{Arizona Series: Beautiful Sisters...}

I'm finally home again!! And it's so good to be back with the rest of my family again! Brielle is feeling much better and went to the doctor first thing this morning, she still has signs of her illness lingering so we'll go back again each week for tests. Thank you again for your continued thoughts and prayers, e-mails and comments. :)

So I was finally able to down load and edit some pictures today from my trip - still tons more to look at and edit but here are a few images from my session with two fun and beautiful sisters, MacKenzie & Tatum. Can you believe they aren't even teens yet?! Kenzie is taller than me and I had to stand on my tippy-toes for most of the session ;-) and Tatum, who is 9 years old, is right behind her older sister (they must have been really good vegetable eaters when they were little). Anyway, we found a great location in the Scottsdale area of Arizona and shot in a garden of sorts. The girls were so fun even when passer-by's stop a moment to watch.

Anyway, here's a little sneak peek from our session.

{to my mom, on her birthday...}

I'm horrible at writing poetry.... love to write but I'm awful when it comes to poetry and the rules that go along with it (I'm a rule-breaker I guess) :) But my mom is an amazing person who is so selfless and giving, I wanted to give her something special and from my heart for her birthday. She's endured a lot lately and again is so giving of herself during this time.

Mom, thank you for being such an amazing mom and role model. I wish I could be with you today.

Happy Birthday Mom!

--God Made--

God made an extraordinary mother,

A mother who never grows old;

He made her laugh at the fun times
and gave her great strength during the tough times;

He made her a heart that is loving and selfless;
and a soul that is magnetic and true.
God made an extraordinary mother,
And He gave that amazing mother to me.

(Image to be inserted when I get back home to SC) :)

{all of your thoughts and prayers are working...}

First off, you are the best! You're kind words, thoughts and prayers are hard at work and I know they are making a difference. I'm in such awe over the overwhelming support I've received - your comments, e-mails, and some wonderful surprise gifts sent to our room have just brought me to tears. You all don't know how much your friendship and support means to me and my family- thank you sooooooo much!
The doctor's at Children have come to the following conclusion - her lab results show that she has contracted Shigella (similar to E-Coli - yuck!) coupled with nephritis and HSP (the disease mentioned below). That's the reasons for her high fevers, added stomach pains, and other not so fun symptoms. Then we got the exciting news that she could leave the hospital after getting a round of antibiotics to start treating the Shigella (her HSP just has to run it's course - there's no treatment except for monitoring her kidneys with weekly urine tests and then with monthly tests)!! Brielle is coming back to her little happy-go-lucky self; she's talkative and giggling, she's walking well (although she's wobbly on her legs and has fallen more than once scaring her a bit), and she's eating & drinking more. I'm so glad to have her out of the hospital (although I'm sooooooo thankful for the wonderful care she received). And I am selfishly so happy to see things outside of little B's hospital room. We sat outside tonight just soaking up the beautiful sunset here in Arizona, then bathed and now she's soundly sleeping.
Anyway, sorry for all the details, we are just so happy to be discharged and will be heading home back to South Carolina on Tuesday! It will give Briella time to be up to traveling and if she regresses, we are close to the doctors who treated her.
Thanks again so much you all!!!! You don't know how much your words, prayers and support have meant to me and my family. I wish I could give back to you - really... it's meant the world to me. I'll hopefully be back to posting soon. It kills me not to be posting more, but I will certainly be making up for it when I get back home! :) Thank you and XOXO's to you all.

{very sick little girl...}

Life has a way of changing things up on you....I'm not home and won't be home for several days unfortunately. Briella has been pretty sick most of our trip and it got really bad the morning we were supposed to leave (she lost a lot of blood) and not to be gross but the morning we were supposed to leave she woke up with her diaper completely full of blood. We took her to the ER and Jeff and Tyler traveled back to South Carolina. She also has developed 50+ bright red lesions all over her body, her joints are swollen, and her gums, lips and mouth have been bleeding and she hasn't been able to walk (I think her joints just hurt too bad). They have diagnosed her with a disease called HSP ( Henoch-Schönlein Purpura). Kinda rare so I'm so glad that we're being treated at the Children's Hospital in Phoenix where they have specialized care. Seeing my little girl in this much discomfort is heart-breaking but I know that she will get over this rough time and that she's in good, caring hands. Anyway, we've been in the hospital for 3 days and it sounds like we won't be going to South Carolina till after the weekend. I just wanted to keep you all posted since I mentioned posting pictures and session sneak peeks soon. Thanks to those of you who have sent me e-mails and left sweet comments on my blog after hearing she was sick ;-) You're thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
I'll post more updates as soon as I can.

{In the land of Kokopelli's....far from home}

Can you guess where I am? Hint: It's dry, hot and in a land where kokopelli's can be found. It's is in the United States.... so that will narrow it down quite a bit.
Just wanted to let my blogging friends and viewers know that I haven't been able to post since I'm far from home doing some shoots and vacationing for the past week. I'm freaking out that I haven't been able to post in so long...I miss it so. But when I get back I'll be back to posting - woo hoo. We fly back tomorrow night so not too much longer.
It's strange not to have my editing software with me.... feels so bizarre not to be doing that part of my job while I'm here. But I have enjoyed shooting in a completely different environment and being creative in a whole new, fun and challenging way.

{Nuxie Made}

I admit, I have a hat fetish when it come to accessories for my children. I love them, I'm always on the lookout for different, fun, funky, colorful hats. So I was thrilled to photograph and feature these hats for Nux of 'Nuxie Made'!! They fit all the things I love - they're colorful, hand-made, and look absolutely darling on children (and pre-teens). My daughter even insisted on wearing one to bed (yep, that's my stubborn but oh so loving two year old). Aren't these hats adorable?!

{Snips & Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...}

And 4 boys ages 3 and under! What a busy busy all boy session today was - I headed to Hartsville to photograph these adorable little blonde boys. They kept me on my toes being that they were all so young and at that age where they do what they want to do, it's just how it goes. But it was fun and entertaining. They were truely 'all boy' boys playing in the fountain - getting soaked and running around on the gravel barefoot (without it hurting their soft little feet). The youngest of these boys was 3 months old! He was so content during our session, happy as can be the entire time - amazing!! Here's some images from today! The first two pictures were begging to 'go vintage' so I listened... don't you love their outfits?! They were purchased at a cute little Hartsville children's boutique - Juice!

{sludge, muck & dreaded delays... sigh}

Yes, the weather here in South Carolina has been wet! This past Saturday we had over 4 inches (at least that's what's being said and not from a reliable source - merely chatter heard at the local Piggly Wiggly). Sooo, that resulted in two more sessions being postponed. I really don't like postponing my client's sessions but I want them to get the best images possible and in these wet and soggy conditions it's the best choice.
On another note, I was recently featured in the Country Club of South Carolina's quarterly 'Club Journal'. The cover is my daughter (well her legs and feet anyway -ha! getting on her tricycle in her little white tutu). They did a spread on me and posted samples of my work inside. Pretty fun!

{Nissalisa - monster wear for your lil' monsters...}

Monsters… monsters – what could be more cool on a t-shirt? My son went nuts when he tried this on for our photo shoot. These zany shirts are the creations of Nissalisa. And who is Nissalisa? It’s the sister-in-law duo Nissa & Lisa! Very fitting. J Anyway, I think these shirts are so fun for little boys – and big boys too! Their sizes run really small so I would contact Lisa or Nissa and ask them about sizing (between the two of them they have 8 children so they are pretty much experts in that area). My son is a 5T and he needed a size 8 – wowzah! Personally I love the long sleeve shirts – they are more form-fitting but not too clingy. My son really liked the short-sleeve – 1) it was green – his favorite color, along with orange and 2) he loves short sleeved shirts – he’s such a little furnace. Anyway, they have many different monsters to choose from (Tyler is shown sporting ‘ Blue Bernard’) as well as monster onesies, monster towels and adult size monster appliquéd t-shirts with ringer neck (gotta love the ringer necks)!