This afternoon, I met with Miss Braelyn for her 1 year birthday pictures. She was so cute, I couldn’t wait to take a look at the shots this evening. Here’s a little sneak peek with some of my favorites:

And I like them in black and white as well:

My awesome cousin Michael is graduating in a few weeks. Here are a few shots from his senior portrait session this week.

Ethan and I went to Aaron’s softball game at Stennis the other day. I took a couple of really neat shots, so I wanted to share them here.

I can say, with mixed emotion, that issue of premature birth hits very close to home. As you may know, my son was born 5 weeks prematurely last October. It was unexpected, as I had a very healthy pregnancy. Luckily, Ethan was born very healthy, but he spent several weeks in the Neonatal ICU before he was mature enough to come home. As cold and flu season hit, his immature lungs and immune system left him vulnerable, and he was hospitalized twice for RSV and pneumonia. For the first 10 weeks of his life, he spent just as much time in the hospital as he did at home. Now he is a healthy and happy 6 month old. Despite his rough start, he’s now about as healthy and normal as can be – right on track for development and size.

We owe a lot of thanks to the March of Dimes, for championing premature babies and researching the causes of premature birth. Mine is still a mystery, we have no explanation for why my pregnancy ended so quickly and unexpectedly. This is sadly the case for more than half of premature births. No one is working harder than the March of Dimes to find out what causes premature birth. In addition to prematurely born babies, the March of Dimes also researches, educates, and advocates for babies born with birth defects. The work done by the March of Dimes greatly benefits all babies.

To raise money for the March of Dimes to continue their life-saving research, we have formed a family team to participate in the nationwide March for Babies. Our team, “Walk for Ethan”, is walking in Jackson, MS on May 10, 2008. In addition to walking, I am sponsoring our team by offering a new promotion on prints. If you support our team with a donation, I will match your donation with a discount on your print order. I am matching donations at 50%, and there is no minimum donation. If you donate $5, I will give you a $2.50 discount. I will match your donation up to $500 ($250 discount). If you donate $500, I will give you a $250 discount. Not that I am expecting anyone to donate $500 – that certainly would be amazing!!

There is no cash value associated with this promotion. If your discount exceeds the amount of your print order, there is no refund issued. This promotion applies to all donations made prior to our participation in the May 10, 2008 March for Babies in Jackson, MS. The promotion is transferable to another party. If you choose to honor our team with a donation, you may gift your discount to a friend, relative, or random stranger if you choose not to use it yourself. This promotion is offered in conjunction with my portfolio building promotion, and these promotions can be combined.

Please visit Ethan’s Baby Blog, http://www.ethanhead.com, for more information on our participation and the links to visit our team page in the March for Babies.

Today was such a gorgeous day, Ethan and I sat in our chairs under the oak tree and watched Aaron work in the garden. I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of Ethan in his cute hat. I think these are my new favorite shots of him. His eyes just keep getting more blue and more amazing every day.