at home with the martins

As I sit here and type this I feel like I just wrestled 2 tigers. It's 9:28 pm. My clothes are still wet from this evenings baths. I have Grey's dinner on my shirt. I still have the echo of their little (booming) voices saying, "One more book and I'm not tired!!" I have a serious love/not like relationship with bedtime. It is such an important part of the day that requires so much love. And patience.

I don't like the constant meltdowns of a tired kid who played hard all day. The "I'm hungry!" only minutes after dinner is over. When dad becomes a "monster" who chases the squeeling/laughing kids through the house, getting them all amped up 5 minutes before bed. Or the fight over which bedtime book will be best.

But I do love the scent of baby lotion in the air. Being all cuddled up and reading.  The familiar position my little boy gets into every time I rock him.  The close of the door when they are fast asleep because I finally get some me time.

Well this family, they know how to do bedtime. I even remember looking at them at one point saying, "Do you guys do this all the time? Or is it just because I am here?" She said, "Well most of the time, yes." They were so FUN. They both did baths instead of the divide and conquer, I will clean the kitchen if you give the kids a bath. I think they are onto something.  I came to photograph them after dinner and happily followed them around as they had their evening popsicles, bath and bedtime routine. Here are the Martins!

camilla

At Home With Gracyn

It always makes me giggle as I am walking back to my car after the session how nervous I can get. Walking up to the families door, knocking and waiting. Then I am greeted with big, warm smiles. I walk in and feel completely at home and comfortable.  I take photos and sometimes even forget I am there for a job. We talk about common interests and our stories. We go outside and have a snowball fight and come in make warm hot chocolate. All of a sudden it's like you have always know each other. I adore this family and excited to watch them grow.

At Home With Isla and Lief

A mini session in a hallway. I love this family. They are the kind of people you walk away from smiling.

And we are pretty lucky to call them our friends.

At Home With Jack

Had I known Jack before taking his photos I would have said to my husband upon leaving, "See you Honey! I am going to work out!" I instantly fell in love with Jack's energy and love for dirt and trucks. You know the sessions where you fall in love with the family and want to sit and talk for hours? This would be one of them. I really enjoyed my time with Jack and his mom!

Recently I have been getting more requests for at home sessions. So I decided to start a series called "At Home With."

At Home With Luke

I have to say dinner time is not my favorite time of the day. The kids are cranky, I am cranky. The house gets trashed again while trying to serve dinner, it's like a big tornado. But it's important to me so I continue to do it day after day. I could really get used to living above my own restaurant. When Heather told me she lived above her restaurant I was fascinated by the idea. I am a city girl so I instantly fell in love with her life.  She gets to take an elevator to her front door everyday! Their home is an amazing flat that overlooks the city.

So I was to photograph what they do every Monday night-eat at their restaurant. I showed up to the street they live on and put money in the meter and looked up to their home. Way up. I got in the elevator and Heather greeted me at the door and told me Luc was sleeping. We crept upstairs and he popped up in his bed with a big smile on his face. This kid is a movie star in the making. We played for awhile and he rode his bike (in the house!) Now my kids do too but it's not nearly as fun in my house.

Check out this awesome family and if you ever in the area check out their restaurant. It has amazing food and a great atmosphere.

saturday morning

Walking into their home on this Saturday morning was much like walking into my own. Coffee brewing, music playing in the background for dance parties, and babies at your feet. That's why I love lifestyle sessions. It really points out how similar we all are. It's an intimate experience, watching what families do in their own environment. I can't help but wonder what the children will think of these someday. Seeing photographs of themselves on a Saturday morning with their parents.

Lifestyle sessions are a gift.

Because we are all changing, all the time.

Now meet this beautiful family.

new beginnings

This was my first lifestyle session with a family in their home. And although I am in deep love with true lifestyle photography I had hesitations and questions going into it. Would I really like it? Would I be able to tell the family's story? I love it so much more than I thought I would. This family wanted me to photograph their very last morning in their home. They were getting on a plane and moving to California the very next morning. It was brilliant idea. They were going to bring some coffee, some muffins, toys and guitars. The house was completely empty, even the boxes were gone. It was raw. Stripped of objects and things.

I fantasize about moving. To the extreme of daydreaming about packing boxes and where I will put this or that. But a friend recently said it's not going to hit you until you turn that key for the very last time. And it's true. This home is where I became a wife. And a mother. I brought both my babies through that door.  So Liz, being brilliant during her move to California, had this idea. And now her children will see where they were born and where they started their lives.  And they will see that they were really, really loved.

There was a lot of music played, a lot of laughing, and some sentimental times too. We had a dance party and we read books. We hung out in the rooms the children were born in. The children played and crawled all over their parents. They hugged. And cried. And lastly, they said goodbye.

When the session was over Liz walked me to my car. She said it seems all so surreal. That I am leaving tomorrow. I told her it was the beginning of new beginnings. It's like a whole new life.

Now meet John, Liz, Milo and Maeve.

Piper

12.3.2011 10 a.m.

"You think that true love is the only thing that can crush your heart; that will take your life and light it up or destroy it. Then you become a mother." -Meridith from Grey's Anatomy.

When I learned about Megan's baby on facebook I instantly wanted to run to her. To be by her side and comfort her as a friend, and as a mother. She went in for her 33 week appt. and told the doctor she hadn't felt the baby move for a while. The ultrasound revealed that her little girl had stopped growing at 29 weeks and there was no amniotic fluid surrounding her. Hours later Piper Marie was born a little over 3lbs.

You  can only imagine what it must have been like. The moment they found out , the realization they were going to have a baby that day.The firsts. The first cry, the first touch. I watched facebook like it was the news. Waiting for updates, cheering her on from behind my computer screen when I would read she made progress.

Megan and I went to the same high school and spent a lot of time together. Different paths grew us apart and it had been probably 10 years since I had seen her. I went to see her on a Saturday morning. I was waiting for her and she called me. She started laughing and told me she was going to be late, she had opened a can of paint and was stirring it and the stick broke and paint went everywhere. The past 10 years seemed like less of a gap listening to how little had changed.  Her carefree happy voice lingered as I hung up the phone. I walked into the NICU and found Piper under 13. I had never seen something so small. I soaked it all in. The noises, the beeping. The crying of other babies. The purple light radiating from the incubators. The nurses shuffling back and forth.

You try to  imagine ever detail and moment the family has gone through.  I wanted to capture those details that will soon be forgotten by chubby thighs and belly laughs.

Here's Piper.