'Twas a Dark and Stormy Day...

My 11th grade English teacher told us NEVER to start a sentence/story with that phrase (allow me to give a shout out to one of the BEST teachers EVER- Ms. Fannett!). She said it was way too common and not very descriptive. A better way to say it was something like this:

 ..."the rain started as a wimpy pitter that morning and turned into a menacing pelt as the wind whipped the trees into a frenzied dance. It was so dark even the bravest of squirrels cowered in their trees, waiting for one, just one ray of light to peek through the charcoal colored rain clouds that blanked the sky with their inky vapor."

Not bad, eh Ms. Fannett?

In photography terms, I had to CRANK the ISO up to try to capture some of that light, and ended up with these.

Love.

Love these too. Captured the next day when the light came out to play.

Something New

These are a bit different than my typical newborn images. Which turned out to be a really, really good thing... because I think these are some of my favorite newborn shots ever.

These images remind me of what it feels like to have that perfect little newborn and how I could just stare for hours at their tiny, miniature features...and how each little spastic movement as they got used to living in a big world and not enclosed up tight in a womb brought a fresh, giddy little smile to my face... and how each little yawn and sweet smile they gave as they slept brought an indescribable joy that only another parent could understand.

Ahhh, I was one mother that was in pure heaven with my newborns. I didn't mind the crying or sleepless nights, or the sudden loss of any and all personal time or space. I had found (or been given really) a new kind of love so powerful and consuming that made those other "inconveniences" completely meaningless and trivial.  

Courteney, thank you for allowing me to capture these moments. You are so crazy beautiful in your role as a mother and I hope you see that through these images.

xoxoxox

There's nothing quite like a newborn is there?

I heart newborns.  Meet Ms. Emily on her 6 day birthday.

And here is little brother. As I was leaving his house, he kept asking in little 3 yo voice (with a teensy tiny hint of a Southern twang) "Ms. Tracy, why do you have to go?"  Sweet, sweet boy.  Dosen't he kind of look like Jude with the blond curls and big blue eyes?

Speaking of Jude. I had concluded earlier in this week that he either 1) needed Prozac, 2) had been possessed by Satan, or 3) had something seriously medically wrong with him. The boy.was.a.monster. all week. FINALLY though - he told me his ear hurt, and turns out he had (as the pediatrician so bluntly put it), a "rip roaring ear infection." Strange as it sounds, I have never been so happy to hear those words. I almost broke down in her office and kissed her feet.  It meant that he wasn't a raving lunatic with a serious mood disorder... he was just in excruciating pain. Which of course is very sad, but TOTALLY FIXABLE. Had she told me nothing was wrong with him medically, you would have found me cowering in my dark closet, rocking back and forth, singing to myself,  and chewing on my toes in an effort to hide from the brute fiend that had overtaken my house.

It's amazing what one little dose of Amoxicillian can do for a kid!!  A little shot of antibiotic, a chewable motrin and my sweet (albeit somewhat mouthy and demanding) little boy was back.