My new friend Berkeley

We went to Lubbock for Easter and made a new friend. My mother-in-law had a new neighbor and she is my son's age. She came over after she heard my son crying about one of his toys in the front yard. She wanted to see what was going on. He was being 2. She understood his dilemma. We invited her over to come and play and they were fast friends. I immediately grabbed my camera. She had me at hello. I mean, look at those eyes and eyelashes. She is so adorable and so sweet. We couldn't have asked for a better friend. Things ended with a hug which is huge coming my from my little one. We look forward to many more years of visits while we are in town!

Fiesta-DFW Family Photographer

We went to San Antonio a few weeks ago and got to enjoy fiesta. I loved seeing all the color around. There was good music, good food and time with family. I will take that any time I can get it! My son was instantly drawn to the wrestling masks. It made me smile because my grandpa Ray used to love to watch wrestling on the Spanish station on tv. I thought it was pretty hokey, but I would sit there and watch it with him just to spend time with him. I miss him. He's been gone since 1996 and I can't wait to see him in heaven.

I heart faces-Wind challenge

This week's challenge at i heart faces is wind. I took this picture of a friend recently for a new series I have on my blog. It felt like the wind worked against us for most the session, but I loved this one!

Permission to be human

It seems like so many people I talk to lately are overwhelmed. Between work, kids and life that it is hard to stay positive.

As a mom, I struggle with that so much. I work full-time, I have two kids, I am a wife and I take pictures, too. I find it is easy to beat myself up about not being all things to all people. I don't want to let anyone down. I am sure you can relate!

I often try to remind myself that is is okay to fail sometimes. It is okay to miss one event, or not work late all the time like the inner workaholic in me wants to. An insane work ethic is sometimes hard to break.

I feel like the greatest responsibility I was given was to be the mother to my two children. I can help shape their habits and their little hearts.

So to my other friends out there who struggle with the same mixed feelings-you have permission to be human. We are all doing the best we can with what we have been given and sometimes that just has to be enough.

Have a blessed day!

Cultivating Confidence-Allison's story

Growing up I moved about every two years. When I was younger, it was fun and exciting, but as I got older I did not like it. When I was in eighth grade we moved from Wyoming to Colorado. Then in ninth grade, I moved from Colorado to New Mexico. I hated being the new girl. I felt like people were looking at me and judging me. I had a whole list of insecurities. I hated my nose and my profile especially. I did not want to be at a new school where everyone is looking at the new girl. I didn’t really want to make friends or have to meet new people. Eventually I made some great friends in New Mexico and loved living there. In fact, I moved back a few years ago.

I wish I could say that I do not have any insecurities now that I’m older, but that would be a lie. There are still things that bug me about myself, but I think you just come to accept yourself better. I know my nose is big, but I get it from my Grandma Pauline and she was an amazing woman, so that makes me proud. I rarely even think about my profile now and at one point I remember hating to sit at a basketball game or somewhere with people all around. That seems so silly now. I think we come to realize that there are way more important things in the world than us and our looks. As girls, we are always conscious of our looks, but as adults they do not consume us. Now, I am proud of my accomplishments and my children. I want to be a strong person for my girls and help them overcome their fears and insecurities. I do not think you can go through life without feeling there are things you’d like to change about yourself, but you can learn to love and appreciate all that you are and all that you have.

I am now the mom of three beautiful girls. I want to be a role model to them, but I still catch myself complaining about this or that. They always say, “Oh Mom!” I am making a conscious effort not to be critical of myself. I also always try to support them and point out the positive aspects of all situations. I want them to be able to walk with their heads held high, to be compassionate of others and to love themselves for who they are. I think they are well on their way, but I will always be here to help them overcome obstacles they face. I wish for a second we could see ourselves through the eyes of those who love us the most! I know we’d all love that person very much.

The "H" Family Maternity Session-DFW Maternity Photographer

I am so blessed to get to live life along side this family. We are on the countdown to meet baby brother. It seems like we just did Kinley's newborn pictures. My how time flies. I had to incorporate the bluebonnets that are in season. Isn't mom looking gorgeous?



I know these are in the storyboard, but I had to show them big. Mom looks so great!




I also love this one of mom and dad. In true mom fashion, I was holding Kinley on my hip with my other arm.

Cultivating Confidence-Annette's story

Growing up was not exactly easy for me, but I always tried to make the best of it. My parents divorced when I was nine years old. It was embarrassing for me as a child/teen mentioning that my parents were divorced because this meant we lived in an apartment, I didn’t have my own room and I may not be too much fun. I had many friends who had happily married parents, lived in a house, and even had a pet. I always wondered what it was like to grow up in a house with your own room. I took it for what it was and went with it, since it was all that I knew. I started to become insecure of who I was, because I was not too proud of what I had to offer to my friends. I always knew that making friends was not a problem, again, it was what I had that was. When I was in high school, we moved in with my grandmother, who lived in a green and yellow house with no air conditioning and I shared a room with my mom. I loved my mom greatly, but it was difficult not having much privacy when your friends were over. I was on the drill team, and drove a 1985 Mercury Zepher, again with no air conditioning. No matter where I went, my hair was flat, I was sweating before I had gotten to any destination, I had severe eczema due to the heat, and did not think that I was very pretty at all. I knew my parents were doing what they could for me, but it was hard to keep up with what all the other kids had in high school. This was difficult because it had taken a toll on my self-esteem, when high school was supposed to be some of the best years of my life. The motivation behind this insecurity was to graduate high school, become something of passion, and give myself all the things that I could never have and wanted.

Shortly after I graduated Graduate School, met my husband, married, we then had our first son, Jake. This was when my second insecurity hit me like a ton of bricks. It was being a mother and a wife. Who would of known that this was going to be an insecurity of mine? I surely didn’t! I had always envisioned what kind of mother and wife I wanted to be, “it shouldn’t be that hard, right?,” is what I would ask myself. Truthfully, being a parent and wife is one of the hardest jobs that I think I have ever had, even beyond my college years, which was pretty hard! I feel that it is hard knowing what your supposed to do as a wife and mother if you have never really seen a true picture of it. I had a mother, of course, but it was always stressful because we were always living in survival mode. It was rare to see that parenting was a joyous thing. And my parents divorced when I was so young that I didn’t get to see what being a wife was about in action either. It is a struggle, an inner battle, just to believe and hope that I am being the good mother and wife that I have always longed to be.

With these experiences and insecurities that I grew up with and still struggle with today, I have learned so much and would not take them back! It was hard and difficult and is still challenging to this day, but ultimately these experiences have made me become who I am. The Social Worker, Adoption Counselor, CPS Investigative Worker, Behavior Resource Specialist, and Special Ed Teacher, is what I have become and have experienced. I have a great love and passion for at-risk and Special Ed kids. I have a really big heart and would do just about anything to help these kids. I would buy them food, clothes, and hug them lots assuring them that they are loved and that they are special regardless what circumstance they were in. My experiences growing up motivated me to be the person that I passionately am. My best piece of advice is don’t let your insecurities get the best of you! Bottom line is, you are who you are because of your experiences and your life. Life is precious and you never know when it will be taken away. So teach those you love what life is all about, love them, and make time to teach them that what you have does not signify who you are. We tend to worry so much that living is actually very difficult for many of us who have these insecurities. Learn to be happy for no reason!