Friday I shot Jim & Julie's Engagement Shoot up at Desert Mountain near where they live and where they will be getting married in November. They have a great story of how they met and began doing business together, developing a friendship before their relationship blossomed into a romance. They're a great couple and we had a fun shoot. Here's some of my favorites:
Jim has a two-year-old daughter named Bella who came along as well--super cute!
It's so beautiful up at Desert Mountain. I can't wait for the wedding!
Thanks for the great shoot and for dinner you guys!
April is Autism Awareness month. These are my two nephews: Elijah (5) and Noah (6). They are the loves of my life. They are SO sweet and full of love and I couldn't adore anything more. They are both autistic. And it absolutely breaks my heart. I've been laying in bed unable to get to sleep the last two nights because I'm so angry about Autism. Let me fill you in on some of the basics about this disorder and hopefully it will help you to understand why.
Autism is a complex disorder that has no known cause or cure.
1 in 150 children are diagnosed with some form of autism. For boys, the number is 1 in 94. This makes it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe and span 3 general areas: -Language development -Social development and behavior -Repetitive and odd behaviors
No two children with autism are alike. My nephew Elijah is more severe than his older brother, Noah. Elijah is 5 and is nonverbal, not yet potty trained and has difficulty being in new environments with people who are unfamiliar to him. He is very frustrated with his inability to communicate his needs. He loves to do certain activities over and over again such as watch the same videos endlessly, throw rocks, and jump in the pool over and over.
Noah is 6 and now has a large vocabulary of words. He is still unable to form spontaneous sentences and largely communicates through one or two word phrases. He is potty trained and loves to help his younger brother. Both he and Elijah are in special classes in the public schools with one on one attention from teachers. Noah loves to learn and enjoys practicing his flash cards of vocabulary words, shooting basketball hoops and lining up his toys in certain patterns.
There are some theories about the potential causes of autism. It is generally agreed that there is a genetic predisposition in children with autism that causes them to be susceptible to environmental triggers. A controversial theory that has been refuted by the medical community but is strongly held by a group of parents and a few scientists is that immunization shots given at a young age trigger autism. This is a lengthy discussion that I'm not going to go into here, but if you're interested, here are a few videos to check out on the subject:
I help my sister take the boys to a doctors appointment every week where they get chelation treatment. They are injected with a medication that helps rid their body of the poisonous toxins such as mercury and lead that their bodies are unable to process on their own. Their urine is collected and tested and we get reports of the amount and types of metals that are coming out of their bodies. This is somewhat of an experimental treatment but seems to be helping many children with autism.
One last thing I wanted to share on autism--and if you're still reading at this point, you are awesome!--are some early signs of Autism. These are important to know so that you can watch your own children and possibly help other parents out who you know. The earlier Autism is detected the more successful treatment can be. Here are some "red flags" to be on the watch for:
No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
No babbling by 12 months
No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months
No words by 16 months
No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age
Remember that Autism is very complex and mysterious at this time so no two children will display the exact same behaviors or symptoms. But these are some general things to look for.
One of the most frustrating things to me is that this epidemic is largely ignored by the medical community. Doctors are not taught about it in medical school. Parents take their children in to their pediatrician with concerns about their child's development and they are told that they are over-reacting and not to worry about it. And there is very little being done to find a cure. The effort is definitely out of proportion to the size and extremity of the epidemic. It breaks my heart to think of what we, as a society, may be unknowingly doing to an entire generation of children. We've got to put an end to this disorder.
If you are interested in finding out more about what you can do to be involved, check out these sites:
I just got my Toyota washed on Tuesday for the first time in over a month and last night it rains. Not only does it rain, but there's a huge dust storm. So this is what my car looks like now:
I swear I have special powers.
On a totally unrelated note, I took my friend Teri out to lunch today and I think she forgave me for being a loser friend and forgetting her 30th birthday last week. So that's good. Her 2 year old, Kailey, was with us and she just totally brightens my day every time I see her. She is total preciousness.
She sang "Jesus Loves Me" during lunch and I got it on video. SO CUTE! I think she was a little distracted by the Mexican food (understandably).
Tonight I finally had my friends Matt, Angie & Maddux over. We've been trying to set up a time to hang out for what seems like forever and finally we gott'er done. Matt and Angie are local wedding photographers as well, who I met through the Phoenix PUG (Pictage User Group) and we hit it off right away. Together they make up Sloan Photographers.
Their son, Maddux, is the most angelic child I think I've met to date. I don't think I heard a peep out of him all night and there were no toys in sight. He even sat quietly watching "American Idol" with us. We had chocolate for desert and he got his hands on two mini Twix bars and just hung on all night. Too bad he doesn't know the yumminess hidden underneath the cool, shiny wrappers :).
I'm so thankful for my friendship with Matt & Angie. Not only is it great to have photographers who are friends as we can talk shop and help each other out, but they are just darn good people who make me happy whenever they're around.
Tonight I shot portraits of the definition of cuteness. This little 19 month old is the son of my friends, Carrie and Dorian, who are a part of my church community. Every time I see him at Portico, my heart melts. So I insisted on taking photos of him.
Now, when I say I "shot portraits of him," what I really mean is that I chased him tirelessly around Freestone Park for about 45 minutes. I think he was purposefully trying to lose me :).
Braeden is quite the little package. He is full of energy, knows what he wants, and I can tell he's got a lot going on upstairs. He is a man of many expressions. Here are a few of my faves:
This is the look I like to call, "'Whatchu talkin about Willis?"
So scrumptious!
Thanks, Carrie, for helping me keep him alive during the shoot! (Mom rescued Braeden numerous times from going into the lake after the ducks he was chasing :))
My sister brought my nephews over to my pool today for a little swim. The pool is heated part of the year but it's getting really warm out so it won't be long until the heating is unnecessary.
It's always so fun to watch them swim because they love it SO much. They can just jump in over and over for hours.
I had fun taking some photos of Noah (6) and Elijah (5) which is always challenging because they're both autistic. I watched a "Larry King Live" recently and found out that more kids are being diagnosed with autism than AIDS, cancer and diabetes COMBINED. The number is 1 in 150 kids now. With the rate for boys being 1 in 94. Autism has really reached the level of an epidemic and is getting very little attention for how prevelant it is. The cause and a possible cure are still unknown.
Anyhow, my nephews are super-cute. Here's a few shots of Elijah. I love his floaties :)
And Noah hit a mile-marker today. He lost his first tooth! Unfortunately it was in the pool somewhere. Notice in the photo on the top of this post, he has a whole set of teeth and on this one, he's missing the top middle one on the left:
These are my dear friends I am visiting here in Charlotte this week. Michelle has been my friend since 4th grade -- for 20 years now! We only went to school together the one year in Minnesota. I remember riding the bus with her to school and singing songs. Then she moved away and we were pen-pals. I have over 50 letters from her from that time. We both moved numerous times and then when we were in high school she flew out to visit me each year because her dad is a pilot. Then I was in her wedding nine years ago. And since then she has had 4 kids. I've been doing the visiting the last few years and it's been nice because I have shot 4 weddings in the Carolinas now so each one is a good excuse to visit her. God has really blessed me with her friendship and used us in each other's lives over the years. We always have the best deep conversations about life. Anyhow... now that you know my life story :)
Today the kids were playing in the backyard--the weather is GORGEOUS here. And so I did some shooting and got some great shots of their cute family.
This is Gavin, the oldest:
Logan is next:
Rhiannon is the only girl:
And Aiden is the baby:
I love his chipmunk teeth:
Here's Brian and Michelle:
And a cute shot of the three boys:
I love this family. The kids are each so special and have their own unique personalities. My friend Michelle is an absolutely amazing mom. She blows me away. It's crazy to think about where we are now and how far we've come from the little girls who rode the bus together in 4th grade. Life is one amazing, unpredictable journey.
My friends Michelle & Haines, whose maternity shoot I did a few months ago, just had their little boy, Tate, on Saturday morning! He is 6 lbs and some change and 19 inches long. I got to stop by the hospital yesterday to meet him and shot a few photos while there. Oftentimes I don't find newborns super-cute but Tate is a cutie and I'm always so amazed at how tiny and soft newborns are.
