So while our party was small I decorated my DIY ass off, made Celia a little apron for her kitchen, and painted her a growth chart so in case we ever move we can take her little height markings with us. And Jason whipped up some of the best chocolate with cocoa-buttercream-frosting and vanilla with buttercream-frosting cupcakes EVER. She did spend a lot of time pointing at the flags and lanterns and she definitely LOVED the kitchen.

I of course had to put together a little photoshoot. It went…okay. One year olds are tough!

We attempted a home family photo…with all furry members present. This is how these things usually turn out.

I didn’t end up with a big messy cake smash photo because Celia did too good a job of stuffing that cake in her mouth. But she loved it. And so did we.

Beyond my own self gratification this show is for family and friends who have been begging me for more photos. I finally put something together. Yes, there’s a simpler way and in the future I’m just going to find a place to post photos as I take them but these first two months deserved something special. We’ve come a long way from the little 4lb 4 ouncer who had to spend 4 days in the NICU (I still cringe thinking about that place)…in fact she’s doubled in size and is catching up fast! It’s almost scary to look back at our shaky beginning but also amazing to see how far she’s come. And, as any mother would think of her own kiddo, she’s just so damn cute!

Since Celia came a little early our fun Flip contest ended a bit early too. I can’t believe she arrived before the deadline for entry to the contest ended! Although we ended up being induced it was NOT scheduled so I promise the contest was not fixed. Since she did come early, the winner is Scott Caron in Massachusetts whose guess of February 7th was the earliest projected date! Congrats to Scott (and wife Meaghan) on your win. Your camera is already on its way!!

Just as a warning to everyone, I’m going to be taking a maternity break from February through April so I won’t be scheduling any shoots for those months. But, I will be communicating with folks who are interested in booking a shoot for this summer/fall (some wedding dates still open too!). Just know that my replies to emails or messages might be a bit delayed… I tend to be a little low on the functioning scale when lacking sleep.

To celebrate our new arrival I figured, why not make it interesting? So I’m starting a baby contest and the winner gets a brand new Flip Camera! It’s a 4GB Flip Video Ultra HD. The pretty one I picked out is pictured below. Can I tell you how much I love these things? I use them not only for the Studio, but they’re the easiest for home movies too. Right now I have one stationed near my couch to try to capture the crazy baby flexes that our super strong Noodle likes to practice during his/her in-tummy workouts.

I figured this would be a fun way to share my excitement with all my fans, friends and clients. I’ll be doing things like this more often in 2011.  And no, I’m not receiving any compensation from Flip…it’s just such a fun tool for capturing memories so I thought it would be an appropriate prize.

To enter you have to COMMENT TO THIS BLOG POST with the DATE & TIME (don’t forget AM/PM) that Baby Booth will enter the world. You can only enter once so make it a good guess. Like I mentioned above, the Noodle’s due date is February 14 and that’s all the information that anyone has…including me!! The winner will be whomever is closest (whether over or under). I’ll be in touch with the winner and send out the prize as soon as I’m able to (hopefully within two weeks). The DEADLINE to get your guess in is one week from today…FRIDAY, JANUARY 28. I’m guessing nothing’s going to happen before then…of course you never know!!

GOOD LUCK!

Duh duh duuuhhhh.

I know it’s a long shot, but hey, it can’t hurt to try. I picked an image from one of my recent family shoots that I fell in love with instantly. I just love the expressions on the boys faces! And I think it’s a good example of the portraits I try to capture…the moments that come in between “cheeeeese.”

So here is the link to vote. I’m posting it because there is a viewer’s choice category. I’m not sure if it helps in the actual cover winner selection, but again, it’s worth a try!!! So check out my entry and vote for me if you like it. I think you can vote multiple times and it’s going on until June 1. Check out the photo below…  Thanks everybody!

It was important for me to not lose all those old posts though, because they’re a big part of my history. They represent a couple of years of professional growth that really defined who I am today. Plus I have a lot of clients who may want to look back from time to time. So the link to that history can be found here.