every year my summer month long vacation is filled with visiting family and friends …. we drive up the coast and make a stop in new jersey to see my family and friends and then we head to maine to see my husbands family . each summer in maine, the kids get to go to camp of some sort…. about 4 years ago – they attended a ymca day camp and it was there that i met a wonderful friend. we just seemed to click from the first moment . it was my first experience at a camp with the kids and my new friend , tammy , made me feel so comfortable and relieved a lot of my stress of leaving the kids in the hands of strangers for the entire day for two weeks straight !!! ( they were only 3 and 5 years old ) i ended up loving the camp and helping out alot so i was there most of the day anyway it was a great first experience !!
as the years have gone by, tammy and i have kept in touch … and every summer we get together when i head north . this summer , she was pregnant !! shall i say , very pregnant – meaning, she was scheduled to deliver the baby only a few days after i planned my trip to go visit her. well, i had to take some pics . i thought we would just go to her garden area and i told her just to be natural and forget i was there . this is how i saw her … tammy, you are a natural beauty !!!

this is tammy 's first garden .... i think it is coming along quite nicely

i loved the woods next to her house !!!!

the sun was super bright but i had to get a pic of tammy on the tractor !!

tammy has 4 boys ... here is the youngest - so cute ...

and the second to youngest with his lego man .... i am sure he had a special lego name , but i can't remember it right now ...

yes , i am sure it had a special name seeing as they wanted their picture taken together

a kiss for baby sister...

a kiss for mommy !

when we were about done, we both saw the fish tube and started laughing ......it fit perfectly

this brings such a smile to my face...

tammy gave birth to chloe the night after i left !!! so glad i was able to get picks in time !! mom and baby are doing fantastic !! and mom is loving all the girl clothes after having 4 boys !!!! miss you tammy.

i was a wife and mom first and then started a business – some in the photography business say “a mom with a camera “.

for the past two years , i have been been trying to balance it all.
it has been very difficult at times.
i love being a wife and mom ! … and i love running my business !
and sometimes , one or the other has to take a back seat …which can be very hard .
i am really trying to bring harmony to both sides …
i have thought a lot about this recently and am taking steps to make sure that happens.

something happened the other day though that was out of my control..
while i was at a photo session, i got a call from my child’s school saying i needed to go pick up my son – he was throwing up. i felt terrible for my son and for the family i was photographing. i am a mom first . i apologized to the family , said i would be in touch soon to reschedule the rest of their session. i do have the greatest clients !! they were very understanding and would look forward to rescheduling at another time to finish the session.

thank-you stephanie, bryan and luc. !!!!

and thank-you to all of my clients for being soooo understanding !! you all are the greatest !!

i am looking forward to a fabulous 2010 holiday season!! -

i am booking up quickly – so call or write to me soon to secure your date

here are a few images we did capture the other day before i had to end the session… i can’t wait for part 2 !!!!
enjoy;)

i love getting this shot … my husband and i have one similar with each of our kids and we love them !!

so cute;)

luc was loving the camera

luc checking out his parents wedding album !! this was stephanies idea – i loved it !!

peek-a-boo !!

grab a chair and have a seat !!! this is a long post !!!!!!

i am in love …. with this session !!

thank-you emily , ross & sadie .
sadie … you were the reason for this session and i will always be grateful

about a week before our session , i talked with emily and asked her to start looking through magazines to get ideas for our photo session . i gave out examples : cooking in the kitchen together, walking the dog, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee(decaf , of course ) , swimming in the pool , etc.

i wanted to create the session around the two of them and what makes them click… what makes them happy… what do they like to do together…

they will soon be all consumed with little sadie and i wanted them to have some fun … just the two of them.

i should correct myself now, they already have a little boy who they do a lot with now and who pretty soon will be a bit jealous – so yes – we can’t forget gunner . gunner is their 2 year old dog who was awesome during the photo shoot and boy does he love his treats !!!! he even gave baby sadie a kiss !!!!…. okay – he was getting a treat off emily’s belly , but hey – it is tooo cute !!!!!!

we captured the family as is now before sadie arrives …. and i am giddy with how it turned out !!!

i will go ahead and get on to the images now….and will write more as i post them

gunner was doing everything they asked .... he loves his treats

family photo .......

and a kiss for baby sadie !!!

sadie was moving a lot at this point ...

oh boy- that was a big move !!!

i am not sure how this happened ... but we were done with laying on the bed and we were talking about what we were going to do next ... and all of a sudden , it was "PILLOW FIGHT " !!!!! it was so hard for me to keep my camera straight - i was laughing hysterically !!!!

i wasn't kidding - they were serious !!!

and no - don't worry , baby sadie was fine !!!

and yes !! emily and sadie win !! heehee

big hugs, laughter and love ...

time for the outdoors .... it was starting to rain right as we ventured out ...

rockin' baby sadie in the rocking chairs ..

we ventured to our down town area to have some fun ... it however started to thunder.... so we ran into our local ice cream store for some fun !!!

the effects of their raspberry ( i think ) sorbet !!!

ok - no more thunder ... back outside !

some dancing in the street !!

and a stroll...

i should mention here for those of you that don't know emily - she is a fitness guru !! the best !!! ..... as they were walking they asked what they should do while they were walking ...and well, they joked a bit together and then emily stops, turns and flexes !! i am telling you , we laughed the entire session !!! it was then ross' turn and well, he decided to keep walking instead ....

and laughing some more...

so we start walking towards the fountain and they decided to get in ... and well, that competitive side of emily started to come out.... first, to compare belly size !! emily , i think you win this one !!

then a game of tag ...

then a push -up contest ... i only think they did one each before we were all busting out with laughter

emily then ran around the fountain and i caught this .... something about this images just gets to me ... i LOVE it !!!!

and since they were already wet, and it was raining a bit - we felt it was the right time to move to the big fountain !!!

just love this one

love it .. !!!

loving the dancing and the dips ross and emily !!!

emily - you are soo fun !!!!

after all the excitement , we headed to the pool for some relaxation .....

and relaxing is even better when the cocktails are brought to you !!!! ross & emily came up with this idea and i absolutely loved it !!! you both ROCK !! thank-you for an amazing day and the many many laughs !!!