totally two

last week i had the privilege of photographing this guy...

all i needed was candy and bubbles,
and more candy and more bubbles, 
and more... you get the idea.

well it worked.

birthday-a-thon

a couple weeks late but that is life around here lately
i am just getting around to sharing a sliver of ava's 7th birthday

this year i overcompensated

her daddy had to be away on her actual birthday and
she was... devastated

birthdays around here are a big huge deal and
after breaking the news of his absence and drying up the tears
i did what any rational mom would do... i offered her the world

so when it came birthday time
the fun started a day early
to include daddy
and carried on well past appropriate

in the end she felt special
and that is all mattered
 

chuck e. cheese and ice skating not pictured...

seven so soon

to my oldest baby

i can hardly believe you will be seven tomorrow.
each year as your birthday approaches
your excitement is palpitating.

i, however, get a lump in my throat.

i am in awe of who you are
and the lady you are growing into.

i see qualities in you that are absent in me. 

you want to be a doctor you say...
whatever you choose i know it will be filled
with compassion and joy.


you are no longer small but i can still carry you.
your fine baby hair is now a head full of golden locks.
your infectious smile is filled with full size teeth.
your legs are long and lean like your daddy's.

you wear your heart on your sleeve.

these years i cannot do over.
i know this in my brain, but
my heart aches that they will be gone forever.

please bear with me as i take an excessive
amount of pictures because i don't want to
forget one second. 

i love being your mom.

finding focus

focused. no one ever really used that word
to describe me... ever.
my every day can change direction... often.

when i stumbled into photography, what started as a
hobby quickly escalated into an obsession.

somehow i was now focused.

here was an artistic way
to tell a story,
freeze time,
create a mood,
sell a product,
all through an image.

it also provided an outlet for me to be creative,
and a mom, simultaneously.
i know many friends in search of that same balance.

one friend, jennifer, just opened her first etsy shop

Three Little Chicks Soap Bar

i took her product shots and hope she finds her balance.
stop by and check her out.

gratitude

lately i am overwhelmed by gratitude.
the result of starting over.
not by choice, something that just happens in life
and while it wasn't the easiest of times, in the end
fostered the most change.

i find myself waking up each morning and assessing the reasons
i have to be grateful.  

part of a growth process or a shift in thinking,
i can't complain.
we are better versions of ourselves and understand how
little things can be big things and most often they are free.

starting each day grateful for the things i do have fills me with positive.
each day is new
tomorrow may different but today, this day, it is perfect.

adi

gratitude for ...

 watching. loving. protecting

wild. funny. four

beauty flowing from the inside out

these days. everyone goes. supports. cheers. encourages.

brooke + mark | engagement shoot

i was so elated that brooke (a photographer herself) had chosen me to take her

engagement pictures.  

 the january california sunshine did not disappoint and
 we made it out of the garden within seconds of the sprinklers.