it was so warm and pretty outside.

This morning I asked my nanny to come in a bit later. It seems like the last two years have been a crazy whirlwind. When it was just my son and I, staying home all day, life was slow and easy. But now, working, AND having two kids, I am always just trying to keep up with the things that needed to be done yesterday, you know? Amelia has been just a little firecracker her whole life, that it has been hard to find time to just sit back and relax.

So, I did nothing all morning with my baby girl. We played patty cake and itsy bitsy spider 20 times. We played outside. We went for a long walk where I let her choose which way to go at every turn. It was quiet, and so nice.

See, the thing with Amelia is that she never, ever wanted to be a baby. She has always been so smart, and she can *think* of all the big kid things she wants to do, but then her little body can’t do them. Like riding a bike, or a scooter. Jumping off walls, eating with a fork and knife. That sort of thing. Every day now she can do more and more, and is happier and happier. And my everyday life is getting easier and more laid back. It is truly amazing how much she has changed in the last couple of months.

So, a psychic told me a few months ago that if I could get through the long winter, then everything would change in the spring. That things would be really wonderful. Oh, she also said I would get pregnant, which will probably not happen since Adam is stately firmly at the moment that he only wants two. But accidents can happen:) But, anyways, I think this is going to be a really amazing year, and I am so happy right now!

Off to a newborn session in mountains, it should be absolutely beautiful!

xoxo stacey

Hazel, such a perfect name and such a beautiful baby! Her birth was not an easy one, but she has a super strong mom so all is well now. At 39 weeks pregnant, mom found out that she had preeclampsia, so they did an induction right then and there. When Hazel finally arrived, she was not breathing, which had to be the most terrifying moment of her parent’s lives. BUT, they got her breathing soon after and she is now in perfect health. Whew. I have no idea how scary that would be and I know it is one of those things that every pregnant mother worries about. But she is totally fine now and healthy and thriving! And just a gorgeous newborn. Usually, babies look a little wrinkled and smooshed right after being born, but Hazel has the most gorgeous little round face and is so peaceful! I love doing hospital newborn photography.  These sessions take about 20 minutes, since mom and baby are still just needing to rest and get to know each other on their own, and the package includes all the digital negatives. So sweet to be one of the first people to meet a baby on her very first day of life.

I photographed a birth last week, too, and will be posting those photos soon!
xoxo stacey

You probably remember the gorgeous mama that did maternity photos for a few weeks ago.  Well, she had her beautiful little baby boy! And I guessed it right-boy. I am usually right, so if you are dying for me to guess the gender of your baby, I would be happy to:) My mother is right 100% of the time, I kid you not. It runs in the family.

Axel is such a sweet, calm, aware newborn. He was happy with whatever we did with him, you know-until he was not. He got a little overtired at the end and cried a bit, but this was after we got the most beautiful photos! Such a lovely little family, I have really enjoyed spending so much time with them over the last month. Congratulations Katarina and Mike! He is just perfect.

On a side note, if you are thinking about booking one of my spring mini photography sessions I just about booked up the dates so I opened up one more evening- Friday, April 22nd. They will be at Wonderland Lake in north Boulder. Email me at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or call 720-310-0336 to book one.

xoxo stacey

I got to photograph beautiful newborn Hazel in the hospital yesterday at 1 day old. More to come-Amelia has the stomach flu-AGAIN, so my time is so limited right now, but I just could not resist sharing these little newborn baby feet. I SO want another baby. Well, when I think about how hard dealing with a baby and the stomach virus is, not so much. But, then, I just have to look at these little feet and I change my mind. That is why they make em’ that cute-so you can get through those really tough times.

Such a sweet little boy. He spent a lot of his first two weeks fighting jaundice, so we were not able to photograph him until he was three weeks old, but he was still so tiny and sleepy! He was so calm the whole time he was awake, too, just looking out at the world like he had been here many times before. Just perfect!

Things are going so well here right now. I have decided to sell Karma Baby, my other business. I have had it for 6 years now, I can’t believe it! I created a sling design after Elijah was born. I sewed about 20 of them before realizing that if I sewed for a living, I would become quickly miserable.  So, I started out by hiring five home seamstresses. Adam would cut the fabric for them and they would take it home and sew the slings. But then, I got some really wonderful exposure in some big magazines, and the seamstresses were not enough for us. We quickly went to having our slings made in a sewing factory.

There have been ups and downs. I did great in 2007. It seemed at that point that the endless hours of hard work that I had put into finding retailers and getting my name out there had worked. Life was good. And then…the economy tanked. People just could not afford to buy higher end baby products as much, and sales quickly fell. It was a scary time for me, as I had invested a lot of my money into inventory to be able to have stock on hand for the kinds of orders we were getting.

That same year, I started my photography business. Simply because I loved taking photos of babies and children. I had no idea that it would lead to a successful business, I was just doing it for fun. But, it took off right away and now I am so happy just being a photographer. In the meantime, I let my Karma Baby office manager take over most of the work, and I focused on my photography. I stopped trying to grow the sling business and let it go quite a bit. That same year we did get asked by Target.com if they could sell our slings, and that was a life saver for the business. It brought in a steady and reliable income.

But, now, with all the media frenzy the last year about the danger of OTHER brands of slings, liability insurance has skyrocketed to such a point that a small business can not sustain the costs. I have seen a lot of other companies shutting down because of this very reason.

So, I decided this year to either sell Karma Baby or clear out the inventory. I am talking with a couple people about purchasing it out right, and that is great! I just really would love for this little baby of a business I grew and nurtured to continue on. It is such an amazing product and I am proud to have created it. I can say that tens of thousands of babies have been carried close to their mothers because of my sling, and that is a great feeling.  Plus, I will have much more time to devote to being a photographer. I am crossing my fingers that it all works out, and will update the news on the blog.

For now, the kids are both healthy, the sun is out, and I am leaving for a shoot here shortly!
xoxo
stacey

Wow! What a week! All Boulder schools were closed for a few days, so I got to spend some time snuggling in with my two little ones. I think I did not leave the house for 5 days or something like that. It was wonderful. Simple, and wonderful.

My baby boy turned 6 yesterday. It really does go by so quickly. I feel like he and I used to be this super team when I stayed home with him and we just played and snuggled all day long. It is different with Amelia, though, since I am shooting so much now and we have a nanny 25 hours a week. I still get a few sweet hours of one on one time with her every day, but it is far off from the days I had when Elijah was a baby. And now he is 6!

Tomorrow we will be having a super hero party for Elijah. He has ONE super hero book, just one. And he is so obsessed with Green Lantern because of it. I have no idea how that happens. You will not find Amelia without a baby doll, and Elijah always loved planes and super heroes. We try very hard to bring our children up in a more gender neutral way, and yet they have their natural tendencies. So, lots of preparation here for the party today. I will be going to the fabric store soon to see if I can make green capes for 25 kids. Yeah, it is going to be a big party!

I never really put up a blog post about Lucy’s newborn session, so I thought I would put up a few more photos. She was so sweet and SO loved by here parents. Her papa was especially adoring on her throughout the entire session, which I love, love, love to see! Some fathers are just baby-people, you know what I mean? And some love their babies, but they are not really baby-people. I definitely married a baby lover, and whenever we argue he always redeems himself to me when I see him with the kids.

Anyways, I had a nice little break the last few weeks, catching up on taxes, paper work, etc… and have a bunch of sessions scheduled so more to come!