COURTNEY - SENIOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER, NAPLES FLORIDA
Of course I had a ton of shoots right before leaving on maternity leave last week. And now that I'm "officially" on leave, I've had a massive amount of calls from clients wanting to book sessions before the end of the year. Apparently the magazine spreads I've been doing are catching some attention locally and it has helped send lots of new clients my way. It kills me to have to delay sessions for people due to my current state of being 9 months pregnant with a c-section scheduled in just 36 more hours. I feel so out of commission and it drives me crazy not being able to control all of that. I love my clients and I want to work them in as much as possible. However, I've hit that spot where it isn't an option for at least the next 3-4 weeks. Grrrr! The good news is though, in return for my hands being so tied with business, I'm fixing to get a newborn placed within them that will help keep my mind off the business I'm stalling. :) What a gift! I'll take that exchange any day.
I had the honor of photographing Courtney a week or two ago and thoroughly enjoyed my shoot with her. I thought I'd share some sneak peeks of her session here on the AGD blog as well. We did a bright and early sunrise session at 6:45am and the lighting couldn't have been anymore gorgeous at that moment.
It about killed us to get out of bed and start that early but boy was it ever worth it in the end. Amazing isn't a strong enough word for the gorgeous sun rays that beamed down over the top of her at that hour.
I love the above shot. I love it soooo much that I've decided after I have this baby, I'm cutting up a cute pair of jeans and working some magic on them as Courtney had on her own. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Her jeans were to die for. Can you tell I'm dying to get out of these maternity clothes and back into some ROCKIN' style worthy jeans again? WHEW! It's been a long time. :)
During the session, we ironically stumbled upon some very cool backdrop items that gave her images a grunged up feel. I was in heaven. Bring on the beat up lockers, the trash, the old broken down chair, etc. It really added that much more character to the location. So fun!
Again, the early morning sunshine/rays ROCKED our socks off.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with you Courtney. I had a blast. Can't wait to do it again sometime.
As for the final countdown to baby Seaman's arrival, we are in the homestretch now. I've run ragged - like a chicken with my head cut off - over the past two days trying to get everything done before my parents arrival from Indiana tomorrow evening as well as before I head to the hospital Thursday morning. I'm happy to report the the only things left on my to do list are a meeting at Kenidi's school tomorrow, a nail/pedicure appt. after that, some last minute Christmas shopping and then on to my pre-op appointment at the hospital tomorrow at 4pm. Once I'm done with the pre-op, I'll be picking my parents up from the airport. YAY!
I doubt that I'll have much time to blog tomorrow so if I don't, please know how much I appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers that are rolling in from all of you. Brennen has graciously offered to update my facebook page ever so often for us on Thursday morning with minute by minute accounts of all the action. If you aren't a friend of mine on facebook yet, feel free to friend me HERE. In the meantime, I hope to be able to update the blog later in the day Thursday with a quick picture or two. The hospital has confirmed to us that they have spotty and very limited internet access. Therefore, I'm praying that it will work for us during the three days I'm stuck there. :) Either way, I will update all of you just as soon as I possibly can. Thank you again for your constant encouragement, love and support for our family. There are no words to express what my blog family means to me.
Five. Just five more days. Cinque, Cinco, Cinci, Cinq. Five. As one of my fellow photographer peeps put it...I'm so bored while waiting this out that I'm now learning how to count down the days in foreign languages. LOL!
Who would've ever guessed that when I wrote this post back in April of this year, that we'd get to this moment in time, with only five days to go - so quickly? I swear this pregnancy has flown by at a lightening fast rate. I can't believe I'm saying that considering how miserable I've felt in the past couple of weeks but the truth is...it really has flown by. I've hit that pivotal point where I'm ready to "evict" this kiddo. At 38 and a half weeks, I feel he has "baked" in there long enough. It's time to smoke this baby out of his hole. LOL! I'm glad he has decided to hold off on his arrival until this week though. It makes it much easier on my parents to get here - as expected. They fly in this Wednesday evening and I'm just as excited to get them here as I am to get our lil' man here. :)
Brennen put the baby swing together for me on Thanksgiving. He wanted to do it all himself and he did. My Mom supervised him while she was here but he assembled that thing like an ol' pro. After we did that, Brent dug the Christmas tree and decorations out for us. We spent the evening putting the tree up together and getting the house Christmas ready. I wanted to do it all before I go into the hospital this week because I didn't want to mess with all of that once I was home and barely able to move. My goal is to knock out all of my Christmas shopping in the next 5 days as well - so that it is completely done too. I realize I'm asking for a miracle here but that never stopped me before. It's worth a shot and I'm going to attempt to accomplish it all in between all of my other scheduled appointments. Hair, last OB appt., nails/pedicure, a good ol' waxing, school visits for Kenidi next week, grocery shopping, a pre-op appointment at the hospital and so forth.
We have to be at the hospital by 6am Thursday morning. My c-section is scheduled to begin at 7:15am. I hope to be out of the OR by 8am and in a recovery room until 9am. From 9am on...I should be in my postpartum room and enjoying our newborn. I have two of my photography peeps coming in to take photos of the big day for us. They are braving those early morning hours and getting there where I'm wheeled back to the OR at 7:15am. I can't begin to express how grateful I am that they will both be there documenting the arrival of our 3rd little one and for the fact that they are going to be my "eyes" while I'm missing beautiful moments because of undergoing another c-section. I'm sure they will have gorgeous images to share and I know they plan to post "some" of them on facebook. Therefore, if you are a friend of mine on facebook, keep a look out for them. And of course once I'm able to move myself, I'll be taking my own pictures and will do a post here on the ol' blog as soon as humanly possible. I plan to have Brent or Brennen update my page on Facebook as much as possible that morning. For those who are friends of mine on FB, you'll get step by step accounts of what all is happening as it happens. I'm praying that I won't be so drugged up that I can't enjoy that first day or that I'm not dry heaving and sick like I was with my last two c-sections (for hours following the surgery) to where I can't soak all of those first few hours in clearly and coherently. Speaking of praying, any prayers you guys can send our way over this next week would be phenomenal. I'm extremely anxious about undergoing the spinal this time and having to endure that surgery and recovery process yet again in my life. I've been praying that God will give me an unbelievable amount of peace that morning and the days leading up to the birth. If all of my prayer warriors can pray for my peace and sense of calm as well, I'd be forever grateful. I know many of you have already begun emailing me and posting little notes on my FB page letting me know that you are praying for our family in the coming days and that you can't wait to see photos of our little guy. I can't thank you enough for your prayers and for your words of support, love, and encouragement. There is no way to put into words what all of your friendships mean to me. Cyber driven or not. Hundreds of you have been a part of our lives for many many years - long time and loyal, faithful, blog readers. I realize this moment in our lives is just as big an event for all of you as it is for us. Because of that, I'm so thankful and so blessed by each of your caring, prayerful, and kind demeanor's. Your hearts are huge and we are definitely feelin' the love. Thank you so very much for being here for us during such a joyous occasion. We can't wait to share "him" with all of you come Thursday. :)
I hope to blog a few more times in between now and then should time allow it.
Nope...no baby Seaman yet. We are still here - big, HUGE, and moving reaalllllyyyyy slowwwwww. It just dawned on me that I haven't blogged in a week. I'm such a slacker. You can tell I'm a little busy getting ready for our new little guy to arrive, eh? We have 16 days until he makes his grand entrance into this world so needless to say, I'm a bit frantic at this point. I've been working my tail end off with photo shoots and events so that I can stay busy and keep my mind off the nervous jitters. With each shoot I do, my feet and back pay for it royally because of how far along I am. I shot for a charity event this past Saturday night and must have looked miserable or just "bad" overall. I had some lady walk past me and go..."you poor thing." I didn't know whether to feel good about her sympathizing with me or be hormonal and ticked that she clearly felt like I looked like some "poor thing." LOL! I laughed with her and moved on but it haunted me the rest of the night. Every 10 feet someone stopped me and would say things like..."You are having a baby, right?" I would answer with..."I sure hope so!" :) If not then I'm getting ready to give birth to a small country of hippo's. You can tell they are scared to ask in case I'm not really pregnant. One of these times I'm going to get brave enough to joke with them and tell them "No" when they ask if I'm expecting. I'm dying to just see the follow up look on their face if I were to tell them "no." Yes, I'm mean and hormonal. It's a good thing I only have 2.5 weeks left or my practical jokes could get real bad. Hee hee!
I have a couple more magazine shoots to do in the next two weeks and then another creative shoot this Saturday at the crack of dawn. After those, I should be able to take it down a notch and just wait out the big day. I want to keep moving because in the back of my mind I know I'm going to be home bound for several weeks - unable to drive or get out at my leisure as I normally would. So...I'm taking advantage of being able to run around like a chicken with my head cut off and am totally relishing in how great my abdominal muscles feel right now considering how they are about to be sliced open - end to end - in 16 more days. Gross I know. The thought of not being able to get up and down out of chairs and/or my bed on my own for a bit after the c-section makes me cringe. The idea of having stitches in that spot again makes me sick at the mere thought. Having to look at the incision site for the first time following the surgery is always the worst. It takes mental preparation for me. Lots of it! I'm asking all of my prayer warriors to please just pray for me regarding a safe surgery - a fast recovery - and of course a very healthy baby. We are down to the wire friends. I still can't believe how fast these past 9 months have gone. The staff at Starbucks is fixing to miss my morning drive thru visits for oatmeal and an iced carmel machiatto every morning. LOL! They know my order like the back of their hand. Decaf, nonfat, and 2 brown sugar packets with my oatmeal. They too finally got brave enough to ask if I was expecting the other morning. I've only been going there EVERYDAY for the past 6 months. My oatmeal craving has been too strong to deny and they've got the best. It took them this long to finally ask me if I was pregnant. I explained that yes...I was...and they've helped soothe my cravings during my past two trimesters. According to one of the staff members, I'm known as the "brown sugar lady." I guess there could be worse names in life, eh? :0)
This week is set to be a busy one. (what's new?) It makes the days go by so much quicker to stay busy so as I said...I'm totally ok with this schedule. I can't believe I haven't run this kid right out of me yet but he clearly likes his womb. And I like him staying there until December 2nd because I want my parents here in time for his arrival. It's awesome to know that my Dad and Cathy will be here before I know it. They come in on the 1st of December and I'm so ready to see them and spend those next couple of weeks with them. My Dad is even bringing me some boxes of coco wheats from good ol' Indy. For some reason, the Florida grocery stores do not sell coco wheats here. Criminal I say, Criminal. Brennen and I have been craving coco wheats for a year now. And yes, speaking of a year, can you believe that on the 20th of this month - this Friday actually - we will have lived here for one year already? Crazy how fast that time has flown too. 12 months, 9 months, man a lot has happened in that short little time frame. God's plans are amazing aren't they?
Happy Monday evening everyone! xoxo, Angie and baby Kr_____
(only 16 more days and you guys will finally learn the name of our new little guy to be)
I walked into the labor and delivery section of the hospital this morning toting tons of paperwork with me. The front desk security card took my drivers license, photo copied it, and then made me pose in front of a camera for a photo id too. Needless to say, they aren't messing around when it comes to those coming and going in the maternity/delivery area. I love the extra security considering how I'll be delivering there in 11 more weeks myself.
Security directed me upstairs to the labor and delivery floor for my scheduled appointment. I was there today for my pre-registration for my epidural this time. I had to go pre-register for the hospital stay a couple of weeks back but this time I was being directed to labor and delivery for the anesthesia portion of my stay. Apparently now days they want everything done and ready to go prior to your arrival when it comes to the delivery. I mosey-ed my way down the postpartum hallway in an attempt to find the office I was supposed to go to for my pre-registration appointment. As I passed each postpartum room, my knees got more and more weak. The smell of the hospital suddenly sent a massive amount of memories flooding back. I kept thinking to myself..."I can't believe I'm about to do this again. I just can't believe it." I continued to try and put one foot in front of the other while making my way to the epidural consult office. With each step, the nervous jitters set in more and more. I don't know that I'd call it "fear" necessarily but more like a huge bound up ball of emotions that has been building over the past 7 months. All of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks that I'm like seventy odd days away from delivering our little boy via my 3rd c-section. I'm so very excited to meet our son but the whole thought of the c-section, the surgery, the aftermath for the 24-48 hours following, and just the recovery in general is just crippling me today. I don't remember feeling so jittery with my other two c-sections but then again, one of those was 7 years ago and the other being 11.5 years ago. I've done some sleeping since then and I'm sure I've successfully blocked out the memories of being scared and nervous since then.
The postpartum floor was immaculate, very nice, and had extremely spacious rooms. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not quite sure why I thought it would be any different but I'm glad to have been able to view everything ahead of time. During my pre-registration consult for the epidural, they of course go over everything leading up to the surgery and during/after the surgery as well. I even had to watch some video explaining the process of administering anesthesia and the worst case scenarios of what could happen when doing so. I felt like they could have left all the negatives out and I would've been just fine not knowing or not remembering the risks involved. Between the anxiety of the surgery, knowing I'll be away from my other two children for three full nights before being released from the hospital, and just the unknowns all together, I was a nervous wreck by the time I left the hospital appointment this morning. I got back in my car and realized that I needed to take a few deep breaths and figure out a way to balance my nerves and stabilize my emotions again. My heart was beating out of my chest. Of course my first thought is to always pray for peace. And so I did.
I'm quite sure these bouts of nervousness will come and go again as I approach these last 11 weeks. I see my OB tomorrow for my 7 month check-up and to seal the date in stone for my c-section (which they tentatively have set for Dec. 2nd). After that appointment, I start going to more frequent OB appointments. Rather than every 4 weeks, it goes to every 3 weeks. Then every two. And before you know it, you are going once a week right up until your delivery. When they start making you come more frequently like that, you know your delivery date is within reach. The next 2 to 2.5 months are going to be a complete whirl wind. We have friends and family coming in from out of town to visit, lots of things to tackle before the little mans arrival, my photography classes to organize and teach, sessions to fulfill, sessions to edit, and so forth. Again, I'm practicing how to balance my nerves when it comes to all that I know needs to be done in the next two months. On December 1st, my parents are set to arrive for two weeks to help us take care of the new little one as well as just help out with the normal day to day bus and school routines with Kenidi and Brennen following my surgery. Brent's Mom, Debbie, will be come into town the same day my parents are leaving. She'll be here for a week following after that. So...we should have plenty of help between them as well as my own Mom up until the Christmas holiday. I have high hopes of getting my Christmas shopping done during the month of November so I don't have to worry about it once the baby arrives. I'm so thankful for supportive and loving family members who are taking time out of their busy schedules and time off work to come stay with us. We couldn't do it without them. I'm sure of it!
As I sit here and type, baby Seaman is kicking so strongly that it is visible on the outside of my "buddha belly" and shirt. I'm always amazed at just how powerful they become in the third trimester like this. I wonder if my anxiety and nervous jitters play any part in how active he is today. I wonder if he senses my excitement yet my nervous-ness. I do know one thing for sure. For someone who wasn't planning or expecting this pregnancy by any means, I'm madly and deeply in love with this child & I cannot wait for the next 11 weeks to zoom by so that we can meet - eye to eye - face to face - in person. I can't wait to introduce him to his brother and sister. I can't wait to see my parents holding him in their arms as they've done with my other two babies. I can't wait to show him what it feels like to sugar his toes in the sand for the first time or to see the big vast ocean with his own eyes for the first time beings that he resides only 5 minutes from it. There are so many things I can't wait for. So many things I never planned for - never had in my deck of cards - but now am eagerly awaiting. Thanks to God's unexpected blessings, our Christmas this year will be epic - no doubt. Grand in every sense of the word. Even with all of the nervous emotions, I realize that this "surprise" baby was in God's master plan. Therefore, I will continue to pray that God keeps him safe, watches over the remainder of my pregnancy, and blesses us with a very happy and healthy delivery come December.
I'm headed out the door now to go pick Brennen up from his weight lifting club that he does after school twice a week. Kenidi just got off the bus so our evening routine is beginning. Back to balancing the nerves. :) Thank goodness for God and his ability to provide me the peace I need as this next chapter in our book unfolds. Much love, Angie
Five. Just five more days. Cinque, Cinco, Cinci, Cinq. Five. As one of my fellow photographer peeps put it...I'm so bored while waiting this out that I'm now learning how to count down the days in foreign languages. LOL! 
