Shannon almost wrote a book about being single, but then she got married.

Shannon is a nurse practitioner, blogger and lifelong student. You can check out her blog, Faith and the Other Five Senses here.  She moved to Rochester when she was a teenager so that her parents could help start a church. She moved away and back again at least once, and most recently moved to Dallas to complete a degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. She worked part time and went to school part time, just for fun. Then she met Jay-Michael, graduated, got married and moved to Colorado.

I met Jay-Michael about 20 minutes before the wedding. I don’t normally photograph weddings but if I did, I’d definitely meet everyone with a little bit more headway.  Distance made this tricky, but they were so happy to be married it didn’t matter. Suffice it to say that I don’t know much about Jay-Michael, other than that he works for the town of Pueblo.

Also he really gets into the song Cotton Eyed Joe.

And is great with kids.

They got married on a warm August afternoon at Colgate Rochester Divinity School.

Everyone seemed a little nervous except Shannon.

Colgate Rochester Divinity School is a beautiful spot to get married. The options just right outside the buildings for photo taking are exceptional. If you try to take pictures there without being part of a wedding that they ask you to leave. Ask me how I know…

We were on a tight schedule so we did the formal images right outside.

The reception was in a beautiful room with cathedral ceilings that were white (a photographer’s dream).

Congratulations Jay-Michael and Shannon. Thank you so much for sharing your day with me!!!

A Blessingway was originally a Navajo tradition that celebrated a woman’s rite of passage into motherhood. The tradition has been adopted (especially among birthy people like doulas and home birthers!) and is growing in popularity as a way to veer a little away from the commercialism of baby showers and focus on the mother and her impending delivery.

Laura is a doula and childbirth educator at Beautiful Birth Choices and has attended many blessingways. She also knows a ton of birth people, so this was very well attended. Blessingways can take on many shapes and forms.  At Laura’s, she burned fears she had, was presented with beads from everyone attending that reminded them of Laura in some way, passed around a ball of string to make a web with each person saying a word of affirmation, prayer, and then belly decoration with Henna Rising.

The highlight of the bead presentation (for me) was when a friend of Laura’s gave her a jack ass bead because she loved eating at Jack Assters during a doula conference.

If you’ve given birth you know what a mental thing it is. It’s like running a marathon, but culturally we don’t treat it that way. Blessingways are a way to acknowledge the momentousness of the birth itself and the way that it sears itself into our memories as something where we were (hopefully) loved and supported.

We give so much as moms that there’s nothing quite like being reminded of what we mean to other people – that we’re not completely lost in mommy-hood.

The web was created with words to remind Laura of her awesomenes and to represent the web of support around her. The string was then cut so that each woman could wear a piece around her wrist with a bead to remember Laura until the baby was born.

Robin from Henna Rising came to decorate Laura’s belly. I’d never seen henna done before and it starts out looking like this, and then as it peels off leaves a dark red pattern which lasted until Laura’s baby was born on Valentine’s day two weeks later.

Thanks so much Laura for sharing this beautiful part of your life with me and congratulations on the birth of your beautiful new baby!

What is a doula?  Essentially a doula is someone who is experienced with birth and offers continuous support throughout the process.  Her job during a woman’s labor is to “provide physical, emotional, and informational support to women during labor, birth, and in the immediate postpartum period” (Gruber, Cupito & Dobson, 2013).

Interestingly, studies examining the impact of continuous support by doulas report significant reductions in cesarean births, instrumental vaginal births, need for oxytocin augmentation, and shortened durations of labor (Gruber, Cupito & Dobson, 2013).  Studies show different statistics, but one study reported a 28% reduction in c-sections and a 34% decrease in being dissatisfied with the birth experience.  Or in the words of Dr. Kennell, “If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it.” (1998).

So what is Beautiful Birth Choices?  It’s a local organization that provides childbirth education, doula services, breastfeeding support, yoga classes, and honestly more than I could list here.  To view everything they offer, click here.

Recently they moved to a new space and I had the honor and privilege of capturing their grand opening.

We also had fun with some “I love BBC” signs at a photo booth.

Or if you’re more of a video person, you can view the video of the grand opening below:

A huge congratulations to Julia, Christy and the BBC staff!

Cora experienced no shortage of love during her party.

Katie and Todd wisely coordinated their clothing so we could sneak outside and take a few quick family portraits, which is a great way to make the most of having a photographer around.

If you’d like to see how much she’s grown, click here.

Everyone gathered in anticipation of the cake smash.

In true toddler fashion, she was not a fan!

Next in line was opening presents, which had a more mixed response. I suspect that in a few years she’ll have cake eating and present opening down to a science.

Cora and Todd were as relaxed as 5th time parents. They enjoyed the ride, which was a joy to watch. Happy birthday Cora!!!

Several women shared their Arbonne success stories. Including this woman who flew all the way from Oklahoma!

Neyir’s son Maxwell helped draw the names of the prize winners.

He also found time for a few snuggles.

Neyir had initially not planned on getting a Mercedes quite this large. Then she found out she was pregnant with twins, so they had to get a larger model. And here’s the moment when she’s handed the keys.

Afterward we went outside to take a few photos with the cars.

Congratulations Neyir on the promotion, the new car, and the twins. I can’t wait to meet them!