Maternity preview for Sara

I did my first maternity shoot the other day, and I have to say, I am very pleased with these. They are lovely. Thanks so much Sara for letting me spend a couple of hours taking pics with you, it was so fun! We did have to practically break down the bathroom door to rescue her son Henry, who somehow got stuck in the bathroom. I'm quite comfortable with Sara already, but if I wasn't, I might have considered that a great icebreaker!
I really hope you like these Sara, Feliz said this first one reminded her of the painting Leo did of Kate in "Titanic"! Haha, it kind of does...

PEPS + L.A. = Amazing

We are the most fortunate to live in Seattle because of a little program called PEPS. This stands for program for early parent support and it really is life changing. You are matched with other brand spankin' new Mommies (sometimes Dads too, but I did a group with only Moms) who live in your neighborhood or very nearby. The sort of formal part of the group lasts for 12 weeks and meets once a week with a volunteer leader. Each meeting begins with some sort of discussion involving your highs and lows of the week. As a new Mom, this was so cathartic! It also felt so wonderful to know that other people are having the same sort of lows (and highs) that you were. It made me feel normal. The next part of the meeting would usually be a group discussion about a topic relating to new parenthood. Feeding babies, sleep issues, relationship with your partner, brain development. You name it, we probably discussed it. Our group clicked so amazingly well. I had suddenly acquired 14 new best friends! When else does this happen in your life?
We have now been together for 5 years and we don't meet every single week anymore (but we sure try), we still have a bond that just continues to strengthen. Some of those newborn babes are in kindergarten! We do girl's weekends at least 2 times a year and Mom's nights once a month. Many things are different in our lives, most have a second child, some have a third. Some now live out of state, some are no longer married. Trying times, joyful times, sleepless times, we've shared all of these. I liked the way one friend put it as we toasted each other at a dinner out in a recent weekend in L.A. "No matter what else changes in our lives, we will always be here for each other." This is such comfort. I love these girls.
We spent 3 days in L.A. last weekend and as usual, it was a blast! Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip. Of course, some of the girls couldn't be there, but they were of with us in spirit:) For any of you readers out there who don't know me, I am the blonde with the pink sweater. Now you can put a face to the name!

Favorite

This is for Photo Freak's blog. She has a fun contest going on, post your favorite photo. I think this is still my favorite, or at least one of my favorites. I just love Evelyn's serious face, the way she has the sweater jauntily tied around her shoulders, and mostly, I love the old blue door!

Fall Photo Contest

I am entering the "Fall" photo challenge over at Simplicity. Go check it out, there are some amazing fall photos!!