I kind of laughed and looked at Luke and said it still felt like I was dreaming. Since October I felt like I was in a dream. Just before I gave birth even I had to look down and try to let it sink in that I was pregnant and going to have a baby.

And then there he was and I was stumped. They took him away and cleared his throat and checked his vitals. And then it hit me.

I missed him.

I wanted him back with me. I needed to have my baby. My little boy. When were they going to bring him back to me? {I am crying a bit now as I write this because I still miss him when he is not with me. As a matter of fact, he is sleeping on my chest now as I type this blog.}

I have spent the last nine months thinking about how I have to go through all the baby trials again. All the diapers and no sleep and chasing around. The idea of all that work again terrified me. But I have met Will now and he is worth everything. I will happily do it all over again for him. My mind has gone from feeling fear over the work to feeling privileged that I get to do the work. Yes, I feel privileged that God gave me another child to love and raise. I am gaga over Will.

William Patrick – Born July 9th – 8lbs. 14 oz. (you feel me, ladies?!) – 20 inches – Wonderful!

I could go on and on about this new special little boy, but I will spare you and get right to some photos. I snapped these images just before we left the hospital. Little Will, less than two days old…

]]> http://www.joyfulgirlphotography.com/blog/archives/1293/feed 2 http://www.joyfulgirlphotography.com/blog/archives/1247 http://www.joyfulgirlphotography.com/blog/archives/1247#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 21:33:03 +0000 Jessie http://www.joyfulgirlphotography.com/blog/?p=1247 So, this may be the fastest post ever from me {You know I can get a little long-winded}. I just bought some new baby announcement card templates and I had to share a couple of them with you as they are SOOOOO cute!

I know that you have seen these images already, but as I only had a second to do this I just grabbed a few favorite recent newborn images.

I am so excited to use these for my own baby announcements in July! My little Will {yes, it’s a boy!} will be here soon…

Front of card one:

Back of card one:

Front of card two:

Back of card two:

Then I became pregnant with a 2- and 3/4-year-old at home. My choices have been different. Keep clients happy? Yup, choose that. Work hard on shoots and images? Yup, choose that. Lay down on the couch and rest/read instead of blogging? Yup, I choose that too. Hang out with my kids instead of blogging? Yup. Eat instead of blogging? Yup. Pretty much do anything instead of blogging or working on my new website? Yup.

So, you will have to bear with me through this pregnancy and beyond and trust that my blogging may not be on track anymore, but I still work very hard for my clients. And know that I love to blog, I just can’t do it so much anymore.

I was complaining to my husband today about being sick of being tired and he said, “Don’t worry, it is only for a couple more months.” I got a good laugh from that as he realized that he was sort of forgetting about the part after you give birth and have a new baby that makes you tired too! He then changed his statement to, “Ok, you will only be tired for a couple more months, then you will be exhausted!”

But just to remind us how worth it they are, here is another recent newborn image from my stash…

I learned about the website recalls.gov so I thought I would check them out. You know, just to see what they were all about. Just out of curiosity. And then my inner mom stepped in. Do I want to be notified of flu outbreaks? Of course I do! Do I want to be notified of car recalls? Of course I do! Do I want to be notified of child safety restraint recalls and food recalls and drug recalls and and and? Of course! Doesn’t every good mom need to know these things? I realize that I have survived over fours years of motherhood without them, but in that moment I could not go another second without these updates. I worked myself into a frenzy. It was not pretty.

And because I share so much with you, I thought that I would give you the opportunity to let your paranoid self come out too. Yes, why should I be the only one getting bombarded with daily emails making me more paranoid about everything I give my kids? Why not share the love? www.recalls.gov. I apologize to you in advance.

Of course I always need to include an image, so why what one of Miss Rylee from a recent shoot to remind us why we must know of any tire recalls immediately?! {Does my poking-fun-at-myself-sarcasm come through in these lines?}

Do it well like Addison and Oliver’s parents. They seemed to handle these children with such love and confidence and make first-time parenting look easy. They are a special team, and these two blessings were a joy to photograph!

Grandma made these too cute hats for them…

Something a little deeper happened for me when I was editing Owen and Elijah’s images. Owen is just three and a toehead like my little Abe. When I was editing images of him there were times that I felt like I was looking at my own son. His little ear. His blond hair. His cute feet. The furrowed brow. Having a little boy is one of the greatest gifts God can give a mother, and to be so close to Owen’s images really made my heart tug about my own little gift from God.

And then there is Elijah. In six months I will have a little newborn too, and it was so fun for me to dream about snuggling and kissing my new baby, and since it is someone else’s newborn I can be in denial about all the bits about being up all night and getting spit up on all the time!

I did a couple 20×20 collection prints for their parents to look at and I love how they came together! My, what beautiful children…

Then Rocco was born. And he is so loved. Sooooo loved. Who could not love this incredibly beautiful baby?

But on top of Rocco’s good looks, he has charm too. He sleeps well. He eats well. He is good natured. He is just a good cute baby. (So cute in fact that I sent Rocco’s mom an email asking her if she thought it would be weird if I put a large acrylic print of this first image over my fireplace because he is just that cute!) 

Maybe I should re-think having a third. I need to offer my overnight babysitting services to a mom of a newborn to remind myself how much work they really are. Perhaps that will cure this baby-fever Rocco started. Any takers?