Never Again

I've reached a point in my life where there is an overabundance of never agains.

I am in the middle of my fourth month of unemployment and I am making my bed up everyday. :D This makes me happy. It's like giving my room a little facelift each morning and starts things off on the right foot.

My first two weeks unemployed, I employed myself by giving my home the attention it deserved.

As I kicked many dustbunnies out of their comfortable abodes I said, "Never again."

As I became a one woman Habitat for Humanity for homeless papers I said, "Never again."

As I got up each morning able to leisurely help my son get ready for school, pack his lunch, and hold him tight in the car right before I dropped him off I said, "Never again."

As I drove home with plenty of time still to get ready to meet at the Kingdom Hall for service I said, "Never again."

As I placed my order for gorgeous business cards and carefully designed a maternity brochure I said, "Never again."

Never again will I allow myself to let my home become anything other than a peaceful and clean haven (for the most part) that my family and I are happy to come home to.

Never again will I allow the accumulation of mail to dominate me to a point that tearing my hair out one strand at a time would be more fun than dealing with it.

Never again will I take for granted this precious time I have with my little man who still wants me to hold him tight and kiss him before I drop him off at school.

Never again will I allow a month to go by where I will only get out in service for the bare minimum of time.

Never again will I let the voice of the self deprecating meanie that resides within me dictate my photography business.

This is not to say that there won't be times my bed doesn't get made. . .or that my nerves are not picked apart by a sleepy first grader whose least desire is to get out of bed. . .or that I won't fall into the pits of despair because I think that I'm no good. . .but NEVER AGAIN will I allow myself to get to the lowest point again in all of those respects. It feels too good to have a semblance of control and I'm too selfish to want that feeling to end.

And now to show that I do have at least a small sense of humor when it comes to myself, I will post a not so flattering picture that Spencer took close up with my wonderful cheapo fisheye lens. I was obviously hard at work at something on my laptop.
This was the day we got my Canon 70-200 2.8 IS USM in from Adorama (which I would post a link to but they don't seem to have it in stock at the moment). I promise I really was thrilled to bits and pieces about the lens. Not so much about having my picture taken.So here's to finding out what makes you miserable and saying, "NEVER AGAIN!"

Covington GA Maternity Photography - Emily Rogers and Family

Nothing short of miraculous. Knowing you are the sole provider for a life growing inside of you. Feeling those tiny flutters deep down inside is a magic that cannot be accurately described by myself or anyone I know. There's a comfort in knowing that while your baby is in your womb that you are able to take care of them in a way that is singular and can only be envied by the male of the species.

Recently, I had the privilege of photographing a dear friend of mine as she was in the last trimester of her second pregnancy.

This is an avenue of photography that I have only discovered in the past year but have grown to love so dearly. Pregnancy is such a unique time in a mother's life that can never be duplicated.

We started out simple.

Then added her little bundle of energy to the mix.
This is quite possibly one of my favorite images I have ever taken.
Oh those baby blues. As blue as the ocean he is named after.
A few fun shots with the current star of the show.
He is such a photogenic little guy. He kept saying "Cheese! Let me see!" Ahh the age of digital cameras. What wonders they do for the little hambones out there. ;)
A few quiet moments with mom and dad as Spencer kept little Ocean entertained.
Emily is from Pennsylvania and is a huge Steelers fan. This was a special request and I think it's adorable.
I love this next image.

When I walked in the house I knew immediately that I had to use these curtains. Perfection.
Holy HOTNESS Batman!
Stop! Rewind! Let's get a closer look a that one...WOW! Can we say knockout? Seriously, wow.

Again! You have got to be kidding me with this gorgeousness. And the eyes?! Sheesh.

She truly was a lovely mother-to-be.
Trying to get Ocean to understand that he needed to kiss "baby brother" was quite the amusing ordeal.
Daddy even tried getting on his knees to show him what they meant. Unfortunately, Ocean mistook the instructions in thinking he needed to get on his knees as well. Or should I say fortunately since I got this timeless shot of Emily laughing at it all?As fast as this little guy moved, I was happy to be able to snag a few shots of his adorable little mug.
I did mention that they were huge Steelers fans didn't I? ;)


Cutest football fan through and through.
I cannot begin to tell you how relieved he was to be able to take off his jeans and hit around a few golf balls in the front yard.


Look at that form! What a little man-child.
"Baby brother" Lochlin Pierce was born a few weeks after the shoot. I am hoping I will have the honor of photographing him outside of the security of his mother's womb in his new loving environment.

Folly Beach, SC Continued

So here are the rest of the pictures that I meant to post last night but was too delirious to get them out.

I believe it is sad that it has taken me so long to post these, but I love them so much I had to get them up here.

When we got to Foley Beach, Liam so wanted to feed the seagulls so I gave him some bread and told him to go FAR away so that they wouldn't flock around us.
Did you notice something I caught in that last picture? I didn't until editing these in Photoshop.
GO ME for catching a crumb in midair!!! :D
See? Isn't it great? He's making his way back to us leaving the seagulls far behind. WHEW!

I can only guess why in the world he would have been making this face.
We had quite a few really cool discoveries that day. We saw MANY little hermit crabs. Any shell I spied that I wanted for myself was already occupied.

The second coolest thing we saw was this live starfish. How awesome is that?

This would be the MOST awesomest things we saw. See how close it is to the shore?
No it is not a shark. It was a dolphin. I kept standing there with my camera, my voice a few octaves higher than normal shrieking about seeing a dolphin.

Do you notice what point I am trying to make in the below picture?
Yeah, that's right. The dolphin was THAT close and Spencer seemed totally oblivious to it's presence.

You see here Liam excitedly trying to explain to Lee and Spencer what they had just missed.
SOOO handsome...even with cut off toes.

LOVE this image in black and white. {{sigh}} Those eyes.
On our way to the lighthouse we came across this little area. I think that the artist did an excellent job capturing the essence of Mr. T. "I pity the fool who airbrushed over my face."
Attempting to skip stones in the ocean. Not sure how successful they were.

Why yes, I do have a thing for feet.
Not sure if this was the same guy on the other beach but if it was, he found a friend to accompany him.
I will leave you with a few "pretty" shots I got while I was observing my little family.