January’s theme…”the way I view new beginnings.”

As a newborn photographer, I feel so blessed to be able to experience new beginnings on a daily basis. Each time a family walks into my studio with their little one in their arms, I see the beginning of so many things for them. New life, new love, new hopes and dreams. It really is the beginning of so many new experiences, joys, frustrations, and challenges, but it all starts with this new little life.

Our family’s newest beginning is my sweet little niece, Hannah. Something about a brand new baby makes everything seem right in the world–a perfect new beginning.

Now head on over to Kelly Garvey’s blog to see how she views new beginnings!

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‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
A Photographer’s Story 

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a computer was plugged in, not even the mouse.
The orders were packaged and ready for mail, everything was processed–including that last final sale.
All sneak-peeks were posted and galleries shown, all prints and CD’s were on their way home.

A glass of wine in my hand and slippers on my feet, I had just settled down for an evening treat.
A night without levels and curves and raw files, no sessions to edit, no cloning in smiles.
My work was all done, all sessions completed. And now in front of the TV I was seated.

What show should I watch? What shall I do? It took me a moment and just then I knew.
Up from the couch I flew like a flash, and into the office I ran with a dash.
Onto the chair I landed with a flop, opened up that folder on my computer’s desktop.

Just one more image, just one more edit. I had to do it, I wouldn’t regret it.
“What are you doing? I thought you were done?” called my husband, wondering why I had run.
“I’ll be there in a minute, I have one thing to do,” as I opened up Photoshop I guessed that he knew.

A photographer’s work is never completed as was made evident by where I was seated.
The desire to design and drive to create is something that is every photographer’s trait.
So even though my “work” may be done, I’ll continue to snap and to edit for fun.

So here’s one more image for 2011, though I’m sure there will be more between now and then.
Because I love what I do and I’m blessed beyond measure, here’s my newest niece, such a sweet little treasure.
Merry Christmas from the Squires, it’s been a great year. Thank you to everyone who helped get me here.

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Savior’s birth!

completely stunned at what’s just been said.

And at that moment I realized that he was more than just an extension of me.

He was more than just my six year old son.

He was his own individual person.

He was Jacob.

And I was his completely and utterly embarrassing mom.

When Jacob had told me a few weeks back about a little girl in his class (a second grader, at that) and how she was shorter than he was, had long hair, and that he “tried to talk to her, but she never noticed” him, it didn’t dawn on me that he was confiding in me. I thought he was just telling me about a little crush. So when I announced over dinner a couple of week’s later that I had talked to her mom on the field trip and she said how cute he was and that it was adorable that he liked her daughter, his reaction stunned me. His look of complete betrayal shocked me. And his statement, “I should have never told you that” absolutely broke my heart.

And at that moment I became the uncool, clueless, and embarrassing parent.

I’m sure I have many more years to wear this title. I know all the new parents who come through my studio hear it so much already, but I always make a point to tell them not to wish any stage away. The sleep deprivation. The endless feedings. The mounds of laundry. While it seems like an eternity while you’re in it, I promise it is so incredibly fleeting.

And apparently the window of “coolness” as a parent is also much more fleeting that I originally thought. Enjoy it while it lasts.

I’m blessed–I get to witness it every time I photograph a brand new baby. Nothing sweeter than a new parent’s love.

And this little gal’s mom and dad were overflowing with it. Easy to see why, isn’t it?

And I know that everyone else evidently does love a “freebie” as last week’s post mentioned. Fourtynine comments–holy smokes! So without further ado….the winner (generated by random.org)…

Congratulations Stephanie B.! Email me and I will give you the details to get your free spot in Clickin Moms latest breakout session: Pricing Strategies That Work!

So I was beyond excited to participate in the latest breakout session, “Pricing Strategies That Work”. Developing a pricing structure is one of the many struggles new photographers face and I found myself in that place when I first started. There were so many options as far as creating packages, choosing session fees, offering prints versus digitals–my head was sure spinning the first time I sat down to create my own pricing guide.

That’s why it was so great to be a part of this session, along with the amazing Amii Wroblewski, Alicia Gould, Krista Campbell, and Kristina Young, to discuss our individual pricing strategies and why they work for us. This session is offered to both members and nonmembers of Clickin Moms, but it will only be available for two weeks, so be sure to sign up soon to learn from each of these fantastic ladies.

And…drumroll…anyone want to win a free spot in this breakout session? All you have to do is go “like” my facebook page and then come back here and leave a comment. The winner will be randomly selected this Sunday evening. And if you’ve already purchased your spot and win, your money will be refunded, so go register now because seats are limited!

Yes, that 10 brand new babies, beautiful families, and adorable children that are still waiting to grace the blog. Luckily all of these clients have already seen their galleries and in many cases received their orders, too, but I still just have to share these adorable little ones.

So tonight I prepped this sweet little guy’s images for the blog while listening to Justin Bieber (insert record rewind sound here along with gasps of disbelief). Yes, I said it. While editing to Justin Bieber…willingly. As in I have my own Justin Bieber Pandora station. And my kids are both asleep and I’m the only one up listening to it, so they can’t be used as my excuse. I’m serious–I actually really like the Biebs. I love that I can sing along to all his songs since I apparently have the singing voice of a young boy (but not even as good–it’s sad, I know). And I love how listening to his music reminds me of my Jacob singing along and doing his version of hip-hop dancing.

And I love how just as I was getting these images ready for the blog his “Born to Be Somebody” song came on. Quite fitting, don’t you think? I seriously always think about that when I’m driving to my studio for newborn sessions. I think about these beautiful brand new lives that I get to meet and how they each are going to grow up into amazing people. How each one of them is different–their personalities, their talents, their dreams. But they are all born to be somebody. Someone unique because they all are uniquely created for their very own purpose.

And so it might seem cheesy that I listen to a teenage pop star while I edit, but I’m so thankful for the reminder tonight. These precious babes are all born to be somebody. And I can only imagine what great things they will all do.

I’m excited to be 30. But I’m a little sad about what getting older means. The older I get, the older my kids get. I wish I could keep them in a perpetual state of babyhood. Jacob is a big first grader in a first / second grade combo class no less. And Abby will be starting her transition to kindergarten class next week and will be away from me four days a week. They are getting older and it seems like the days go by faster and faster. I blink and they are doing homework instead of playing with tinker toys. I turn away for a second and they are using words like, “awesome” and “lame” instead of learning to say things like “mama” and “doggie”. Each day I grow older they grow even more so and I don’t want to miss a moment of it.

Along with all of this growing, my business has been growing, too, and I feel so blessed by it. I love my mentor me, baby!™ sessions and have enjoyed meeting and becoming friends with so many new photographers. And as always I find so much joy in photographing brand newborns, babies, and school age children. These ages have always been my passion. That’s why starting September I will be focusing on these ages and will take on less family sessions, high school seniors (I have several local photographer friends that seriously rock the senior sessions, so if you need a referral, please contact me), and couples. With Jacob in school full time now and Abby gone four days a week, my schedule is very conducive to newborn and young child photography. I will be booking the majority of my sessions for Monday-Thursday during the day and occasionally on Friday with only a few weekends available. I will still photograph family sessions that include young children and will offer family sessions again this year for the holidays. I am so excited about this new schedule and these new changes because it means that while I get to photograph the growth of your little one, I also get to be there for the growth of my own two kiddos.

Sounds like a win-win to me, wouldn’t you agree?

Beautiful Izzy from a Mentor Me, Baby!™ earlier this month

But one thing I know for sure–sleepy, snugly, and adorable little babies like this don’t help.

The baby fever has officially set in and I’m not sure it’s going away.