Goodnight My 5 Year Old

Sigh. I've put Mason to bed. The last night he'll ever be 5 years old. He's going to wake up tomorrow and be 6. I teased him and told him that technically he isn't 6 until 8:05pm but that didn't seem to go over very well. I laughed.

6 years have passed from the day that I birthed him into this world. Even longer since he was with me in my belly, causing me to swell like a balloon and have carpal tunnel in my wrists. I loved every minute of it. Well, maybe not every minute but that's what being a mother is all about right?!

He had homework this week that was to write an acrostic poem using descriptive words/phrases for each of the letters of his name. Here's what we came up with:

M Master Lego Builder
A Adventurous
S Super Creative
O Often Nice
N Needing of Love

Pretty much sums him up although if I had had my way, S would have stood for Silly!

_____________________


Mason, tonight I put you to bed. You fell asleep before you could see my eyes well up with tears at the memories that washed over me. You have challenged me in ways that I never could have imagined. Challenged me to be strong and weak. To be more forgiving and more loving than I ever knew was possible. I am challenged every day by you and for this I am a better person.

You have grown up so much and are such a big boy. You help clear the table after dinner, you make your bed and get yourself dressed. You brush your teeth, wash your face and comb your hair every morning before school. You are silly beyond belief and as difficult as it can be at times, you remind me not to be so serious ALL the time. I'm working on it. I really am. Be patient with me.

I loved helping you come up with your poem tonight. You are all of those things and more.

Master lego builder. You can build almost anything that is put in front of you as well as come up with amazing creations of your own. It's awesome.

Adventurous for sure. All I can think about is being with you when you climbed to the top and into the center of the cinder cone volcano. All by yourself. The entire way.

Super Creative. I know of no other child that has asked to save all, ALL of their teeth as they fall out. Your thought is that instead of getting something small from the Tooth Fairy for each single tooth , you can get something BIG for all of them. Brilliant.

Often Nice. You are one of the sweetest boys I know. You love to help people in any way you can. You have the biggest heart.

Needing of Love. This is the truest statement of them all. If you could crawl into one of our laps and just stay there all day you would. You often tell me that you wish you were a baby again so that you could just be with me all day in my arms. You miss being little and being held all the time. I wish I could give you that. That I could hold you more often than I do. Pick you up whenever you asked and just pour my love over you.

Happy Birthday Mason Shea. I love you deeply.

You. Are. Amazing.

Spring Is Here

I can't tell you how much I love the sunshine. I'm not the kind of person that would do well in a gray area. A place where the sun didn't shine for months on end. I wouldn't last. I just wouldn't.

This weekend was blue skies and warm sunshine. I loved it. Although I had a million things to do around the house, we packed up a picnic and made the beautiful trek out to Tennessee Valley on Sunday. It was such a great day to be out and a ton of other people had the same idea. But, it didn't matter. It didn't feel crowded.

We saw a bunch of wildlife. Deer were out grazing, a bobcat was wandering the hillside and Mason found a super fuzzy caterpillar. We hiked out to the beach where we had a picnic lunch and the boys played in the sand. Bliss.

I made a couple of rock sculptures and then had fun photographing them with Matt's iphone and the "hipstamatic" app. I've been riding the wave of my Blackberry for a couple of years now. Loving it as much as my favorite scarf that I wear even when it's hot. But, I'm being tempted by the iphone. I did pretty well though, I have to say. I've resisted the temptation for some time. Now that I'm wanting to sync my computer and business to my phone more than I have in the past, the answer seems to be....the iphone.

My time is due for an upgrade at the end of the month so I'm starting to get excited. I've been looking at some cases and have one that I like...

If anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears. And speaking of suggestions, I'm curious what your favorite apps are. I haven't even started looking at what's available. I think I'll start with recommendations first and then take a look when I have some time later.

I leave with two of the shots from our outing at the beach. Happy Springtime everyone!

Challenged & Deeply Touched

Please note: This post is one of sadness. If you read, please know that at the end there will be photographs of a select few pages from an album that I recently designed. It was a difficult decision of whether to show some of the images or not. You may choose to skip viewing, but I felt that their inclusion made the story complete.

Sometimes we're asked to do things that challenge us. Things that take you to a deeper part of yourself. Recently this happened to me.

A woman in our "Mommy And Me" class was pregnant. She has a 2 1/2 year old girl and was having another baby girl due in early February. One of the mom's from class sent an email the first week of Feb. asking if she had had the baby and how everything was. An email came back that we weren't expecting. Tragically, she lost the baby the day before her due date. They found nothing wrong, no clear reason why. The doctors told her that 50% of the time that something like this happens, they have no explanation. All of us from the class were shocked and saddened by this news.

My phone rang the Sunday following the news and it was her. Through tears she told me she wanted to ask me something. I remember my brain swirled with questions trying to think of what she could need. Of course, I would say yes to anything and this is where the challenge presented itself. She asked if I would be willing to photograph their last moments with the baby, Zéjah. She and her husband were going to the funeral home one last time and she was hoping I would come too.

When my father was sick and dying back in 1995 I had a clear knowledge that part of my path, one of the reasons that I was here on this earth, was to be there during his transition of life. I felt it inside my deepest core and now, I feel the same way about this experience. Part of the reason I am here now on this planet is so that I could photograph this little girl and help in the healing process of this family.

I asked what they were looking for, what kind of photographs they were hoping I would take. The mom directed me to a site nowilaymedowntosleep.org which is an entire organization dedicated to just this situation. It was founded by a woman who lost her baby and the photographer she asked to photograph their last moments together. It was difficult to look through the site but it definitely helped prepare me for what was ahead.

I prayed constantly throughout this experience. Especially before entering the space to take the photographs. I prayed asking God to be present and for "me" to move out of the way so that His work could be done. I wanted to be sure that what they needed as a family was captured. This moment had nothing to do with me and I was clear about that.

For me the most difficult part of the process wound up not being the act of taking the photographs, it was the post-production, editing and color correcting. Being with the photographs for hours and days later moved me in ways that I think I'm still processing. I feel like this whole experience changed me on a molecular level.

I feel deeply blessed to have been able to give the gift of photographs to this family. When the mom told me that she was going to print some of them for a small album, I asked if I could make the book for her. Since this is what I do, create albums, I felt that it was as important for me to do as it was to take the images.

When I put the book together I emailed Ira from Leather Craftsmen. I asked if they would be willing to donate the album to this family in light of the tragic circumstances. He immediately sent a note back telling me that they absolutely would donate the book. Sometimes it isn't about the money or the time, it's about humanity and kindness. About sharing what there is to be shared with the people that need it. I can't say enough about Ira and Leather Craftsmen and send huge heartfelt Thank You's to everyone involved in the production of the album. I really can't thank everyone over there enough.

As difficult as all of this was, I know that it's a part of life. A part that we sometimes try to ignore. I have been deeply touched and emerged from the experience grateful for the blessings I have. For the health of my children and husband. For my family and friends. I am grateful for being able to share my gifts, the gifts that God has given me. I am grateful for life.

An Ivory Album With A Companion

From time to time, there are the emails that bring a huge smile to my face. The ones that I flag so that I can read again later because they make me feel like what I'm doing is worth it and appreciated.

This is one of those emails. I received it from a client after she received her album in the mail......

Laura - I'm in love (all over again!). It was so awesome going through the album - I just loved the flow of everything - the colors, the layout of the pictures. My husband saw it and he loved it too - and he is a very tough customer. We both thought the essence of the day was perfectly and beautifully captured in our album. We are just thrilled. I can't wait for my mother in law to see them, and I can't wait to show all of my friends and family!!!

Thank you so much for everything. I'm so excited, I'm going to tell the world about you.

Needless to say, that email made my day, more than my day.

Lynn found me on the internet and wasn't sure about the whole ordering process. She liked her photographs but wasn't thrilled about them. She wasn't sure she would end up with an album she loved. This is something that I see quite a bit. It can be terribly overwhelming to receive hundreds of images from a photographer. There are often multiple images from one scene and it can be hard to pick a favorite to print let alone a number of favorites for an album.

This is the part of the process that I love. Sifting through images to choose which ones to place large on a page or in a sequence to show a moment. This is the story telling part of design that is what I like to think of as, my specialty. I think not having an emotional attachment to the images I'm looking at is what makes all the difference in the world. I can see past and through the moment and pick what just works best.

Lynn was a client who had beautiful images that just flowed into an album. I loved the color and the butterflies, the dancing, the joy. It was a beautiful album to design. I'm thrilled that she loves it as much as she does. She asked not only for my opinion on the images and flow of the book but on the cover material as well. For her book I felt that a lighter leather would be the way to go. In the end she chose an ivory leather with gold stamping for the text. It was the perfect combination for her wedding album.

This is another stunning Leather Craftsmen album. I can't say enough about their books. Their quality is amazing and I'm never disappointed. How many companies can you say that about?? Lynn not only ordered a main album but she ordered a companion album for her mother-in-law. This is something that LC offers that is a must purchase if you have a parent or anyone for that matter who wants a book. They're called a Companion Album and they're basically a mini version of the main book. They are incredibly reasonable and offered with the purchase of a 10x10 album or larger. I think almost every client that purchased a main album over the last few months has purchased a Companion album or two as well. They come in six faux leather color choices but you can upgrade to any cover material LC offers.

Lynn, it was truly a pleasure to design your album. Thank you for trusting me with your business. Your photographs were beautiful and you were an absolute joy to work with. I hope you and your family enjoy your albums for years to come!

Here are some photo's of both the main album and the Companion.