Audrey {Portrait of a Newborn}

Talk about a preview of grand proportions. There is something so special about this sweet week-old baby girl. She was angel from start to finish and I couldn't have dreamed of a smoother session. What a joy it was.

The love her parents have for Audrey is truly something to behold. I love these images because you can see that love and feel it too. It was an honor to capture this moment in time for Audrey and her wonderful parents.

I don't think most people really, truly enjoys being photographed (especially a few days after a woman gives birth, and let's be realistic, I don't know many men who willfully jump in a camera's path with a smile), but it is so important to take portraits regularly for so many reasons. I love what Justin Hackworth said in his blog post Why Take Pictures? regarding people who prefer not to be photographed (I am among them): "Don’t they see, the pictures aren’t for them. They are for their children, for their families, who will look at those pictures and be so glad someone had the foresight to take them."

Good photographs make you feel something.

I hope these new parents look back on their 2010 family portraits in 20 or 30 years and remember the wonder, the overwhelming joy, and the way it felt to be so in love with someone they'd only just met. Likewise, I hope that someday Audrey will look back and feel so blessed to be so loved.





























Can you believe her? Posing on her own and grinning at one week old. Unbelievable. Watch out world, here she comes.

Thanksgiving Roundup {Capture the Magic Project}

I spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day, but it was so wonderful. Some of the most memorable moments that we created and captured were:

• Our fall foliage mobiles that we put up in three doorways in our home. We picked up the leaves in Central Park, and after a semi-failed attempt to preserve the color in glycerin (only like 10 worked- the rest turned brown. Any suggestions?), we went with gorgeous fresh leaves and pressed them overnight. We suspended them with sewing thread, and I absolutely loved how the leaves would turn and sway when we'd walk past. I was actually sad to take them down to put up holiday decor. This will be a new tradition.
  

• Going to see the balloons inflated for the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade the night before. I loved seeing all the people in the windows of the surrounding apartment complexes looking down on the balloons and the crazy crowd.
  

• Making a "pa-corn turkey" (as Ella calls it), a brown paper turkey filled with popcorn (tutorial via One Charming Party). We "carved" it with a knife and ate the popcorn while we watched the parade and identified balloons we'd seen before. Definitely a new tradition

• Having my darling cousin Taylor here from DC. Thanksgiving is fir families and we were so thrilled that she chose to join us.
  

• Making pies with my daughter. We even made some mini pies just for her.
  

• Eating candied yams and enjoying my successful first attempt at making dinner rolls. They were delicious, but my mom's are legendary, so I have a long way to go.
  

• I cooked my turkey upside down on accident. I was kind of grossed out by the raw bird (must have been something to do with the neck and giblets and flashbacks to Pioneer Trek). I didn't even realize that it was the wrong side- they do look fairly similar since there is no head :) so I thought I ruined it when I pulled it out. Nope! It was so delicious! Nice and tender. After telling a few people about my little mishap I heard from more than one person that a lot of people do that so the juices drip down onto the breast. That's what I was going for all along, right? Yea, I was just trying to be gourmet. Right.

• Going to the zoo and walking through Central Park the day after Thanksgiving - I'd never seen it so empty and it was really strange.

• Buying our Christmas tree from the "tree lot" set up on the side of the street in our neighborhood was a definite highlight. We were worried about getting it home, but luckily the cost included delivery (that poor, poor teenage boy) and setup. Nice! We got free Charlie Brown trees for both of our kids, which was extra fun.

What were your favorite Thanksgiving moments? It's so interesting to me how often the most memorable moments are not the big ones, but the little ones, or the anticipation lead up to the big events.