I’m a nail-biter. When I got engaged, I had to focus very, VERY hard not to chew my nails–because all of a sudden, everyone wanted to see my hands! For a chronic nail-biter, this is terrifying. So, I made a conscious effort everyday to not bite my nails. I would chew gum, drink coffee, always have water by my side…anything to keep my nails out of my mouth.

A few months ago…the novelty of my engagement wore off. People stopped asking to see the ring. The result? I’m back to biting my nails. ::sigh::

And now it’s coming up on my various bridal showers and bachelorette party, sooooo I’m forcing myself to stop again. I think I need to join a support group.

I had been doing quite well with all of my blogging–that is until a couple of weeks ago. All in one day, I got both wonderful news and terrible news. My sister gave birth to her second child, her little boy, Harrison Robert. Within minutes of receiving the phone call from her very happy husband–I got another call from my mother. My uncle had passed away.

It’s a weird feeling–switching from elated to melancholy in the course of minutes. Uncle Pete was a great man. He was hilariously funny, snarky and witty all the while still being very compassionate and loving. He would bend over backwards for friends and family. His health had been on the decline over the past couple of years, so while this wasn’t completely unexpected, it was still somewhat of a shock since we were told he was in rehab and getting better. The funeral lasted two days and I was glad to have had the chance to say good-bye to such an amazing man. RIP Uncle Pete.

Two days later, I met my godson, Harrison. He does very well in the daytime–but then when about 4pm hits, something in his brain switches and he unleashes what I call ‘the monster’. Every day at 4pm, he decides that he hates this world and everyone in it and makes this fact known by screaming his little head off. Poor little man. Then we discovered the formula the hospital had given us was expired–BY THREE MONTHS. I think we found the culprit.

Big sister, Adelynn is adjusting slowly but surely. She definitely doesn’t love not being the center of attention anymore, but she seems to be growing more and more ok with this idea. For the first week, she refused to touch Harrison or come near any of us who were holding him. After a night at home with them, Adelynn decided to start playing chase with me. I took Harrison from his pack ‘n play and without missing a beat, continued chasing Adelynn. I kept saying “Harrison got you!” as I would run up to her. Including him in playtime seemed to work really well and within minutes she was kissing him and wanted to hold him. SCORE FOR AUNT COLLEEN! Aunt Melanie might have the better toys and the bigger house, but remember Addy–I GOT YOU TO LOVE YOUR BROTHER.

Here is Harrison’s first photoshoot with a few at the end of Adelynn’s first encounter holding Harrison (The ones of Adelynn and Harrison were taken at 8pm sort of impromptu, so they’re a little dark!). We ran the gamut in terms of costumes and props and stuff, but the little hats were just too cute to not use!!

And just for fun before I headed back to NYC, we passed the camera around and got a few of me and the other adults…well, all except my bro-in-law. Poor schmo had to go to work that morning. Bummer!

This is little Ellis–he was the perfect baby, literally until I rang their doorbell. Then it was as though the world came crumbling down on him. He did not want to sleep. He did not want to be put down at all. It took us over 3-hours, but we finally got some beautiful images of this little guy.

This little guy did not want to sleep at all…despite the comfy beanbag he was sleeping on and the 87 degree temperature in my studio, he just wasn’t having it. He gave us about a 20 minute window of sleep and then he was ready to rock and roll. This has actually been a trend with my newborns lately…they all just want to party. I mean, I can’t really blame them–I’m pretty awesome. If I were around me, I’d want to stay awake and rock n’ roll, too.

(I love his little smile in this first one)

This is the “D” Family–they just welcomed their first child, this beautiful baby girl into their family. I met Sheetal a couple months ago and we immediately got along. She and her husband are both such amazing people, and Sheetal is also a writer (although, she writes about political issues and education…you know, slightly more thought provoking than my posts about picking up doggie poop).

The day of the shoot, I met them at their home–and let me tell you, their apartment is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen. It was PRISTINE. I was afraid to step anywhere, let alone set up all my equipment! But they were both so warm and welcoming, that it wasn’t the sort of fragile home you would think. They weren’t afraid to live in their home which made it THAT much more beautiful. I’m still baffled at how their white couch remains so white and how their hardwood floors have not a single scratch on them. I was certain that they must have JUST moved in–but no. They’d been there for years. It put my 1-year old apartment to shame. Not because my apartment isn’t beautiful–but I’ll never be the girl who can have a white leather couch and not spill red wine on it. And my hardwood floors will always have scuffs and scratches–battle scars from owning 100lbs dogs.

Anyway, I digress. This post is about their beautiful baby girl–not their beautiful hardwood floors. And she really was a joy to photograph. Once she fell asleep, she stayed that way for a good 45 minutes giving us an amazing amount of time to capture those pinch-able cheeks and those chunky thighs.

Ahhh, the beautiful Layla. There are so many songs I can put your name into and the whole time I was editing these, I had a whole list of random songs stuck in my head. Layla’s mom, Tamara reads this blog (Hi, Tamara!) and I just want to say that I LOVED these little tutu outfits she chose for this shoot. We joked that depending on whether Layla grows up to be a girlie girl or a tomboy, she’s going to either love these shots or hate them!

On a side note, Layla’s daddy is a chef at (what I hear is) an AWESOME BBQ restaurant in the city and IAMSOEXCITEDTOGOEATTHERE! As a southern girl, I loooove my barbeque. And if they have classic southern sweet tea (the kind that’s brewed with molasses)–it may just win my heart. The restaurant, that is. If it were legal to do so, that restaurant and I would be living together in delicious sin.

I feel like this poor little blog is being neglected slowly but surely. Life tends to take over and next thing I know, weeks have gone by sans any updates. One of my resolutions is to attempt to keep up with my posts so that I’m not 6 photoshoots down the line. In any case, here are a few highlights from my autumn/holiday card photoshoots….

Above are a few images from my shoot with Kate, Dan and Zach–a very sweet family from one of my favorite areas, Hoboken. I seriously LOVE Hoboken and if I could afford it, I would move there immediately. I hope to see them again soon. Poor lil’ Zach was teething and not feeling too hot that day, but you’d never be able to tell from that adorable grin plastered on his face!

The three collages below are from the Stern family–we had a lot of fun running around in the leaves and eating our lollipops! I was jealous…theirs looked way better than my blow pop that I had. That’s the beauty of being an adult I guess–the fact that I was able to run out after that shoot and have a ginormous lollipop for dinner!

And lastly, we have Sophia…my newborn session from November. She was just a doll with her full head of spikey black hair and sweet chubby cheeks.

These cuties were born just a little bit before Thanksgiving and were teeeeeeeny! I wanted to pour ketchup on their thighs and eat them like little chicken tenders.

As a sidebar, Sean always asks me why women want to eat babies…I had no real answer except, “Ummm, HAVE YOU SEEN THE THIGHS?? How do you NOT want to eat them!”

He still didn’t quite get it.

Busy, busy, busy…but that’s no excuse for the lack of posting I’ve been doing lately! I have photos from this past summer that I’ve been wanting to post, but just haven’t gotten to! So…here’s a smattering of what my summer consisted of!

The ever adorable Ryker (Isn’t that a badass name?? I love it!) -

The stunning & pregnant Sherri (whose daughter is named London…also an awesome name) -

The ridiculously handsome & hilarious AJ (sidebar: AJ was my senior prom date in high school ;0)

The happiest baby I’ve ever met, Ellie - (poor thing was sick, but you’d never know from the photos!)

My niece in her ECU cheerleader uniform & at her birthday party (by far, she is the hardest baby I’ve ever photographed) -

The beautiful & glamorous Kesha (she’s having twins and was on modified bedrest during this shoot!) -

And believe it or not…these are only a fraction of what kept me busy this summer! Hopefully, I’ll have post more photos from each session soon.

This is sweet little Hayden. She had trouble going to sleep and staying asleep during this shoot, but I think we got a nice mix of awake and asleep images. Thanks to Cali and Anthony for being so patient during this long shoot. They were so self-conscious that Hayden’s crying made her my “worst session ever” and let me just reassure you, Hayden was so sweet and beautiful and nowhere NEAR being my worst session. Because my worst session ever is and always will be my beautiful niece who is the queen of screaming and crying!!! And she’s all: “No little newborn is going to take away my title!”

Thanks again Cali and Anthony! Hayden is gorgeous and I hope to see you all soon!