Connor

Happy Birthday to Connor. I love first birthday pictures. It is the perfect age for a photo shoot. He was a little man on a mission to run and play with everything in sight. Guarantee he slept well that night.
And I had so much fun with the entire family. Really cool people which makes my job that much more fun.

Happy Birthday Uncle AJ

Hope your Birthday was filled with happy surprises!

Arthur

I truly love all babies, but Arthur holds a special place in my heart. He was so happy and excited the entire photoshoot. Not one fuss or sad face. And when it was over I got to hold him and he was so cuddly and sweet. I just wanted to scoop him up and take him home. Such a doll!

Times when you need your camera and, gulp, don't have it

Tonight my husband and I took our son out to dinner. He's 14-months old and LOVES spaghetti. But not just any type of spaghetti, it has to be from Bambinelli's in Northlake. He can polish off a plate. But, only about half makes it in his mouth ...the other half is in his bib, his hair, the floor, the highchair, between every finger, in his ears, on me, my face and arms. We look like we are going into battle with the protection and blessing of marinara sauce. A perfect picture and a photographer without a camera. I guess this one will have to remain a mental picture.

Anika

What a cutie! I had so much fun taking Anika's 9-month photos. She was such a smiley baby and had so much fun with all the different poses. Especially the ones where she got to take all her books out of her bookshelf (sorry Mom and Dad).

Ripley and Carter

Ripley and Carter had the biggest case of the giggles ever. I guess it didn't help that I gave them ginormous lollipops for the photo shoot. But we had lots of fun playing around in the park.

Not On Our Watch: Save Darfur

This next quarter's gift will be given to Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond / Save Darfur.

I received the book Not On Our Watch by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast for Christmas (yes, I'm strange as it was on my list but everyone should read this book) and started reading it almost immediately. It made me so mad, angry, sad and yet thankful that there are people out there telling the story from the front lines. But the one passage that goes through my head over and over is that the Janjaweed rebels take the babies, the little helpless babies, from their mothers and throw them on a huge bonfire and let the mother watch as her baby burns and cries to her. It makes me tear up just to think about that scene ..happening today, right now, not years and years ago. We've got to make a difference. We have got to make a positive change and help these people. So this quarter's profits are going to Save Darfur (www.savedarfur.org).

For a little back ground:
Responding to a rebellion in 2003, the regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and its allied militia, known as the Janjaweed, launched a campaign of destruction against the civilian population of ethnic groups identified with the rebels. They wiped out entire villages, destroyed food and water supplies, stole livestock and systematically murdered, tortured and raped civilians. The Sudanese government's genocidal, scorched earth campaign has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives through direct violence, disease and starvation, and continues to destabilize the region. Millions have fled their homes and live in dangerous camps in Darfur, and hundreds of thousands are refugees in neighboring Chad. Violence continues today. Ultimately, the fate of the Darfuri people depends on establishing a lasting and just peace in all of Sudan and in the region.

Heiffer Gift

Well, we made our first donation today to Heiffer and I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who made this possible. A purchase of bees and chickens were made and I know they will go far to help out families in need as it is a gift of self-reliance. Heiffer is such a beautiful organization I really can't say enough positive things about them. They do so much good for people facing hard times to change their fate. I encourage you to spend 5 minutes on their site www.heiffer.org and possibly place a gift as well.