Letters to My Daughter: December
Well, my little love, I can't believe this is my last letter for this project. It has been a year full of changes for you! This was you a year ago in my very first letter:
You were still such a baby then, and now you are - without a doubt - a little girl. A year later, and you've weaned, potty trained, turned 2, got a big girl bed, become a big sister, and started at a new school. Some of those changes were easier than others, each one shaping this little person you're becoming - a person I am so insanely crazy about.
You blow me away every day with how smart, funny, and independent you are. "I can do it myself!" is something we hear several times a day, and you even requested a ladder for Christmas so that you could reach all the things you can't currently get to. (Sorry kiddo, not going to happen.) If there's one thing I know for sure about you, it's that you will walk through this world in your own way and in your own time. And when that's not driving me bananas, I find it immensely inspiring.
I can't imagine how much more you're going to change in the coming year, but I'm so glad I get to be along for the ride. I'm especially looking forward to seeing you grow in your role as a big sister... you've started having little conversations with your brother, and you're so anxious to share your toys with him. Trust me, he'll be crawling after you in no time.
I know I've said it in all of these letters, but I sure hope you know how very much I love you. I feel like I won the kid lottery with you and Jonah. Here's to another year of laughter, love, and lots and lots of hugs and moochies.
I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ve been writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to my dear friend Kristy’s blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!
PS... While I'm sad this project has come to an end, I'm very excited to start a new project in 2014 called 10 on 10, which be like a monthly "day in the life" of our little family. Look for the first post in a few weeks!
{Jonah Month by Month} 2 Months
Letters To My Daughter: November
Oh, my sweet girl... it's been a difficult month so far. After months of debate, your daddy and I finally decided to move you to a different Montessori school. It's a great school, and much more in line with what we want and expect for your care and education (which we take very seriously!) We know that you'll love it in time, but in the short term the change has been really tough for you.
You've been acting out a lot and daddy and I haven't always reacted with the love and patience we know you need right now. Parents make mistakes, too, but I promise we're trying and we're going to try harder. We'll all get through this rough patch and things will go back to feeling happy and predictable.
Hang in there, buddy... you'll make new friends at school and things will start to feel more comfortable for you there. Until then, daddy and I will support you as best we can. We love you soooooo much, no matter what, and we're so immensely proud of the little girl you're becoming and what a fantastic big sister you are.
I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to my sweet friend Carrie's blog to read her letter to her daughter.
{Jonah Month by Month} 1 month
{Branding} Heather Meyer Photography
We've all found ourselves in this position - we don't quite know exactly what we want, we'll just know it when we see it. That's where my friend Heather of Heather Meyer Photography had been with her branding for the past couple years. She'd tried out a few pre-made logos but was never 100% happy with them, so when she was getting ready to launch her business she knew it was time for something custom made just for her. She wanted her branding to feel whimsical, emotional, and intimate, and what we came up with - well, I'm kind of obsessed with it...
Thanks for trusting me with your branding, Heather! You were awesome to work with and I can't wait to see your business take off!
{Custom ProPhoto Site} Kristy Dooley Photography
I'm so excited to share my latest design venture with you - the custom ProPhoto site I created for my good friend Kristy of Kristy Dooley Photography. I've been wanting to work with the ProPhoto platform for a long time now, so when Kristy decided it was time to upgrade her Blogger site to something more professional, I was thrilled that she turned to me for help. The first step was to update her existing branding to incorporate a slightly different color palette, then I started developing her custom web elements and site layout...
Kristy's landing page features a rotating masthead gallery, Featured Galleries, her Latest Blog Post, and custom buttons that link to her most important pages and Facebook.
I think the most fun part for me was creating a custom About page for Kristy... one of the trickiest (but most important) aspects of branding is to ensure that when potential clients visit your site their reaction is "this is someone I want to work with." So Kristy's About page was critical... our goal was to capture her fun, easy going personality in a visually appealing, not too text-heavy way.
In need of a custom ProPhoto site to showcase your photography? Contact me! I'm now offering packages that include ProPhoto design and full implementation, and I'd love to work with you.
Letters to My Daughter: October
Your brother arrived a couple of weeks ago and you, my sweet girl, are an AWESOME big sister. I was so worried about how you would react to him, and from the moment you saw him you have been head over heels in love with him. You've been incredibly sweet and gentle, and love playing mama's little helper when it comes to taking care of him.
I really didn't think it was possible to love you any more, but seeing you as a big sister has only solidified for me how insanely wonderful you are - and how lucky I am that I get to be your mama.
I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Bobbi-Jo’s blog to read her letter to her son.
Maternity Series #2: 40 Weeks
Jonah Paul Shellaway... born at 2:54am on September 30th, 2013
You're here! You're here, and life is fuller and more wonderful than we ever imagined. I have been so completely overwhelmed with love from the first moment I held you. You are just the sweetest, cuddliest, sleepiest little guy and I can't imagine a more perfect addition to our family.
Maternity Series #2: 39 Weeks
It's time for your old mom to get a little sappy on you... We're so close to meeting you and I want you to know what a privilege it has been to be on this journey with you. That's really the whole reason for doing these photos and letters every week - so you can someday see how blessed I felt to be pregnant with you. That no matter how uncomfortable I've gotten, and though some weeks the last thing I want to do is lug out my tripod and take a self portrait, I know that someday you'll be able to look back through this series and see how much I loved you - from the very beginning - and how very lucky I have always felt to be your mama.
Letters to My Daughter: September
This is my last letter to you before you become a big sister. Your brother's arrival means big changes for all of us... joyful but tiring times for me and your dad, and maybe some frustrating times for you. You seem very excited to meet your baby brother, but we know it won't always be easy to have to share us with him. Your brother will need a lot of care and attention in the early months... he won't be able to be as independent as you for a while.
All I can do is promise you that we'll do everything we can to make sure you never doubt how very much we love you. You are so special to us, so uniquely you... and nothing will ever change that.
I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Kelly’s blog to read her letter to her son.
Maternity Series #2: 38 Weeks
Today is my and your dad's 4th wedding anniversary! Every year I take a photo in my wedding dress, and this year it was quite a feat to get it on (and even harder to get it off!) With only 2 weeks to go, the last thing I wanted to do was squeeze into my wedding dress, but tradition is tradition and it ended up being a rather hilarious endeavor. I'm very happy to be typing this in my far more comfortable pajamas, and even happier to be another week closer to meeting you.
Maternity Series #2: 37 Weeks
You made it to full term! Yay! Your dad and I celebrated by going to the Phillies vs. Nats game for what was one of our last date nights for the foreseeable future. You come from a very long line of Phillies fans, and we hope you love them as much as we do. By the time you're old enough to care, they might actually be good again. We can only hope.
Maternity Series #2: 36 Weeks
I had my baby shower this past weekend, and while I didn't think I wanted a shower this time around, I'm so glad your Nana and Titi insisted. You deserve to be spoiled, too, and it was wonderful getting together with family and close friends to celebrate your pending arrival. Only a few more weeks and I'll get to put you in all your cute new outfits!
Recent Branding Work
Sorry it's taken me so long to share these with you! Life has been busy, busy, busy, but I'm thrilled to finally show you three new brands I've developed over the past few months. My design clients are nothing short of awesome and each one brings an exciting new challenge... First up is the super talented Emily Blackmore out Edmonton, Alberta. Emily came to me for help with the branding for the boudoir side of her photography business, Muse Boudoir. I absolutely love her take on boudoir - natural, feminine, and incredibly tasteful... it feels like it's as much for the women as it is for their husbands. Her goal for her brand was to create something that reflects that style, but also adds a little glamour and luxury. I love what we came up with...
Next up was Allison of Allison Fay Photography, based in Memphis, TN. Allison and I know each other through Clickin Moms and I was thrilled when she asked me to help her with her branding because I love her work. I was even more thrilled when I saw her Pinterest inspiration board because her design style was right up my alley. She wanted her brand to be preppy with a slight vintage industrial feel. There were so many little touches that made this branding feel unique and personal - particularly the custom silhouette of her sweet dog, Phoebe.
And last, but certainly not least, is the branding I did for my dear friend, Renee, of Life by Renee Photography, based in Brisbane, Queensland. Renee wanted her branding to be a reflection of herself - bright, fun, and cheeky. She made my job super easy and it was probably the fastest branding has ever come together for a client. It all just worked, and I love love love what we ended up with...
Lots more design work to share with you this fall, including maybe my favorite logo to date and my very first custom ProPhoto site. So excited to be able to start offering that for my clients! Stay tuned...
Maternity Series #2: 35 Weeks
Not much new to report this week... just trying to get everything ready in case you decide to make an early appearance. It's so exciting to see your nursery finally coming together. I hope you love it as much as we do.
Maternity Series #2: 34 Weeks
Only 6 more weeks to go! Your birth is feeling ever more imminent, and I'm officially in big time birth-prep mode... It's hard to be fully prepared for what I know will be one of the hardest, yet most beautiful, days of my life - but I'm trying. I'm re-reading my favorite birth stories, drinking lots of red raspberry leaf tea, listening to my hypnobirthing tracks, working out, doing lots of inversions and ligament releases, and basically doing everything I possibly can to ensure our birth journey together is safe and gentle (and hopefully much much faster than your sister's birth). As I spend time each day getting ready for your birth, I feel the bond between us growing that much stronger and I know it will all be so worth it.
Maternity Series #2: 33 Weeks
We're finally getting started on your nursery! We moved all the furniture in from your sister's room and now I get to work on the fun stuff - like your very special name quilt. I have lots of other stuff I want to get done, too, so I better get moving. You'll be here before we know it!
Letters to My Daughter: August
Oh my sweet girl... it's a time of BIG changes in your life and you are handling them all so gracefully. This week starts your first official week in Pre Primary, and despite our fears about new teachers and a new classroom, you've been nothing short of ecstatic for this new adventure.
And last weekend we moved all your old furniture into your brother's nursery and you got your very own big girl bed, which you LOVE. We were worried how you'd react to handing down your furniture, but you simply said, "That's for the baby. I'm a big girl." and that was that. You love sleeping in your new bed and haven't once attempted to leave your room when you were supposed to be sleeping. You haven't even tried to get out of bed! (Knock on wood.) :)
I worry about you a lot because I'm your mom and that's part of my job, but you are showing me every day that you really are a "big girl" now. This was more clear to me than ever when last weekend you saw these gigantic slides at a new park we visited and immediately wanted to go down the tallest one. It had to have been almost 2 stories high, but you marched right up those stairs and proclaimed "wheeeee" all the way down.
Your dad and I really are so proud of the big girl you're becoming, but if you still want to be my baby every now and then I'd be okay with that, too.
I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to my dear friend Kristy’s blog to read her sweet letter to her daughter, Makenna.
For Eloise, The Warrior
I'm putting a very special package in the mail today...
Yes, that's right... sometimes I still sew. I'm actually doing a lot of sewing lately, but this particular project was at the top of my priority list. One of my best friends, Heather, recently had her first baby. It was a difficult pregnancy and while it was expected that she would go into early labor, going into labor at 26 weeks wasn't exactly something you can prepare for. Her baby girl stayed put for a couple more weeks, but decided she couldn't wait any longer to meet her awesome parents and made her grand entrance at 28 weeks.
Early.
Scary early.
She was so tiny, but man was she a fighter. From day one, that much was clear. And that's why her parents named her Eloise - which means "warrior." I've honestly never heard of a more amazing premie... aside from being small and needing to develop a bit longer, she had zero serious complications and has been home for a few weeks now.
I was actually hoping to have this done by the time she got home, but let's be honest, I'm rarely ever that on top of things. Anyway, here it is... a special quilt for a very special baby girl. I hope it brings her comfort in those rare moments when she's not feeling so strong.
(For those that are curious, I used this tutorial as my starting point, and the fabric is Lotta Jansdotter's Glimma collection. The font is Janda Elegant Handwriting, and I used a narrow zig-zag stitch to applique it to the quilt. I also used a machine binding technique for the first time, thanks to this tutorial. I think I prefer finishing the binding by hand, but machine binding is definitely a huge timesaver.)