I have been wanting to transform my living room for quite some time. I really hate carpet. A dream was realized over the last few days… the carpet went away permanently and beautiful wood floors moved in. This is phase one – next comes paint and beautiful baseboards. This is a wonderful new option for babies of all ages and studio maternity sessions. I will update again when the full room is ready to be seen!

Makenzi Laine came and did my makeup (LOVE HER!) and we put the kids in the car and went down to the field. I metered the light and let my husband have at it! Here’s what we came up with together and I am thrilled and so happy. I haven’t felt that pretty in a long time. Oh yes… and Ryenne was my creative art director here!!

Anyway, my little brother visited over Christmas and we went out to Pedernales Falls for the first time. AMAZING. I can’t wait t o go back sometime in the Spring. It is so gorgeous.

above: Ryenne adored collecting shells and it was warm enough that we all took our shoes off to play on the “beach”.

above: me and the kiddos (photo taken by my lovely mama)

So coming up I have some wedding images to post that I took assisting a fabulous friend, eight babies on a couch (!), a lovely family that I’m looking forward to meeting later this month, a second-time mama in San Antonio, and awaiting a newborn besides my own. Exciting!

I’ll start with a few Finao albums. These are my lovely’s…. I’ll be keeping one in house for showing everyone in person, and the others are going out to a client and to a birth center for display. These come in so many amazing covers. Seriously… hard to pick. I do have full swatches to show off. These books shown are 20 pages.

Next we move on to the Couture Books. These are completely  hand made (here in the US). Both of these are wedding albums, but they make amazing displays of portraits with quotes, song lyrics, ect. This first is a studio sample of the French-Paris line. It comes with a vellum overlay, but sadly my children have gotten to it. So this is the woven cover underneath the vellum.

And finally is the Couture NYC book. It comes with a slipcase and a full image wrap cover. This is going out to El Paso today for Nasla & Amador.

Each of the Couture books shown have 100 pages. This give me lots of room for image display

Thanks for letting me share!!!

When I arrived, all the kids were so well behaved and sweet. Sally keeps her home so organized. The shoot was easy and lovely. And I learned so much throughout our couple of hours together that I walked away inspired.

I recently found out that I am expecting our third baby. This was a complete surprise to me and Peter as Kai was still nursing at the time. My children are my life, but I was afraid because I don’t have three hands! How can I keep my business going? How can I balance being a mother and a business owner who has to work? My mind was on overload. But when I met Sally, all of those fears melted away. She can do it. I can do it. And so I hope you pick up a copy of this months magazine and are inspired as well.

A very special thank you to the talented women who contributed to this shoot! Rebecca Guenther, Art Director for Austin Pregnancy Magazine, Laura Heyns (makeup artist), Leslie Fender (wardrobe stylist), and Due Maternity (provided clothing).

Kim is expecting her third baby, a little girl. I can tell that she is super excited to have a baby girl. And I admire Kim’s strength immensely as her husband is overseas serving our country in Iraq. Sometimes life can be so overwhelming and she handles it with grace and beauty.

A sweet moment between the boys caught when they didn’t know I was going to take a picture!

Thank you so much Kim for inviting me down to San Antonio to capture this time for you. I can’t wait to meet your brand new baby girl in a few weeks!!

XOXO, Mariah

Anyway, I was super excited for our shoot on Sunday afternoon. Dutifully my husband watched the kids and I kissed everyone goodbye and left the house. I am in South Austin (waaaay far South) and  I’m hitting 360 and realize I forgot my biggest backdrop! Durrr…. seriously annoying when I forget my brain like that.

I called April to let her know that I was running late. Super sweet that she totally understood and when I made it to Cedar Park, she was happy and comfortable and we drank a soda. Have I mentioned before how much I love my clients?

Anyway, we had a really wonderful session. AND, I am the lucky one who gets to go back later in the month and photograph her new baby girl. And just wait until you see Baby Girl’s room… it’s PRECIOUS!

What a perfect belly!

There’s just something about the above image that draws me in… I think for me it just feels like Mama and Baby are having a private moment. Love it.

April, thank you so much for your patience with me being late! I had a wonderful time with you and thank you so much for keeping me hydrated and playing awesome music through our whole shoot. I can’t wait to meet your brand new daughter in a few weeks!!

XOXO,

Mariah

Suki did an amazing job on Meenoy’s hair and makeup and overall styling. I was quite impressed! And Jarrod was so sweet and so loving with his beautiful wife. It was wonderful to watch the two of them together.

Jarrod and Meenoy, you guys are going to be wonderful parents to your little girl!! Here are a few of my favorites from our shoot. Enjoy!!

And by the way… their house was gorgeously tiled. I learned that’s what Jarrod does… so if you need some floor work, click his name

My daughter has entered the “Princess” stage. She is obsessed. It’s really cute. And just for everyone who asks me, “I bet you have so many pictures of your 3 year old, don’t you?” this is usually what I get. Well mostly what’s on the right side LOL – growing up with a photographer mommy has really made her shy away from the camera.

Kai’s hair is getting so long and unruly. I cannot bring myself to cut it, so the boy has his hair always any kind of way. I don’t think I’ll cut it until after he’s one. It’s so wispy and sweet.

I hope all of you are enjoying your families and these warm days. I’ll have more for the blog soon!

And before I forget… I’m having a special in July. All sessions in July are $100 ($108.25 including tax). That’s $100 in savings and the GIVINGisAWESOME campaign applies. This rate applies for all Austin photography. San Antonio clients, you get a special too. Please email me for details. And are you thinking of hiring me as your wedding photographer? Reserve your date and receive $150 off your wedding package if you sign a contract before July 31st.