Here's to the moms on the day before Easter. 

Here's to the moms hustling to finish those last minute holiday surprises.

Here's to the moms who are just now dyeing Easter eggs because this week has been crazy and you kind of forgot until today.

Here's to the moms who are putting the final touches on Easter outfits that will probably only be worn for a couple of hours tomorrow.

Here's to the moms who are trying to teach their kids the real story of Easter so it doesn't drown in a sea of colorful plastic eggs.

Here's to the moms who will be stuffing eggs and filling baskets after the kids are in bed.

Here's to the moms who will probably get very little, if any, of the credit for the fun and memories of tomorrow - but you won't really care because the joy on those little faces will be payment enough.

I'm raising my glass to you from here in front of my sewing machine while eggs boil in the kitchen to be dyed later today. Here's to us.

Happy Easter!

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

Are you located in the Lowcountry and currently expecting?

Is your due date in either May or June 2018?

Are you interested in having the birth of your new baby artfully photographed to capture the story of this very important day?

If you answered yes to the questions above, I have an amazing, limited-time offer for you! I am in the process of creating some new promotional material, and I'm looking for 2 or 3 Charleston-area moms who would be willing to sign a model release in exchange for a 50% discount on ANY of my birth photography packages.

It does not matter what type of delivery you are planning: hospital birth, planned csection, home birth, birth center, etc. I think birth is beautiful in all of its forms, and want to represent all moms in my work.

I will not offer a discount like this again in the future, so now is your chance! Keep in mind, I'm only choosing a limited number of moms, so contact me now to make sure you don't miss out on this opportunity!

To apply, click here to go to my Contact form. Please enter your name, email, due date, and where you plan to deliver. I will then email you more information about my packages and planning your consultation.

If you have any questions, you can also email me at [email protected]

It's confession time: I barely touched my camera outside of client sessions this week. I took a couple of iPhone shots of things my kids were doing, but the Life in 52 challenge was far from my mind most of the time. Not only have I been busy editing client sessions, I also found out this week that I'm going to be having surgery after Easter. 

Something about the mom of the household having surgery and being out of commission for a little while seems to create a cloud of impending doom. I have an incredibly capable husband who is also a phenomenal dad and we have plenty of family and friends around who are going to help. It's just that there's so much every day minutiae that we moms handle unnoticed by others - can I get an amen?

I've been a flurry of domestic chaos trying to make sure everyone has plenty of clean laundry and planning one big grocery shopping trip to stock up on everyone's favorite snacks for a few weeks. Of course, I've also got to finish making my kids' Easter outfits and preparing their baskets.

Anyway, on Friday, all of my social media newsfeeds were bombarded with photos of everyone's adorable puppies. It seems it was "National Puppy Day." I'm not sure who made that holiday up, but as I glanced over at my snoozing dog, I thought, "Maybe it's time to feature a photo of something other than my children." 

So meet Ellie Mae. We adopted her from the Charleston Animal Society in 2011, a little over 6 months after we got married. She's a mutt - most likely a mix of pit bull and some kind of terrier. She has a boisterous, scary-sounding bark, but I can assure you that she is the sweetest and most skittish dog you will ever meet. She had endless energy as a puppy, but now she mostly likes to lay around on this big stuffed giraffe pillow, dozing the day away.

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

Spring is just around the corner and for photographers of every kind, that means the business is picking up. I'm so excited for all of the newborns, babies, and families I'll be photographing in the coming months, and I'm sure you're all looking forward to reading about something other than my adventures with my kids! However, I must admit, I do enjoy the slower season that winter brings. I've enjoyed this time of turning my camera towards the beautiful, everyday moments in my own home.

This last week of calm has been so precious to me. I ended up submitting 3 different photos to the Life in 52 lifestyle photography challenge this week. 

First, my husband decided to take Bug out for a special daddy-daughter dinner for some one on one time. She was SO EXCITED. She asked me to help her pick out the perfect dress and to style her hair in a bun. My heart could have exploded with love that day. 

Later in the week, Bug wanted some arts and crafts time. She received a kit for Christmas to create and decorate stepping stones. She's been begging to make one and we finally had everything we needed to get it done this week. After it dried and we took it out of the mold, Bug got started painting the stone. When Bubba saw her, he came to me with his little, chubby toddler hands out saying, "Mommy, me paint too!"

I poured a few colors of washable paint onto a paper plate and gave him a small paint brush and a piece of paper. The house was blissfully peaceful for a solid half an hour while they created their masterpieces.

I'll admit we don't paint around here often. It's so cumbersome to cover the table and pull out all the supplies and, of course, clean up afterwards. However, every time we do something creative and messy, it brings such happiness and calm that I end up thinking to myself, "We really should do this more often."

Maybe my goal this spring will be to find the time to make more messes.

​See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

I love photos. I mean I know that sounds obvious because I'm a photographer, but I really do! I've hired photographers for many occasions - both big and small - in the past because it's a service that I value.

We've been in our new house for 6 months now, and I'm still struggling to decide what to hang on my living room walls. I have this one big blank wall that would be perfect for a gallery wall. The problem is I'm going through years of photos trying to decide which ones to display.

As I was sifting through photos, I came across a few from a breastfeeding session I had done when Bug was a little chubby baby. They are photos I cherish.

I had to wean Bug almost as soon as she turned 2 years old. She was only nursing once at night before bed by that point, but it was still bittersweet. My husband and I were ready for another baby, but in order to be treated by the fertility specialist and begin medications necessary for me to conceive, I had to stop breastfeeding. I ended that sweet part of my relationship with my precious girl so that we could add another little love to our family.

As I sat fondly looking through these photos, I realized I don't have any nursing photos with Bubba! I have one photo in the hospital from his first latch, but that's it. I really wanted to take a moment to document this time with him too.

He turned two in January, and he really only nurses maybe 3 times a day now. People who say that moms who nurse toddlers are only doing it for themselves have clearly never nursed a toddler. My son likes to point out and name my facial features while he nurses:

Mommy eyes.

Mommy nose.

Mommy cheeks.

Mommy teeth.

Let me tell you... little toddler fingers getting shoved in my eyes and nose are not exactly my idea of a good time. 

There are days when I'm so over nursing him, and I just want to be done. There are days that he only wants me, but I'm so touched out, I could scream. 

However... I love being the calm in his crazy. I honestly don't know how much longer we'll go on nursing. There's a chance he's my last baby, so I'm not going to rush him. I will sit and snuggle and nurse... and I will count it all joy.

See more of my photos from the Life in 52 photography challenge here.

Being a birth photographer means I get to celebrate birthdays a lot. It's obvious that each new life that enters this world will have a major impact on the family he or she is born into; however, we don't often stop to think about the ripple effect this baby will have on the future. The person he will grow up to be; the career she will one day choose; the friendships and relationships formed.

Today, we're throwing it back to a birth that happened four and a half years before I was even born, but it changed the trajectory of my life forever. This week we celebrated my husband's birthday. When we got married, I started the tradition of baking a cake for him on his birthday every year. Some years, he requested a specific type of cake (German chocolate cake). Other years, I found a recipe I thought he would love (cookies and cream cheesecake). 

When my daughter was two years old, she started joining the fun. She has been helping me pick the cake and icing colors ever since. 

This year we made a chocolate chip cookie cake with blue icing and heart sprinkles.

In this week's Life in 52 photo, Bug is explaining that she chose heart sprinkles because "hearts mean love" and she loves him so much!

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.