Newborn Pictures and Blessing

It took us a long time to decide on Vivian's name but in the end it was one of the two names that we started with. Her middle name is my paternal grandmother's maiden name. It is pronounced "la-bell" which means the beautiful or handsome but it is the old French/Romanian spelling.

Leone is completely enamored with Vivian and is so helpful/attentive and proud. Vivian only cries when she is hungry and is a cuddle bug. She loves to be held, and she loves to eat. At her two week appointment Vivian weighed in at 9lbs 12oz...usually at two weeks the doctor is hoping the baby is at least back to birth weight...so basically Vivian is rockin' it! 

Vivian has lots of hair and it's lighter than Leone's was at birth. Her eyes are also lighter than Leone's were and we're noticing a different iris pattern (Leone has the tree ring pattern like me but it looks like Vivian will have a burst pattern like Spencer). Vivian has the longest fingers and finger nail beds, I remember that was the first individual physical trait I noticed after her birth. I was just so surprised by their length.

 

Vivian was blessed when she was 11 days old while my parents were visiting. It was a perfect day for a blessing. It was a cool morning with a gentle breeze. Vivian wore the dress that I and my sisters and Leone and our niece Afton wore when we were blessed. Most of Spencer's family was able to attend.
Vivian was blessed by Spencer, our dads, one of Spencer's brothers (Trevor), our brother-in-law Taylor, and members of our bishopric Chris Delahunty and David Riddle. Leone was blessed at home so this was Spencer's first baby blessing at church and he was nervous but I thought he gave a beautiful blessing.
I love baby blessings. There is something so powerful and moving about a precious innocent baby surrounded and being protected by the priesthood.
Among other things Vivian was blessed with a desire to know our Father in Heaven's will, to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Chirst, to be an example to those around her in these last days when there is so much chaos in the world and so much good in the church, to be sensitive to the promptings of the spirit, and to find her mission here on earth and to fulfill it to the best of her ability.

Three is a Magic Number

Leone will be three years old in a matter of weeks and she has grown outrageously in the past year!
See for yourself:

 Leone: 2 years old

Leone: present day

The amount of hair alone has tripled!

Spencer and I continue to marvel at the changes and growth she has made mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. It shouldn't be so surprising since that's what kids do...grow up...but it is miraculous! We feel as though she has officially transitioned from baby to little girl.
I shot her three year pictures today and love how many of them turned out. We picked out two of her favorite outfits and brought along a few of her favorite things (sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and of course her baby doll). We set out in the early morning to avoid the summer heat. This may have been my first morning shoot. I noticed the light was a bit more dynamic than during an evening shoot but we had the Historic Park to ourselves and that made for fewer distractions for Leone.

Leone was hot and cold when it came to having her picture taken. One moment she was loving it and then suddenly she'd pout and want nothing to do with the camera. I didn't mind because it gave us quite a variety of expressions and demonstrated the many dimensions of her burgeoning personality.

 I learned a lot from using bubbles in these pictures.

Spencer made this stool about a year ago and Leone uses it daily.

 The quilt that Leone is sitting on is the wedding quilt that my Grams made for us four years ago this month. I love the sentiment.

My mom is creating a collage on her wall of pictures of each of the grand-kids with a list of their current likes and dislikes. Interestingly enough Leone seems to enjoy everything. The only things I would say she "dislikes" are being told "no", having to sit longer than five minutes at the dinner table, and getting water in her eyes. So everything listed are things she likes or loves.

I decided to use this picture instead of a "Wordle" to document her interests this year. (A bit of explanation: Leone pronounces "Rocket ships" as "Ropet-chips" and since attending my prenatal appointments has decided that she wants to be a doctor. Also, her favorite animal at the aquarium is the Octopus.)

Wilson

Meet Wilson, my nephew, born in September. He slept through the whole shoot and likes to cuddle with his Momma. He only complained when we laid him on the basketball but other than that he didn't make a peep. He even gave us a smile.The day we were finally able to get together to take pictures ended up being the cloudiest/windiest day of the week (go figure)! But I'm pleased with how they turned out.

It's hard to resist an opportunity to spend some time with a newborn baby, thanks to his parents for letting me take his picture.

Family 2014

We love rain. It may not be for everyone and there are definitely reasons not to enjoy it, not to mention it's catastrophic capabilities, but for the most part we look forward to a rainy day. The forecast mentioned downpour this weekend which is exactly the reason I wanted to take our family pictures on Saturday. An overcast day offers diffused sunlight reducing shadows and making almost any time of day perfect for shooting. I especially love the contrast of green leaves and tree bark after a good soak. The rain came in waves so we ran out the door as soon as it let up but of course we hit another shower while driving to our location. Instead of being frustrated we stopped for lunch on-the-go figuring we'd eat in the car near our location so we could jump out as soon as the rain let up.

The Exchange Place

Shooting downtown was a great way to shake things up. I had a chance to scope out a new-to-me area in the historic district referred to as The Exchange Place. I haven't done much with an urban portrait setting until now but I had fun and learned quite a bit along the way. I was concerned the area would be overcrowded since it was a Saturday evening but when we arrived the area was largely vacant except for passers-by and one extended-family shoot. We politely worked around each other and enjoyed a sunny September evening. We spotted a peregrine falcon perched on a hand railing at one of the locations! He let the girls get within 3 feet of him before gently lighting to a higher perch. There is a nest at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (see it here), he was obviously out seeing the sights.

Baby Carriage

Ariel and Taylor are expecting their first child this fall and asked me to take maternity photos for them. I took their engagement pictures just over a year ago and now look at them! I was excited for the opportunity to take pictures of someone other than Leone (although I love taking pictures of her, it's refreshing and challenging to mix it up). The funniest thing happened though...

TWO-t Sweet

I've challenged myself this summer to become comfortable shooting in manual mode. I tend to rely heavily on aperture priority and shutter speed priority only using manual when I have plenty of time to experiment. Using manual mode I end up with a lot of pictures I don't like but sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised.

Indulgence

A few weekends ago we trekked up the canyon with a few props and a bushel of outfits (of which we only used two) for a one year photo shoot with our little Leo.  The weather was perfect and we were able to get our (read: my) fill of photos before a summer downpour.