Speaking of aching ovaries…
I spent the afternoon on Sunday with a local family capturing photos of their newest addition. And I was reminded of the squishy, amazing sweetness of new life. Newborns are such darling, adorable aliens. I cannot get enough of those delicate, infant hands and the malleable, Gumby-like wrinkles of that one week old skin. To be in the presence of such innocence is so very centering.
Internet, Olivia. Olivia, Internet. This is my sweet friend’s baby who stayed at Cartwheel Farm this weekend. Her mama took our CAMERA READY class, and James got a taste of life with another dependent (fortunately, Ann Mae brought her mom as well so James didn’t have sole responsibility of three small human beings). He keeps beating the drum for number three, but after three consecutive nights of disgruntled children (a rotation between Sunny, Kaki and Livvy), my IUD is staying right where it is, a thank you. Not that my uterus didn’t totally ache at the sight of that button nose and curled lip. *sigh*
ear Courtland,
Today, while you raced around the hallway outside of Sunny’s ballet class, merrily proclaiming, “BEH-BEE!” at the array of small, baby siblings in your company, parent after parent awed at your sweetness, particularly those bouncing pigtails and that silly toddler voice, and inquired about your age.
When informed that you were just over a year and a half old, there was collective jaw dropping and No way-ing. It is hard to believe that you are not well over two – what with your towering height that is single handedly pushing up the national average. We aren’t kidding when we say that you are OFF the charts. Your weight is comparably advanced – oh how I adore that round, protruding belly – an adorable reminder that despite your refusal to eat most food and preference for flinging it wildly and dramatically on the floor, across the room, or in my face, you are in fact absorbing calories from somewhere. The source remains a mystery, but your size is reflective of its existence. It’s clear that you are going to have one envious athletic body – whether or not you’ll put it to use remains unclear. Will you be sneaking into the house at 5am after a late night of cow-tipping-teenage-country tomfoolery or just waking up to pound protein shakes before 6am pool practice? Whatever it is you do, it will be with the fierce intensity with which you’ve always approached this life.
Much like your height, your language grows by the day and is a constant source of entertainment and mimicry. We love to pronounce “BEH-BEE” and “CHEEEE-TH” with the same nasally E emphasis. Or “Ma-MA!” and “Da-DA!” with that distinct bravado of an Italian Giovanni. Sunny rattled off your favorite words during dinner, “Cheese,” “Mommy,” “Daddy,” “Boat,” “Balloon,” “Moon,” “Sister,” “Please,” and “Baby,” and you didn’t miss a beat in responding with great enthusiasm and pride.
As your language abilities grow, so do your physical ones. You now descend the stairs like a fully-functioning adult. It scares the poop out of me (something I dare say you’d find hilarious given how mightily you laugh and delight in your own flatulence), but I cannot convince you to crawl down backward, or even descend on your bum. No, you walk down the stairs, step by step, holding the railing with one hand, fully upright, with chin tipped high with pride. It’s clear that you want to be able to exist in the world with the same ease and ability as your sister, which is why every night before bath, once your diaper is removed, you insist on being put on the adult potty. You never pee or poop, but just hover over that bowl, pleased to heck that you’ve joined the Porcelain Throne sitting club. I so hope this is a sign of easy potty-training days to come.
My favorite development this month has been your love-affair with books. A few months back, I worried to your daddy that we weren’t reading to you enough. Every time we’d try to sit you down to read a book at bedtime, you’d squirm and fuss and fling yourself out of our laps. You did not have the patience for reading and showed very little interest in joining in our bedtime story routine. This concerned me, since that has always been a part of your sister’s daily life. But this month, something changed – a combination of growing tolerance for activity over 60 seconds in length and an ability to comprehend and enjoy images on a page. We now spend 90% of our time with you flipping through page after page, book after book. You are entertained for hours by our bookshelves of board books. I love that I can settle into a chair and you will shuttle story after story my way, and then you will sit happily and joyously in my lap through each one.
Now, our final activity before bed is reading “Goodnight Gorilla,” far and away your favorite story. You find the balloon, the banana, and the moon on each page, quietly babbling under your breath as you take in each new animal that emerges. My favorite moment is when the old woman in bed awakes with a start to the spread of animals surrounding her and you laugh and laugh, pointing at Gorilla’s cheeky grin and the old woman’s wide, surprised eyes.
Keep that sense of humor always, my love, and life will truly be a joy.
Happy 19 months, sweet girl.
143 Mama
It was another inspiring, playful, exhausting weekend of CAMERA READY fun. Here are my favorite snaps from my phone – you can see the full spread in the #camerareadyberkshires Instagram feed. Kate and I are working away to edit and showcase this past weekend’s experience. Gosh, we are lucky ladies to have been able to make this vision a reality!
While I’m happy to take a breather, I can’t wait until August when we do it again. Won’t you join us? Register here.
“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.”
Sunny: Bathed in morning light. While it looks like winter outside, blanketed in white, it feels and sounds like spring. She declared quite contentedly, “It’s the weekend. I don’t have to get out of bed. I can just lie here forever!’ That’s my girl!
Kaki: Given her recent aversion to the camera, I had to sneak into our bedroom to catch her enthralled in videos on my iPhone. A little girl in a very big bed.
More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series with explanations as to why I’ll be capturing the portraits in the early morning, visit here.
It’s time for round 2 of CAMERA READY. This time in our hometown.
We’ve got these adorable felted cameras (thanks, Woolbuddy!) to give out to some lucky students among many other fun surprises and treats (that’s if Sunny and Kaki will relinquish them from their clutches). We’re working in an entirely different place than Kate’s studio – an old New England schoolhouse in fact – so we have an entirely different vision for the space.
I can’t wait to show you what happens this time around.
As James and I headed upstairs for bed last night, we came upon Ursa, perfectly perched atop the girls’ oversized stuffed dog.
I took some pictures. Then I died.
This dog. Oh I love her so.
It happened. Oh yes, it happened. This weekend, CAMERA READY went from a crazy idea I dreamed up one sleepless night in November to a reality. Say what?! I can barely believe it myself. I knew that Kate and I would make a great team for this project. It was born out of an afternoon Kate spent teaching me the ins and outs of how to shoot in manual mode. It was later that week, while lying in bed tossing and turning, that I realized how very many people must crave that very same kind of quick, straightforward brain dump for them to put their SLR cameras to better use.
So many people own nice cameras, but only ever shoot in auto mode. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have one day of learning, with lots of fun and “camera ready” pretties to inspire, and come out of it knowing how to shoot in manual mode? Why yes, yes it would!
Given my event planning experience and overly-organized, programmed first-born personality, and Kate’s talent, knowledge and spunky affect, I knew we had the skill set to pull it off. It was a thrill to sell out our inaugural class and have it filled to the brim with fun, creative, playful women (this is very clearly a female-centric class, and we like it that way.)
Everything came together beautifully, and while it was certainly a learning experience for us as much as our students, we couldn’t be more thrilled with our first attempt at teaching to a group. The class will only improve now that we have a full run through and some amazing feedback under our belts. THANK YOU to our brave students for joining us in this experiment. Your energy and enthusiasm was infectious and we can’t wait to teach again!
Here’s how it all came together… i.e. the longest photo post to ever hit this blog. But appropriate, given the nature of the class.
Kate’s studio was completely transformed into our classroom thanks these gorgeous picnic tables and that insanely cool photo backdrop by New England Country Rentals. Their offerings are so unique and beautiful. I highly recommend! We used their chalkboard to help direct the group to Kate’s studio, and that wall, hot dang! We love that wall. Granted, it nearly killed me and Kate to move it (as we decided after their crew had left that we wanted it in another spot in the room), but we lived to tell the tale. And what a pretty one it is. Everyone had their portraits taken against that there wall.
And oh the flowers. Sweet lordy the flowers! They are swoon-worthy, no? We have Krissy of Pollen Floral Design to thank for these beauties (she even dropped off fun fabrics and pretty candlesticks to add to the room). Anyone in the Boston area, take note! The space really came together once her blooms arrived. There’s just something about fresh flowers that really transforms a space and sets the mood. Thanks, Momar, for teaching me the power of flowers! They were an anchor and constant subject and source of inspiration for our students.
Next up, goodie bags! We promised our students treats and we delivered. Everyone received the Photography Set of temporary tattoos from Tattly. I loved that one student thought that my sleeve of cameras were real tats. I was clearly very committed to my craft. Ha! We gifted everyone a custom print of Kate’s work, a Green Eyed Monster bag, a faux mustache, a CD loaded up with our CAMERA READY playlist, name tags, and notebooks we created with helpful diagrams and plenty of room for note taking. Each student also went home with a DIY project from For The Makers that they worked on in class while photographing the process. And one lucky student took home that gorgeous art print from Minted, and one of my custom Utility Cord camera straps. I’ll shoot a DIY of that project soon enough.
Our students took to Instagram during class using hashtag #camerareadyboston. These snaps from 1. PaperFashion, 2. Anasantos, 3. Spreedia and 4. EBLColor showcase some of the goodies from class.
Plus, each lass got a chance to get in front of the camera with Kate behind the lens. It’s always a delight to see this woman in action. She is good, y’all! These are some of my fav portraits (the full spread of our favorites is viewable here). Now everyone has a series of high res, professional portraits. Thanks, Kate!
There was also yummy food, as it was a long long day, and the only way to make it through a long day is with plenty of caloric fuel. Namely in the form of sugar. These mini cupcakes and that outrageously adorable cake are thanks to Sara Miller Cakes. And the lunch was catered by Gulu-Gulu Cafe, a delicious spot right around the corner from Kate’s studio.
And most importantly of all, there was learning. Lots and lots of learning. And practice! And making of friends. And smiles. And laughter. And shooting shooting shooting. It was a good good day.
Kate and I were completely beat by day’s end. We crawled home to her place, curled up in pajamas on the couch and drank wine, ate cake and watched “Lady and the Tramp.” While that sounds like an odd way to celebrate this accomplishment, it was just what we needed.
The fact that this is the only snap of the two of us together is perhaps reflective of how all-consuming and quickly the time moved.
Thank you to all who participated. And we hope that anyone out there interested in learning more about how to wield their camera in a fun, creative, playful environment will join us in a future class. Register here. To help convince you, here’s what our students had to say about class:
CAMERA READY gets you using your fancy camera in manual mode instead of auto mode. Learn how to adjust aperture, ISO, shutter speed to manipulate your images. Learn and practice, with Kate and Ashley available for questions and help. At the end of the day you will go home with so much more confidence in your abilities and a desire to continue playing around with your camera.
CAMERA READY gave me the knowledge and confidence to go out there and use my DSLR more often. I’m excited that I know now how to take beautiful photos in any lighting situation and also feel confident in shooting various subject matter. I was blown away with how passionate and awesome both Ash and Kate were and their excitement was infectious. I’m recommending CAMERA READY to all of my friends now (for reals!)
I think everything was great, really! I loved how the tables were set up so we would interact with each other, I loved how approachable and fun the both of you were. I can’t think of anything I would change in the way you organized the class, as I had so much fun and had a perfect Saturday with you and the other girls! I loved the goodie bag, the fact that Kate took an individual picture of each one of us, the decor was amazing, the ambience was great, the food was delicious and the cupcakes so very cute!
CAMERA READY was a great class! I learned so much in just one day about my camera and how to finally shoot photos in manual mode. Not only was the class full of great information, but the instructors really took the time to decorate the space in an exciting and inspiring way! Thanks so much CAMERA READY!
What a way to spend a Saturday! These ladies really know what they are talking about, and teach you to use your camera in the most user friendly way possible.
CAMERA READY is a fantastic way to get to know your Camera and your inner artist. Whether you’re a true beginner or someone with more photographic experience, CAMERA READY is designed to give you an ideal balance of structure and space to gain experience and confidence in your photography skills.
CAMERA READY was the perfect experience for a beginner photographer yearning to switch her DSLR camera out of automatic and into manual. Kate and Ash created a beautiful and comfortable environment, a studio, light and glowing, bringing Kate’s photographic style to life. Through direct instruction and a hands on afternoon all nerves were erased as I navigated my camera, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, even editing in lightroom like the pros!
I used to be so frustrated by my photos–they would be good photos, but the exposure was always off–I found myself thinking I needed to either improve my photo skills to adjust my photos, but now I have the skills to adjust my camera in any light and situation. I have gained so much confidence from CAMERA READY! Thank you!
And remember, say YOGA!
Photos: Courtesy of Kate Drew Miller
I’ve spent hours prepping and readying the round up post about our first CAMERA READY class, and yet, today, it does not feel appropriate to share it. I will save that for tomorrow, when my mind and heart aren’t so focused elsewhere. Today, I want to focus on a moment of absolute courage, bravery and inspiration that I’ve been honored and humbled to share through The Beauty of Being Born.
I started the site out of a desire to create a community where women, parents, mothers, caregivers, PEOPLE could come together and share their stories. Their journeys to bringing new life into the world. It was to be free of judgement or agenda. Every birth matters. Whether it’s at home in the security of your bedroom, or with the help of a surgeon in a life-saving moment, or with the support of medication, or by the side of a highway. Whether your story is triumphant, heartbreaking, angry, joyous, celebratory, devastating, or a complicated combination of contradictory yet complimentary emotions. Every story matters. None is better or worse than another. They are experiences, journeys – incredibly powerful ones at that – that deserve to be heard and shared and processed and understood.
I was fortunate that in that first week of launching The Beauty of Being Born, I was joined by an amazing local mother and doula to help in maintaining and sharing in this community. Libbie and I now partner in collecting stories and content for the site, and I’ve been so fortunate to have another inspiring woman by my side as I make my way through these new and unknown endeavors. What Libbie and I had underestimated would be the courage and bravery so many women have demonstrated in sharing their stories that do not have your typical happy endings. That are stories of struggle, and loss, and uncertainty, and ultimately strength. Such unbelievable, immeasurable strength to not only put language to their experiences, but to wake up each day and move forward in the face of them. We are in awe. We’re working very hard to try to showcase a spectrum of stories but are also realizing that women that had relatively “normal,” or “easy,” or “complication free” births (again, those terms are so very relative) don’t feel that they have as much processing to do, and have been quieter in submitting. And it’s been truly moving and inspirational to see how many women that don’t have picture perfect journeys or endings have stepped forward to share. Today is no exception.
Today I’m holding dear sweet Addilynn and her family in my heart. And I am moved to tears by the privilege of being able to do just that. Thank you for sharing in that support.
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Whatever your birth story, we hope that you will share it with The Beauty of Being Born. We post anonymously and without judgement. Thank you for being a part of our community.
CAMERA READY was a blast. An amazing, wonderful, whirlwind!
Kate and I are still glowing from the experience.
We’re working on a full round up of the day’s proceedings – so many amazing photos. So many amazing students. We were fortunate to have a class packed with fun, social, creative women – it made for a great day of learning and laughs. And learn they did! We can’t wait to show you.
I was fortunate that three of my favorite women in the Universe registered for the inaugural class – it was nice to have a handful of familiar, loving faces in the room to support me as we made our way through this totally new experience. As you can see above, they enjoyed themselves as well.
We’re teaching again this weekend and still have spots left. Please sign up! We’d love to teach to another full room. And we are now completely confident that it is absolutely worth the investment. Our students can vouch for that. And the full post tomorrow will only prove it further. We have more Boston classes this summer and fall, and we’re going to expand further and hit up New York and DC. Be sure to grab your spot in class here.
