a BOY!

you guys, during my absence from this blog, i found out that the little nugget

is most definitely

a BOY!

we were told it was most likely a boy at our 12 weeks sonogram but

i can't go making decisions and hopes and dreams come true, off of 'most likely'.

so we held out for our big sonogram at week 20,

to be officially told,

so we could officially tell,

that he is in fact, an active (KICKING) little boy :)

and so.

to announce it to our family that night,

i made one of those giant 3' balloons that i love.

they knew it was either going to be pink, or it was going to be blue.

and BLUE!

(and here's my disclaimer: i am way way better behind the camera than i am in front of one. oh good lord. my hands get all weird and i don't know what to do with my legs and i end up looking bizarre. which, i just scheduled my maternity session for the beginning of january, and i'm nervous! ha... DEAR LORD, please let there be snow so at least the background will be beautiful and interesting to look at and can take some of the pressure off. thank you. amen.)

here are some of the photos i had husband snap as we were getting in the car with our ginormous balloon. with an iphone. with the sun at full force. and the wind.

it was difficult. i should have used my big camera, they could have been arty and glorious, but i can't take them and be in them at the same time.

i used crepe paper streamers, cut in half for the fringe. in cobalt blue, light blue, mint green, grey, cream, and white with blue polka dots. i also threw some gold ribbon in there because i'm still me.

the B-O-Y was made with a gold poster board found at hobby lobby.

then i tied them all the balloon and voila.

not anywhere near geronimo balloon status, but it did it's job and it's still going strong hanging out in our living room :)

note-- they last for a really really long time!!

JILL

(ps - i am so stinking excited to be having a boy. i know i'd be just as excited if it were a girl, but a boy! things are getting very real. i hit the 5 month mark in 11 days.

i have lots to do in the next 4 months, my friends.)

oh hey there.

you guys, i guess, if anybody is still out there....

i've been absent for way too long.

i don't really have any excuses, just to say that my blogger mind was turned off.

i have been a little preoccupied.

and as much as i still obsess over really great decor and junk (hello pinterest, i was never far from there), i just wasn't focused enough to bring you anything worthwhile.

i still thought about here, and you, and missed it occasionally but....

i'm actually expecting a lil baby. in mid-march!

and i'm like, insane excited! (and very insanely insane nervous.)

there is alot of back story behind the nervous part.

but i try so hard to just focus, and my husband too, on the excited.

starting a family hasn't been the easiest road for the two of us.

there were road blocks, then ups, then downs, and finally, after a goooood long time, we are here.

i am 16 weeks and things are looking pretty great!

lil nugget is healthy (as far as we can tell), she/he's passed all the tests so far, and!! the sickness is finally letting up. i still get waves of gross, but honestly, i kinda cherish(ed) it.

being morning (noon, evening, night, middle of the night) sick meant that my baby was healthy and sending out tons of prego hormones that in turn made me feel sick. so, when i felt sick, i felt good about it.

it's weird, i know.

this is the first real "hey!! i'm having a baby!" for me. and it's a little stress inducing, honestly.

if you follow me on instagram, i guess i haven't been keeping it a secret there, but facebook still isn't any wiser. and i actually think i like it that way, at least for now. (here comes a tangent.) i just don't like fb. and i'm sure you do, bc i'm sure i'm the only one who doesn't, but we just don't get along very well. so i side-eye it and keep a little distance.

my husband and i have been so nervous (more so in the beginning, less and less so now but it's definitely still there) that things weren't going to end the way we hope and pray. when a women gets preg, she's like hell yeah. in 9 months i'll have a baby to hold! but sometimes that doesn't happen for whatever God's reasons are, and it smarts like you wouldn't even believe. and so.

when the miracle of life happens again, your naivety has been robbed and you're cautious. even more than, you're down right scared.

we didn't even tell our families until we were 10.5 weeks. and close friends not until 12, not even my besties! and everyone else, we've been trickling out the good news since.

and there's no hiding it now with a belly that looks like a chipotle burrito and a half!

but that's one tough secret to keep in the summer time. seriously. fruity cocktails and teeny bikinis are lurking around every corner!

so. along with the nerves, has been my reluctance to purchase anything for baby.

until today!

hoorah!

after work i'm headed to pick up this beauty.

thanks, friend craigslist.

to snuggle and feed and rock my little nugget in for days and nights on end.

vintage and quirky and wooden perfectness,

that fits in perfectly in both of my secret pinterest boards. one girl, and one boy.

i think this was the beginning and now, maybe the flood gates have been opened?! ha.

and in true fashion, the whole time i was writing this, i was thinking to myself... gosh. i probably shouldn't be doing this. so if i could ask you for anything, just keep us in your prayers. hopefully God's plans and our plans are aligned and come mid-march, i'll meet him or her.

and so there you have it.

a nice little essay for my first day back in like 2 months.

:)

JILL

some pretty people.

these are two of my recent shoots i just finished up last night.

the first is a most adorable little family of two, about to be three.

i had more than too much fun with them.

they are amazing. and sweet. and lovely.

i wish nothing but the best for them, and can't wait to meet the little one due any day now.

(and i am jealous of her lips. she has the best lips/smile!)

next up is a family of models.

not real models but they should be.

we caught the 'golden hour' of sun and took pretty photos of a pretty family.

(i can't help adding this one. looks like a ralph lauren ad.)

JILL

new edition.

my absolute-gorgeous-friend, meg and her husband

welcomed their new baby girl this past friday.

they asked me to document this momentous occasion for them a few months ago.

found a barn in the middle of suburbia.

seriously. the city must have grown up around this place.

it's like a little bit of wild-kansas history right in our backyard.

the owners were so gracious to let us play around.

just thought i would share a tidbit.

she. is. stunning.

and so was her little belly :)

congrats, you two!!!!!!!!!!!

love you lots.

JILL

prego glam.

i am so elated with the look and style of prego sessions popping up around the internet in the last year.

pregnancy is a miracle. no greater miracle can 2 measly little humans create in my opinion. so why not take that time of your life and create images, that 1-- make the mama look good at a time where she might not always feel so good, and 2-- document and have them forever.

no reason not to.

these sessions are so inspiring and are just a few of my favorites as of late. pinterest is a gold mine for such things :)

but photogs are turning out some serious glam with these bellies.

and i LOVE it.

kelly hicks.

amelia lyon.

this entire session kills me. kills.

by andria lindquist.

from kiss the groom.

onto baby.

via flickr.

and if you know who this photog is, please let me know!!

rylee hitchner.

the girls.

as much as i'm not a fan, this b.spears in harper's bazaar is so fantastico.

i only have one prego belly shoot on my books this summer and it's in july.

(can't wait, meg!!!)

but if you happen to have a bun in the oven and want some documentation, just go ahead and email me. i'm rill rill excited and have some ideas floatin around in my head and need another model or 7.

love.

JILL

meet our friend jo...

elle and i have a bestie... her name is joanna. she lived with us in
the blue house.

she's married to kyle. and now jo and kyle are having a baby!

on sunday morning, there was some serious fog happening... i picked up jo and we headed to the park to take some pictures of her prego belly.

i took almost 500 pictures of jo that day.
here is just an inkling of my favorites.

(you can click on them to see them larger)

adorable.

love.

i know this is a bit out of the ordinary, and i normally don't show my work...

but her belly is just so cute and i couldn't be happier for jo and kyle...

and thus, couldn't resist sharing :)


JILL