Here’s just a few photos of our little guy at 3 days and 6 days!

Justin and I want to give a big shout out to the nurses and doctors at the Guelph Genereal Hospital.  They were so amazing during our stay there.  We also want to thank so many of you for your lovely comments and for loving Eli already…

Here are a few photos from our visit with their new little girl who was only 3 days NEW!!!

We’re so happy for your new little family

I have no words for most of these photos.  She’s just too adorable!

Daddy’s going to have to try real hard to resist these little eyes… ha!
Only 11 days after giving birth and Christine is looking mighty fab.  Yes you are, my friend!

Every baby needs this shot for their album!

LOVE!
ohhhhh little hands & feet… you just make me melt!

We laughed so hard at her little toe… apparently just like dads’!

I have to finish with my favorite shot… Momma was trying to calm Leah down and it was just too precious!

We love you Baby Leah

I think Ellie is going to be the best big sister ever!  She’s been waiting for this day as long as mom and dad!

beautiful!

sweet little feet…

Aralyn Rayne

She loves swinging her arms around… maybe she’ll be a dancer like her aunt Bronwyn!

and a little sneeze…

Welcome to the world Aralyn Rayne!!

If you’re anything like me, you haven’t been informed simply because you haven’t needed it or known anyone whose needed it.  Well, that changed last Saturday when I met this young girl named Alysha.  She is a 6 year old girl who was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 4.  Long story short, Alysha has gone through chemo, radiation, the whole bit. Last year she had a stem cell transplant from a cord blood donor at Sick Kids. It didn’t ‘take’ like the doctors wanted, but it put her in remission and she has stayed in remission since then!  And as of now, she is actually doing fantastic. (Thanks God!)

Anyway, I have a friend Lauren who messaged me about taking photos for a blood clinic she was running in honour of Alysha.  It was going to be their 3rd clinic but had no photos to show of the previous events.  I said “yes” with the thought that “it’ll be great to help them out”.  Well, needless to say, my eyes were opened to the need of these donations… and with the upcoming birth of Eli, I realized I needed to inform myself a lot more about donating the cord blood.  Even though, it is way to expensive for most of us to store our own baby’s cord blood stem cells, I also know that if our little guy needed some of that in the future I’d be real glad that I donated…

To sum it up, I learned that donating blood is really not a “horrible” procedure.  I had thought that for so long.  But after asking many questions and seeing so many people do it that day, my previous thoughts/fear went away.

Thanks to everyone who came out to give blood… I’m sure it matters to people like Alysha more than we could possible know!

Here’s Alysha showing us her dance moves!

Alysha & her sister Amy helped the nurses… it was so cute to see how seriously they were taking their “job”

Yummy snacks provided for everyone donating. I may have had some baking… maybe.

It was a big deal for me to see everyone giving away their blood… but for Alysha it’s such a common thing.

Here’s Amy holding all of Alysha’s beads.  Every bead represents a “procedure” that Alysha has gone through.

So inspired by this man who’s given blood 25 times!

I think I ate enough chocolate eggs that morning!

Here is my friend Lauren just about ready to donate

me and the sweetie

This photo makes me laugh!  Alysha: “No Justin you can’t have anymore chocolate”.

Lauren & Sarah… the amazing girls who helped put this clinic together!

This is Sharon Delisle.  She works at the Guelph Blood Donor Clinic and can definitely help answer any of your questions (519) 837-4564.   She was so awesome in answering all of mine!

Alysha, Mark, Amy & Karen… what a lovely family

Thanks to Lauren, Sarah, Alysha & family, and the Guelph Blood Donor Clinic for letting me be part of this special day!

If you’d like to know more about blood donation, bone marrow donors and cord blood donors than you can check out their organization: Operation Alysha.

Back in January we were hanging out with Aaron & Kariann watching the superbowl with some of our old school wedding clients and friends Jesse & Sarah (well THEY are NOT old-school, but we’ve known them for a long time now ).  Of course, Olivia was so small and only 2 months.  Sarah talked to me then about setting up a time to take some beautiful photos of their first child.  So last night, Olivia arrived awake and ready with her big smile and blue eyes.  She did wonderfully, as you can see from the following photos!

I love when babies are cute

oh oh… I see a few tears!!

I SO love father-daughter photos!

And now, they’re 3

definitely a few of my favourites!

there are NO WORDS…

The first few months of a baby’s life are so precious… Thanks Sarah & Jesse for trusting me with capturing some memories of Olivia!

I knew this was going to be a unique family shoot when Natalie (Donna’s daughter) first contacted me.  She went on to tell me that since her aunt passed away, Donna (her mom) has taken over the role as everyone’s mother.  So I was pre-warned of the amount of people involved and I was so looking forward to meeting this beautiful family.  On top of that, Natalie informed me she was bringing bubbles and RED balloons for the kids… I KNEW we would get some great photos with those fun props!

Let me tell you, children photography is no easy feat.  It takes an incredible amount of patience and a fun personality to be able to have fun with them while shooting… because it really is all about going at their pace!

I hope you enjoy this short lifestyle film and these fun-filled, colourful photos!

I love this shot!! Here’s Donna giving the kids a little bit of an incentive to behave for the next 3 hours!!

Donna’s smile says it all… “I’m so rich”

I think that’s everyone

Oooooh so cute.  This little guy wanted to “see” the back of my camera!!

You’re NEVER too old.

bubbles = joy

I pretty much fell to the ground laughing when I took this photo…

As he was karate kicking the bubbles he was singing “everybody was kung-fu fighting”

One VERY popular mom

Precious

the oldest of the kids… and a really big help!

Justin’s shot!

I was wondering why this little one kept on leaning over… but then her mom told me she was actually copying me and my angles!

this is what your kids do when you’re not looking!

cousins

Isn’t she lovely with her beautiful smile

Even though Ethan was having a little bit of a bad day and we only had a few minutes with them, we managed to capture a few great shots of this little guy!!

It’s always our delight to meet up with you Mike & Julia (and now Ethan)… next time it will have to be longer!! xox

it’s ok Ethan everythings going to be alright

…and minutes later, after a few kisses and snuggles from Mike & Julia (they’re quite the team!!) Ethan is feeling better.  *sigh*

I love photos of momma & baby… so beautiful!

love the ripples in his back

love the little ears

love love love

Enjoy this short film of Carter.  Justin picked the most appropriate song for this blue-eyed boy – “Baby Blue” from the new Dave Matthews!!

Carter’s dad Aaron is going to love the following shot.  His only “requirement” was that we show off his baby blues

Carter’s first taste of a lemon.  He didn’t seem to mind it actually!

Beautiful light and a beautiful baby… what more can I ask for?