Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Thank you for making 2012 another fantastic year…and I cannot wait to see what fun 2013 brings!

Hello friends!  Just a quick post to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

Of course, I’m thankful for many things: my amazing husband, loving and supportive family and friends, my health, a job that I love, our pup and kitty, a warm home, etc.  However, this holiday I am especially thankful, because we have a new family member to celebrate with us! As most of you know, my husband and I had our first child in September.  And life hasn’t been the same since.  Remington has been such a joy (despite fussy times!), and he is already 2 months old!  His bright smile, sweet cooing, and snuggling have brightened our days in ways that we didn’t know possible.  And for this, I am so thankful.  I hope to share some of his newborn session soon!   For now, here are just a few photos that take note of fall’s colorful beauty.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Friday afternoon will be one that I’ll never forget!  I called Reggie to tell him he needed to come home…I was pretty sure that my water had broken!  We slowly made our way to the doctor’s office in Friday rush hour traffic.  They confirmed that, yes, indeed, my water had broken, and we were admitted to the hospital.  Within 24 hours, we laid eyes on our newest addition, our first child, our son, Remington James!  I’ll save the rest of the details for his newborn post, but for now, here is a quick peek thanks to our camera phones:

While I’m on maternity leave, I will be occasionally checking in to share photos and tidbits about our sweet baby boy.  We are enjoying spending quality time together as a new family, as well as adjusting to becoming parents.  I truly appreciate your patience during this very special time in our lives.  I will respond to calls and emails within 2-4 business days.  To schedule a session for Fall 2012 and beyond, please email me at stewartimagery@hotmail.com.  Thank you for your patience, thoughts, and well wishes as we start this amazing journey of parenthood!  

We’re 26 days away!  Twenty-six!  In less than a month, Reggie and I will become parents to a sweet little baby boy!  Eeek!  I cannot believe how these past eight months have flown by, with their ups and downs, mostly ups.  We are so excited!

The past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind.  I photographed a beautiful garden wedding just shy of being 35 weeks along!  And it was such a beautiful day – the perfect way to wrap up my summer wedding season!  Usually August boasts a hot, humid Midwestern climate, however, as if just for these two, it was a perfect 79 degrees.  More to come soon from Claire + Mike’s wedding day!

Just a few weeks ago, it was my turn to be in front of the camera!  Reggie and I had maternity portraits taken by the beautiful and talented, Stefanie, of SB Childs Photography.  She truly captured this exciting time in our lives, and we couldn’t be happier!  Check out our blog post here!   I knew from the beginning of my pregnancy that this was something I wanted to do…how can I recommend maternity portraits to my clients if I didn’t experience this myself?  I can’t wait to show these to our little guy some day, showing him just how much his mommy and daddy loved each other and how excited we were about his arrival!  Thank you, Stefanie!!!  And a huge thank you to my sweet friend, Julia, for making me look and feel so pretty – you are wonderful!

Since Baby Stewart could arrive any time now over the next few weeks, we wanted to be sure to have our hospital bag packed and ready to go!  I’m all about being as comfortable as possible!  Music, reading material, and favorite items have been recommended to me.  We also plan to take a camera! 🙂 Here are a few items that are definitely going with us:  A comfy, sleeveless night gown, sweet orange scented toiletries, protein bars (in case the hospital kitchen is closed when our little guy decides to make his appearance!), iPod with some favorite tunes, magazines for Reggie and me (hot rods and cars for him, home decor for me), my pregnancy journal, and some receiving blankets.  We’re also taking some treats for the nurses.

I’ve had some good friends (Hi Katherine and Julie!) and a cousin (Hi Heidi!) who’ve been sharing this journey with me, all of us expecting our first little ones within just a few days of each other!  Best wishes for a safe and healthy delivery to you, and I cannot wait to hear all about your new arrivals!

While feeling a wide range of emotions lately – everything from happiness, excitement, anxiety, nervousness, being a little (and sometimes a lot) terrified – I’ve been cooking and baking and cleaning up a storm…that infamous nesting phase, right?!?!  I pray that these bursts of energy stick with me!

I’m hoping to squeeze in the rest of the sessions on my calendar before Baby Stewart makes his big debut!  Once he arrives, I’ll be taking some time off to enjoy our new family before resuming sessions mid-late October (depending upon baby’s arrival, of course).  Since we’ve had such a hot summer, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a beautiful fall!  To schedule a fall session, please send an email inquiry to  stewartimagery@hotmail.com.

Many thanks to our family, friends, and sweet clients who have showered us with love, blessings, and gifts as we prepare for our new addition!  We cannot thank you enough for everything!  And we can’t wait to introduce our newest family member to you soon!

Happy Friday, Internet!

I’m taking a quick break from the normal photo-filled blog, not to worry, next week I’ve got lots to share!   Like more from this sweet engagement session!

For now, I just wanted to share some tidbits from my life lately.

As you know, we’re expecting our first little one in September, and we couldn’t be more excited!  I recently attended my first baby shower attended by all the amazing women in my family, and it was so much fun!  My Grandma had written a little song about our baby boy.  She included the words along with a handmade quilt, and when I began to read them, my eyes filled with tears.  And then my Grandma began to sing the song to me, to everyone in the room, and it was such a wonderful moment.  One I will always treasure.  Thank you, Grandma, for such a sweet, thoughtful, heartfelt gift!

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite artists was in town, Dave Matthews.  Reggie and I tried to score last minute tickets, and hung out at the venue to listen to a few songs.  We ventured home to have our own little concert on our patio as we listened to Dave Matthews Radio on Pandora.  It was perfect.  One of his songs is Stay (Wasting Time), which got me thinking about saving time.  Bear with me on this, friends, I promise to tie this all together!  I’ve continued listening to his music while working, and this song came on.  It made me think that once our little guy arrives, saving and spending time wisely will be of utmost importance.  One little time-saving trick I’ve tried as of late has been to time my tasks using my phone.  Don’t you just love technology?  With an eye on the time keeping me focused and on track, distractions are held to a minimum.  The more efficient I am, the better I feel.  Win!  Thank you, Dave, for the inspiration!  😉  

Speaking of babies, our friends shared some of their favorite baby books with us, all of which I still need to read!  I’ve heard nothing but great things about Baby Wise, so I’m looking forward to this one!