11 months? Really?!?!

I know everyone says it, but where has the time gone?!?!

Just over 11 months ago I was a Mommy to one little girl and super pregnant with a little boy (Josh). We thought life was getting a bit hectic with Leah being 2 1/2, but little did we know it was only the beginning.

Knowing that Leah had been a puker from day one I brought a few sleepers and a burp pad or two (or what we affectionately call 'puke cloths'. lol!) just in case. Hours after Josh's birth I noticed that something was different about him. Every time I burped him after a feed he spit up. When I put him down to sleep after a feed he would soak the receiving blanket underneath him. They stock those little 'bassinets' with about a dozen receiving blankets and without changing it ALL the time he went through all 12 in less than 24 hours. The biggest smack of reality came when friends of ours visited the next day (Josh was just under a day old). Bonnie was holding Josh and all of a sudden he chucked (for those who aren't well versed in our 'spit up' talk, we like to call it many different things) all over her. I could not believe what was happening!

In the days and weeks following Josh's birth he continued to 'spit up', but I thought it was just what we had known to be normal...ok...maybe a bit worse than normal. When he went to the doctor for his 2 month appointment he seemed to have gained a decent amount of weight and the doctor was impressed with how he was doing. I, on the other hand, knew that he wasn't doing so well. Things were so bad that not only did he puke after a feed, but he would continue to puke until his next feed which was 3 hours later. At that point I told his doctor that I really wanted to investigate it further because I was concerned there was something more to it.

Within a couple of weeks we were in to see a Paediatrician. Immediately Josh went on medication to help with his reflux, as they diagnosed. No tests had been done at all, but to be honest, I had heard about these meds and I was grasping at straws at that point and just thankful to be talking to someone that I thought understood what we were going through and could help.

Fast forward 3+ months later. Josh is now almost 6 months old and hasn't gained more than 1lb. He has been on several different medications, in and out of the hospital a couple of times and even got so bad that at one point he was puking up brown blood. We go for another Paediatric appointment and I'm told that because of his 2nd weight loss she's now admitting him to the hospital for the 3rd time. At this point, I'm absolutely fed up with all that has gone on but I'm also glad to be going to the hospital with him because I know that at least there I can have someone listen to me and demand some answers. A lot of this time in the hospital was blogged at the very beginning of this blog so if you'd like to read more in depth, go right ahead. :)

For those that want the summed up version...after a simple dietary change (and I really do mean simple...so simple that it baffles me that a doctor with how many years of education couldn't figure it out) our little guy that went from puking 65+ times a day to doing it only maybe 10 times a day in less than a week. Now, at 11 months old, he only really pukes if he's fed something that makes him choke and he spits up a bit after his bottles.

It still amazes me that we went through 6 months of non-stop puking, countless outfit changes (for Josh and for us) and all that stress and that it's been almost that same amount of time since it has ended. I'm SO thankful that God provided my hubby's incredible benefits that amazingly cover(ed) both of Josh's $100/month medications AND his $200/month special hypoallergenic formula. Those things alone (yes, not including diapers, clothes, etc that babies need) totalled over $400/month! I am constantly amazed at what God has done for our little Joshy and how He has strengthened him and allowed him to gain weight and become a normal little boy. :)

Here are just a couple of pictures of our boy on his 11 month 'birthday'. I love you, Joshy!

PS - for those that admire his blue eyes, these pictures are completely OOC (out of camera) and unedited.

Trash the Dress - Prom Style

Remember that dress you thought would be perfect for that special occassion? Remember how good you felt when you wore it? When was the last time you put it on? Isn't it sad that you search for so long for THE dress, wear it for a few hours and then never do anything with it again?

'Trash the Dress' is the PERFECT solution to this problem! :) After all the stress of the special day is over, why not put that dress on again and have a little fun? 'Trash the Dress' does NOT by any means have to mean that you actually TRASH the dress. Have a look at some of the images in this post for some ideas and contact me for your prom, wedding, special occassion 'Trash the Dress' shoot today!

A little about my models in the pictures you see here... My sister, Rachel, and her friends just graduated high school. A lot of them have been in school together for many years and in just a few short weeks they will be driving in all different directions across the country to attend schools miles (I know we live in Canada, but kilometers just doesn't sound right. lol!) away from each other. I wanted to give them some fun little memories of their time before heading off on this next part of their journey so I suggested that we do a 'Trash the Dress' shoot. I made sure to bring along Leah with her flower girl dress and the dress that I wore to my hubby's cousin's wedding recently so that we could get some nice pictures with Rache. I'm so excited about these pictures! :)

Thank you to Jenn, Zoe, Rachel and of course, my Leah, for being my willing (despite the not so pleasant rain at the end!), enthusiastic and creative models for this shoot! For more shots, check out the fan page in the next day or so! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Collyer-Photography/125613657465024?ref=ts

Waiting

A warning right from the get-go...this blog post is slightly 'wordy', but worth the read :)

For a lot of people, the waiting involved in having a baby happens between the moments during pregnancy. Waiting to hear the heartbeat for the first time, to see the baby's first images on the screen at the ultrasound and for people like me who's babies like to be stubborn....waiting extra long at the end for that baby to be born. But for some people, like our friends Andrea and Matt, there is so much more waiting involved.

Andrea and Matt wanted to start a family pretty soon after they got married. For months, nothing happened. Months turned into years and years of emotional roller coasters, specialists appointments, testing and things that you and I would never want to go through. For a lot of couples, going through very trying times like this can put a real strain on a marriage. But not with Andrea and Matt. These guys are incredible! Each step along the way they opened up and shared with friends about what they were going through, continued to ask for prayer as well as seeking God's direction.

Later in 2009, after nearly 4 years of issues with fertility, Andrea was presented with an option that might not only help with her overall health, but trying to get pregnant as well. After a few months of these treatments, Andrea and Matt's mom had a dream right around the same time (and hadn't told each other) that Andrea would find out that she was pregnant, due in September and have a boy. A little while later, I got a phone call from Andrea telling me that she had amazing news - she was pregnant and due in September!

A little while later, they found out that they were having a boy! They shared with us that they would call their little boy Isaac. I'm sure a lot of people would recognize that it was a Biblical name, but knowing the story behind the name makes it SO much more meaningful. I have taken a little snippit from the book of Genesis where Isaac is mentioned to fill you in.

Genesis 17: 15-22 (New International Version)

15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. [d] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Ok, so I'm not saying that Andrea and Matt are old...and neither are they. But what better way to honour God for His love and faithfulness to them than to name their son Isaac!

I am SO thrilled for these guys and I CANNOT wait to meet this little miracle, Isaac! Oh...did I mention that I had the priveledge of doing maternity pictures for Andrea?? I've posted just a few below. For more, please check out my fan page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Collyer-Photography/125613657465024?ref=ts Andrea and Matt have done enough waiting for this moment and if you've reached this point in the post, you have too...go ahead and have a look!

Whole Lotta Shooting Goin' On

Things have been busy biz wise since my last post. In the span of just a few days, I photographed a grade 8 graduation (along with my amazing 2nd shooter, Andrea!), did a newborn shoot of 2 sweet, tiny little twin girls and did a family shoot. Of course this was on top of all the craziness we had going on in our lives with my hubby's cousin getting married tomorrow (our daughter is the flower girl) and all the normal family stuff. Crazy? Yes. But fun? Absolutely!

The grade 8 grad brought me back to my pre-high school years (the non-air conditioned, over crowded gym helped with that. haha!). I was so glad to have Andrea helping me out that night. I went from sort of squatting in the aisle to kneeling to fully sitting on the floor. My feet were a tad sore, but my hand and fingers....oh my! Honestly, I didn't get feeling back in my 'clicking' finger until about 4 days later and my hand is still slightly sore. With 64 grads and countless awards, the ceremony went for just over 2 hours and we were shooting pretty much the entire time. Here is a picture of one of the grads as well as a picture of him posing after the grad.



Doing the twins shoot was SO much fun! It was the first time that I had held either one of them and I couldn't believe how tiny they were in my arms. They were about half the size of my kids when they were first born and man it makes a HUGE difference! Posing them and getting them to go to sleep was interesting, but rewarding too. They were both such good sports about the whole process and I was really pleased with the pictures.

I still can't get over how tiny their feet are!


I had so much fun working with the family below doing their shoot. We started the shoot at their house and took some pictures of the kids with their favourite puppies (their dog just had 9 puppies!). Then we drove to a very versatile spot that provided a few different backdrops for some family and individual shots. I had a lot of fun working with each of the kids and figuring out how we could get each one to give us that 'real' smile. Here are just a few of my faves from their shoot.



As I mentioned earlier, we have a big wedding to attend tomorrow. It's been so busy with different events to do with the wedding lately that I almost feel like it's my wedding again! Tomorrow morning I'm going to get my hair done (which...when I think about it, hasn't been done since my wedding) and then I have to get Leah ready and to the bride's house to get her hair done. I am SO excited to see my little girl all prettied up and walk down the aisle as a flower girl. There will definitely be tears and lots of pictures of course! :)

Don't forget to become a fan of Tara Collyer Photography on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Collyer-Photography/125613657465024?ref=ts) to stay up to date with new pictures, giveaways, etc! You can refer your friends to using the Suggest to Friends tool underneath the logo in the top left corner of the page. Enjoy the rest of Canada Day!