For now, however, here are some photos of my favorite of all the squishy newborn faces – my lovely daughter Edith Dianne.  She was born on August 4th at 8:46 pm after a very speedy induction.  My water broke when I was only 33 weeks along (apparently my babies don’t like to wait for their due dates!) I was allowed to keep her baking for one more week before the doctors decided that my risk of infection outweighed any potential risks of prematurity.  So at 34 weeks exactly miss Edith made her way into the world.  A miracle right from the start she was breathing and eating all on her own from day one.  She roomed in with us at the hospital and came home just 48 hours after she was born.  It was a shock to everyone since our twins were also born at 34 weeks exactly and needed 2 weeks in the NICU.

The first few photos are courtesy of Catie Stephens of vuefinder photography.  She was with us through the entire birth process and hiring her was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made!  Clearly photography is important to me and why not document one of the most important moments of your life?  I’m pretty sure that the whole labor/delivery process would just blur into a haze after a few weeks (and certainly months/years) without photos but I’m so happy we’ll always be able to remember it thanks to Catie.

One of her very first photos

Getting weighed. A little peanut at 4 pounds 12.9 ounces

Isn’t she just the most beautiful ever? I think so

I’m so happy that we have moments like this forever… because while just after delivery wasn’t my most glamorous moment, it certainly was one of my most emotional and amazing moments. Absolutely worth remembering! I was so proud of myself after the delivery and I just kept saying “I did it!” over and over. My sister was in the room the whole time and my mom came just after she was born.

And a few more… some of our first “family portraits” after a night of rest and a shower!

But they don’t stay tiny forever… our little peanut has turned into a beautiful chubby baby already! Edith already weighs in at 8 pounds now at 7 weeks and looks more like this

I just love her to pieces!

If you follow my blog you’ve probably noticed that there hasn’t been much to follow lately. When my husband decided to do a year in graduate school all the way across the country we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to do with my business during that year. We decided to play it by ear and see how I felt. It turns out that being in a new city away from family and friends for a year, and taking care of two toddlers on top is a lot of work! I did shoot a few portrait sessions this year that never got blogged (sorry!) but for the most part I spent this last year focusing on family.

So on to the news… two bits of news in fact…

First off we are moving home! It seems like the school year has flown by and the kids and I are flying back to California in less than two weeks. I am so excited to get back to the sunshine and more importantly to my business and clients! This has been a long enough break and I’m so excited to start shooting more again (and just in time for beautiful spring/summer weather too!)

And the second bit of news… our family is expanding again! Part of the reason that I haven’t been feeling up to working as much this year is that I’m pregnant again and have been experiencing the first trimester slump. Now that I’m further along (20 weeks today!) I am feeling great and anxious to get moving again! Our next baby girl (just one this time!) is due in September and we can’t wait to meet her!

And now for a few Easter photos. My kiddos are getting so big! Where does the time go?!

And since I just really can’t stand to post without an image, here’s one of my munchkins from their birthday. Can you believe they are TWO years old?! They had their birthday right after we moved here and I still haven’t blogged the images. Those will be coming soon as well!

We went to a goat farm (and learned that our less than 2 year old daughter loves goat cheese)

Went to the aquarium and farmers market and wore lots of cute matching Hawaiian outfits (well at least the twins did, not Ben and I )

Watched lots of gorgeous sunsets

Learned to love sunglasses and hats (is Amelia in sunglasses not the cutest thing EVER?!) and spent lots of quality time with family

Of course visited the beach and played in the sand

And did I mention the SUNSETS?! Sigh.

All in all an amazing vacation! I’m feeling refreshed and relaxed and excited to show you more of the gorgeous weddings and portraits yet to be blogged. Stay tuned!

I was so excited and nervous for the session… would we pick the right things to wear?  Would the kids cooperate?  Would there be enough light in our new place (we took these about a week after moving to our current home)… I wanted desperately for these pictures to show what this part of our lives was like and how much joy we have.

Well I needn’t have worried because Tara had us covered.  They are more gorgeous and more true and real and heartfelt than I could have even imagine.  I love each one to bits.  She just blogged our session today and these are a few of my favorites.  If you want to see more definitely stop by her blog to see the full post.

Thank you Tara! I love them!

In the meantime, it’s been much too long since I posted any pictures of my two favorite valentines (no offense to the husband of course). My tiny babies looking not so tiny any more, but I love them more than ever. Happy Valentine’s day to everyone!

Amanda and Steve are awesome.  Hands down fabulous couple!  They won my giveaway a few months back and I had such a blast shooting their “retro recreation”.  In case you don’t remember the story, Amanda’s parents eloped and her mom wore a super sweet minidress to their wedding.  Amanda wanted to recreate that day with a retro car and a sweet minidress of her own   I scoured Los Angeles to come up with the location I had pictured in my mind and I found the perfect spot They turned out even better than I hoped and I love them all! Amanda you looked fabulous!

Congratulations Amanda & Steve! A lifetime of love and happiness to you both!

As far as I can tell the online version of the new issue is not out yet, so you’ll just have to head out to the store to pick up your copy if you want to see the whole spread in detail Congratulations Erin & Darrin on an amazing wedding… and an amazing spread!  I was thrilled to see it!

Edit: The online edition is up!  Check out the spread on page 466 here