Lydia Grace

Newborn babies are simply the most precious gift and Lydia Grace Merjanian is no exception!  She was born a week ago Sunday and is so perfect and tiny, as most newborn babies are.  I had such a great time photographing her and by no means was it easy, but it was definitely worth every minute!

my favorite image of the day

little feet and toes are my fav!

Holiday Mini-Session & Greeting Card Bundle

I am excited to announce, that I have collaborated with my good friend, Kristie of Klarity Designs & Marketing, to provide a new product for my clients this holiday season!  

Please feel free to contact me at nataliemichelephotography@gmail.com for any additional information or to book your holiday session!

The Merjanian's

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of taking some photos of our dear friends Raffi, Jenny and Sam.  It was such a blast, and I just love when Sam smiles, he just keeps getting cuter and cuter...and those blue eyes...forget about it! =) 

Here are just a few of my favorites from our session in Old Town Orange...

Justin & Leah Smeets

My cousin, Justin, and his wife Leah are expecting their first child, a girl next month.  Baby Emiko will be the second great granddaughter in our family and the 7th great grandchild overall!  =)

Here are some of the images from our photo session last month.  Isn't Leah just absolutely gorgeous?! ...I think so!

 My favorite shot of the day....simply breathtaking!

 The below image is one of my favorites of the two of them!

Goals for 2011

I'm by no means a resolution kind of gal, however ask me my goals, aspirations, and dreams and I have a list a mile long!  Here are my top 10 goals for 2011 in no particular order...

1. Read my bible daily and not just read it, but learn & understand it so that I may grow more deeply with the Lord.

2. Save money, save money & along with this continue working on paying down our debts.

3. Grow my photography business! I want to be able to book more family & couple sessions and offer more options to my clients in terms of packages.

4. Spend more quality time with my husband.  Now that we have our baby girl, it has been so hard to set aside time for ourselves.  I want to get better at making sure we still hang out and enjoy each other by going out on dates again!

5. Learn to sew...my mom is probably gasping as she reads this!  Yes, I said it.  I want to attempt to make clothes for my daughter and possibly make some curtains for our bedroom.

6. Lose weight.  I know this may be a bit cliche, however I did just have a baby 4 months ago.  I have lost 98% of the baby weight, however I'd like to at least lose another 25 pounds.

7. Be more physically active.  My friend and I walk about 3 to 4 times a week, however I need to tone up as well, so I'd like to start running (gasp...yes for those of you that know me I hate running, so this is out of the norm for me) with the baby twice a week. 

8. Be more diligent of teaching my baby sign language.  This is a must because for those of you that don't know, my parents-in-law are deaf so its super important that she be able to communicate with them!

9. Set aside time for myself.  I need to have at least one day for just a few hours to myself to do whatever it is I need to do for my sanity, whether its run errands without the baby or just curl up on the couch and read a book.

10. Start working with my sister-in-law, Kristin to get the wheels rolling on our business adventure.  We've been talking about this for the past couple years now and well its time to start putting things in motion!  More to come on that later...

and just because this post would be blah without a picture...one of my favs I took of my baby girl!

   

New Year, New Beginnings

As I look back on the year 2010, it was one heck of a roller coaster.  The highlight of the year was when my husband and I found out I was pregnant last January and then giving birth to our daughter September 10, 2010.  The day I first met my daughter, Atalia, was by far the most emotional day ever.  Its such an amazing experience and I thank God for allowing me to birth a beautiful, healthy child. 

It blows my mind that in just 9 more days, our daughter will be 4 months old...seriously where has the time gone?  My little 6 pound baby girl is now weighing in at 14 pounds and has changed so much!  She amazes my husband and I each day with everything she is capable of.  We have been so deeply blessed to have a baby that is healthy, happy, active, smart, and most of all sleeps through the night! =)  It is definitely bittersweet to see how quickly she is growing and maturing, but all those changes always brighten our days and just make us realize our lucky we are to be parents to our baby girl!

This is going to be a new year filled with new beginnings and firsts and I can't wait to see what's in store for our little family!

Below are some photos from when Atalia was just 2 days old, taken by my sister-in-law Ashley.  The newer ones were taken by myself during the holidays.  Enjoy =)