19 Weeks

I am a little behind on posting since I was in Vegas all last week for a photography convention. What a crazy week I must say. There were a ton of photographers from all over the world. 7 of us from the Love Affair workshop met up and spent the week together. It was so great to see all of them. Taylor took me to the airport Sunday morning around 5:30. Which means I woke up to get ready around 4am. Yea! I am so not a morning person so this totally sucked. But I wanted to get to Vegas early to meet up with girls. So, I rushed through the airport and I was there just in time to load the plane. Perfect right, well not really. Everyone was still standing around and we were soon told that there was something wrong with the plane and we would be delayed till 9:30 which would make me miss my flight in Houston AHHHHHHHHHHH! So I sat there for 4 hours and read some magazines and played on the computer. What an awful way to start my trip. I was already so tired. When we started loading in Houston they called all first class seats which where 1-5. I looked down at my ticket and I was row 5 seat b. I swear I heard the angels singing. I had a first class ticket. Thank you- thank you- thank you. As soon as I sat down in my oversized chair I snuggled down and grabbed a pillow. The trip from Houston to Vegas was 3 hours and I planned to sleep the whole time. Well, while all the coach peps filed in to sit in their small uncomfortable chairs I all of a sudden felt a little thump in my stomach. And then another and another. OH MY GOSH!!! I was feeling Mamie for the first time. She must have been telling me how much she liked first class :) Hee! Hee! No really- It was so amazing. I about freaked out! There was no one there for me to tell except for the man who was snoring next to me. I wiggled around in my chair grinning from ear to ear. What an amazing feeling! I swear I was so excited I could have jumped up and announced it to the whole plane. We took off shortly after that and sleeping was the last thing I was thinking about. The snoring man finally woke up and I struck up a conversation with him. Heck, we were going to be sitting together for the next 3 hours why not make a friend :) He told me all about his family and I told him about mine and that my husband and I are expecting our first child in July and she kicked me for the first time just a minute ago. He was so nice and we had a lovely conversation. I did finally calm down and rested my eyes for a few minutes. :) Isn't that so funny. I never thought I would be that way but the emotions and excitement you have when you are pregnant are so powerful. Vegas was a lot of fun. I miss my girls so much. We plan on making a trip to Santa Fe next year to hang out. It seems too far away. We are all so different but yet have so much in common. I truly believe that our friendships will last a very very long time. We were all like little girls when we saw each other for the first time. Waving our arms, jumping up and down, squealing. :) We had a great week together. One of the classes that I went to was Amber Holritz. All I have to say about her is WOW! She totally opened my eyes to staying true to yourself and your photography. She shoots a lot of lifestyle babies and families. I felt like I connected with her and her style on so many levels. I love documenting those special moments between people- especially a baby or child and their parents. Those moments that you will look back on years later and grin because you remember when you did those things together and your child can look back on them and see how much their parents love them. Before I went to her class I was really debating if I should try to 'set up' shoots. I was really having a hard time with it. It just didn't feel right, it just isn't my style or how I wanted to shoot. Going to Amber's class truly opened my eyes to the fact that I am doing things just the way I want, even though I love some of those posed shots. They are so sweet and adorable, it's just not my style. I feel like I work best in the candid unique and simple moments. Anyway, Amber played a little slideshow of her work . Ya'll... I had a huge lump in my throat. I hardly could even see the screen because tears had completely filled my eyes. They were so beautiful! So special. One image she told us about was a client who told Amber about her husband's love for kissing their baby's hands. The thing was he did it when most people weren't looking. While Amber was there photographing they were moving to another room. The husband leaned down to kiss the baby's hand and Amber swung around and captured that moment. Oh My... it is the most adorable picture I think I have ever seen. Anyway, I will quit blabbing on and on about this, but I really want to thank Amber for hitting me in the head with "just being yourself" and photographing what you love. Thank you- thank you Amber! Okay so back to the pregnancy- I am 19 weeks. Feeling good and loving being pregnant. Here is what baby center send us about our growing baby. Thanks for checking in on us! -Sarah Hello, Sarah! Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. The hair on her scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, taking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you. >> Read more about this week