bedtime stories | east texas newborn photographer

Okay so we can just deem the next month or so Levi Rollie month on my blog. Everyone joked that this child would be born with a camera in his face... and I hate to say it but it's true! This is one subject (yes I just referred to him as a subject... you can blame art school on that one) that I will never get tired of photographing. He is just so darn cute! I am still staring at him for hours on end, even as I write this blog.

So as I sit and stare at my child in total awe for hours on end, I like to imagine what we do when he gets older. One thing I am sure of is that he will love bedtime stories. He loves my lullabies (despite my off key vocal abilities) so I am sure that he will love exciting big fish stories at bedtime. We will cuddle under the covers of his twin sized bed that has an oversized poster frame and glow star constellations on the ceiling, with stories of Peter Rabbit, pirates and knights in far away lands.

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After re-reading the last paragraph for typos I realized something so I am adding a little bit of two cents. I have changed, already in 3 weeks Levi has changed me. I often wondered when in life that I might enjoy the small things; I was always pushing towards some great goal of career that I consciously did not enjoy the present. Levi has finally changed that for me. No longer is the chirp of my email more important than the people standing in front of me or the child in my arms. No longer is taking a photo more important than experiencing the moment that is the photo (not to say that I am no longer taking photos, lol). I guess I just finally realized that enjoying a smile on your newborns face, or being able to sit in the morning sun with a cup of tea in my small but modest kitchen and having the ability to get lost in time... that's a present, it is the present. 

So here is our make believe bed time story... until you get a little older Levi. 

more than life itself | east texas newborn photographer

At one time I thought that winning a cross- country meet was life-changing. I thought new glitter pens were life-changing. I thought that graduating college was life-changing. I thought starting my own photography business was life-changing. I thought meeting the love of my life and marrying him was life-changing. I thought all those things were the nitty, gritty, doesn't get better than this, kind of life changing. Now I just realize that all those so-called, life-changing moments were nothing compared to hearing the love of my life cheer me on in the delivery room as the doctor placed our first child on my chest after 10 hours of labor. Watching my child take his first breath of life and feeling complete love and admiration from my husband.... now that is the real nitty, gritty, doesn't get better than this, kind of life changing. 

Two and a half weeks ago I gave birth to Levi Rollie Williams. He was much larger than I thought my small frame could ever handle; 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long to be exact. Every mother says that "it's so worth all the pain, and you will never remember it as soon as they place that child on your chest". I have to say that I agree. I remember the most agonizing pain that wrenched at my body for 10 hours and compromised my physique for 10 months, but it is all worth it and I would do it over and over and over just to hold my son one more time. 

Once again, no one could prepare me for how amazing it would feel to watch my husband hold our son. Nothing. This is actually my favorite part of it all. You fall in love with.... your family. You are a family now and it is amazing. So over the past couple of weeks I have admired how Caleb holds Levi and it warms my heart a little more every time. 

Here is a little glimpse of what I love so much. 

To my little family... I love you more than life itself. 

i heart faces photo challenge | east texas lifestyle photographer

Family fun contest? I think this qualifies!

mobo's got the mojo | east texas lifestyle photographer

Mobo is a spunky little guy who may have some rust on his chest... but I think it makes him look more buff. This awesome riding horse (he is not a rocking horse, he is wayyy beyond that) has been ridden by most of the Williams clan and has now been passed along to us. He was one of the only possessions that Caleb's great, great grandpa brought over. Needless to say Levi is going to love this solid toy... that's right, he is strong as steel and we are totally not doing that sissy plastic around here!

Mobo's got the MOJO!!!

update on the 99 | east texas lifestyle photographer

The 99 things to do in 999 days update! I guess I have crossed a few things off the list, including the #1 thing on the list.... eat cotton candy at a fair. This is a pic taken from the sky high, fearful heights of the ferris wheel at the Henderson fair last October. I love fairs like a dog and his bone, like a fat kid and his cake... you get the point. 

1.  Go to a fair and eat cotton candy
2.  Shoot a destination wedding (I booked two for next year, yay!)
3.  Get work recognized by online publication (Done and Done! Here!)
4.  Get work recognized by print publication
5.  Update website to a new site
6.  Blog at least 3 times a week
7.  Blog about everything I accomplish on this list (so far so good)
8.  Create a regular weekly blog entry
9.  Create a regular monthly blog entry
10. Use our time share to go to Cabo, finally
11. Buy a dog
12. Wallpaper a room in my house
13. Create a white framed collage wall
14. Buy a house (might want to do this before 11, 12, 13 and 21)
15. Visit the Gulf
16. Dip my toes in the Atlantic
17. Aim to create banded and signature images
18. Create an online presence which represents my brand 
19. Create a print brand with marketing collateral that captivates my clients
20. This includes a proof box and DVD case
21. Enjoy being a mother in about 6 months :) 
22. Also create a wedding welcome kit
23. Put Applecare on my computer before its too late
24. Start using Shoot Q
25. Start using Pictage, Smugmug or Pick Pic and figure out this confusing thing
26. Create a beautiful hand designed album using Cyprus albums (Whoo hoo! First album! Done)
27. Increase my facebook followers to 1000
28. Market to seniors directly and well indirectly
29. Treat my blackberry thumb from typing all of this on my phone (Got an iphone!)
30. Trash this “brokeberry” phone and buy an iPhone, a new one (YAY!)
31. Buy the 35mm 1.2 L series lens
32. Buy the 85mm 1.2 L series lens
33. Buy the 70-200mm 2.8 IS L series lens
34. Pay off my credit card debt (this better not take me 3 years) (Holla!)
35. Buy the 5D Mark II camera body (it might take me 3 years to pay off debt if I buy all this stuff!)
36. Start and finish a novel all in one month
37. Watch the sunrise and the sunset all in one day
38. Update my iPod with actually current songs
39. This means I also need to delete, “Pocket Full of Sunshine” from my iPod
40. Move to Tejas with my love (We DID it!)
41. Grow my own garden
42. Learn how to can tomatoes
43. Connect with wedding vendors in my area
44. Purchase letter press business cards (I bought MOO, even better!)
45. Purchase slide show software to showcase shoots online
46. Create a photo book of our journey, include letters written over seas
47. Run a half marathon
48. Assuming I lived through a half marathon, run a full marathon
49. Take a entire weekend off from work (no phone, no email, no computer)
50. Create a sample album of my wedding portfolio
51. Eat at the top of the stratosphere
52. Drink Muskydine wine in Texas, off the back of a tailgate
53. Learn how to spell "muskydine"
54. Learn how to knit, possibly a baby blanket for our little one 
55. Learn how to write and speak Spanish fluently
56. Paint a series of oil paintings
57. Sell a painting, or attempt to let one go
58. Sell my car for a profit (2 door cars are not great for strollers and car seats)
59. Buy a Land Rover (okay, maybe dream of buying a Land Rover)
60. Travel to Alaska
61. Watch the whales at sunset in Alaska
62. Buy a new mattress, a comfy one. King sized, oh yea!
63. Take a dance class with Caleb
64. Take a cooking class
65. Get my teeth professionally whitened
66. Catch up on all the books that are waiting for me on my shelf
67. Sort through/print photos of mine and frame them for my walls
68. Purchase a Bonsai tree and actually keep it alive
69. Buy a pair of those stretchy maternity jeans… yup. I’m gonna do it
70. Lean how to make gumbo for Caleb and maybe how to fry something too
71. Do something that scares me (being 9 months pregnant is pretty scary, let me tell you)
72. Collect vintage things like:
73. Airplanes for baby room
74. A trunk for the living room
75. Vintage books
76. Attend WPPI 2012 in Las Vegas (crossing this one off since having a baby)
77. Attend Imaging USA in 2013
78. Go on a day trip by myself
79. Visit Charlotte in Chicago
80. Write a book review on my blog
81. Shoot a boudoir session
82. Photograph a styled shoot
83. Have custom thank you + note cards designed
84. Add a details/faq page to my website
85. Go skydiving with Caleb
86. Buy a Louis Vuitton, for no particular reason
87. Shoot a vintage themed wedding
88. Get my computer screen calibrated
89. Arrange a bouquet of peonies
90. Make homemade ice cream
91. Master a mean crème brulee
92. Photo shoot with the sassiest cats in town, Ben and Tigre
93. Buy a bike with streamers for me
94. Buy a bike with a horn for Caleb
95. Ride trails together on our new bikes
96. Give birth to my first miracle
97. Hear our baby say their first word
98. Watch our baby take their first steps

99. Enjoy every bit of life for today in this moment (Everyday!!!)

wishing. wanting. waiting. | east texas lifestyle photographer

What do cats do best? They wait. They wait for you to come home, to feed them, to pet them or scratch under their chin. But while they are waiting they are wishing and wanting all those things too. See these two faithful kitties have sat by my side while I do the same thing. Wish, want and wait for baby Levi to get here already! So I know that they are at home right now, doing what they do best. And as I write this blog post a few weeks in advance (because I wouldn't want you to miss out on your reading while I am hopefully delivering!) I know that these two faithful kitties are at home, doing just that.

Little do they know that the next time they see me I will have a new little buddy in my arms. 

burros and burritos | east texas lifestyle photographer

There is something about this little guy that just really embraces my time in Las Vegas and sums things up there for me. See it was only by last-minute coincidence that I even got to meet my furry little comrade. Burros are a sort of off-beat wild horse that roam the desert. They are quite common and almost everyone sees them sooner or later. Even my old roommate Danielle had one come up to her car and she never ventured very far into the wild. Two and a half years in Las Vegas and I never, ever freaking saw one. See I have this obsession with wild things and whenever I see a wild animal I totally want to bring it home with me. It could be a squirrel, a peacock, a burro... I want them all. (Okay, I am getting over this now since it seems that east Texas has quite a few wild animals roaming about; it's just getting overwhelming for me). Back to the story, anyways. Two weeks before I moved I was out on a photo shoot, waiting for a family to arrive and I see one! AH- mazing!!

It was so awesome to see one of these bad boys before I left. Crossed that off of my Vegas bucket list along with picking prickly pears (say that five times fast) and hiking up to a mountain ridge. So these off-beat wild horses sum up my Vegas experiece. Full of life, just waiting eagerly for anything to come by. Vegas was a time of self discovery and I thank the little flickering lights of the downtown signs for all you taught me, gave me and exposed me to.

2009, 2010 and 2011 were a time of self discovery... 2012 you are a new chapter all together. A time to be all those things I discovered.