I remember sitting in my apartment 8 years ago; we were just out of college and tearing through wedding magazine after wedding magazine. I was just 24 years old and over the moon for a boy named Daniel….and Jody was one of the girls there by my side, just as giddy as me, and helping me plan every last detail of the biggest day of my life. We talked of our dreams, of dream weddings, of our future and what we thought it would hold. (Isn’t it funny how you can never seem to really guess what the future has for you?) Never in the world did I imagine that 8 years later we would be pregnant together and I would have the honor of taking her maternity pictures. Never would I have imagined it….. but it is in moments like this that I feel so thankful and truly blessed.

Those many years ago when we talked of dreams, Jody always knew that she wanted to get married and be a mom. And here we are, 8 years later, and not only is she a very successful business woman, she is married to a man who makes her smile and laugh and glow like none other did….and she is expecting her first baby, with radiance!

We spent a lot of time huffing and puffing as we climbed up hills and through the nature to get these shots, but we also laughed a lot and reminisced. A perfect evening if you ask me. And I know I am probably biased, but I don’t think I have ever seen a cuter pregnant girl in my life!

Come meet Dave and Jody and baby to be…

The original location we chose for this shoot was by the beach and SUPER foggy when I got there. Since Jody and I had talked a lot about sun in her pictures, we decided on a last minute change, hopped in the car and headed to Iron Mountain. (I love flexible clients!) I am so glad we did….I am loving the sun in all these photos!

The best laugh…

Right before sunset, Dave joined up with us….

Dave and Jody, I love to laugh with you and I couldn’t have asked for a better evening.  I am so thrilled to welcome you to the world of parenting and can’t wait to meet your precious little one!!

There is so much to tell.  So much not to tell.  So much blessing.  So much trial.  But for today, I will keep it simple and just share with you some pictures.

If you keep up on this blog,  you know I had the joy of having Nancy in my life his summer.  I was so excited when we ventured out to Iron Mountain to snap a few pictures of her, the same place where I took pregnancy pictures when I was carrying Dayla, so of course I had to ask her to grab a couple of me there carrying this little baby boy in my tummy.

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant with a baby boy.  Just writing that makes tears well up in my eyes; what an incredible blessing and miracle to help create a life.  I am THRILLED to be bringing a baby into this world, THRILLED that our 2 years of trial and hoping to be pregnant is over, THRILLED at the idea of having a boy, and THRILLED to be able to give Dayla a brother…..

…and thrilled with these pictures! Thanks so much Nancy!!

True love.  Some say it is only for the movies.  Some think they know it when they find “the one” and  marry off to the land of bliss and happiness.  I am not sure I would know how to define true love or that I would want to put it in any certain box saying “you feel it when”…..but I will most certainly tell you:  I have seen it.  The look on a mother or father’s face when they see their baby for the first time, the half smile that softens the face of a parent as they stroke their child’s hair, the bubble of joy that explodes inside the first time they hear their baby laugh; yes I have seen true love on the face of many.

In our house we are on the journey of getting ready to meet a baby boy, a second child,  just like Samantha and Jeff, so I couldn’t help but feel like I knew just how they were feeling.  I couldn’t help but wonder if Samantha thought about her heart the way I have thought about mine: wondering if it will be able to expand enough to love both children the same….knowing it must be true, but ignorant to how it could possibly be so.

We walked down the hill to the lake, the and the sun sparkled on the water in a way that took my breath away. And then when I couldn’t help but think of  how the glistening of the lake reminded me of Cinderella’s glass slippers, I chuckled to myself: Oh how our lives are about to change.

Jeff is a regular fishing-pole-and-tackle-hauler, and I have never met a man more excited to welcome a baby boy into the family.  It was Jeff who picked our photo shoot spot, and I thought it was perfect.  Not only is it the most fitting spot for us to capture their family and all they are right now, out-door-loving and regular fishers, it was also the most perfect spot for us to reflect on the excitement of welcoming a little boy into the world.

Come meet Jeff, Samantha, sweet sweet Paige and baby boy on the way…

After family time…Samantha and I attempted to sneak away to grab some belly shots of just her. We grabbed some of my favorite shots from the shoot:

One of these is a bit of an out-take, but I just had to include it cause I love her laugh so much:

Isn’t Samantha stunning?  She and I met at a party and being that she has one of my most favorite girl names in the world so of course I liked her right away.  Then we chatted about our tenacious little girls and laughed about what we have in store for the teenage years and I got to see in action what  a sweet mom she is to Paige, and I knew we could hang out every day.  Then when I found out she was a super talented hair stylist at The Loft in Escondido…(do I hear an audible “ah that makes sense!”…cause I knew you were all jealous of her awesome hair like I am)…. I knew we could no longer hang out, for she is simply way cooler than I.  So now I get to just feel incredibly lucky and cool that she chose me to hang out with and capture her family last Saturday morning. Thanks again so much Samantha, Jeff and Paige!

Patriotic tunes.  American flags.  Snow cones.  Trains.  Old men dressed up having mock gun fights.  Writing thank you cards to our soldiers.  Watermelon. Sunshine. Lots of American flags, laughter, sticky hands, and fun.

What more could we ask for?  I sure do love being an American.

Happy 4th of July!

To me she is not just another pregnant woman.

Two years ago last month, we decided to get pregnant together, having no idea what the next two years would have in store for us.  As I waited and waited (and cried) and waited, she waited and got pregnant and then lost the baby, waited and got pregnant and lost the baby, over and over again.  We shed tears together.  We held each other.   We talked and talked and talked. And we prayed together. We watched as countless women around us got pregnant and we both felt at least we had each other; we had someone who understood.  In this struggle, I had moments when I felt alone, but I always had Julie.  Each month we weren’t pregnant we had a drink together and commented that we were celebrating “God’s timing” and hoped that one day we would be celebrating “God’s blessing”.  She encouraged me to talk and process things that I don’t think I would have ever done if it wasn’t for her. She is the only person I have ever had in my life that knew every month both when I was ovulating and when I was menstruating. I have to say, it was very strange for me, but I also  can’t begin to tell you how BIG of a gift it was. How big of a gift SHE is.

So you see, when Julie announced that she was pregnant, the only tears that came were tears of joy.  We screamed.  We danced.  We rejoiced.

While each baby is a blessing, a joy, there is something that feels extra special to me about this baby, this pregnant woman, and this family.  I am so excited to introduce to you for the first time, the Dennis family!

We started by getting some “Urban Maternity” shots in downtown San Diego with just me and Julie. It was a bit chaotic as finding parking took up half of our time, but we ran and laughed and got some of my very favorite shots. Julie said that she wasn’t sure she could do the whole serious model shot, but check out how this girl works it. One hot mama.



The second part of the maternity shoot was a dream come true for me. Since knowing them, I have wanted to do a photo shoot with their VW bus. The VW not only is the most awesome car and brings me back to my own childhood and VW riding days, but also has a lot of meaning for Rob and Julie. They have completely restored this together. YES. TOGETHER. Julie knows how to be a grease monkey just as well as Rob and before kids they spent many days and nights together in the garage making this baby a beautiful (and running) VW bus. So we had a bit of fun jumping back in time a bit and playing, picnic style, with the family and the VW.







Thank you so much Rob, Julie and Kaitlyn for being SO MUCH FUN and letting me capture this incredibly special time in your lives. I love your playful spirit, your energy, your ability to have the most outfit changes and chaos without a lick of stress, and your natural model abilities! Love you guys and can’t wait to meet that little baby girl in your belly!