Archive for 'Austin Newborn'
Jan 01, 2012
I sat down to post the annual Year in Review slideshow, but instead, I’m finding my mind is still swirling from what happened yesterday. I need to explain to you just how grateful my heart is on this first day of 2012. As some of you may have seen on my Facebook page, I spent the very last day of 2011 worried sick over my baby sister in the hospital. She had been complaining of a pain in her leg since her trip to New York earlier in Dec. and she called me early yesterday morning saying she had just blacked out in her hallway. My first thought was a blood clot…and then immediately, the fear of a pulmonary embolism. [I want to pause right here and thank someone very special–she will know who she is–for unknowingly giving me a key bit of knowledge about this very dangerous condition and possibly helping to save my sister’s life. Thank you and my heart was very much with you during this holiday season.]
My first words were, “We’re going to the hospital..NOW!”
As she was going through the barrage of tests with so many unanswered questions and the very real fear that my sister could die, all I could think was how desperately I wanted the gift of another year with my sister. Just the day before, she and I watched this and marveled over his courage and peaceful outlook on life and death. While we were waiting in the hospital, we read this and this, pleased with how many of those we had done and vowing to check off the rest this year.
Turns out, she did indeed have a blood clot in her leg, but thank goodness her lungs were clear!!! She has started treatment, but now we have to figure out why the clot formed so we can keep it from happening again. She is so young and a very healthy, non-smoking young woman…this kind of thing just doesn’t make sense for her. As I’m writing this, I am actually glad to share this story with you in the hopes that should you or someone you know experience symptoms of DVT or a pulmonary embolism, you’ll know to get immediate medical attention.
2011 was one of the busiest years I can recall in a long time and I know that busy=blessed. I had the privilege of meeting and/or working with hundreds families and photographers from all over the world. (It’s funny how small my world has become thanks to Facebook ;-). However, to be honest right now, when I think back over the year as a whole, it’s pretty much a blur to me–the only thing I can really remember is yesterday.
But I feel it’s important to always acknowledge and thank the people who allow me into their lives and trust me photograph their most important family moments. I want to remind them how beautiful they are…how special their connections are…what a gift their families are. So, like I’ve done every year since 2007, I pulled just one image from each session to create the 2011 Year in Review…
(Google Reader users: you’ll need to click THIS LINK to see).
My sister, my mom, and I all had separate plans for New Year’s Eve yesterday, but all of our families ended up at my house last night. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening…cooking up an impromptu batch of homemade chili, all of us watching the 360º of fireworks in the horizon at midnight, listening to “Auld Lang Syne” on the iPod, toasting in paper cups, ringing in 2012 together. Grateful.
[p.s. Clients: I sent out the details on the 2011 Pinkle’s Pic of the Year contest to you all. If you had a session with me in 2011 of any kind and did not get this info, let me know ASAP so I can get you up to speed.]
Dec 27, 2011
We were scheduled to do maternity portraits for her. We had the perfect timing…waiting until her hubby was home from deployment. And then about 5 weeks before this little baby was supposed to arrive, baby boy surprised everyone. Listening to his mama tell the story of his birth brought tears to my eyes. I don’t think she believes me, but I think she was an incredibly brave, powerful, and strong woman. In the wee hours of the night, she went into labor. Alone. His daddy was still gone, her MIL was a long plane ride away. So, She. Drove. Herself. To. The. Hospital. IN. Labor. And she had that baby boy…all by herself. Pregnancy, labor, and birth can be frightening even with a room full of loved ones there to support you, I can’t imagine doing it without someone like that to help. Wow!!!
His newborn session was one of the most beautiful, peaceful newborn sessions I’d had in a while. I loved being at home with them…watching the three of them together (at last!)…seeing the love they had for their new baby. I very much look forward to seeing this little guy grow up!!
Nov 23, 2011
I spent the most delightful morning at their house a few weeks back. Her session was all things sweet and simple and easy and cuddly. In proofing her pictures, my gosh, she reminded me SO much of my daughter as a newborn (her room even has owls, too!). I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this little cutie grows up over the years.
Nov 18, 2011
It was truly a picture-perfect birth this evening. He couldn’t be more loved or more adorable. Congrats to his Mommy and Daddy!
Oct 22, 2011
and say that this baby boy was as CUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE as he could be! He was bright-eyed and in that awesome “quiet alert” period during the first part of his photo session and then he just drifted off into a gentle sleep for the rest. (Pinch me, I’m dreaming. Loved his mommy’s sense of style and as always, it was an honor to get to watch these parents dote over their new baby and see how much joy he has brought them.
Oct 10, 2011
I know every parent hopes that their children will be the best of friends when they are little and when they grow up. Sometimes, it takes a little while for those positive sibling relationships to develop (as in the case of my two boys, LOL), but every now and then some parents are very lucky to observe a sibling bond that forms instantly (as in the case of these two sisters). I hope they treasure their closeness because it is quite a beautiful and rare thing to see so early.
Oh, just realized I hadn’t blogged the images from their maternity session yet either. It was sooooooo windy that day, but they stuck it out anyway. Well worth it!!
Oct 08, 2011
Wow. Was this *really* all the way back in March??? He was such a perfect angel for our newborn workshop demonstration and let me tell you, his poor dad (who was suffering through some kind of cold) was quite the trooper. These tender moments of mom and dad cuddled up with a brand new baby are what keep me going. You just don’t get these memories back and when you’re in the middle of trying to figure out your new role as a parent (a sleep-deprived parent at that), you can quickly forget what it was like when they were *this* brand new.
Looking forward to demonstrating this kind of newborn photography for the 2012 workshop attendees (we have some openings left), but with a little twist…this time, we’re going into homes for the newborn part. I’m excited. I love exploring my client’s environments!
Sep 20, 2011
We seriously could not have more going on the day we did this newborn session. Walls freshly painted, furniture on order, repairmen to fix a broken window, etc., etc. Every time we’d get big sis geared up to play and baby sis comfy and cozy, someone new would ring the doorbell. At one point, the repairmen were stepping ever so gingerly with their big ol’ steel toed boots around a little bundle of sleeping newborn in the doorway. So we just went with it and it turned out just fine. These girls are so beautiful and I just know they are going to be such good friends as they grow older!
Sep 18, 2011
One of the things that I find most fascinating is having the opportunity to photograph siblings of past newborn clients. I followed his older sister from newborn to one year and from the second I walked in for his newborn session, I could see the resemblance. It’s AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to see if he ends up with his big sis’s beautiful locks, too.