Monday, September 17, 2012

The Exners



This first image is my favourite of the whole day. We had some challenges as it was a very windy day on the prairie but i think we captured everyone as they really are :)












Friday, September 14, 2012

back to our regularly scheduled programming...

This is the Gougeon family. These kids were super well behaved and lovely and smiled so wonderfully for everything!! I just wished I spoke their language. For real. They are French speaking children and I don't know French! As soon as I was told that I wasn't sure what to expect. But these kids and their wonderful parents immediately put my mind at ease. It was wonderful to meet them and I hope to work with them in the future... en francais, oui?











                            


 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

who knows where thoughts come from? they just appear.

Okay I know this is a photography blog but I do have some thoughts I'd like to share on my life. Being a parent is hard. gut wrenchingly hard. and it's really hard to look at all the facebook statuses that say how awesome being a parent is and how in love with their kids people are. especially when I'm having a rough day with my kids. which is 98.9% of the time. I feel jealous. why am i not farting rainbows over my kids? what am i missing? I'm a stay at home mom with my kids so I'm with them all the time. maybe that's the problem. maybe all these people who have magical moments with their kids all the bloody time don't spend almost every waking moment with them. maybe they feel guilty about being away from their kids and that is why they feel the need to spread their sunshine about their love all over the interwebs. maybe it was incredibly hard for them to get pregnant. maybe they are better parents than i could hope to be. maybe I'm guessing. or grasping at straws here. I don't know. maybe I feel guilty because I had major postpartum depression with both of my kids. so bad that we decided to not have anymore because it might push me to an edge where i might willingly jump. and it sucked that we felt we had to do that. because unless God has other(re: crazier) plans for us... we won't be having another biological child. and I had to mourn that. because it made me sad. and some days... it still does. but that's the choice we made. and i still believe it's the best choice for our family. and my brain.
don't get me wrong, i love my children. I would do anything to protect them from harm. I would walk through fire if they needed me. but the fighting and the backtalk and the selective hearing and the crazy times that make me want to scream into a pillow and give up and run away and cry my eyes out... they happen more than i'd care to admit.
but then i get these moments... few and far between, that make me love it. if even for a moment. tonight for instance, when we were talking about how i went to college and met their dad there. and the little one says "that's where you found dad?" and I said, "yep" and she said "you found him and then you kept him?!" and it just made good sense and it made my heart melt. because yes, dear little maniacal child of mine, i found him and then i kept him. and then the older one asked if I loved anyone else before dad and I said yes, i did. and i explained that sometimes when you are really young you think you are in love but you don't really know what real love is. and she looked at me and said, "because real love is this" and she put her arms around me and hugged me. and yes, crazy emotional backtalking teenager in a six year old's body, real love is this...

it just doesn't fit into my status on facebook.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Hales

This is the Hales family. I started off taking their photos when Ashley was pregnant with this little smiley girl. It's been so great to see her grow. I'm pretty sure she took her first steps a few days after this shoot. it's a whole new world...



 

 







The MacLennans



  

 

 

seriously cute family, eh? super fun to work with and love the images i get every time I meet with these guys!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Brandon and Jenn


                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                             


 

 
 













 






so happy for these two. it was such a beautiful day. 

Cohen














      

  





I'm blogging a lot today. For two reasons: first, I haven't done it in a looooong time, second, I need to make some room on my computer. These new files are HUGE. Anyway... This is Cohen. Remember Rachel? the gorgeous pregnant lady? well this is her family now. There are two ages here because I'm so bad at blogging.  He's cute so I'm sure you won't mind the abundance of pictures.