1:30am : I wake up to my phone ringing, and a message from Chad (Veronica’s husband) telling me its time, and that Veronica is finally in labor! (yay!) I text him back asking how far along she is, and to let me know when she is at about 7cm.

1:55am : I got a text back saying she was 8cm dilated! Wow! It was go time!! I rolled out of bed, and with my jammies still on, no make up , or a ounce of hair product, I grab my camera and am out the door!!

2:30am : I arrive at Chad and Veronica’s house. The mood is very calm with relaxing coaching music playing in the back ground, Veronica breathing through contractions, submerged in an inflatable pool, with her best friend Emily’s arms around her. And just a couple other people there reassuring her how great she is doing. Then, as soon as I set my bag down, and tossed in a new camera battery, Veronica was ready to push! Thank God I got there in time!

3:00am : After maybe 20-30 minutes of pushing, Katurah Nellene Darling was born at exactly 3:00am, 8lbs 2oz , and 21 inches long. She is beautiful, and so perfect! Everyone in the room was instantly teary, and so happy to be part of sweet Katurah’s birthday.

Being part of Katurah’s birth was nothing short of beautiful. I was so impressed by Veronica, and how easy she made it look, and how well she handled labor. Chad was a wonderful, loving birthing coach, along with Veronica’s best friend Emily, her son Connor (who did fantastic!), Chad’s sweet mom,  and Veronica’s wonderful midwives Sarah and Sue (from GreenLeaf Midwifery). She just had such a fantastic, calming , encouraging team. Besides the wonderful people in the room, it was abundantly clear that sweet Katurah was a beautiful, perfect gift from God. That amazing experience can not be credited to any one else. It was truly amazing to witness and experience with them, and I will treasure those moments all my life!

Here are a few of my favorite images of the day. If the gift of life offends you at all, please don’t look – otherwise, enjoy!
(all photos happily approved for the blog by proud momma Veronica!)

Veronica & Chad, thank you SO SO much for asking me to  be part of this beautiful day in your lives. It was such an honor to be there to witness, and photograph the birth of your perfect daughter. It honestly mean’s the world that you opened up your home, and lives to me in that way. And thanks so much for letting me share some images from the day!

The 5k was fantastic! We had so much fun and Eileen had SO much support with over 100 people there to support her and walk for a cure! I was not able to get a picture with Katie, Eileen and Steve since they had SO many people there supporting them, and they had a busy day with all the love surrounding them – but here is a picture of my family and I at the walk :

But I know what you are here for – the raffle!! I just pulled a name at random out of a bucket, and the winner is……..

Congratulations to Chad and the Darling family!!! You have won a free portrait session, plus I will match your $25 donation as credit for any print package! So excited to photograph you guys!

And to everyone else to entered and made a donation to my 5k page, I would love to give you a portrait session discount! I would love to take the amount you donated out of the session fee, at any time over the next year!
Thanks again to everyone who made a donation, it truly means the world to me!

Julie, Dave & Summer – Congratulations again! I am so so happy for you guys, looking forward to lots more cuddles, and can’t wait to watch Carli grow up!

Expecting your own bundle of joy and want to book your own sweet newborn session? Click the “contact me” link below for more info!

Kayla and Eric had a PERFECT intimate vineyard peaock wedding. There was less than 70 guests and I just loved everything about it! Kayla looked amazing, their bridal party and family were just a dream to work with, so fun!! And every last detail was perfect! Oh, and did I mention that Kayla made my second shooter and I care packages for the day (snacks,waters,etc), AND gave me a very special thank you gift!? Yeah, she gave me an adorable long camera necklace, and a super sweet charm bracelet, a la Etsy. Seriously, how did I get SO lucky with this amazing woman choosing me to be part of her big day!? How ever it happened, I am SO appreciative of her!

….Oh and yes, you might want to call Guinness and let them know that the worlds largest blog post as officially been posted

Kayla and Eric – I hope you two enjoy your blog preview, and thank you 100 times for letting me be part of your amazing day! Love you two lots!!

The team that made it happen:

Photography – Blair Nicole Photography and my fab second shooter Tracy
Officiant: Jennifer Bartee (friend of Kayla and Eric, she did awesome!)
Ceremony and reception venues: Falkner Winery
Coordinator: Kristina Komlenic with Falkner Winery
Florist: Karen White, Flowers a La Carte
Hair and Make up: Claire Reis
Cupcakes: Stephanie Alba, Cakes N’ Bake
DJ : The oh so fun, Eric the Dee Jay!

Hi there! If you have read my blog recently, you know that I am doing a 5k walk with my family and friends on May 6^th, in honor of a friend recently diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. If you have not read my story about this situation, I really encourage you to visit the post and read more about it, by clicking here!

I would love to raise some funds for my team “Come on Eileen”, in honor of Eileen, and her fight to beat this!

So for every donation of $25 or more to my personal donation page, you will be entered into a raffle for a free local portrait session, AND a print credit for the amount of your donation (up to $200).

If you win the raffle, you may use the portrait session for yourself  (for any type of local portrait session), or give it as a gift for a friend.

To enter, visit my personal donation page through the run, and make a donation of at least $25 (be sure to note your name and amount donated on the page when making your donation – do not make the donation anonymously) , then come back to this post and leave a comment with your name, email and amount donated (I will also get an e-mail notification each time I receive a donation).

BONUS ENTRIES: You can get 2 bonus entries as well once you have made the inital donation entry.

• Bonus entry #1: Share this post with your friends on Facebook, by clicking the  ”Share on Facebook” link at the bottom on this post. You must make the post public so we can see it, by clicking the top right hand corner of the post, then choosing the “Public” option on the pull down menu. Then come back here again, and share the link to your post.
• Bonus entry# 2: Become of a fan of Blair Nicole Photography on Facebook – then come back here again, and leave an additional comment letting me know you became a fan, or already are one.

So you can leave a total of 3 comments for your entries if you make a donation of $25 or more, just be sure to do a separate comment for each entry.

Make your donation here: http://pcrf-kids.org.kintera.org/cincodemayohalfmarathon/blairvb

Please enter by donating anytime before the walk on May 6^th 2012!  Winner will be chosen at random ,and announced shortly after the walk!

Kayla was super sweet to let me share a few of her boudoir photos! Love this lady, and her super sweet idea to give her hubby-to-be one of my Little Black Books as his wedding day gift. He LOVED the book (more on that on my next post…their wedding!).
Enjoy!

Could not decide between these first two similar shots.
Is she gorgeous or what!?

Looking for an awesome gift for your hubby-to-be? A great birthday, holiday, or “just because” gift? Or even just for a fun “girls night in”? Click the contact link below , and let’s chat about setting up your fun boudoir session!!

Hi friends!

So I have this friend, Katie – who was my childhood BFF, and have been friends for 20+ plus years now. We met in 3rd grade, and instantly became best friends, and did everything together from then till about when we started high school (when we started spending time with other people too) . We always vacationed together growing up, and spent all non-school days having sleep overs and spending most of our childhood together. So its easy to say that her family was a second set of parents for me, and I love them dearly! Although we haven’t spent as much time together as much as we did before, I would be there for her and her family at the drop of a hat, if they ever needed anything. No doubt about it. Katie is also the one friend, that ALWAYS remembers the anniversary of my father’s passing, and ALWAYS sends me a very heart felt e-mail about how much she loved him, and how he was like a father to her too. Just thinking about it brings me to major tears (totally crying right now). There are no words to describe how much that means to me every single time. I feel like memories of my dad are always slipping away from me, but Katie always seems to remind me of how amazing he was (although, thats one thing I could never forget!) .

So a few days ago I got some bad news from Katie. After about 15 years or so of her mother going in religiously for her yearly routine exams, they just discovered that she has stage 4 breast cancer, and that it has spread to her lungs. I burst into tears instantly (as I am now, of course). My heart aches so badly for Katie, since I know how this feels… the sudden news that rocks your world in all the wrong ways, and tosses you into a state of shock. It just plain sucks not knowing what to expect, and wondering how something so scary can happen to someone so amazing. And I am just heart broken for her mom Eileen, and her dad Steve for just having to deal with this, and for everything that I know is in their future, with treatment, and sometimes really tiring (emotionally, as well as physically) healing. Although I know God has this all planned out ,and that he is embracing them so tightly. It just pains me like crazy to know that they are having to deal with this sudden news, and jump into treatment (chemo actually starts on Friday for Eileen).

For Katie’s birthday this year, she is trading in the normal night out partying , for the  2012 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Cinco de Mayo Half Marathon, 10K, 5K Run/Walk, 1K Kid’s Fun Run and Bike Tour benefiting the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (yes, that is the full name of the walk ). When she invited me to join her, and surprise her mom with a team cheering her on, I did not think twice about it, and signed my hubby and toddler up for the 5k walk with me, and let me tell you – I could not be any more excited to show Eileen support!!!

This is where you come in. I need just a little bit of your help. Seriously, even if its just $1, I will take it. (or you can even toss in $5 and I will make your morning cup of joe at my place, no prob! . I know the money is not the main thing, but I can imagine that if Eileen sees how much we raise for her as a team, she will feel like she is getting a GIANT hug, and feel so loved!
So please help me give Eileen a big giant hug, and support her , her husband, my friend Katie, all of the people who love them dearly, and me and my family as we walk for a cure for to end this horrible thing that is called cancer!

PLUS! For every donation of $25 or more, you will be entered into a raffle for a FREE portrait session!! Read more about that here: http://blairnicolephotography.com/blog/2012/03/portrait-session-raffle/

To help  , please click over to my personal page for the walk , here : http://pcrf-kids.org.kintera.org/cincodemayohalfmarathon/blairvb
If you are here to support my hubby and donate to his page for the walk, click here: http://pcrf-kids.org.kintera.org/cincodemayohalfmarathon/seanvb

Donate to either one and it goes to the same great cause, but who does’t love a little friendly competition?
The walk is on May 6th, so feel free to donate away till then!! Thank you so so so much for you time and support!! It honestly means the world to me.

***Oh! and one more thing, if you could leave a little encouragement for my friend Katie, and her mom Eileen , and dad Steve in the comments section below, and keep them in your prayers – I know they would love and  appreciate it!  

Elise and I go way back , and know each other from high school bible study at Granada Heights Friends Church (where she is actually the wedding coordinator now!).  It was so fun getting to see her perfect baby bump, meet her sweet hubby Matt, and catch up a little! Elise and Matt are going to be amazing parents to their precious baby boy, and I could not be any more excited for them!
So without further adieu, my first photo post on my new blog (SO excited about how big the pictures are now!!)

Make Up Artist:  Emily La Porte

Blair Nicole Photography Wins Two Bright Lights Editors’ Choice Awards!

As a testament to my outstanding clients, and my commitment to producing the best-of-the-best photography, I am thrilled to announce that I have been selected as a winner of the 2012 Two Bright Lights Editors’ Choice Awards!

The award is given in recognition of the those whose number of published features in 2011 placed them among the top 5% of all Two Bright Lights members. Winners were published across many of the most respected lifestyle, wedding and other print and digital publications in the United States and worldwide.

I am honored to be part of this group of talented photographers and creative professionals. My features this past year have enabled me to increase exposure for my work, and I am thrilled to have been recognized for my endeavors.

In 2011, I had the privilege of being published in the following publications:

Bridal Musings
Shimmer & Silk
Sparkle & Hay
The Modern Jewish Wedding
Best Wedding Sites Magazine
Brides View
Baby Lifestyles Magazine
Emmaline Bride
Orange Blossom Special Events
I Love Farm Weddings
Rustic Wedding Chic
Smitten Magazine

Thanks to all of the other creative professionals who made these features possible!

To see more of my work, or to get in touch about my services, please visit www.BlairNicolePhotography.com (or just browse through my fun blog, here!)