Hey look!  Two weeks in a row now I am managing to both remember it’s Thursday and get a blog post up!  For those of you who have ever had babies in the house, you know what a feat this is! ;0)  I feel kind of silly having two personal posts up on the front page of the blog, but our sessions this past week have been super secret bridal sessions so I hope you’ll indulge me for now!

This week we have images from Mother’s Day!  For many reasons I won’t go into here, Mother’s Day has been a hard day for me for the past several years.  This year, it finally became a good day again.  I pulled my little boy into bed with me on Sunday morning and cried a little it was so good!  I feel so blessed to be able to be a mother and to be a mother to such a precious little one!  That alone made it a great Mother’s Day but breakfast with Sean’s grandparents and a beautiful lazy day with surprises from my boys made it even sweeter!

Mema and Doda (pronounced doo-da like in the Camptown Races song for those who are wondering)

Little Man held up quite well at the table for a while.  He loves crowds and people watching and I honestly think he’s happier out and about than he is at home.

Before long though, he managed to fall asleep in all that racket!  This always amazes me.  I love those tiny fingers peeking over!

…and we all know where he likes to sleep best – on mommy.  I’m getting quite proficient at operating just about anything a foot away from the table with a sleeping baby in between – especially eating bacon.  Let’s face it, nothing gets in the way of eating good crispy bacon!

After breakfast, we came home and Sean had made me this sweet little card.  I’m a little obsessed with really great pop-up books so he made this sliding contraption for me. He says this is Seven’s peek-a-boo face because he’s popping out from behind the message.  Really it’s his shocked face from where I was standing over him on the bed, firing a flash at the ceiling above him, and trying to get a good passport photo.  Up until this point he’s been a natural light baby and this was quite the introduction to rapid bright light sources. :0)

My Mother’s Day gift was an awesome old-school suitcase record player!  Do you remember listening to records when you were a kid?  I’m realizing as I type this that it’s totally possible many of you would too young for that, but I did and it’s one of my fondest childhood memories!  I bought a bunch of children’s records when I was pregnant and now I can’t wait to play them for Seven!

We wrapped up the day with pizza and a movie at home but not before getting a few photos of me and my boy on our first Mother’s Day. :0)

For all the mothers reading this, we hope you too had a wonderful Mother’s Day with the ones you love! :0)

- Mel

The lovely and talented Sarah B. Gilliam has graciously offered to organize area photographers in a benefit for the flood victims of Middle Tennessee.  We’re excited to participate and want to ask you to help spread the word!

In Sarah’s words:

After the flooding in our wonderful state, I’m sure many of you want to help those affected by flood. Maybe you have already, or are unable to roll up your sleeves or you were affected, too.

Please join me, my favorite ice cream shop- Pied Piper Creamery and my fellow photographer friends in a benefit for the victims of the flooding.

The sessions are 20 minutes (booked every 30 min) from 9 AM- 5 PM on Saturday and from 10 AM-6 PM on Sunday.
100% of the proceeds will go to the Nashville Area Red Cross and Hands On Nashville.

There are NO rules for this shoot- take advantage of the talent, folks- this could easily be your engagement photo, 1 year pictures, updated family photo, senior picture, pet portrait… Just know that you have 20 minutes. :0)

Bring some props, bring a friend, bring a giving attitude!!!

Pied Piper Creamery will be donating 25% of their profits from this weekend to these organizations as well. So grab a homemade waffle cone and a homemade icecream for the road, for bribery, whatever ;0)

Here are a list of the incredible talents donating their time:

Abby Gray
www.abbygrayphotography.com

Amber Vongsamphanh
www.lotusblossomphotography.net

Andrea Behrends
www.andreabehrends.com

Jessica Winn
www.jessicawinn.net

Kate Crafton
www.katecrafton.com

Kristen England
www.kenglandphotography.com

Melanie McLellan
www.mclellanstyle.com

Sara Rose
www.saraerosephotography.com

Shea Halliburton
www.byshea.com/blog

And Photographers standing by :0)

Andrew McMurtie
www.andrewmcmurtrie.com

Heather Latimer
www.frogsandfaeriesphotography.blogspot.com

Kreslyn Ruckman
www.kreslynruckman.blogspot.com

Phil and Mindy Thornton
www.phindystudios.com

Whitney Carlson
www.doveweddingphotography.com

Please sign up today and help make this a huge success!  Thank you!!

So I have this grand idea to post a personal blog every Thursday but with the baby and the business I make no promises! :0)  Today though, it’s going to happen!  Friends and family, soak it in!

We’ve been really trying to be good about taking photos of our life since Seven came.  I want to remember every stage of his life and we’re also making an extra effort to actually be in the photos because we think it’s so important for kids to have images with their parents.  My thought is that if I make an effort to post a personal blog every week, I’ll make even more of an effort to take the personal images every week.  It’s a great theory right? :0)  Here are a few of our more recent favorites.  More to come (*hopefully*) next week.

Sean doing what Sean loves best and Seven humoring Sean…

Seven at 7 weeks…

How work gets done around here.  And yes, we have waaaay too many water bottles on our desk, among other things.

and finally, my little man just hanging out in the morning while we make breakfast…

We met up with Ally and Glaydon and their sweet dog Brady last week for their engagement session.  Having a dog running through the fields after his ball as you move from place to place just sets such a laid-back and comfy tone to a session!  Add to that a gorgeous couple, the beautiful skies, perfect temperatures, and lush greenery and you’ve got the perfect shoot!  Thanks Ally and Glaydon! :0)

There’s not much that gets cuter than these two!  They both have the best laughs and they’re so sweet together.  Lee, are you just loving this description? ;0)  ha!  We had a great time running around Franklin with these guys last week!  I mean, what’s better than an engagement session with a Mellow Mushroom stop in the middle?  Our clients are the best! :0)  Thanks guys!