… there will always be miracles.

These two images are from a recent maternity/newborn session combination. And this little guy is a BIG miracle - weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 15 oz!

The little guy still growing in this belly has a cute little pair of boots to grow into - a pair his daddy wore when he was a little tyke.  Can’t wait to meet him in a few more weeks!

My son brought home a flier from preschool with information on this event: Banner Thunderbird Children’s Safety Fair. It looks to be a TON of fun! Definitely will try to take my little guy over there after t-ball on Saturday. He LOVES fire trucks!

Date: Saturday, April 26, 2008

Where: Peoria Sports Complex (16101 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria)

Time: 10am-2pm From the Banner Thunderbird Hospital website:

Winner of a Westmarc 2007 Best of the West Award, the safety fair is a collaborative effort between the Glendale-based medical center and neighboring Glendale and Peoria Fire and Police Departments, area businesses and state agencies to deliver a unified message of child and family safety.

Covering everything from fire, home and bicycle safety to stranger danger and Internet predators, the event is an interactive and enjoyable opportunity to educate families on ways to protect themselves. Inflatable activity centers, live music and performance from local cheer squads, dance teams, gymnastics and martial arts studios will add to the excitement.

The first 1,200 children, up to 16 years of age, will receive a free bicycle safety helmet, compliments of Banner Thunderbird Children’s Center.

Interactive games, fire escape demonstrations, safe target shooting demonstrations and face painting are just some of the activities that will serve to entertain children. Notable safety figures may include McGruff the Crime Dog, Smokey the Bear and the Crash Test Dummies promote good safety practices. Banner Thunderbird will also be accepting new, unwrapped toy donations on behalf of Andrea’s Closet—a non-profit organization with hospital-based toy closets established in honor of Andrea Nicole Brunk, a little girl who passed away from leukemia shortly before her 10th birthday. Andrea’s Closet provides toys to the pediatric patients of Banner Thunderbird and other hospitals throughout Arizona.

For more information on the Banner Thunderbird Children’s Safety Fair, please call (602) 865-5733.

Miss K came to visit with her mommy to capture some belly pictures before the arrival of her little sibling. She informed me the baby will be named Emma - irregardless if it’s a boy or a girl (mom & dad didn’t want to find out!). She brought with her this cute little stuff puppy that she’s taking care of until the baby gets here and then she will give the puppy over to the baby. I loved this picture - she seems so protective of mom’s belly - I bet she’s going to make a great big sister!

If you count the little fingers on the lower half of the belly, you will see 15. Divide those digits by 5 and you have three… and those are the already baked ones. Number 4 is still in the oven.

With three kiddos, the session was bound to get a little crazy, but I had a lot of fun and I think the family did too. I can’t wait to meet the newest addition!

I will never cease to be amazed at how babies - these cute, precocious, squiggly creatures - all start out as these tiny single cells. We are literally created from next to NOTHING. Did you know that all the reproductive eggs a female will generate are formed during her time in her mother’s womb. It seemed crazy to me when I realized that while I was pregnant with Sarah, I was also carrying with me 1/2 of each of my future grandchildren. The egg that created me was created while my mom was in my grandmother’s womb. I tell you, genetics and reproduction are crazy stuff, so you will have to pardon me if, during your maternity session, that I have a bit of a “mystified” look on my face. It’s hard for me not to look at a pregnant belly and not think of all the cells splitting and dividing to create these tiny miracles. (Oh, and stay tuned to meet the miracle who popped out of this beautiful belly - I met him today and I can tell you that he’s darn cute!)

Maternity & Newborn sessions are some of my favorite to shoot. I’ve had the privilege of capturing this milestone for several Phoenix, Scottsdale and other Valley of the Sun families this winter - many welcoming their first baby and other’s welcoming their second or third!

The studio offers a Maternity & Newborn Package for $250. This covers the session fees for both sessions as well as 25 custom birth announcements. Maternity sessions are generally scheduled at 30-34 weeks, but if you are closer to your due date, don’t hesitate to contact the studio to see if we have openings available. I know it’s sometimes hard to feel photogenic during your pregnancy, especially towards the end of it, but I’ve never photographed an expectant mother who regretted doing maternity portraits, but I have photographed newborns for moms who lamented that they didn’t do maternity sessions.

A common question for expectant moms is are we able to edit stretch marks. The answer is “yes.” For the most part we can reduce or remove the appearance of stretch marks on your belly. Don’t stretch marks stop you from capturing this time in your life!

Here are two images from a recent Maternity & Newborn session client.