This month has been nothing short of exhausting. Dallas said it best last night that all of us are physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. Since my birthday on August 31, we have been through hell and back. Sleepless nights, eating junk food except for those sweet souls that make sure we have food, to working from sun up to sun down making sure our jobs aren't falling behind just to turn around and travel back and forth from Lubbock to Roswell.Watching my family go through this obstacle has probably been the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The first night we were in Lubbock was beyond what we was expecting. Listening to the doctor tell us what they had to do and the condition my mom was in... it rocked our world. Nobody saw this coming and nobody could tell us what caused it.And not knowing is the hardest part.My dad has been such a trooper through this whole thing. Not leaving her bedside except to go home, get a shower & food, then head back up to the hospital and do it again the next day. We are now on day 26... Heading into week 5. I know it has been much easier on everyone with Ryan living in Lubbock. He's rearranged his little apartment to accompany an extra air mattress so they both have a place to sleep. Dallas and I have been going back and forth on the weekends due to our jobs. I have now had to rearrange several sessions to make everything work and ...

A couple weeks ago, my family took a vacation to the Oregon coast to see my grandparents and their beautiful state. We landed in Portland and drove down the coast stopping at overviews, hiking up to a waterfall, and breathing in the fresh air from the salty ocean. We stopped at two lighthouses, Heceta Head & Yaquina Head, the sea lion caves, Thor's Well, Cannon Beach, and ended up in Bandon. The trees and fog were absolutely gorgeous and even though I looked at the weather before I packed, the temperature wasn't what I was expecting at all. It was like fall had come early for us, but in reality, that was their norm. I even got to meet up with an old childhood friend! We ate a ton of seafood, made sure to stop at the original Mo's Seafood & Chowder to taste their clam chowder, and ate at this adorable and super packed ice cream parlor, Salt & Straw. I had their lavender & honey ice cream and OH MY GOSH!! It was AH-MAZING!Here's a look through my camera on our vacation to Oregon! 

It hasn't even been 24 hours after Declan was born did I head over to the hospital to start capturing him on camera. I will be the first one to say that newborns are soooooo not my forte and I get super nervous holding them, but in this case, Xanthia and Leland were awesome enough to let me into their lives for a hour to capture some images I think will be treasured for many years.I have recently been getting more into the lifestyle/documentary style photography where hardly anything is posed and I'm just a fly on the wall. I tried it with The Little Mermaid and I loved seeing how the images came out. One of the reasons I love this style so much is because of the rawness and truth that it holds. In this case, I did direct very slightly, but most of the events unfolded right in front of my camera. I mean, you can't tell a baby when to yawn or smile in their sleep. It just happens.In the end, I LOVE the way these images came out and from engagement to maternity to birth, I love these guys for allowing me to continue the tell the story of their beautiful little family. 

“My art, what do you want to say about it? Do you think you can explain the merits of a picture to those who do not see them? . . . I can find the best and clearest words to explain my meaning, and I have spoken to the most intelligent people about art, and they have not understood; but among people who understand, words are not necessary, you say humph, he, ha and everything has been said.” ― Edgar Degas Self-portrait shot on a tripod with Nikon D800, Lensbaby Composer Pro, Edge 50, & 2 Alien Bees.