Andrea is one cool kiddo, one of my kiddos from pike valley!! Such a sweetie, I have known her since her sophmore year in high school. Never thought I would be photographing her special day!!  Super Pumped and at the same time can't believe my students are getting married, Whoa! She was one of my very first photo students obsessed with photographing the beauty of the sky. Every single picture she turned in would have a different stuning sky. This day was perfect! Way too excited for this day as I headed up north looking out my window. The sky...was breath taking!! Andrea and Jerid will be tieing the knot this coming May in Meriden KS!! I have never ever heard of this little town until a few days ago and Im so ready to check it out and celebrate! Oh and by the way Im pretty obsessed with this session!! <3 <3

Its been awhile, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawhile! Since my photo buddy and partner in weddings, Kendra, have captured together. She has just the most beautiful blog about this beautiful day of this beautiful couple!! And why wouldn't be beautiful Feather Nest in Bellville KS decorated the entire wedding. Wow-Wow-WEE!! Are you tired of the word BEAUTIFUL yet!?  Well... get use to it. While your getting use to it....check out Kendra's blog at marvelousthingshop.com click here 

So you might have read my little tid-bit about Miss Nena and her BEAUTIFUL family I captured. But I have yet to tell you about their special day. It was filled with colorful colors, BEAUTIFUL people, traditions, laughs, tears (happy ones), beers, and boones farm okay, okay so there were other things! Some of my favorite things, like champagne toasts as they walked out of the church and GAMESSSSS!!! She had an awesome block party for the guests as they arrived at the reception. Kendra got herself some awesome shots of that party while I cruised around with the bridal party in the party bus. PARTY!  Talk about party bus, this thing was off the hook!! From the outside it looked like a junk bus...inside, a party of pure magic!!! Seriously, magic! It looked like the most fancy limo with black and red interior that I have ever seen!!  Ooo Oh and at the reception the cupcake/cake display had every single type of cake!! I wanted to eat every single one! ok, i might have. maybe. shh...dont tell anyone!! Nena makes me giggle so much...even when she isnt trying to. This BEAUTIFUL special day of hers I almost cried 4 times....4 times! it was that beautiful and I never cry. Didnt even cry at my own wedding. But how can you not help but cry when you see Nena's nephew stick out his little lip with that cutest sad expression?! Okay might have cried editing those pictures. HAAHHAA... anyways you just go right ahead and take a look at this beautiful day! 


Hey I just lied to you, to your face. Ha! I have some details that will blow your mind from this BIG day! Nena included many details through out her wedding that were just truly unique. Can you tell I love weddings?! Her converses made my heart smile, and showed of her personality. And they were monogrammed ...with their initials!  While Josh and the crew had their boots to show off their cowboy like selves. Nenas grandparents mean so much to her!! If you look closely through out her wedding details you will find pieces of them. Check out Nena's  boutique,  you will see her Grandma Pierces wedding ring, but thats not it! She also included her other Grandma Hamels prayer book. But what I didn't know is that Nenas wedding day fell just a day short of her Grandparents anniversary . Wow that is just insanely, beautifully, awesome! Her Grandma Hamel was able to make it to the wedding ceremony, which was just absolutely breathtaking watching Nena and her Grandma look into each others eyes and smile!  You can see their two hands together... well her Grandma sure does not look her age! Actually Nenas something blue was borrowed from her Great Grandma Lena. Love that I was able to capture their hands together with her great grandma's handkerchief!

 OK, OK,  if you're from a small town you'll understand but if you're not you will probably think us small town folk are little bit weird and our traditions as well. Clyde has the watermelon festival which is huge huge event. Well Nena included her watermelon drinks at her reception which were very tasty.  Cuba has their Rock'a'thon tradition and Kolaches, which were at the cake bar! So mad I didn't eat those bad boys up. But another tradition I had no idea about was this shoe auction during the dance. Might have since it before but nothing like this.... check out that decorated shoe with a real live auctioneer!  Pretty entertaining!!  Nena's dad won the shoe bidding by the way PS.  But the Beams also started some of their own traditions that I thought were very special. They wrote their own vows which you actually you  never see at weddings. I always thought it would be a really special personal touch and they also included Isaiah, their son,  in the vows too!  Instead of a unity candle, which who even does that anymore,  they did at unity box that included letters from their parents they will be opening on their first year anniversary but it doesn't stop there they will continuing this tradition every year at each anniversary!!

As I sit here I can remember the very first day I met Raven. She was a sophomore in my high school art class. That was my very first time teaching high school art, for real. I was nervous as heck! But Raven  just warmed right up to me l felt at home, nothing like teaching at Manhattan High.  She was one of the most talented kids in my classes. Most of the time students would come to her for help on drawing, naming their artwork, or just to use her dang handwriting!! argh... she is a artistic fool! Come to think of it her class in particular was extremely gifted at seeing the world in a different artsy kind of view. 

She always brings color into my soul and I am not just talking about her hair. But yes that hair of hers does change color about very week haha. This lovely morning (before baby was born) we went out and about on a photo adventure. It was good times just laughing, sharing coffee, and getting to see one of my favorite students again. 

When you first get pregnant you don't actually think about the delivery of your little one. Actually I never thought of delivery at all until about the time I started to notice...dang my little bump isn't so little anymore, I have a baby in my belly!, oh crap how does all this work? How will it feel? Can I even do this? 

At our maternity classes they past out a flyer about the "Bradley Method" which was taught by a local chiropractic clinic there in Salina. If you didn't know already, because I sure didn't, The Bradley Method is a method of delivery created by Dr. Bradley in the 60s(I believe it was...maybe earlier) that focuses on a natural child birth coached by your husband. Your husband has a lot of work to do in this method.  After reading many books about the Bradley Method and making Brice practice labor and relaxation with me every night, I thought I was ready...then I kept questioning myself...oh crapp...can I do this? This questioning lead to more research, which lead me to the Business of Being Born, you can find on netflex. OH yea and my research also lead me to probably one of the coolest hippies what knows everything about childbirth Ina May Gaskin. I have learned so much through my research, watched countless youtube videos of women giving natural childbirth, and practiced over and over again deep breathing, focusing, positions, 300 squats a day, 20 kegals every hour, exercise, tailor sitting, and relaxation. I mean I was ready.... come on baby girl! 

At 38 weeks I knew my research on natural induction...like eating dates, running, getting romantic with your hunny. Because did you know....most docters won't let you go past 41 weeks? But.... the average 1st time Mom has there baby at 41weeks and 3 days (or so I read)? I was so nervous and scared to go past my due date! How do they induce you...pitocin... a false hormone that puts your body into labor. But it isn't pleasant, actually a friend of mine called it "satan in a bag"  its that intense!  Instead of you naturally starting out with small contractions and working your way up to the difficult ones, the contractions come on strong, all at once, like a brick wall. And since these contractions are so intense all at once your most likely going to ask for the epidural. Whoopie, no big deal....well when you have the epidural it slows down your contractions = more pitocin. More pitocin =more pain drugs....now these contractions are so intense from the pitocin that your little baby is being squeezed so hard and their little heart rate is now dropping! So now it is time for a C-section. Did you know epidurals increase the risk for a c-section by 2.5? And in the US the c-section rate is 30% Hey not to mention after your epidural your baby and you are all drugged up....your baby won't want to nurse and you will just want to sleep.  Try bonding with all this happening. Verses natural birth you have a natural love hormone that is released called oxytocin.... it is the most amazing feeling in the world. Actually come to find out this oxytocin is the same hormone that is released during love. I could just go on and on all day about what I have learned about birth and all the benefits of having a natural birth!!  I have barely scraped the surface of what I have learned.....but I didn't mean for this to turn into a lesson haha..... so back to Georgie's story...

38weeks and 2days... I went pee to find something I thought to be my mucus plug. Did some research and it was! Okay...what does that mean I thought...well I had either a day left or 2weeks. Oh godd.....please not 2weeks I want to see my baby now. That was 10:30 in the morning.... Later that day at 4pm I laid down for a nap to wake up 1/2 hour later to some mentral cramps. They were pretty much every 10mins.... so....are these contrations? I had no idea??! and I was super excited!! But I read that in the beginning you should rest as much as you can....because you won't get to later on! I tried that.... didnt work. We then went out to Brices parents for super.... these little cramps were getting closer together. I didnt say anything...just sat there and ate supper timing each one. Beacuse what if these arent contractions? I would get everyone excited for no reason. We went home.....and I tried to sleep ...and tried....and tried..... lol nope. 

38weeks and 3days ....at 4 in the morning the contractions were what I thought to be pretty intense (found out later those were nothing) ...so I said Brice lets go. OH yes keep in mind I kept telling Brice I am in labor, you need to get rest, go to sleep, seriously I'm in labor go to sleep. He never did instead... well he started to do all those chores you need to do before baby gets here...you know because those 38weeks just wasn't enough time to get all that done! ha!  We packed up and headed over to my parents to drop off Fanny the Pug. Mom made me some tasty breakfast..... thats another thing make sure you eat, its suppose to speed up labor, and I heard they wont let you eat at the hospital once your in labor.  5:30am we head up to Salina with Staind blairing in the car. Relaxing, huh? Thats Brices ideas of relaxation! ha...so I had my peaceful nature sounds hoooked up to my headphones... just breath and relax for 45mins. We get to the hospital...Im waddling like a duck and stopping to work out contractions every 3-5mins... everyone there is just staring at your crazy pregnant self. HA....and you can't even try and pretend to be normal. We finally get checked in and up to the 6th floor....where they tell me Im at a 2 and that I can't stay at the hospital. poop. We already had a doctors appointment scheduled for the day at 10:30am..the time now is 7am...can I really wait that long, in this car, with this pain?! poop. We did and we went in for our scheduled sonogram...hard to sit still for these when your having contractions. Georgie was too far down in my hips to see her little face and head....so we skipped that....figured we would see her that day anyway. Then we went into see our doctor. The waiting room....I always sit in the back of the waiting room...today I made it to the 2nd seat before I started to have a contractions...so there I sat. Figured I was looking pretty strange to the others there in that waiting room. Finally they called our names and we got to go back to meet with our doctor. He said your at a 3, all the way thinned out, you need to go back to the hospital. Alright doctor think we are going to go eat first. He passes us a strange look...probably wondering how the crap I can think about food at a time like this haha. And off to subway we went! Thank god we did because this story is far from over. Back at the hospital I get to sit in the whirlpool bath, you need to do this when your in labor. Really I had no sense of time...seems like this day flew by. At some point the nurse checked me and told me my baby had a bunch of hair! How the crap can she tell that?? I guess Georgianna was just right there and waiting for my body to dilate and do it's job. Brice helped me and Georgie out a lot!! He gave me massages, cool towels,drinks and tried his best to keep me relaxed. I guess we were in the tub for 3hours when I thought ok I need to make it to the room because I just feel like this baby is coming soon and I don't want to be moving around when she is. I was wrong. 

38weeks and 3 days  around 4pm ...Remember how I told you about the epidural .... about the time I got to the room these contractions were insane. INSANE!  And all those natural childbirth videos I watched so relaxed, so easy...nope this was nothing like that. I was totally at a loss, like a scared cat really...I didnt think I could make it through... but I read when you feel like that ...the baby is coming soon! another lie. It was really difficult to work through these and I can really see how you can break down and get an epidural...even my photos of Georgie werent helping deal with this pain. Somehow the hours flew by...and I looked out the window again and it was night! What didn't fly by is once I felt like I had to push!! You can't just push when you feel like it...they have to check and make sure your body is actually ready! oh boy. I was checked to find out I was at a 9..... I moved in and out of positions trying to fight though this urge to push! Every contraction I yelled...im going to push!! no, no don't push. crap! Have you ever had explosive diarrhea? Well think about having that and having someone tell you to hold it in for 3hours but wait thats not it...you also you have to relax while you do it. OH boy..those were the hardest contractions! Thats it Im getting in the shower! At some point in labor you really don't care who sees you exposed. I really thought I would, but nope. Out of the shower back into the room....after the 3hrs of wanting to push the doctor finally told me I was ready!! YAYAY! 

38weeks and 3days around 10:30pm.... I read somewhere that pushing feels amazing. IT DID!!  After 3hours of being told I couldnt push... we were SO ready. This is where all that oxytocin I told you about was being released.... I was smiling in between each contraction... just the best feeling and knowing soon you would meet your baby. 1/2hr or less I could feel she was here and as I looked down I saw the most beautiful site! Georgianna!! 19hours...yet I couldnt really remember most of them...and it felt like it just flew by and now I had my little girl in my arms!  I forgot to mention as I was pushing my parents called the room....because they just knew I already had her...ha! So they got to come in and see Miss Georgie brand new about 1/2hr old. 

That is our birth story...I actually cut it short....even though I feel like it ended up being long. I couldn't have done it without my husband helping me through!  Im in  love with birth and birth stories! Please share yours with me.  Now just out pictures of my little angel. XOXO

Such a beautiful wedding this past weekend of this cute couple. Converses vs. Cowboy boots... two different styles blended into a unique romance. Not going to go into all detail about this special couples wedding day.... just yet, I will save that for their wedding blog! But I have known Miss Nena since high school... actually the first time we met is a pretty funny story ;) lol She knows what Im talking about! 

Isaiah...Nena's little goof ball son, love him. I met Isaiah when I did this adorable family session about 3years ago. Isaiah was all about pictures, that day. Funny how time changes kids because that sure wasn't the case on the big wedding day. 

Josh, we met the day of engagement pictures. Even though he cringes at the thought of a camera, he was a good sport. He always does his best to make Nena happy even when he totally hates the whole idea, makes my heart warm and giggle. 

Oh golly gee, as I sit here waiting for all of their wedding pictures to load...Im anxious to open these moments up and relive such  splendid fall wedding.  Can not wait to share!!!