Katie and Matt – Baby On The Way

I love my job! Have I said that lately? One of the fun things I get paid to do is attend parties and take pictures, eat yummy food and hang out with awesome people. It’s rough I tell you! I had the opportunity to do the party thang this past weekend when Carlie and Leah (pals with Emily, of Emily-and-Stephen’s-wedding-on-the-side-of-the-mountain and Katie, the mommy to be) threw a shower for Katie (and Matt). The shower was at Carlie’s step-dad’s house, right on the water. It had lots and lots of windows and a beautiful view, so even though it was only like 30 degrees, Katie & Matt braved the elements for about a 5 minute photo session outside before the guests arrived.

I bet you can’t guess how far along this mommy-to-be is, can you? Ok I’ll tell you..she’s 34 weeks….isn’t she gorgeous?? I couldn’t believe she was that far along!!

 

After the pics, we headed inside for the party. It was small and intimate and so much fun. They didn’t do traditional party games but one of the activities they had was cookie decorating – great idea!

They also had yummy food and super cute decorations! The baby’s room has a fish decor going on, so that’s why they did some decorating with the bath toys!

 If you want to see all the pictures from the shower, click here for the slideshow.

In a couple weeks, we will be getting together for a full maternity session; I can’t wait!

By the way, is anybody else shocked that I’ve posted 2 blogs this week that are from CURRENT sessions? OMG!!

The Baby Bump

As most of you probably know, my sister, Diana, is preggo with baby number 2 and it's a GIRL!! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. Last weekend, we finally got a chance to go out and take some pics of the belly. So I'm going to share some of my favorites, but I also want to have a little contest. Here's the scoop:

- anybody can enter
- you must include your name/email address so I know how to contact you if you win
- include your guess for the day she will be born, time, weight and length

Whoever is the closest to her actual date/time without going over (on the length/weight) will win a $20 GIFT CARD to Target or I-Tunes. (Perfect just in time for holiday shopping).

Here's a little info to help you out...

1. Her due date is November 21st
2. With my nephew, she delivered 4 days early
3. I drove her to the hospital at 8 in the a.m and she had him before 3pm
4. She's already had some real contractions (but they went away)

That's it! I can't wait to see all the guesses. I'll enter mine too (but obviously I am not entering my own contest!)

One other thing...you do NOT have to have a blogger account to enter....just put in your guess and click on "anonymous" (but write your name in the text of your guess). It's that easy :)

And now for the pics....

    Have a great weekend everyone!! I'll be shooting and editing.....this time of year is just a little bit craaaazzzzyyyy, but I love it :)

Hellooooo Out There....

Hi all! I'm excited to announce that this week I'm back to work full time...and things are better than ever. Those that have had sessions in the last month will probably tell you their proofs are fabulous (I hope..haha) and they got them much faster than in the past (and I was only working PT). I know I still have a little more catch up work to do from when I was gone (mostly orders and design work - i.e. storyboards and collages) and I hope to have those all finished by the end of next week. So if you are still waiting on something..I haven't forgotten you I promise!

On Monday, I'll be announcing a contest/giveaway on the blog...so be sure to come back and check it out. Also, I'll be bringing back the fall mini sessions in October...so I'll be announcing those date(s) next week.

I have tons of pics to share that were never blogged....but I also have tons of new sessions to share. So for the next few posts...I'm going to share a bunch of the old stuff and then we'll move onto the new stuff :) I don't want you to be bored...but most of my clients tell me they love being featured on the blog...so I don't want to miss anyone! You can also see sneak peeks on my facebook page. If you are my FB friend, I will tag your photos on there and you can then have them on your own page to share with family and friends. I can't figure out how to post a link to my page...so just search for Katie Mathews and you'll find me. The pics I share on facebook and the pics I share on the blog are usually different.

The Scott Family

These guys had never had family pics taken before! So I was honored (and a little nervous) to do their first session. We decided to do a sunrise shoot at Fort Fisher... it didn't go so good. The sand gnats were really really really bad. (REALLY bad!) They were biting us up terribly. Combine that with 2 kiddos that had to get up super early and it wasn't exactly the fun experience I would've like for them on their first every photo session. We did the best we could and got some keepers, but we did do a short re-shoot of the kiddos a couple of weeks later. Here's a couple from Fort Fisher...

Here's a few from the Arboretum...the kids were in much better moods...it was a gorgeous evening and there were no sand gnats...score!

Cameron and DJ

Yet another session from back in April... Cameron has already had their beautiful baby girl and is back to work...time flies huh? haha This couple is great...a lot of fun...we did their maternity session at the Arboretum...they were willing to do anything I asked and we had a beautiful evening.

Baby Finnley

My dear friend Lesley became an auntie for the first time in April. Her brother and sister in law had adorable little Finnley. I went out to the hospital and took some pics for them.

Here she is with Daddy..

Here she is with Mommy..

And finally a cute one of just her...

About a week later I went to their house for some newborn photos... they live at the beach and they love love love surfing...which is where her name came from....they had surfboard all over the house so of course we had to incorporate that..

 

The Piner Family

Finally..the Piner family...also shot in April. We went to Carolina Beach and did some pics at the boardwalk before heading onto the actual beach. It was a lot of fun and these boys are just adorable!!  Here's a few of my favs from this session...

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. My Mom and I, along with my sister's MIL are throwing a shower for my sister on Sunday which I'm totally looking forward to. I can't wait for the arrival of my niece in November!

Finally...I'm sure you all remember where you were 8 years ago today...I was at work and we had a tv in one of the waiting rooms...we crowded around the tiny tv and witnessed the 2nd tower get hit. I'll never forget. Thank you to our military men and women who have fought or are fighting for our freedom ...and thank you to the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, etc. Today, I'm thinking and praying for those that lost their lives and their family and friends who were left behind. God Bless!