Amy & Amalie

Amy is a good friend. She and I met through the community food co-op last year, or was it early this year? Well, regardless, she had come to do some volunteering on that Saturday morning (it was probably a cold Saturday morning if it was early this year) and she and I hit it off, sharing breastfeeding discussions, along with Liz (of Liz & Sebastian). Soon after she started coming to a weekly moms & tots group that we started up along with a few other moms, and well, she's just awesome. She's got three babies, 2 boys (5/3) and baby girl Amalie (2 in December). She's a sign-language interpreter, so all of her babies know sign. (Here Amy signs "milk" and Amalie is signing it back). She's nursing her third little one, and with each her awareness and information on the benefits of nursing have increased. We are always growing and learning as mothers.

And a final one of sweet Amalie.

Katherine & Elliot

With these blonde curls, how could you go unnoticed? I met Katherine at the Breastfeeding Cafe in August and was immediately drawn to her sweet little boys "Top Ramen" hair (I didn't say it, his mama did). I'd originally filled up my 10 slots, but had a mom back out and Katherine squeezed into the last spot. I love to meet new moms and hear pregnancy, birth and nursing stories. As with several of the moms, though you can't "see" a birth experience through nursing photos, I will share that Katherine had an emergency Cesarian after hours of laboring. The hospital staff respected her desire to breastfeed and a supportive family allowed her the ability to do so as well. I think I can safely say that Katherine and I have become fast friends, and I look forward to sharing lots of information and stories with her in the future.


Elliot was so tired by the time I got there, he nursed and fell asleep even through our chatting, so it was a pretty quick session. The photos of just him, I took during two previous events. Crabby Little Popeye, SOOO cute!!!

Liz & Sebastian

Ah Liz and Sebastian. These two are my neighbors and friends. I guess technically we also met at LLL about a year ago, but Liz and I really sparked up a friendship when she showed up for the monthly food co-op and I was just sure I'd seen her somewhere before. As usually occurs when I just "know" I've met someone previously, we start talking about things we do during the week and quickly came up with LLL. And though our meeting place was about 20 minutes drive from home, we actually live within 3 minutes walking distance from one another. We did a few "pretty" photos at Liz's then we got just a few shots of "public" nursing at the UTA station, and tried for the bookstore, however, Sebastian was "all eyes on me" as you can see above. I can't say I mind, do you see those big, blue peepers? But to say the least, he was not super content to nurse wherever WE pleased that day so we gave him some light reading to set the mood (it didn't work, he wanted to play with a toy helicopter instead. . . boys will be boys!). This is what I'm learning about the nursing photos, each kiddo has their own "way" and a few good shots is all I can hope for.

Alicia & Ridge

Alicia and Ridge, what a sweet pair. Again, met Alicia at LLL. I generally leave location options up to the moms. Alicia and her husband are really "outdoorsy" people and so she opted for "The Canyons" area. We had a great time doing these photos. We made our way up to Silver Lake/Brighton where it was a tad chillier than in the lower elevations. The colors were gorgeous, Ridge nurses pretty much anywhere, even running around and playing wasn't enough of a distraction to stop him from agreeing to all offers to nurse. A "nurse anywhere" kind of kid is way easier to photograph than a distracted tot. Alicia had mentioned getting some shots on a ski lift and we spotted some near to the road just after shooting a few photos under the "Brighton Ski" sign. So we pulled over a third time, hopped out and had she and Ridge make their way onto one of the lifts. It didn't really occur to us that there's a huge difference in the height of a lift from the ground during the "off" season and the ski season (like maybe 2 or 3 feet of difference) but she was determined, and the ski lift photos were really fun and unique as well.

And Ridge running around having a great time on the Silver Lake Boardwalk with the AWESOME array of colors in the background.

Erin & Levi

Another Utah Mama sat for me this week. This is Erin and little Levi who is about 11 weeks old. Erin had a Cesarian birth, and once again, though we can't "see" birth experiences in these photos, I love having a variety of situations since I know women have a lot of different things to overcome when breastfeeding, one of which is coming to terms with and acceptance of the birth experience. Erin is lucky in that she has a huge and I mean HUGE support system of women in her family who have breastfed more than one baby each and she can turn to with questions, concerns and triumphs.
I met Erin, like most of my moms, through La Leche League while she was still pregnant, but very pregnant and that her son could just have easily been named Thor, was something that stuck with me. . . a pretty strong name for a little man. These photos were a lot of fun, in Murray Park, awesome mountain view in the background and some fun ones on the playground too. I have to say, I was most impressed that as the mom of an 11 week old baby, Erin not only found a clean shirt to wear. . . but a clean WHITE shirt at that :) What's your secret Erin?

Of course I snuck a photo of Levi in all his seriousness too. I try to get all of the babies so we can see them when they're little faces aren't away from the camera and focused on mom.

Renee & Clarissa

I met Renee last Summer at a La Leche League meeting. And soon after she announced baby #3 would be making "its" way into the picture. We've slowly but surely developed a friendship over the past year or so and of course everyone eagerly awaited the birth of her baby, wondering "boy or girl?" Little Miss Clarissa is a super cute, super sweet little girl, with a really fun big sister too, Miss Lila. I was pretty sure when I put out the call for moms to have nursing photos done, Renee would be one of my first takers, and she was!!! Clarissa is just old enough to be between the "easily ditracted" and "very focused" nurser, thankfully today she cooperated (for the most part) and gave us these awesome nursing photos.

Julia & Kai

I met Julia at a La Leche League meeting about a month ago when she was "out to here" pregnant. Little Kai was only 10 days old on the day of our shoot, so he filled by very newborn "slot," in my search for 10 nursing pairs. Kai is a funny little nurser, but much easier to photograph than the more aware older babies I've shot over the past three sessions, he just kept at it, even when mom and I were talking, or moving him about. His amazing alertness and constant locking of mom's eyes were great to see in such a little guy, one more benefit of the breastfed baby.




I also snuck in a few more "newborn" photos for my newborn portfolio. He was just so mellow, fresh, and new and frankly too sweet not to take advantage of some solo photos of him.

Kristy & Hannah (Ha-Na)

I met Kristy while we both shared several volunteer shots at the Breastfeeding Cafe last month. Kristy is super fun to talk with and spend time with. She was there when I started developing my idea for turning the focus of my photography business to "mom moments" and one of the first moms I asked to sit for me. Kristy says her husband takes nursing photos of her but they're "too conservative," she wanted something to really promote breastfeeding and show the nursing relationship she has with Hannah, who just turned a year last week. Her bright red hair with Hannah's piercing blue eyes and fair skin made these really wonderful. I love the one where Hannah is playing with Kristy's face. This little munchkin was SUPER distracted by having a visitor and a loud clicking camera during nursing time, but I think we got some really precious photos regardless.

You obviously can't tell through photos, but Kristy had a somewhat difficult birth scenario which in turn caused a pretty difficult start to breastfeeding. These photos show that a difficult start, padded with some perseverence, dedication to breastfeeding and outside support can go a long way to creating a very special and thriving breastfeeding relationship.

Rachel & Margali (Mari)

I put out a call through a few La Leche League leaders and moms that I was offering 10 free nursing photo sittings as a donation to the Utah Breastfeeding Coalition website, and to build a portfolio of nursing portraits, of which I had none. My first mom to respond was Rachel. I met Rachel for the first time this past Monday in Sugarhouse Park. The park is great with playgrounds and flowers, a lake, a little creek running through it. Rachel had "a soft spot in her heart for Sugarhouse Park" since she and her husband had their wedding photos done there, which is why she chose this location for her nursing photos as well.

Almost 7 month old Margali (Mari) was happy to be with her mom after Rachel had been away for a whole day at work, but having someone shoot her nursing session was a tad distracting. We did get a few shots that said "I breastfed in a public park, nursing can be done anywhere and it's your right to do so," followed by a few in a more private area that were just to capture mom and baby girl together. I love this shoot because it says "Working moms can fully and happily breastfeed their babies," especially if they have awesome support (Margali's daddy is a "stay at home daddy").