Almost there....

Anslie weighed 21 lbs today at the doctor. That's a 3/4 pound weight gain since last week! Now...she does have that cast on her arm which I'm sure added to her weight, but the nurse and I agreed that the most it could weigh is 1/2 a pound. In other words, Anslie is still gaining the appropriate weekly amount so we're eliminating another formula feed! This puts her at one feed per day. Hopefully the trend will continue and we can get this NG tube out of her nose next Monday. Wouldn't that be wonderful?!?!?!?! She has a check up on her arm next Tuesday as well. If the x-ray comes back clean, she'll get the cast off. Next week could be a big week for us! Let's hope that it is!!!

Sneak Peak: Katelyn

Katelyn is demure, sweet, gentle...sugar and spice and all that. She has such a vintage look about her and her clothing and styling really carried that feeling through her photos. She's beautiful so it made my job easy...what more can I say?

Click HERE to view all of Katelyn's collection.

I'm related to a published author!!!

I just want to give a shout-out to my dear aunt, Gina (Georgina Donovan) Martin, because she just published her first book! I am soooo proud of her and all of her hard work and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. She is doing a book signing in Palmdale, CA on September 5th at 1pm. Let me know if you want deets on the location! And check her book out! You can pick up a copy at Barnes N Noble or on Amazon.com.

Sneak Peak: The Hornfecks

I was told how wonderful the Hornfeck family is. I was told how stunning mommy Sarah is, how beautiful her three daughters, Maddie, Gabbie, and Phoebe are. How sweet and funny daddy Ed is. I expected this family photo shoot to be a breeze! What I wasn't told was what little balls of energy these three little girls are!!! Man, did they give me a run (literally, I was running) for my money!

Sarah and Ed wanted their family pictures to truly reflect their personalities and lifestyle; nothing posed, nothing fabricated, everything candid. Never have I had the opportunity to capture a family in their true spirit and it was a wonderful and challenging experience. This photo collection is literally "A Day in the Life..." series and I think it is so wonderful that I am able to offer a tangible portrait of what their every-day life is like that they can cherish forever. It was a pleasure to work with this family. Here are a few of my favorites from their shoot to bait your breath:

Click HERE to see The Hornfeck Family's entire collecion!

As if she didn't have enough to deal with!

(She isn't crying because of the cast...it's because Kevin was taking her shoes off and she didn't want him to.)

On Sunday night, Kevin was playing with Anslie on the floor, being an all-around great dad. He was laying on his stomach when Anslie crawled up onto his back and straddled his neck. Like any good daddy would do, he assumed position pony-style to give his little girl a ride. But, Anslie didn't hang on as the horsey began to rise and slipped off, landing on her left arm. She was upset and cried for quite some time but she calmed down and life went back to normal. When she woke up yesterday morning, her arm didn't seem to bother her at all so I dragged her all over town running errands. As the day progressed, so did her irritation. By that evening, she was pretty cranky, not wanting to put any pressure on her hand or use it to play or eat. But she still wasn't crying. There was no bruising or swelling. I was pretty sure it wasn't broken. When she woke up this morning, her irritation and ginger movements were still there. Just to be safe, I took her to her doctor. They ran an x-ray and sure enough, both bones in her forearm close to her wrist are broken. We are now waiting until our appointment at 3:30 when an orthopedic (surgeon?) will set her bones and either cast or splint her arm. Poor baby! As if she didn't have enough to deal with!

Sneak Peak: Chloe

I had the pleasure of flying to Denver, CO last week to photograph some truly wonderful families. The first shoot I did was for this darling little angel, Chloe. She was around 2 weeks old when these portraits were taken and she is so stinkin' cute that I couldn't keep her pictures to myself until I was finished processing her entire shoot. So, here's a sneak peak of baby Chloe: (and make sure to check back in to see other previews of my portrait marathon!)

Click HERE to see Chloe's entire collection.

Relief!

We have some great news about Anslie! She gained her minimum weight this week (4 oz) which means we can eliminate another formula feed... and when her Pediatric Gatrointerologist called to find out how she was doing, he went ahead and canceled the surgery for her G tube. Phew! It doesn't mean that surgery is completely off the table, it just means that he thinks Anslie is doing well enough that she may be able to work her way off of enteral feeding altogether by herself. And if she can, then no surgery. We still have two weeks of formula feeds if Anslie gains at least 4 oz each week, and if not it could be longer. But, at this point we will just continue what we are doing until her check up with the PGI in Albuquerque on August 18th. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the weight gain after last week. I was so worried that we would have to put the G tube in, but when Dr. Fahl canceled the appointment, I knew the light at the end of the tunnel was near. Thanks for everyone's support! We still have some work to do, but I feel that a conquering win is upon us soon!

It's Feet Week!

I'm back from Colorado with a vengeance (and about 1600 images to edit) and I am so thrilled that this week is Feet Week at www.iheartfaces.com! If I have ever taken photographs of you or your family before, then you know that I love to shoot feet! This is an image from a very special shoot that I did for my dear friend and her first born baby, Bellalina. These are baby Bella's and Daddy's feet all snuggled up together. LOVE IT!!!

Be sure to click this button

and hop on over to iheartfaces to see all the rest of the tootsies on display!

The weign-in

Anslie had another weigh-in yesterday at the ped's office. Unfortunately she hasn't gained any weight in the last week, but she hasn't lost any weight either. The doc said that she had such a big weight gain the week before (11 ounces) that she wasn't worried about it but that we should keep her on the same amount of formula until the next weigh-in to see how she does. I have to admit that I am really disappointed, but as long as she isn't losing weight, I guess I will try to relax for now. We're still working on getting Anslie to eat, and she does well sometimes, not so well others. Keep her in your prayers! We need all the help we can get!

On a happier note, I will be flying to Denver soon to stay with my sister, Tera, while I shoot some family photos for her friends. Tera called me the other day and said that one of her friends just had a baby and saw the work I had done for her and was willing to fly me out to Denver to have me shoot her baby's pictures. And since I was going to be in town anyway, two groups of my sister's other friends have decided to take advantage of my presence. It will be a busy week, four shoots in all, but I am really looking forward to it! Man, I feel special!

...And the last few pictures from our 4th of July weekend

I know, there's a lot of pictures...but that's how I like to tell my family's story :) So, here are the last few images from our 4th of July weekend. We went to the little carnival the city put on and munched on funnel cakes while watching the fireworks...until we got monsoon rains that forced us to pack up and run to our car! It's too bad, too, because it was turning out to be a really nice show!

Me and Kevin

Got our funnel cakes and we were ready for the show!

Relaxing on the blanket in the grass waiting for the fireworks.

And it wouldn't be the 4th without some of these!

More from our 4th

We had the opportunity to view the closing ceremonies for The Wall that Heals, which is the traveling memorial for the Vietnam War. It was touching, beautiful, tragically sad. I was happy to be able to spend the afternoon with my family remembering the brave souls who have died for our country. I honor them:

Click on the image to enlarge

Our 4th

The city of Roswell hosts it's annual Alien Festival over the 4th of July weekend. It's the biggest event of the year in Chavez County, possibly in all of southeastern New Mexico! My dad drove down from California to partake in the festivities and we were happy to join him. It was actually pretty fun, as long as we made the most out of everything. Here are some pictures from our fun holiday weekend.

My Dad in front of the Visitor's Center right before we entered the "Twilight Zone..."

Yup. These people really were riding a John Deere tractor/motorcycle down the street!

Even the local franchise restaurants honor Roswell's heritage by celebrating alien existence. (This is up year-round)

Gotta love R2D2 post office collection boxes!

You could win this bike if you wanted to enter a raffel for $25 a ticket!

Kevin and Anslie listening to the local crooners during the "Alien Idol" contest.

These gals were the life of the festival!

Anslie found these cutie-pies chained up to some trees. They were soooo sweet and very beautiful doggies!

No detail was missed!

Anslie chewing on a glow necklace while a stranger blew bubbles for her. Gotta love that "southern" hospitality!

Anslie and I at the Alien Festival/Independence Day Parade.

This alien was bigger than Anslie! (and just so you know, that's not my thigh in the picture...)

Anslie and her Grandpa waiting for the parade to start.

Anslie's patriotic hair do.

My sweet heart. Isnt' he cute?!

Surprisingly, the festival was fun. It was one of those things where if you had a good attitude about it then you would. It was small and there was a million things the city could have done to make it a lot better, but in a town where the biggest thing that has ever happened is a fictional alien crash landing, we'll take what we can get!