A letter to my boys on Mother's Day..

Dear Donnie and Aaron,

If you only knew how much I love you two.  I could say I love you 1 million times a day and it would never be enough. 

I thank God daily for allowing me to be your mom.  I secretly talk to him letting him know that I will never ever stop pushing myself to become a better person because he has given me the two biggest blessings in my life.

I am not promising you that you will never be disappointed with me, because that is the nature of the beast with being a Mom.  I will be the meanest Mom in the world at times.  But I will always promise to protect you the best way I know how.

One day I will share with you how you both saved me.  When your old enough to understand how lost I was as a person before your Dad showed me love is possible when you're broken.  And when we created you we created a light so bright inside of me that I will go to the ends of the earth to show you that love surrounds you two boys all the time.

Donnie and Aaron I want you to know that I hear your laughter when your not with me just by closing my eyes. It makes me giddy to know that right now you would rather hang out with me than any one else.  I hope we always have our inside jokes and our dinner dates.  Always know that I will be present, so very present in everything you do. 

When I wake up tomorrow I will be extra grateful for the two little snuggle bugs that found their way into our bed again. 

Thank you Donnie and Aaron for letting me celebrate Mother's Day..

I love you .. I love you.. I love you.
___________________________________________________________________________

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE AMAZING MOMS OUT THERE..

*** To My Mom: I LOVE YOU MOM!!! xoxoxoxo *****

A baby brother makes four...

Alyssa is one of those girls who have it all together.  Her family is beautiful, she is madly in love with her husband, she runs her own business and is a super sweet person whom happens to be flawlessly beautiful.

See example A:

Her daughter is equally as beautiful, see example B & C:


Then comes little baby brother who has the sweetest little face:

And because Daddy loves the Yankees.. little man does too!!

Thank you Alyssa for allowing me to photograph your beautiful family.  I am so thankful to have been able to photograph Little W first photos..

Surviving the odds

When you think back on what a year means to you what do you think of?  Is there one year in general that stands out? One year that you know defined so much of who you are and what you are?

May 2011- May 2012 is that year for me. 

I think back to May 2011 when I would go about my normal routines, day in and day out as I have a thousand times before.  Never knowing that this would be the month that would test who I am to the core. 

This May 29th, 2012 will mark the one year anniversary that my husband survived a complex brain aneurysm. 

A year.

One full year has passed since I stood in front of the Chief of Neurology at North Shore University and he told me that my husband has a three pronged aneurysm and the chance of making it out of surgery is only about 50%.

Recalling any part of those 14 days while he was in the hospital makes my heart start to palpitate.  My mind races in vivid memories of flash backs that feel so real if I close my eyes.

The hard memories never go away.
Watching my boys kiss their dad goodbye the day before his surgery not knowing what was going to happen. 
Holding Don's hand and looking in his eyes before his surgery not knowing our future.

The tiny details linger all the time...

I can hear the 24 hour monitor beeps in my head (still).
I can tell you what Don ate and what Don didn't eat.
The horrible pain I watched Don in day in and out after surgery.
How cold a hospital room really is at 2:00 am
I can describe in detail the smell of the spring air as I raced home each morning to see my boys off to school after spending 17 to 18 hours in the hospital every day.

It is easy to sit here and say now how amazing thankful I am on how god saved my husband that day.  Yet, the larger lesson for me would still not be found until months later when life moves on and we went back into that normal routine.

That is where the real blessing was found for me. 

When Don came home from the hospital I swore that no matter what I would value and honor the blessing that God gave me by saving Don that day.  And I did, but not always.  Real life started taking over again. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that you think that after God does this amazing thing by saving my boys from losing their dad, or me from losing my best friend that I would throw rose petals at him every single day celebrating our love and how much I love the life we made.  But it doesn't happen that way. 

The message/lesson for me is that I know Don and I will survive all odds.  That we have what it takes to make it because I truly believe that at the end of the day God sees it too.  Without Don in my life I would not have the peace my heart now holds. 

Do I drive him crazy? Hell yes.
Does he drive me crazy?  Double hell yes.
Do I love him and the life we have created with our sweet, slightly insane kids? a big fat YES.

I cannot believe it is going to be one year.

Whew.

In one year I found out how amazingly strong my husband really is...
...how strong I can be..
And how strong our love continues to grow..

Surviving the odds for sure.

I love you Donald Joseph.

Things really do happen for a reason....

It was a chilly day in January 2010 when I received an email inquiry from an expectant Mom inquiring about newborn photos.  I remember I was at a stop light and did something I NEVER do when I first get an email inquiry; I picked up the phone.  That may sound strange, but when I get an email inquiry in I 100% of the time reach out for my first touch with an email back to them within 48 hours. 

Libby answered right away, and click.  Seriously, it can be explained as simple as that when I spoke to her, we just clicked.  It has been a little over two years and I my relationship with Libby has planted roots. 

That ONE little email inquiry back in 2010 has defined a new path, with new relationships and friendships.  I find it hard to express in person how thankful I am to Libby and Tommy.  There is no card, or poem, or expression to really convey how blessed I feel that our paths crossed.  I think of that email inquiry often, because for some reason on that morning I changed the way I did things and it open a door .. a gateway of some sort (I know how silly that sounds but it is the best way to explain).  Her and her husband Tommy have been so amazing by believing in my work.  And then there is Tommy's dad, and Mom, and Sister, and Libby's best friend... I can go on, and on.

Libby and Tommy are expecting their second little one any day now and I cannot wait to capture how the next chapter of their life unfolds.  The photos below were taken of their family at two separate occasions.  I kept delaying posting the images because I wanted to create the "perfect" blog post on how to say THANK YOU to them both for being so amazing to my family, especially my boys.  Alas, I don't think I there will ever be an expression of thanks that will be large enough.

so thank you Libby & Tommy for every person you have put in my path ... especially your family and closest friends..

The beautiful Nicole.. - Long Island Photographer

When I was in my early 20's I had no clue who I was or where I wanted to be in life.  When I met Nicole on a beautiful winter day earlier this year she blew me away with the confidence and determination of the direction of her life. 

A dancer, an actress, a college student with plans.  Big plans.  She wanted and needed head shots that were different and not in a studio.  I know some day I will be either see her dancing in a major play or starring in a movie. 

Here are some of my absolute favorite from the session:

Thank you again Nicole!!!! To see more images from this session, please head over to my Facebook page.. :)

Sunshine on a Gloomy Day - Hampton Newborn Photographer

It was a rainy day as I drove out to the Hamptons to meet Alex's sweet little boy.  It was chilly and gloomy and I crossed my finger there would be amazing natural light coming through any window I could find on such a dark day. 

As I chatted with Alex she showed me all the rooms of their home.  Her home was so very charming.  The details were perfection.  Each bedroom upstairs was glowing with such amazing light.  As soon as I choose their brand new nursery to set up camp, I got to work. 

This little man slept.  And slept.  And was the "bestest" baby ever!!

My heart swoons with this image..

Look at the light in this image!!!!

Admiring their little angel...

This session was the sun on such a gloomy day.  Thank you so much again for choosing me to capture these first moments. 

To see more from this session please head over to my Facebook page. :)

A Late Summer Session in the Hamptons.. Meet the D Family

It was a week before fall officially started.  The weather was perfect.  Warm. Sunny.  With blue sky as far as the eye could see!

The little boy may look familiar to you because I have photographed him before.  His first session is still in my top five sessions I have ever photographed.  When K contacted me again to photograph her entire family I was elated. 

I mean look at their faces!!


Her children were funny, smart, reserved and silly all at the same time.  Here are some of my favorites from their session. 





There are so many more on Facebook if you would like to see the rest of this session.  Thank you soooo much K for letting me get to know your children.  I had an amazing time!

I Heart Faces - Oh So Silly

 I used to enter the I heart faces weekly challenges all the time and then.. well I got lazy.. sooooo, here is my first entry for 2012.. The theme this week is Oh  So Silly and this little mans face is so silly and cute!!

 

 

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces Photo Challenge... www.iheartfaces.com

Validation ... Meet the S Family

A little background on this next session I am about to share.  The S Family was the very first session I did after taking a two month break to stay home and help my husband heal.  Leaving my family after being through such a traumatic experience left me feeling vulnerable.  I did not have an ounce of confidence in me.  I felt disconnected and scared walking in door.  I had isolated myself so much in the two months that I felt what made my sessions so personal in the past, was not going to happen.

What I didn't know is that Elizabeth is best friends with a client I adore so she had known that my husband had just suffered from a brain aneurysm.  After saying hello to her beautiful family I laid it on the line to Elizabeth.  "I may be a little rough around the edges, and seem awkward, but I promise that I am here (mentally) and that we will have a wonderful session". 

What happened next makes me realize again that people are brought together not by chance.  Elizabeth had one of her best friends stop over whom shared a similar traumatic experience, and then Elizabeth shared a story of loss tied with courage.  The stories are each their own, I will not share them.  Yet, I will say that my feelings were validated.  It was what starting opening the "me" back up.  It helped me connect.

In the past six months since our session the amount of gratitude I have towards Elizabeth, her friend and her family is something I cannot define. 

I am so proud of these images.  The love each of them have for one another is easy to see.  I hope you love them as much as I do....





I can share so many more.. so if you want to see them, head over to my Facebook page.  :)

Thank you Elizabeth.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you Kevin for purchasing this session for Elizabeth..
And Thank you Libby for being friends with the kindest, most amazing people.

Smiles, giggles and a bee sting...Oh My..

Updating my blog with images from sessions I captured last year really makes me happy because it brings me back to the session and how much fun we had and the images I captured. 

Lucky is an understatement with the M Family.  The kids think I am cool, and Mom and Dad are so laid back that it is not even a job to me.  The entire session goes so quickly and I never ever feel that pressure of "Did I get the shot?" because I know that the M Family cannot take a bad photo. 

Miss K had made her communion a few weeks prior to this session and she was so excited to wear her gorgeous dress again.  She looks like a little angel here..


Then you have her little brother that is NEVER afraid to be the most charming little man ...

And then meet their super sweet, full of smiles baby sis..

Then you get them all together and they produce this magic..

It was right before that photo that a bee stung the bottom of my foot!!! OUCH!!! Now anyone that knows me knows I am a HUGE baby when it comes to bee stings, but I kept my composure because I didn't want to have the kids get afraid.  However, it HURT!! wahhhh.. who said photography is not a hazerdous profession.  :)

Here is one more of my favorite images from the session. 

Head over to my Facebook page to check out many more adorable photos from this session.

Thank you Danielle and Jim.  I adore your children and I am honored to photograph them!!