Vernon Family

Over the weekend, I was asked to take portraits of the Vernon family. Their son, Aiden, just turned one so we got some shots of him with a balloon & cupcake. He was a cutie! Thanks to Jenni for asking me to photograph your beautiful son and family. Below are a few of my faves from the shoot.

Mother daughter bond

It is completely insane that Casey Anthony was not convicted in some degree of her daughter's death. Whether it was a murder or an accident, Casey was her mother, therefore should be held accountable for her two year old's death. I am appalled that she is not being held responsible. The judge should have made her testify. Someone should have asked her why there was duck-tape on her daughters mouth. Someone should have asked her why she placed/or let someone place her own daughters body in the woods and not demand a proper burial. Someone should have asked why she didn't miss her daughter for an entire month to not look for her. I am speculating. I don't have all of the facts. The one thing I do know for sure (because I am a mother to a small child) is that (like her defense claimed) if she was a good mother and loved her daughter, none of the things that I mentioned above, should have happened. Period. A mother to a child is like a lion to her cub. You don't ever let your child become prey. You defend your child. You protect your child. And you sure as hell fight for them - fight for the justice of your child.

This story breaks my heart. My opinion doesn't matter, but a part of me has lost faith in our judicial system. I am forever scarred by this trial.

Expanding

A lot has happened since my last blog, so here it goes....

First off, and most importantly, Curtis and I had the most wonderful blessing in our life. We had an 8lb baby girl in August who we named Lillian Kae. I fall in love with her more and more as each day passes. It's funny how people say, "you won't know love until you have a child." I think that may be true for some people, but I knew that love with Curtis before we had Lillian. We've become so much closer through the duration of the pregnancy, delivery and last 6 months of Lily's life. Life is pretty great and I try each and every day to not take anything for granted. Life is SO precious. With that said comes the next chapter in my life.

Since I was little, I always wanted to be a graphic designer. I went to college for it and currently hold a job as a graphic designer/photographer. I'm constantly learning how to make and do things better. I think I've always been afraid to do work beyond family and friends for fear it wouldn't be good enough. Now, I feel like taking that plunge into the slightly unknown. I want to start doing work for more people. I just bought a DSLR camera, so I am hoping to expand my photography skills as well. This is such an exciting time for me. The main reason I am doing this is because of my daughter. What kind of mother would I be if I told her to reach for the stars, but then in turn did not do it myself. She is my inspiration, too. Though I am not starting a full fledged business, I do want to expand my portfolio and practice more. So, I am officially putting myself out there.

Time sure does FLY!

Wow, so Curtis and I are 34 weeks pregnant this week. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by. Only 40 more days until we get to meet the newest member of our family. We just had our baby shower over the weekend, and for some reason, it's made me feel anxious about the due date. I think it's because your shower normally signifies the end of your pregnancy because you get those last minute items you've been needing to finish up the months worth of planning. While I am very excited to meet her, I am also holding onto the "alone" moments Curtis and I have left. It's going to be 20+ years before we have this time again together, so I'm savoring it for as long as I can. Our relationship is the most important to me and I know that Lily will appreciate having two parents who have a strong, nurtured love for one another. I can't wait to meet her. I can't wait to see the look on Curtis' face when he sees her for the first time. I can't wait to introduce her to her LARGE family. I can't wait to show her her room that Curtis and I spent hours putting together for someone we've never met, but already loved. I can't wait to see if she looks more like Curtis or me. I can't wait to take her home and see Tucker's reaction. I'm so excited for the future, but I'm loving every moment of the present too.

Lily Moment

Yesterday, Curtis and I got to see our precious little daughter again. It will probably be the last time we see her until we're holding her in our arms in August. A month ago, we decided to have a gender determination 3D/4D Ultrasound done. We found out she was Lily and got some really neat photos of her. In a months time, she has grown SO MUCH. She was a little skinny baby, but now she's got some fat on her. She actually looks like a little baby now too. It's just amazing how much a baby can grow in a month. Her head was facing down towards the opening of my cervix and her little feet were up by my belly button. I can't believe she is that big already - the size of my hand! She was hiccuping during most of the ultrasound and she covered her face up at one point. The best part of the entire ultrasound was watching Curtis. I've known him for over 10 years and feel like I've witnessed every type of emotion from him - but this is completely different. It's like multiple emotions combined into this new SUPER emotion! I know what he's feeling, because I feel it too. It's an amazing feeling when you have that moment of connection between each other.

Can't wait to meet you Miss Lily! I think you have my feet and hope you have your Daddy's little cranium =)

I’m Quitting Social Networking

After several months of mulling over the idea, I’ve finally decided that I’m quitting my two social networks – MySpace & Facebook.

I don’t feel that an explanation is necessary, but sort of feel like giving one anyway. There are a lot of reasons that lead me in the direction of leaving and only a few that convince me to stay. The reasons I would stay are really simple – I like talking with and sharing photos with my close friends and family – the ones that are “physically present” in my life now. I like to know what’s going on in their lives in case we have a long stint of not seeing each other. Those are the only reasons I am currently on there.

The reasons that lead me to delete my account are numerous. First of all, surfing Facebook is literally a waste of valuable time – time that I could be spending with the people that are actually IN my life – people I care about and love. It was fun at first to see what all of these people were doing with their lives, but honestly, why do I care? I haven’t seen 200 of the people on my friend list for over 5 years. Really, why do I care what their infatuation is with American Idol? If we were in each other’s lives, we would already know about this sort of stuff.

Privacy is also becoming more of an annoying issue for me and more over, the people that criticize me for not posting pictures or opening up more about my life really annoy me. It feels like, because you’re a “Facebooker,” you’re obligated to share every piece of information (because there is a spot) about your life including your birth date, anniversary, siblings, your entire resume, religious and political views, likes & dislikes – I mean if you’re a “Facebooker” then you know what I’m talking about and it can actually be a little scary if you think about it in the long run. I know most people might be thinking right now that you can control the privacy settings or just not fill in the blanks if you don’t want people to see your info, but I’d just rather not even deal with it anymore. As soon as you start deleting information, the more controversy it will bring with your “so-called” friends. Status updates are also becoming an annoyance for me. Just because I don’t post what I’m doing every hour doesn’t mean I lead a boring life. I don’t feel the need to inform people – especially those who I never see in my life.

Does it feel like the reasoning behind every photo you snap in your normal everyday life is for Facebook? It’s taken so that you can post it and prove how happy you are in your life, or what materialistic things you have in your life, or what friends you have or what trips you’ve taken or to prove you’re not a homebody or to prove you ARE a homebody…. I don’t know about the next guy, but I’m tired of this. The pictures I take are for me, not Facebook. If you are in the picture and you want a copy, YOU can post it to Facebook.

Drama. I’m really done with the drama that occurs over Facebook – drama that wouldn’t occur if you were talking face-to-face with someone. Words can have so much more meaning when typed and people can interpret things many different ways. Basically I feel like arguments arise over thin air and I wonder why people do this to themselves. It doesn’t make sense to me anymore, so I’m done with it.

I don’t know why I hold onto relationships for so long when there is nothing there but a history – nothing current and nothing in common but that history. And I’m tired of the recipient anger that occurs because we don’t keep in touch, when we never did anyway. There is nothing there – nothing compared to the love, respect and happiness I share with the “physically present” people who I share my life with now. They are the ones who mean the most to me, not the 200+ people on my friend list. I’m done wasting my time meandering through their lives through a lifeless machine when I have my own life to live.

So, the last thing for me to do is “Delete” my accounts. I may not do it today, or tomorrow, but I’ll be doing it soon. I’m going to keep my blog because it’s linked to my online portfolio and also because of the Nutts =) I see, hopefully, a long, happy friendship forming between our kids and between us as well.

Favorite Song Today

Fave song of the day.

Add to a playlist More from this artist

This song is also in the movie "Into the Wild" which is an amazing film, too. Check it out.