This is Boulder, Colorado, right? Yes, I am posting photos of a beautiful mother doing the thing that can be the most natural thing to do-breastfeeding her sweet little baby boy. I know this mama does attachment parenting and that is a concept that is near and dear to my heart.

My husband and I both have our mater’s in counseling psychology from Naropa University (a school, by the way, that I can not say enough good things about). I focused on early attachment. Yeah, I know. I am a photographer now. But it WAS worth the $60k I took out in loans (and am still slowly paying and will be for a long time) simply for the fact that it made me a better mother. And I found the father to my beautiful children there. And the spark that later became Karma Baby Slings sprang from it. And it helps me as a doula, a birth photographer, a friend, a sibling, a daughter-it impacted all my roles in life in a way you would never begin to understand unless you actually went to Naropa.

So my husband and I  had a long talk years ago about how Dr. Sears (the father and guru of attachment parenting) should have named his concept attunement parenting. It is NOT all about breastfeeding on demand. Some mother’s just can’t. So babies just won’t. It is NOT all about co-sleeping. Some babies prefer their own crib in their own room. It is NOT all about babywearing, either. Some babies just can not stand being wrapped up.

What it IS is knowing what it IS for YOUR baby. Being attuned to him or her. Spending your days in such a present way with your children that you are attuned to their needs. So you rarely skip a beat. Well, THAT statement I just made is a bunch of baloney, why did I even think to write that? Oh yeah, it is 2 am again-and I am still struggling to be super mom:)

Anyways, you miss a lot of beats, because your are a good mama but not a perfect mama.  You CAN NOT (repeat after me) “I CAN NOT hit ALL the beats, EVER. Period.”

But, it IS about being with your baby, knowing what that tiny inflection in his cry at that specific moment during minute 7 of his crying means. And it is about knowing when to challenge him to reach a little further for that toy in front of him. It is about knowing that boo-boos need to be kissed before anything else in world can happen.  It is all about taking the time to find rhythm with your baby, and then going with it.

And, of course, we are off our rhythms all the time. That is what meditation is for-to help us stay present enough that we can be very fluid in this rhythm, this dance with our baby. There are good days,there are bad days, but what is most important is that we try to stay attuned to our baby.

One of my best friends just had a baby a few days ago. I want to tell her all about what it is like to be a parent and I want to MAKE her take my advice. When really, there is no advice, it is just you and your baby. *If* I had to say I had some advice to give, it would be to take these first few months to get to know your baby, stay close to your baby, get in sync with your baby. It does not happen right away. You don’t know if you should wake your newborn baby up in the middle of the night to feed if she is sleeping through the night already. You are unsure what different cries means. It hurts YOU way more than it hurts her to push the belly time a little longer.

This is all natural. Those first few months are meant to be a time for mama and baby to nest in, be close to each other throughout the day, and really get to know and understand each other, because, yes, your baby is learning as much about YOU  and you are about HER.

Ok, that is enough of my 2am parenting rant. Good night!

xoxo stacey

ps. btw, this shoot is another 6 moth old one from the mini sessions i did last fall. I WILL catch up someday, soon, I think. Actually, I think there are going to be a ton of shoots that I forget to post. So, if you are reading this and are wondering why I never blogged about your session, it was not bc you have an ugly baby (there is no such thing in my book), but bc I went on medical leave fore six months and have no idea where all those portrait sessions I did right before i left still stand (did you get your photos, did you SEE them, are you waiting for me to get a computer guy in here to work on my computer so I can speed things up? If so, I *promise* it will all be taken care of soon, and well, by my new office manager, Denise, who is a AMAZING and can do AMAZING things to organize the creative tornado that I call my art.

Just a few before  bed…lots more to come! Will post more in the morning when I wake up at a DECENT hour and get some work done. First of all, I have more photos to post from the Tofeeze shoot (the best teether in the world AND it was created by a local mama and her daughter!) and some MORE Baby Hawk.

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

Welcome to the world Greta! My wonderful neighbor, who had the cutest pregnant belly ever, gave birth to a beautiful newborn girl on Friday. Congratulations guys! I can’t wait to meet her and take her newborn photos!

On a personal note, since I know those of you who read my blog have been worried-all is well here. I am home from the hospital and was given an intense drug on Thursday called Humera. You have probably seen the lovely commercials for it on tv-it is advertised for rheumatoid arthritis but works wonders for crohn’s disease too. It could put me into and possibly keep me in remission for the rest of my life. Who knows? If not, I will go to that expensive energy healer in Detroit. Or maybe somewhere in India….

Lots and lots of and lots of shoots lately! So much to post. But just wanted to get this one little photo up because I am so happy for them!
xoxo stacey

This sweet little newborn is Penny, sister to Charlie whom I posted photos of the other day. this whole family is so sweet! They live in Golden on this beautiful ridge and have a ton of gorgeous land. I am envious, for sure, though I am happy to be in Boulder. Anyways, isn’t she so perfect? Makes me want to have another baby sooo bad.

Good news all around here-my intern, got to adopt her baby girl!!!! Some of you have met her a on photo shoots so I am sure you will be happy to hear that. I just am overjoyed.

Adam and I really want to adopt a baby or child with special needs. He doesn’t want me to have another (I am a hormonal, whiny b@#$% when I am pregnant). But, I did my master’s specializing in early attachment-especially with foster and adopted children. And Adam is a behavior analyst, so works with autism and developmental disabilities on a daily basis. So maybe we will adopt a little boy with downs or fetal alcohol syndrome. We just have to wait to move into our new, bigger house, and wait for Amelia to be a little less of a firecracker. But it is a big dream of mine and I can’t wait.

The other good news is I am feeling A LOT better today. It might help that I am now on 60mg of liquid (yuck) predizone (steriods). But I have hardly been able to move the last week, and today I am feeling a little better. Bad news-the drug that they want to put me on is $4200/month. A month. Yes. And our insurance sucks. Whatever, I guess I will have to raise all my photography prices to $4200 a session to cover it. I am just kidding, of course:) We’ll manage it.

Lots and LOTS of shoots coming up, I will try to update the blog daily now that I am doing better.

xoxo stacey

These sweet newborn boulder twins are all I can post for tonight, Mom is flying in tonight bc I need the help. More tomorrow.

xoxo stacey

Another good day. And not so good. I got to photograph three gorgeous families and I am sooooo happy with the beautiful photos I got. Bad, bc I just am still sick, and want to not be. This is a shoot from a month ago, I am so behind! How sweet is Sasha? 7 Years old’s are so easy compared to two year olds.

Anyways, four more mini photography shoots at Wonderand Lake in north Boulder tomorrow. Sooooo many blog posts to come!

So, it is that time of year again! I have been so busy that I have not gotten around to announcing my fall mini photography sessions and I am getting emails every day from clients asking when they will be. Since I have had so many inquiries I have opened up two weekends for the mini sessions:

Saturday October 1st

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

Sunday, October 2nd

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

Saturday, October 8th

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

Sunday, October 9th

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

*the fine print: sessions are nonrefundable due to the nature of them being back to back (who wants to sit in a field for a half hour waiting for the next family?:). But they are totally transferable!  Session includes custom holiday card design but the cards or digital negative is purchased separately. Small and large animals welcome. I have a new kitty if anyone wants to borrow it.

Please email boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or call me at 720.310.0336 to schedule. Please also mention a few of your top preferred times when emailing so I can try and juggle the schedule for everyone! Once I confirm your session, I will send you all the fun info on how to prepare (what to wear, bring, etc…).

Can’t wait!

xoxo stacey

Okay, okay, you all know I have been gushing and awing over Miss. Barb Uil, Jinky Art (from Australia) FOREVER. She is my favorite photographer EVER, and I am so inspired by her daily.

Well, I am the kind of person that just goes for it. You know? I have an idea, and I DO it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

9 months ago I wrote Jinky an email telling her how fabulous Boulder was, how cool my cohousing community is, and how perfect it would be for her to do one of her US workshops here in Boulder. And….a few months later, she wrote back and said YES!

So, I hosted Barb and 30 photographers from all over the country in my home and community a few weeks ago. It was awesome. I learned so much, and was inspired to change my art in a way that is already filling my heart with joy.

So, whenever, 7 months ago, when we decided to have the retreats here, I asked Barb if she would have time for a family session. This is before i asked my husband. I casually one day, after making sure to make him HAPPY, asked him if we could throw down $5k on a shoot with Barb. My idol.  My favorite photographer in the WHOLE world who is coming to OUR house. He answered with a big fat, absolute, “NO.” Anyways, Barb wrote back and said she had no time as the workshops were hectic and too much was going on.

Two days before she arrived I got a casual call from Barb: “So, Stacey, did we talk about me doing a shoot of your family as a thank you for hosting? I hope you can come up with something that is amazing and totally YOU guys.” In two days. Two days.

So I freaked out. I told all my neighbors and friends and posted on my photography forums that BARB UIL was photographing my family. MY family. In two days. What ideas did they have?

Nothing.

I was taking Amelia on a walk the next day and saw that my neighbors had brought their orange vw bus out of storage. Well, I remembered an awesome shoot that Barb had did with a vw, and thought it would be perfect. AND, I used to be a dead head, (even though I was only 15 when Jerry died)-but I did go to SIX shows and had front row center for the Grateful Dead’s very last show in Chicago. And I wanted to drop out of school and get a vw bus and follow the dead, but a good teacher talked me out of it. So I went on to get my college degree and then my master’s in Boulder where there are a lot of old deadheads anyways.

So the bus idea was perfect. We took it up to this ridge in north Boulder. And got these photos. Is she the most freaking amazing photographer you have ever seen?

Then, casually, she says later that night “It would be cool (or maybe she said neat? I don’t know or remember Australian lingo) if we did a series of shoots with your family in Kombi’s.” Btw, “Kombi” is what they call vw buses in AU. Never heard it before, but I like it.

I posted IMMEDIATELY to my Boulder mom’s groups and to craigslist looking for two more buses. The next night we had an awesome red bus out in a field. The night after that we had an amazing yellow Kombi that was driven into the MIDDLE of a sunflower field. I kid you not. Freaking amazing. A full-on sunflower field.

So, here are a few photos from the first of the shoots. I am not sure why I am so lucky, but I know that the more I open myself to others, the more these amazing things and opportunities land in my lap. I just feel like it is unreal.

Thank you Barb, I love you!

xoxo stacey

Yeah, lot’s more beautiful ones like this to come. Thank you Heidi, I love you and your photography is amazing!

These are mine, by the way, and me.  Sunflowers and all. Wonderful, magical shoot. Could not get better than this….