This is how Finn reacted when I broke the news that I’m fully booked for July + August. He felt a little better when I explained that I had room for a few August mini sessions only and would still be able to take *his* pictures…I’m starting maternity leave the last week of August and will resume shooting in Spring of 2011. It’s been a whirlwind of a year here and we’re looking forward to what’s ahead for our growing family (and our business) next year. Meanwhile, there are plenty of upcoming session sneak peeks as well as some fun personal work in the pipeline. So stay tuned..there’s more to come.

xoxoxo
s

Good thing I can juggle or there would be mini-crises all around me! To keep chaos to a minimum, I thought you may appreciate an update on my summer schedule and availability, as well as my maternity leave dates. As of this morning, I have one July session available (weekday only) and four August openings. In addition, I have limited slots for mini-sessions (for up to two people, in-studio only) in both months. As of September, I will be taking maternity leave. There is a *slim* chance I will take a few mini sessions, but at this time am planning on a break (I’ll be 8-months along). I won’t be returning to work until sometime in 2011 (month TBD).

If you have been considering a session, or have emailed for additional information, please complete the official contact form on the blog or email a request to book a session directly soon! Your date isn’t reserved until your session fee is received and they will be scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Meeting adjourned.

Now, on to fun stuff.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes I’ve been nesting a bit–purging bulky furniture, streamlining our possessions, organizing and working to make our house feel even more like home in the midst of a nomadic lifestyle. Here are a few goodies I have on the way to decorate our hybrid nursery/guest room, as well as add a little whimsy to our living spaces. Most of this collection is from CB2.com (I adore that store) — along with a sprinkle of ebay/overstock.com!

-Abacus, wall hanging for the nursery

-Skyline Bedding for guest bed

-Mobile for nursery

-Recycled “Edition” art print for our living room

-Hopscotch rug for entryway

-Eames-style rocker for living room

-Montessori Imagination print for Liam’s room

Communication with my husband on his aircraft carrier can be spotty. We don’t have the luxury of Skype (video conferencing) because their internet connection is basically the speed of dial-up service from 10 years ago. Phone contact is virtually non-existent too, unless they are in port (very rarely). Still, you won’t catch us complaining. When I think about my mother-in-law who got by on telegrams and sporadic letters that took weeks or months to arrive 30 years ago, I am so very grateful for the daily contact that a simple email can provide. There’s something intimate too, about writing to your spouse again. We dated long-distance for the first year of our relationship — and the letters we sent are still something I treasure. There’s something that flows differently in writing for me — with emotions stripped and text laid bare. It’s easier to pour out feelings, secrets and admiration…the written word is powerful and connective. We are SO blessed to have it available each day.

One of the best parts of our daily email is for my son Liam. He receives short videos from daddy, but I encourage him to write as well, and so we do. He just dictates what he wants to say and I type (often furiously if you’ve met him and know how fast he talks). I love that his letters are gushing with love–and show how his young, four-year-old mind is coming to grips with the separation from the person that probably means the most to him in his whole world. I don’t coach him and I don’t censor him, so what he says is just what daddy gets. And, he always adds his own typed “message” at the end along with his name. They bring joy to us, and an occasional tear–but more than anything, a sense of closeness. So while daddy is out of sight, he is never, ever out of our hearts. Especially Liam’s.

Letters to Daddy – from Liam

—————————————–

Hi Daddy

Please come back in another day. I can’t wait to see you — and I like Scooby Doo. And chicalay (ed: chik fil a) is so fun. And I love still my daddy and I can’t wait to see him. Can’t wait to pick him up. And I love you so much.

I was good at school. We made surfborads and people, but miss susan is going to stick people surf on our surfboards. I brought your Navy coin for show and tell.They liked it.

I did bob the builder mazes with mommy and painted them.

I was good at the pizza place. I ate cheese pizza. Then we went to a different playground at the beach. I just surfed on the surfboard and went down the fire pole and played with all my friends.

I love you. goodnight daddy.

wlllgjujnjbghuihncjb tb         jhijtyjhikjh         hkoh ukuokjk
h                     klhklk               7u

liam (he typed that by himself)

—————————————–

Daddy

When are you going to come back? Daddy I love you so much. Can you help me to feel better? My daddy is so good. I just went to church and the store and came back home.

Liam

—————————————–

Dear Daddy

Please come home. And dear daddy I love you so much. Dear daddy thank you for going on a ship and maybe it’s two or four more days or maybe five. And daddy I love you. And great grandma is still good. And my daddy is working for so long. Let’s sing one more song, “thanks for doing our help….duh duh duh”

Daddy I went to two parties today, the swimming pool, then miss Patricia’s. I swam, jumped of the diving board and slide. There was music and I danced.

At Mrs. Patricia’s we had food and friends. We found a turtle in the yard.

Please send me another video.

I love you
Liam

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Hi Daddy-
I love you so much and I love you. Mrs Sonia came to my pool today — and I love Mrs Sonia. And I still love you daddy. Whenever you come back I will be happy. And I love you forever and I miss you sooo much. And daddy, please wait to get home and wrestle with me every day when you come back home. And I love you and my daddy is so good. And I pray forever and I love my daddy, and mommy and finn and I love all you guys. And I love you daddy for all the days you give me. And I can’t wait for you to get home because I don’t know when you will come home. And I will wait for you because we are marking off the days. If you give me presents then I will be so happy, and I love you daddy for the rest of the day. And I can’t wait for you to get home. And daddy fly off the ship for a long time before you get home. Now we are going to watch a bedtime story (eta: Mike recorded bedtime stories on video before he left).

Liam
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Miles’ birth slide show received some attention recently, when his mama submitted it in response to a call for doula-assisted births for International Month of the Doula. Her first son was born via cesarean section and she missed his arrival entirely because of sedation. This time, she had her heart set on a different outcome–a VBAC. Her labor was long, hard and in most settings, would have resulted in a repeat C-section. However, she was attended by Aimee Roberts, an incredible doula from Birth InSight here in Virginia Beach, along with the patient midwives at Depaul Medical Center. Because of her hands-on birth team, Miles entered the world naturally and into his mama’s open arms and heart.

If you’re pregnant, please consider adding a doula to your support team. Their knowledge, support, intuition and presence for you, your partner and baby is invaluable. It’s a decision you will most certainly, never, ever regret.

Emily is a dear friend of mine and it was an honor to attend her birth last year. This slide show is long — but she truly needed to see every moment captured. Eventually, I’ll be adding birth photography to my list of services. For now, I have my third bundle of joy on the way with doulas Aimee and Christy and the midwives from Seven Cities Midwifery attending.

I had bigger plans for this blog post, but after a long day of fun in the sun (and heat) with my 4- and 1-year-old, my body is exhausted. I am five months pregnant and on most days, almost don’t notice! It’s the honeymoon phase…I adore the second trimester. Today, however, being a single, preggers mama has caught up with me and I will likely turn off this computer, grab a tall glass of water and collapse into my bed in just a few moments.

My husband, Mike, deployed a little over a week ago on the USS Truman. He’ll be gone for seven months and my boys already miss him with heavy hearts. We are blessed in so many ways though; not the least of which is that this is his first deployment since we had children. There is more on our day-to-day to come, along with family photos we took before he left — images I wanted, no *needed*, to capture for my children so that they have a daily reminder of their daddy and how much he loves them.

For tonight, I will share a few snapshots I took in the hour before he left. They are not works of art, but more like works of heart. Holding a camera in that final hour was the last thing I wanted to be doing when really, I just wanted to hold my husband and my babies and never let go. But the moments were too important not to record somehow. We all needed something that showed we said goodbye and that now we wait: for my husband, who I admire more than any man on earth, for our daddy, who we love so much that it overflows from all of us, and our very own personal hero, who knows what is ahead, but has gone to meet it with a prayerful and servant’s heart.