Yesterday was such a gorgeous, sunny day that I thought it would be a good idea to go outside and get some fresh air. Little did I know that it was only 40 degrees, and that is COLD! We only stayed outside for 8 minutes or so before we came back into the house with red runny noses. Noah loves going outside, so I can’t wait for it to warm up so we can spend some time out there. I want to go to the park and have a picnic lunch!

Hello, dead tomato plants. How I miss your sweet little cherry tomatoes…

I found some old photos on my hard drive today and decided to play. Here are a couple of Noah when he was six months old. It’s hard to believe that this was over a YEAR ago! They grow up so fast! In just a few short months, he will be a big brother.

I miss this little guy…

This little guy is my nephew, Jacob. He is one year old, and oh-so sweet. He was born with so much hair that he had several haircuts before his first birthday. His hair grows like crazy! Since he always has the chaos of four siblings around him, he is a very calm and easy-going baby.

Big hugs and kisses from Aunt Leah!

I experienced a couple of new things this week. I changed the look of my blog and website, and I love the new template for my website! The photos are bigger, and I’ve added more photos to my gallery.

I also had the great pleasure of photographing a 5-day-old baby girl. She was so precious. I had so much fun with this little one!

Just look at this sweet face…

I love how she looks like she’s curled up in the womb here…

Those eyelashes!

W family, congratulations on your new bundle of joy!

This afternoon I took a few snapshots of Noah and Nate… Noah looooves his daddy!

It is so important to capture your children as they grow up, even if you just take happy snapshots.  My son is not one of those children who suffers from “Photographer’s Child Syndrome,” the phenomenon where children of photographers hate to get their picture taken because they always have a camera shoved in their faces.  It helps that he hasn’t seen my camera in more than a month, and I only brought my camera out for about 5 minutes to catch him playing.  I don’t spend long trying to get him to smile or do something cute.  I just get in there, snap snap snap, and get out!  He is still curious and smiling instead of being frustrated and upset with me.

Happy Photographing!

I was blessed to photograph so many beautiful babies, children and families in 2009!  Here are some of my favorites:

I can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store for me!

I can’t believe it’s 2010 already.  For me, the new year is going to bring a lot of changes.  A new work schedule and a new baby are at the top of the list!  I’m going part time at the hospital on February 14th, and I will also be switching to day shift.  I feel so blessed to be able to afford to work less and spend more time with my family!  And in just a few short weeks, we will find out if this baby is a boy or a girl.  I can’t wait to meet this new little one, to have and hold, to nurse, to swaddle, and of course, to photograph!

I hope you all have a happy and healthy 2010.  May God richly bless you this year and always!

Dear Jessica,

When you are this beautiful, it just makes the rest of us look like slobs.

Love,
Leah

It’s been an awful first trimester. I can’t sleep very well, especially on my days off when I want to be sleeping at night. It’s hard for my body to go from one schedule to another with only two days to make the switch. Hopefully I am going to transfer off of night shift very soon, because I really miss spending time with my family, having a clean house, and sleeping at night. I keep waking up between 3 and 4am wanting to eat because I eat at work in the middle of the night. I eat nonstop now. Last night I woke up at 4am and finally dragged myself downstairs at 5am to make crab scrambled eggs. Yum! Tonight I woke up at 2:30am and finally got up about 4:30am (after tossing and turning for 2 hours!), and I started working on some editing and ate some green beans and pears. I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep!

Here are a couple of pictures of Noah to go with my complaints…

I love how his eyes match his jacket. Yes, if I had to describe them, I would say his eyes are “Denim-Jacket Blue.”