In the early days of my business I spent a lot of time building my portrait work. This little one was my main subject since I got to have it all to myself 2 or 3 days a week while her mama went back to work for a few days. And guess what we did? We "played" in Nana's studio! She was so teeny and we had so much fun! I just never got enough of her!

On our recent trip to San Francisco, the Chronicle (yes, it's paper and you can touch it and turn the pages just like the old days!) - had an article on Whoopie Pies and their resurgence in poplularity on the East Coast. Kate, our almost 16 year old daughter, who LOVES to cook, brought it home and today, we made the Dark Chocolate Whoopie Pie to celebrate Brent's birthday at our Big Fat Family Sunday Dinner tonite.  Here's how it went:  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

 

Six months old. It happens so fast! He was just born it seems like. I love to photograph this age. They can't get away from you yet but they are so responsive and their eyes are so full of wonder at the world. They can cry one minute and be perfectly happy the next...and then crying again...and then happy again - well, you get the picture. This little guy has a special place in my heart. He's my grandson. While I take pictures of my grandchildren, I don't blog all of them and it sometimes takes me awhile to even edit them b/c my client workload is so great. BUT - he's so darn cute I just had to share and brag a bit! I had all three of them over for a bit this day but it's very difficult to concentrate on one without the others at this age. I had the girls out on the patio afterwards and snapped a few. Taylor loves to lure Inky over for hugs, which, she actually tolerates well for a cat. I had a couple of frames here and Taylor said "Nana, I'm done with pictures for today."  Uh, what?!  And Tatum is a bug lover! Okay, she loves all nature and living things. I think she should meet Bindy whats-her-name and co-host her animal show. Tatum spent a lot of time with me when she was little and I actually practiced on her quite a bit as I was starting out my business. She's 5 now and whenever she sees a camera, she goes into "the pose", as you can see. It's pretty funny. I think she might be a Pi Phi someday, what do you think? (check the arm and toe).  So, here they are. My beautfiul grandchildren - Tatum (5), Taylor (3) and Beaux (6M).  Our most precious gifts! Nana loves you! XXOO

On behalf of my entire family, I'd like to take a minute to thank all of you for your prayers, support, concern and help during this very sad and difficult time. On June 7th my grandson Cohen was born in Dallas and underwent open heart surgery and then several other surgical procedures throughout the week. He was a strong little fighter but just had too many obstacles to overcome and on June 18th, he died. I believe that even though he was just here on earth for a short time, he knew how much he was loved and he loved too. He touched many, many lives and we are so proud to have known him and to have had him every day we did. My son, Brent and his wife Megan are amazing parents. They bathed him, baptized him, sang to him and held him in their arms so he felt safe and loved. I was in total awe of their strength, faith and devotion throughout this entire ordeal.  They were first time parents, yet having to make life and death decisions for their son several times a day and always did it with grace, dignity, compassion and mostly with love.

Since I have been gone and extremely preoccupied the past few weeks, I wanted to take a moment to thank all my friends and family but also our very patient clients - Reese and Ward, Meghan and Jonathan, Libby and Spencer, Jamie and Chip - still waiting for their May and June wedding pics. They're coming!  My senior clients with countless rescheduled sessions, thank you for your patience and flexibility.  Todd Scott Ballje at Beautiful Day Images for stepping in at the eleventh hour and covering a wedding for me on the day Cohen died. And my darling friend, Sophia for taking care of all this stuff when I just couldn't think or stay awake to do it. Her daughter Jessie and husband Kyle for taking the reins on the memorial service for Cohen (and for sending us Coneys in Dallas when we really needed that little piece of home). I'm sure I'm leaving someone out but please just know how much all your kindness has meant. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

For the past few years, I have been a volunteer with an organization that photographs parents with infants who are dying or were stillborn. It's called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.  It's not something you talk about. It makes people uncomfortable I suppose. I cry in my car after every session I've ever done and think it might be my last. But then I get the sweetest thank you notes from parents so I go back again.  I never thought I would ever be called upon to do this for one of my own but that's how things worked out and I'm sure my NILMDTS experiences helped me get through it on June 18th when Brent and Megan asked me to photograph them with Cohen. We miss him so.  Here's a few pics of our little guy and I think his mom is getting back to blogging about him too. :) Thank you all again and bless you all.

Usually when a baby is born, the waiting is over. That's not the case with our little one. My son Brent and his wife Megan welcomed their firstborn - Michael Cohen Marshall - to the world at 8:55 a.m., June 7, 2010, with tears of joy. True to the poem, Monday's Child, he is "fair of face". So darn cute! Tons of hair, of course. He looks absolutely perfect. It's just so hard to believe that on the inside that's just not the case. He came out just screaming at the top of his lungs, pink and pretty mad! Total newborn style! Although he did not require immediate open heart surgery (a blessing), he does require it - to survive. We had a wild rollercoaster of a ride on his birthday. Within 12 hours, he was great, then not so great, then needing surgery right away, then having a heart cath, then settling in and deciding on a surgery date. That date is today. Cohen will have his first open heart surgery today at 1:00 p.m. They told us to expect it to last 6 hours or more. He must be on a bypass machine during this time as they repair his arteries (TAPVR) and place the BT shunt to direct the blood flow correctly. It's the first of three open heart surgeries he will have in the first 2 years of his life. He will have a single chamber heart. There's more info on Megan's blog - InThisWonderfulLife.com. We so appreciate all the outpouring of love and support you all have shown them and the prayers for our little guy. Please don't ever stop those prayers! He needs to be surrounded by that positive Grace all the time. Our faith is strong in the doctors at Children's Medical Center here in Dallas and God's guidance of them in their care and treatment of Cohen. They have been wonderful to Brent, Megan and Cohen, explaining all the problems and the possible solutions. It's a terribly stressful time for them and the kindness has been so wonderful. Our hearts are overflowing with love for this little guy and we'll post more pics and info to keep you posted. Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers!  Cohen's slideshow