gigiblog

A Bed Full.

Well, as promised, I am going to post some pictures my sweet friend, Stacy Murphy of Stacy Murphy Photography (www.stacymurphyphoto.com) took of my family last week during her short but wonderful visit to Canada. We didn't do a lot of family photos because, well, it's just *HARD* with an 18-month-old, six week old and four year old to get them all looking good, dressed, fed and feeling generally happy all at the same time! But for one shot, the stars aligned and I LOVE it! Thank you, Stacy, for capturing such a precious photo! I am in love with the shot and cannot wait to order it on canvas! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

One of my friends saw this photo and said, "Wow, now that is a full bed!" and she's right - but I wouldn't have it any other way! I love my crazy, hectic, sometimes insane life of three wee ones. It's the best. :)

Stacy also did some mommy & baby photos of Lucia and me ... which I very much cherish. Sometimes third babies get jipped on photos, but not Lucia. She will have lots in her album, that's for sure!

I hope everyone is doing well and having a great Monday. And remember ...

Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other, it doesn't matter who it is, and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other. - Mother Teresa

More happy babies ...

I have been getting quite a few e-mails from the moms that attended the Baby Song group where I hosted the workshop - thank you all for your kind words and eager responses! :D I'm still posting more pictures, so stay tuned!

Look at her cute lips! :)

a moment of calm during a busy morning...

Such cuties!

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Also, as my readers will know, my best friend and fellow photographer, Stacy Murphy of Texas, is visiting me this week .... yahoooo! Well, I am happy to report that yesterday we did some family and mommy/baby shots! Yay!!! Stacy's visit is a shorter one so we haven't had a lot of time to manage photos and visiting, especially with my three little ones thrown in the mix, so I am super pleased that somehow we made time to get them done. I cannot wait to see them! I've only seen one so far ... and I thought I would share it here. Lucia is now six and a half weeks and a perfect sweetie pie - I love her so much and am so glad to have a baby in my arms again.

Baby Fever!

What do you get when you have 28 moms, 29 babies, two photographers and a room full of great light?!

A *fantastic* workshop!!

This morning, my best friend and fellow photographer, Stacy Murphy of Texas (who is visiting me this week - yay!), scooted over to host a mini-workshop at Baby Song, a program run by the local Salvation Army church here in Orangeville. What a great turnout! We had a ROOM full of adorable, squishy babies and some very willing moms, cameras in hand, to make the morning go so well.

I promised the moms that I would be posting some of the photos that I took as examples ...

Aren't these sweeties just the *cutest*?!

and some from Stacy ...

and one of me in action ...

We had SUCH a blast with all these cute, wee babies ...! I tell ya, if I didn't have my own wee Lucia to snuggle with, I would be having baby fever! :D

Thanks, ladies, for having us at your group!

Happy Heart Day (one day late).

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday .... so my apologies for this late V-day entry!
Did you all have a lovely wonderful Valentine's Day? Did your sweetie do something romantic?

I wanted a picture of something with "love" in it for my blog ... but didn't want to use an old file and haven't shot anything that new lately so I took a photo of one of the roses Abby gave me ... and then made it look old. Hah!

“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.”

Enjoy your Friday!!

~ Pram ~

Oh la la!

Lookie at what I won through a silent auction at the local Salvation Army!!!

I have no idea if it's authentic or how old it may truly be but it sure LOOKS old and it sure SEEMS old ...

and it was a perfect for me with my girls *AND* for my studio. How great will this be for photos in the spring and summer?

Isn't it so girly and fru-fru? I love it!
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What are you doing next Wednesday? If you have baby under the age of one, check out Baby Song, a mom & baby program led at New Hope Community Church (http://www.salvationarmyorangeville.ca) in Orangeville - Gigi Photography (errr, *I*) will be there with camera in hand to give some lessons and tips on how to take a good photo of your wee ones. I will have some sample photos to show the moms, will give tips on how to "read the light" to impove the photo and so forth. Fun times! We start at 10:30 a.m. :) See you there!

Lost.

I can't believe this. I am sitting here - it's Monday and I have a clean house (from top to bottom! That NEVER happens to me! I swear, the second I clean up one toy or mess, the kiddos are making their mark in the next room!), we had a homemade dinner (I'm TRYING!!!!), grocery shopping is done for the week annnnnd the kids were in bed by 7:30. Ohhhh! And the laundry is 90% done.

Isn't that amazing?! I think I should celebrate. I feel lost - no editing, no housework, kids asleep .. ?!

But how - hmmm, perhaps ... to bed by 10 p.m.?! Yeah!

I have had quite a few e-mails/calls regarding bookings ... and I feel so unsure as to what to do, to be honest. I am supposed to be off till May - but what do you do when there are newborns being born and lovely clients asking you to photograph their wee ones? How *can* I resist???

Lucia is getting more alert and deciding to party during the night. Not fun ... a recent shot of her ... harder than it looks! Next week, my best friend, Stacy Murphy, is coming to visit -and guess what? She's a photographer!! Wahoo! She will be taking some family pictures for me while she's here. I cannot wait.
For now ...

Brrrrrrr .......... wrap me in a blanket.

“The ice was here, the ice was there, / The ice was all around; /
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, /
Like noises in a swound!”

..... holy weather, eh? Woweee. LOTS of snow and ice!

I really wanted to get out and shoot some snow today but everytime I opened the door, doggie barked, baby cried, child needed me ... yeah ... hmmm ... so I had to shoot through the window ...

ice on my window:

The World Needs More Fourth Babies.

I read this online a while back and it really hit home for me. While I only have three babies, I can see where this mom is coming from ...
read on ...

"I have four babies. Lydia, my last, is one month old.

Last night I was at a benefit concert at my church. Lydia was along and she was terribly popular. I think she moved between 10 pairs of arms. The last pair got to me.

They belong to a man in our church family. He lives in his van in the church parking lot when he is between jobs (the church people pretend not to notice, he is a very proud man) and no one calls him on loitering. He is dirty and sometimes smelly. And of course, he's a bit odd. I'll call him Jim.

Jim spotted me with Lydia right away and sat down right behind me so he could watch her every move. He cooed and chatted with her over my shoulder. Quietly, about half-way through the concert, he wispered to me, "Could I hold her? Please?" My mommy instincts shot into high gear. He smells, he is dirty, he's too odd. Were she my first, I know I would have found an excuse to keep her. But Lydia is my fourth baby, and I have learned to share. I settled her into his calloused, dirty hands and watched a lonely, misunderstood, grown man melt into the softest of creatures. I have seen few things as beautiful as the two of them together. Lydia, oblivious to the harshness of society's cruelty. Jim, oblivious to the world around him as he soaked up her sweet smell, her softness, and her unconditional acceptance.

I nearly cried and I thought, "The world simply needs more fourth babies..."

--Anna Mayer

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Lucia: she's already four weeks old. Can I freeze time, please?

Happy First of February.

... and what a crazy first day it was! The heavens opened up and dumped 20-30 centimetres of snow today ... phew! Don't you wish you were somewhere warm right now? Quite honestly, I do love winter - and I enjoy the changes of seasons however, this is the first year/winter I've finally become like the majority of the Ontario population: I am craving warmer (read: SUMMER!) weather ...

Alas, it will still be a while before we see those lovely lush blades of grass poking through the frigid snow ... much to our dismay. So, to cheer us ALLLL up - because I KNOW we all want spring to arrive early this year - here are some more flower/water/macro shots. Enjoy and dream of the upcoming months of flip flops, bathing suits and sunscreen.