belly :: the mcivers

Dustin and Shauna met in high school, but both studied at GVSU and spent huge chunks of their days in Padnos Hall of Science. The rest, as they say, is history. Through chiropractic school and starting a practice, through welcoming their daughter Tatum and now about to welcome their second baby, they've done the hard work required to build a solid love. It felt right to do their maternity session at GVSU, and even specifically Padnos, which has been such a special place for their entire relationship. 

I've been doing Milk Time sessions for Shauna and Tatum since Tatum with TINY, and so to be at their birth later this month, and then to photograph their new baby shortly thereafter is such a treat. Gosh, I love growing with families. 

snuggle :: the boyer-gorton family

Three cheers for clients I get to grow with! I first met this sweet family when their daughter, Hazel was just a tiny newborn and we did a Life With A Newborn session at their house. Now they're awaiting the arrival of another little one. We used a snuggle session as an excuse for a few belly shots, though I have to say a snuggle session with a toddler ends up being way more active than snuggly. ;) Still, I'm loving these images and I'm very much looking forward to joining them at their home for another Life With A Newborn session before the summer is through! 

belly :: the jamail family

They're thisclose to welcoming a fourth member -- a boy -- into their family, into this home they've redesigned in the last couple of years, into their hearts and routines. But for now little Audrey is still the center of their world, and these last days with her positioned securely and solely in that privileged role were something they wanted to capture. 

And besides that, Adrienne's beautiful belly needed a little camera time. This is how I capture bellies: like all other things, in context. I'm interested in your swelling, ripe belly going about all the daily normalities, whether that's a date night out with your husband or chasing around the other kids at home. Like anything else, it's part of you, so we don't need to bare it and decorate it and make your husband take off his shirt and then kiss it. Haha, nope. You just be amazing you, pregnant and powerful and on the brink of a miracle... I can't add anything to that that matters. 

I'll stop chatting at you now and let the pictures be the thousand words that speak to the love and affection present in this family as they wait for their son. 

My favorite parts: the drumming and the tossing on the bed. and maybe the rock collecting, too. Um, and the little toddler tantrums that they let me capture (yes!). Oh, there's lots of good parts. You'll just have to see for yourself. 

belly :: the rizley family

The Short Story version of Family Photojournalism sessions I'm now offering are the perfect way to capture small stories along life's way. Like the toddler growing as her mama's belly swells with a new baby, too. Like the way that family felt when it was made of only 3, but the promise of the 4th was quickly approaching. Like the interior of a room that Papa has labored so long and hard to transform for his little girls to share. And like the farm you bought and reclaimed, complete with the barn beside your house, where you were married, and the farm cats roaming wild.

Kurt, Aliyya and their little Cora invited me over to capture precisely those things. Here it is! :)

It's a beautiful life you're building, Kurt and Aliyya. I'm ever so excited to come back and spend time with you again when your baby girl arrives!

belly :: the ayoub family

Elizabeth and Nick are quickly approaching the EDD of their miracle baby girl. And while they wait, they are dating. I met up with them downtown as Nick was leaving his office for the day, and followed them around on a brief date around town: hot chocolate at Kilwin's, a walk through soft-falling snow around Rosa Parks Circle, and then some wandering around the city's famous old Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

They were drawn to this form of maternity photos because they see this pregnancy as an unfolding story. We paused for a few belly portraits, but mostly they had a very typical date. Through it all, these two engaged in animated conversation, punctuated by laughter and bolstered by great affection. I might as well have been invisible. And that's exactly how I like short story photojournalism sessions to go. :)

belly :: charis

this woman is very dear to me. and these photos are not part of any official session. in fact, they were taken in a stolen moment between filming clips for our end-of-year ministry video on a sunday afternoon. the light was lovely and so is she (always). i couldn't resist snapping a few. 

and that little girl in her belly i cannot wait to meet. that i get to be at her birth, documenting it visually and also just supporting my friend, is sincerely one of the more exciting events of my 2016. 

After this impromptu session, Charis' husband Jordan watched our kids for a little bit. When we returned, I found him like this: cuddling baby Walter and reading my Baby Led Weaning book. I think he's gearing up for fatherhood. ;) 

They're going to be amazing parents.