Maternity Pics

When I was about 20 weeks pregnant, I thought getting maternity photos would be a really fun thing to do. When you're 20 weeks pregnant, anything baby-related sounds great - because you're typically past the morning sickness phase, but haven't yet gotten to the increased blood volume/massive water retention/where are my ankles/I feel like a baby whale phase.

I contacted a friend and fabulous photographer who helped with some of our wedding day photos to see if she was available to do the photos, and got on her calendar for the week we returned from Hawaii. At that time, I was thinking "oh great, I'll be nice and relaxed - and tan".

What I didn't consider was that at the time of the photos, I would definitely be in the "I feel like a baby whale" phase, and that my previous week on vacation eating pancakes, shaved ice, and pizza would not be helping my situation.

Also, I'm super awkward at being photographed in general. Picture me like Chandler in this video:

I was thisclose to canceling the photos, but Kyle made me go because we had already paid for them.

And let me tell you - after a few hours with Stacy - I felt like the most beautiful pregnant woman there ever was. Pregnant ladies - Stacy is THE gal you want behind that lens taking your picture when you are wondering if you will ever see your ankles again. She made me feel SO comfortable, and just "ohh-ed" and "ahh-ed" from behind the lens the entire time. Even if she was faking her excitement over the photos, it totally worked at boosting my confidence! Kyle and I ended up having a really fun and relaxed time, and have nothing but positive memories of the experience - and that's the whole point of capturing the moment, right?

Here are a few pics from the session (you can see more of her work on her blog or on Facebook!):

Giving it Grace: This article was circulating on Facebook a while ago; it's an article about moms actually being in photos with their kids. I remember reading it thinking "of course I'll want to be in the pictures I take of my kids!" I'm sure when I read the article I wasn't pregnant, and didn't know what it felt like to wear your hair up in a wet bun for 2 weeks straight because work, life, and pregnancy is exhausting you (and I don't even have any kids yet!). Leading up to these maternity photos, however, I got a glimpse of the "I don't want to be in the photo" feeling that the article is talking about. I was glad Kyle was there to encourage me to just capture the moment, regardless of how I "felt" about myself. I want to try and remember that feeling when I'm taking pictures of Drew, and purposely ducking out of the photo because I haven't lost the pregnancy weight yet, or because I haven't done my make-up in 11 days. And of course, I pray that God will give me the grace I need to remember that how I feel can be a powerful but deceitful influence on my attitude about things. Feelings are fleeting, but the memory (or picture) of a moment can last forever!

(As an alternative to all that, I also just wish that Stacy could just follow our family around and take pictures of us...!)