Archive for the ‘{Maternity}’ Category

I cannot believe we have already hit September! That means we only have a little over 3 months to fit your holiday sessions in. Like last year, I will be taking a much needed break in early December and will be on vacation until March 1st.

That being said, my LAST session date for the 2011 season will be DECEMBER 11th. I will re-open in March for the Spring season. This does not apply to those who have an upcoming birth or newborn session or to those who are on a Baby Plan. We will still hold your sessions. :)

Starting next week, I will be taking only 1-2 sessions a week through December 11th. Plus, the earlier you hold your session, the bigger discount off your holiday session you will get. If you hold your session in September, you can take $20 off either session fee. If you hold your session in October, you can take $10 off either session fee. Pricing in November will be what you see in the specials below.

I am offering two Holiday sessions this year. The Holly and The Jolly. Session fee is due at time of booking to guarantee your desired time/date. Once you contact me with your session time, I will send you an invoice for the session fee.

Availability:

September:

Week of the 4th: Booked

Week of the 11th: Booked

Week of the 18th OR the 25th: 1 Session Available

October:

Week of the 2nd: 2 Sessions Available

Week of the 9th: 2 Sessions Available

Week of the 16th: Booked

Week of the 23rd: 1 Session Available

Week of the 30th-November 5th: 2 Sessions Available

November:

Week of the 6th: 2 Sessions Available

Week of the 13th: 2 Sessions Available

Week of the 20th: 2 Sessions Available

Week of the 27th: 2 Sessions Available

December:

4th-11th: 3 Sessions Available

After the 11th, I will be closed for the holidays and will re-open in March. Please call me if your session is in regards to a birth or newborn session or a baby’s milestone.

Wow, what a summer it has been. I cannot believe how many beautiful bellies and babies I have gotten to photograph this summer. The summer of babies is not quite over, though, with a 4 newborns and a birth all left to do within the next 4 weeks. :) I cannot wait to meet all of these babies!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer. My boys and I stayed busy in the beginning of the summer with lots of camps (golf, tennis, VBS, etc) as well as mini vacations to the beach, San Antonio and back to the beach. Things have finally settled down for us in that aspect just to turn around and get crazy again. Football season for my older boys has picked up and the PTO is gearing up. It is reminding me that I have yet to send out my end of summer newsletter, come up with my holiday packages and update my calendar.

Don’t worry, though, I have started brainstorming what this year’s packages will be and what they will include. Last year I tried really hard to close shop for the holidays by the end of the first week in December, but ended up holding around 20-25 sessions over the course of the month. This year I am going to try to make a bigger incentive for you to get your Holiday sessions done earlier in the year. HINT: the earlier your session is held, the bigger discount you get. Holiday sessions will begin in September and will run through December 11th. Once December 11th hits, I will close for the holidays (aside from my newborn, birth and Baby’s First Year clients) and will not open back up until March 2nd. This gives me a much needed break and gives me the opportunity to spend the holidays with my family. Plus, if you didn’t know already, all 5 of our birthdays are in January and February. It makes for a very busy 3 months in December, January and February.

I can’t wait to finalize this year’s holiday specials and to get my calendar up and running. I hope everyone survives going back to work (if you are in the school district) and back to school in the coming weeks.

I have to say that as much as I get tired of the Houston heat and humidity, I really do adore the late summer evenings when the sun is at its best. Mom was glowing when we met up to take her Bump pictures. Despite the heat, the sweat and what seemed like the miles I made her trek during our session, she still slapped on a smile and enjoyed every minute of the session.

You have been an absolute dream of a client, patiently waiting for your sneak, so here it is!

I cannot wait to meet Tucker! Momma, you really are glowing and gorgeous. Enjoy every last minute of this special time.

mom all aglow

mom laying in the grass

baby bump

A tiny one at that! How cute is this bump? She insisted on meeting early on so that she would have pictures to share at the her shower. I have met Big brother before, but he was under a year old. Now he’s running, laughing and politely saying “no” when he doesn’t want to do something. My favorite part is when he ran up to his mom while we were trying to do bare belly shots and said “No” and proceeded to pull her shirt down. Lol! It worked out in my favor since every time he tried, it deceivingly made it look like he was being super sweet and saying hi to his baby sister. Hehe!

I cannot wait to meet this sweet little girl, even though I will be waiting a good 6-8 weeks to do so. This is definitely going to be a summer of babies!

Take a peek!

laughing little boy

I love the look on his face. Lol! Couldn’t resist putting up this outtake.

mother and son

I am so excited for this couple as they near the end of their pregnancy. They are expecting their first baby and a little girl at that. Mom is glowing in these last couple of months and you can tell how nurturing dad is following her every move. So cute to watch!

We headed out to a nearby park to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather. It was a tad windy, but we made it work. ;)

I am so excited to get the call that Baby Girl is here! See you soon!

maternity picture

heart hands over pregnant belly

Expecting parents

What great weather we have had yesterday and today. Just makes me sing inside to think we are closer and closer to spring. Bright sun, fun rainy days and warmth!!! With Spring brings back lots of fun, bright and cheery sessions filled with play and laughter. I CANNOT wait. February is going to prove to be a very busy month for the Shirley family as it does every year. I am not really ready for it to come especially since I will be turning the BIG 3-0 ((Gasp)), but I am so, so ready for flip flops and sun-kissed skin.

I am gearing up for a great season and some great offers. This year I will be offering quarterly newsletters to my subscribers. This is your chance to hear about specials and new products before anyone else. You will also get a first hand peak at my schedule in the upcoming months. It is quick and easy, just enter you email address below and fill out your basic contact information and then you are done! Your email address and other information will not be shared with anyone else and you can opt out at anytime. I plan on sending out the first newsletter at the end of next week, so sign-up and don’t miss it.

My re-branding process is almost at an end! What do you think so far? :)

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Wow! What a busy holiday season it turned out to be! I am so pleased to have such a great clients (repeat and new). I loved getting to meet all of the new babies (and spend a few hours with them).

Here is last month in a glimpse!

First up! Here is a beautiful little boy. Mom and Dad are first time parents and I was so amazed with how natural they were and at ease, even with little {K} being their first. Congrats, Mom and Dad!

newborn baby boy

sleeping baby boy

newborn aviator

Dad and newborn son

Now on to {T}. You have definitely seen this cutie before. Here he is at 9 months, and again, WOW on his eyes! I did not do any special editing to this kids eyes.

Yes, no hands! What’s up?!

Rarrrrrr!

Then I witnessed a birth! You will see this doll-face’s newborn pics later in this post. Welcome Baby {A} and congrats Mom and Dad!

Next up was a family I had already met before. Actually I hadn’t met Dad yet. I was so pleased to take things outdoors. Older brother is so energetic and it was the perfect atmosphere for his little personality to shine though. What a fun family. Plus I have a special place in my heart for Mom as I know exactly what she is going through. Her boys are just as close in age as my older two. :)

Cheese sandwich anyone? Lol!

My next session is of a growing family. Well, I should say the kids are growing. :) Not sure there will be any new additions. Lol! I was lucky to be invited over to the {G} house to take pictures of her kids and grandkids.

Love the shocked look!

My next family session as actually of a good friend of mine. She has joined the crew of being a boy mom and I love her to pieces! Here is her family, Mom and her sister’s family. This first one is one of my favorites! Look how happy Grandma is!

The next day I headed into to town to meet Mom and Dad to take pictures of {I}. He is turning 1, so we decided to bring along a cake and do a Smash the Cake Session. One of my favorite things when doing these sessions is how the babe is going to react to the cake. They either dig right in or want nothing to do with it. He wanted nothing to do with it. Actually, the only reason he got as messy as he did was because he kept trying to get away from the cake and would stick his foot/leg in it in the process. So cute!

Life of a 1 year old is so rough!

Maybe?

Negative!

So, fast forward a week or so. I ended up doing a couple family session right before and right after Christmas since they had family in town. You have seen one of the kids from this group many times before. She has become quite tubby and I just adore her!

I love the chaos in this picture! Reminds me of my life at home with my boys. Hahaha!

Now onto the influx of more babies! These two yummy girls were actually born 2 months early, and it took a while before getting settled in before I could head over there. My first set of newborn twins.

Love, love, love tiny toes!

I promised Dad that I would capture the only way you could tell the girls apart. The nurses pointed this out to them AFTER the girls were already names. Crazy! Meet Baby {A}. Check out the shape of her ear (kind of forms and A).

Now meet Baby {S} and check out her ear!

Okay, the next day I tackled two sessions. Whew! First I got my hands on yet another newborn. He looks like such an old man!

Let me just start out by saying that before I came, older brother was still a little tripped out by having a baby around and was really reluctant to go near him once he came home. Very typical at his age. So, we started out by playing around and by the end of the session he was very goo around him. One thing he was absolutely unsure about was Baby {G}’s umbilical cord. So, here he is showing his button off.

I started playing “This Little Piggy” with Big Bro and wouldn’t you know… he starting doing it to his Baby Brother.

A brotherly poke in the butt!

Yet more tiny toes!

From that session I rushed back over to Cypress to meet up with this fab family!

Then, to put an end to a really great year in 2010… another yummy newborn. I promised I would show you her pics!

Now a glimpse of this poor mom’s chaotic life. Has to be one of my favorite’s from 2010. Dad is sneaking glimpses at the football game on the tv and Little {K} is not really wanting to be in the picture, broken arm and all.

Thank you again for an awesome year! I cannot wait to see what this year brings!

I have not laughed as hard as I did during this session in a long time. The girls were super cute and silly and such a mess by the end of the session. Not to mention Dad giving everyone, including the girls scouts that were scouting near by, a huge show. I don’t even want to mention the things that were going on. Needless to say we had a very memorable session.

I still cannot believe that Mom is 37 weeks! She looks so tiny and adorable! I am anxiously awaiting girl #3 to make her appearance. :)

Take a peek!

One of my faves!!!!

I cannot express how honored I was to get an email from this soon-to-be-momma expecting her first born boy. They were looking for a photographer in the Houston area even though he is in the military and stationed in Louisiana. Knowing they would be delivering in Houston, they made their search for a photographer in this area. Turns out that not only did I get to capture these maternity pictures, but I also get to witness Baby {C} get welcomed into this world when I do their Labor and Delivery Session and then againĀ  a few days later for his newborn session.

I got even more excited when I realized how easy going this couple is. There really weren’t any limits and they were so relaxed an easy going with everything that we did. Mom is stunning and glowing!

Take a peek!

Baby bump that is. :) I had the pleasure of photographing this remarkably beautiful woman the other day. She and her husband are expecting their first and I can’t hold back the excitement that they are expecting a little girl.

I cannot wait to meet her in the coming weeks.

Enjoy your sneakity-peek!