[Sneak Peek] Baby Girl

I had not one, but two sessions yesterday with babies. If I didn't already have a baby of my own, I might have gotten baby fever! Here's sneak peek #2 of the day of one of the sweetest little baby girls ever! Mom wanted to get a shot of her in her beautiful Christening dress, and I just loved this image with the mix of traditional with the beautiful old barnwood floor. Every one have great Superbowl Sunday! God bless!

[Sneak Peek] Baby Boy

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Up for your viewing pleasure is a sweet baby boy, born on the same day as my baby boy. He was a little tired for his shoot, but he got it worked out after a nice nap! Aww, babies. They certainly have their own schedule. I just wanted to post a quick sneak peek for mom and grandparents. Have a great day!

Slackers Anonymous

I've been so bad. Remember when I said I would be blogging more in 2010? Yeah, that time and that other time. Uh-huh, I totally fell flat on that 2010 resolution. To tell the truth, I really thought I would get with the program, but it's really hard to do.

You see, going back to work and familiarizing ourselves with the new addition in the house and my other kids and school and cooking and breastfeeding and editing and laundry(oops, the hubs does most of that!) and giving baths and, oh yeah, let's not forget, Facebooking and scheduling 2010 sessions and wiping my hiney...you catch my drift, right?

Add blogging to the mix and well it makes for a recipe of complete madness and chaos. Oh and I forgot to mention, dieting, which is in its own world of craziness. Except the only thing dieting has done for me is give me the will power to get off the couch and grab a couple of cookies. Dang diets.

And while on I'm the subject of dieting, all of you new mommies-to-be who are planning on breastfeeding because, "like, I will totally lose weight if I breastfeed!", well, I will tell you this: Don't go to Vegas with those kinds of odds. You'll be ravenous. You'll eat more. Heck, you might even look at your baby's fat legs and think about how tasty they are. But then you'll remember that you're not a cannibal. At least, that was my case. You may in fact be one. To each his own, I say.

Anyways, while I'm uploading some images to my lab, I thought I'd take a moment and reintroduce myself to you.

Hi, my name is Stephanie Greenwell. I'm a die-hard fat momma, I love sweets, my husband, and a good episode of "The Big Bang Theory" (and countless others). I'm a computer geek, a forever-student of photography, a Fox news junkie, and a child of God. I'm passionate about my beliefs(and if you don't want to hear it, don't engage me!) I crack up at myself all the time, I don't get jokes and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm a slacker-blogger, but if you elect me for office in 2010, I promise I will blog more and be the best dang blogger-er on my street. But most of all, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't throw tomatoes, real or virtual, at me for trying to be funny.

Lately, I've been trying to get things in order(see above madness), and I hope and will try to blog more. I'm starting to book my 2010 sessions, so of course, I'll be posting "Sneak Peeks" and sessions I've photographed. So come back from time to time, sit down and enjoy a couple of cookies with me.

Oh, did you say you wanted to see another image of my new baby boy? I can certainly oblige. He's now three months old and just adorable as can be. Don't be j.

And Where Does Time Go Exactly??

Today, my baby boy is 11 weeks old! 11 friggin' weeks! Can anyone tell where time goes? Because from my records, those last 11 weeks of my pregnancy moved at a turtle's pace. On this side of the pregnancy, time has kicked up to super-high speed!! So, can anyone tell me, where does time go exactly? Depressing, I tell ya. Pass the Prozac, please.

John Cooper is a growing boy, no doubt, and he looks older than 11 weeks. But that's expected when the kid was born the size of a small car! Just kidding, kiddo. At his two month check-up, he weighed 14 lbs. 6 oz and was 23 in. long. In medical terms, he's in the 99th percentile!! That's how my little Michelin man rolls...literally. Rolls and rolls of fat everywehere!

(On a sidenote: The kid sleeps like a dream! Like, up to 8 hours each night! I know, I'm so lucky. And no, I'm not giving him a sedative.)

So, John Cooper and I had an impromptu shoot this past Saturday. I tried to get him to sleep so I could get those sleepy images so desired in the beginning of their lives. It took a while and it ended up working to my advantage because the light coming through was stunning.

So here's to you my chub-a-lub. You beautiful, sweet chub-a-lub. How I love thee!

Christmas Giveaway

A little while back, I announced a little Christmas giveaway for a deserving family. I received several nominations that were very heartfelt and sincere. It's nice to know that people are so thoughtful of others and think so much of others during difficult times. So before I announce the winner, I just want give some needed thank-you's.

Thank you to God for blessing me this year with another beautiful, healthy child to add to our growing family. Thank you to Him for my other children, who at times are quite rambunctious, but they are good as gold and they love me unconditionally as I do them.

I give all the glory to Him for allowing me to start this little photography business. And many thanks to all my clients of 2009 who took a chance on me and allowed me to photograph them, their children, and/or their families. I'm beyond grateful and I only hope that my business will continue to grow in 2010.

Now, back to the announcment. I decided to not be a judge in this contest, since I knew most of the people that were being nominated. There were three judges and they had no clue who each of the nominated families were since I removed all mention of names in the emails I received. I wish every nomination could be picked because they were all very deserving, but there's only so much time in every day that I can do this, and with a new baby, my time is even more limited. So quit babbling, Steph, get on with it!

The following is the email I received. It was very endearing and even brought tears to my eyes. And I'm sure you will feel the same...

"Stephanie,

I would like to nominate a family from Kennett. Keith, Michelle, Kevin, Lil' Keith, Kara and Alayna Johnson. We are very close to this family and they have been a blessing to us. I went to school with Keith and he is one of my husband's best friends. Keith got married soon after high school and had twin boys, Kevin and Keith, which are now 16. They will be 17 in January. Two years later they had their daughter Kara.

I am not sure when exactly that they found out there was something wrong with two of his kids but they did find out that Keith and Kara had Morquio Syndrome. Morquio Syndrome is a genetic disease of metabolism in which the body is missing or doesn't have enough of a substance needed to break down long chains of sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans. There is a 1 out of 200,000 births this would happen and to them it happened twice. Keith and his wife divorced and she left him with all three kids.

They have had numerous surgeries over the years, had to be in bed for long periods of time, and even where the body halos. Keith did all he could do for his children. He had to quit work to care for them. They have been held back in school due to missing school due to the surgeries. This disease causes abnormal heart developments, large fingers, knocked knees, dwarfism. They have to use walkers and wheelchairs because they can not walk due to the pain. This of course does not stop them from doing things.

Keith is in the choir at school. The kids at Kennett Public Schools are wonderful to them. They are such of the best kids and truely thankful for their life. Also, it is hard on Kevin as well. He looks over both of them and it is hard for him trying to live a normal life and do things that they can never do.

Keith finally remarried a few years ago to Michelle. She is wonderful with the kids. They had another daughter Alayna a little over a year ago. (I believe the mother was the carrier of the disease so they were not concerned about that.) Alayna adores the older children. I think they love the attention.

What I have seen over the years is that whatever you could do for these children they were appreciative. Whether you gave them something new or old they still kept smiling. It is hard not to love them. What I have read about this disease is that the life expectancy is usually between 20 to 30 years old. I can not imagine knowing that your child or children may have lived half of their life. They do not ever talk about that, they just cherish what they have.

I think they are deserving of being recognized. They truly are a blessing. They do not dwell on what they have been dealt with but praise God for it. This has only made them a stronger family. The go to church religiously and do no question what they have been given but are truly thankful that God has picked them to care for these children."

Is your Kleenex soaked? Uh-huh, thought so. When I read this email, I just knew they would be picked. Being a parent, a mother at that, I can't begin to imagine that any of my children could be anything other than healthy. I know these parents have seen their share of struggles, but from the sounds of the email, they have God in their hearts and live each day fully.

I'm excited to meet this awesome family and give them something special to remind them of their strong family bond for many years to come. Congratulations and I'll be contacting you soon!

Also, thank you to Charitie Jones for the nomination. I can tell how strongly you felt about this family and I'm happy that you are also a winner with a $50 print credit and no session fee on your next booking.

Again, thank you to everyone who nominated a special, deserving family. I hope you all have a very blessed Merry Christmas and remember that Jesus is the Reason for the season! (None of that Happy Holidays baloney!)

And since it is Christmas time, here's a cute lil' dude to make you smile even more...

[Senior] Meredith

Meredith is my first senior to have a multiple session: this fall session and her summer session. (You'll notice she's changed her hair color since the summer!) I have been pleasantly surprised at the relatively mild weather we've had, especially since I'm getting a late start on fall sessions and a few Christmas sessions.

I shot at a few new locations seeing that some of the other locales I use are getting quite a bit of use out of them. I'm amazed at some of the places that strike a creative streak in me, since I've been to these places in the past and nothing hit me. We had fun, as usual because Mere is that fun type and up for anything.

It's hard to believe that this school year is almost half-way over. Thanks for the fun time and for understanding about bringing along a handsome lil dude for the shoot. Best wishes for your future and we'll miss you next year!

[Sneak Peek] Senior:Meredith

Just one.

I wanted to post one image from Meredith's second senior session. It's fall and the weather has been great. So here's just one...