more than kids?

I know it is hard to believe, but I do take pictures of things other than kids...sometimes! Here are some professional head shots I did for a Melissa Lillibridge. She is a Certified Empowerment Coach with a business called Flourish (don't you love that name!). She's working on her web site and needed some images for her promotions. You can check out her site at www.choose2flourish.com
And because this woman is multi-dimensional (just one of the reasons I think she rocks!), she also has a massage therapy business. Here's one of my favorites for her materials for that business.
If you are in need of either service, I completely recommend calling Melissa, 828-450-4555.

future firefighters

Every since their visit to the fire station, my daughter, Savannah has been declaring her future intentions...to be a firefighter and a mom. Here she is getting her first real taste of life on the job. We checked out the Asheville Firefighter Challenge where professional firefighters compete on an obstacle course touted as the "toughest 2 minutes in sports." And I believe it! Those men and women were pushing it...it was great cheering on the big Asheville team among all the competitors from all across the country.
Sacred is hosing down the target with a little help from one of the volunteers.

And my tough girls after a hard "day's" work!

strawberries!

if there was any doubt before, let me assure you that I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country. Here we are picking organic strawberries in a valley below some amazing mountains...about a mile from my house! This is Savannah with our neighbor, Max, one of her most beloved playmates!More friends joined us, yay! Here's Jasper and his mommy, Emily.
And I love this shot...Mia could be the poster child for the farm. Small detail that Hickory Nut Gap is down the road. We were at Flying Cloud Farm, but as I understand, they are all part of one big extended family. Did I mention this is right down the road from us? Organic u-pick strawberries now and organic blueberries in the summer! I am one lucky woman!

if I had a nickel...

for every time someone told me they love my blog or my web site! But why is it that no one posts comments?? I post my messages, share my images, deliver my crack pot attempt at humor, and still no one puts a comment out there. Ok, so there have been a couple of comments, I realize that! And I appreciate those comments. But I am wondering how this woman who hosts a blog where people vote on what they think of the hairstyle that some random person is considering getting can get thousands of replies. And here I am not even counting on my toes yet!

It happened to me in the grocery store again yesterday. Someone I bumped into complimented me on my work. She checked out the web site, followed the link here...said she loved it. And if I hadn't randomly seen her in the store, I wouldn't have even known that.

So, if you are a client and you have an opinion about your image, post it. If you are a photographer, and you want to know what settings I used or how I got a certain look, post it. If you are my faithful family and friends who just want to keep up with what I'm doing, post something so I know you are visiting. Whatever it is (and I may regret this later), post it!

I'm glad you're reading this and I'm looking forward to reading your comment soon!

I'm in love with another man...

and here he is. I love this baby. Look at him, he's 5 days old here and so chubby. That double chin is just too much. I even went back today to take some more photos he was so cute. I can't wait to share some more!

three pretty girls

Here's Jen with her beautiful girls. We did this shoot right before Mother's Day and it was a nice reminder of what mothering is all about. The happiness of being with your kids!

sweet waiting

Yes, I am doing some catch up. Lisa Marie has actually had her baby now, but I finished up the edits on this session today. So I couldn't resist. Here's a very sweet photo of her son giving the baby some love. Stay tuned, in the next couple of days I'll have some newborn photos ready to share.

mommy bloggers

I must be really out of the loop in this big, wide world of the Internet, but the concept of mommy bloggers is just reaching me. I saw a segment on Nightline a couple of nights ago about Heather Armstrong who authors www.dooce.com. I looked up her blog and I have to tell you, the woman is funny. I am pretty enamored with being a mom, but she's right...sometimes the craziest things happen in day to day life as a mom...ok, everyday crazy things happen. For us, it's every time we get into our minivan. A demon overtakes my youngest child and I'm sure we'll need to call a priest before we can reach our destination.

So more power to the mommy bloggers...maybe we can get a group rate on our priest!

the miracle of birth

What a blessed Mother's Day weekend I had! Hope your was too! I had the honor of photographing the birth of Canyon, born at home peacefully and beautifully. It was absolutely divine. Mom was totally present and strong. The whole family was there to support her. Patient, dedicated midwives there to care for her and the baby. And there I was, capturing it all. This was one well documented pregnancy and birth! Now, I can't wait for the newborn photos!! Here he is with one of his big brothers and his mama...

Carrying the torch for midwifery

Where has this week gone? My exciting news for the week was being interviewed by the local talk radio news station, 570AM, about my efforts to license direct entry midwives in NC. The reporter received a tip from Rep. Susan Fisher that I spoke before the House Select Committee on Licensing Midwives and he is doing a short news piece on the effort. It is exciting to see the word getting out that home birth is an option families are choosing and that the conversation can open further to who are the qualified providers to attend home births.

If you are interested in learning more about the midwifery model of care or the efforts of NC Friends of Midwives, check out www.ncfom.org

I had the benefit of attending a seminar with infant psychology pioneer, Dr. David Chamberlain, last weekend. He reminded me and reinforced for me the importance of how we parent our babies in the womb and how we chose to give birth to them. The reality is that babies will develop ideas about the world, who they are in it, and what their worth is by the messages we give prenatally; and a child's birth will have a tremendous impact on him or her positively or negatively.

So I feel it is our responsibility as parents to welcome our children into this world with love and trust. Seeing their births as time of blessing and celebration...what??? "What about the pain?" I can hear someone saying. I know it goes against the cultural standard, but here it is...childbirth was the most blissful, connecting, empowering experience of my life. And I am honored to have the opportunity to introduce my children into this world in a safe, calm, peaceful, loving way.

I can't resist

I'm supposed to be doing my husband's bookkeeping right now (see full confession of compulsive "doing" under profile!), but I just had to sneak in to edit a few from this session. This is Azalea. Isn't she just adorable??

Back to business...cuties

Yes, I know I have been posting lots of things other than cute kids lately. Should you think I have shied away from children's portraits...check out this little guy, Arden. Isn't that a sweet face? You'll probably see another one of him pop up here soon!