Are you graduationg this year? Didn't do senior pics yet? It's not too late! 2009 seniors only, book and pay for a session in the month of March and get 25% off your session and a set of wallets free!
Session does not have to be in March. It just needs to be booked and paid for in March.
Session does not have to be in March. It just needs to be booked and paid for in March.
As most of you know, I JUST joined The Littlest Heroes project last week. The day I sent in my application I got an email back asking me if I could do this session. No, "you're accepted, here's the rules" just an email with a link to Aleigha's caring bridge site. I was excited, but nervous. I couldn't get ahold of anyone from the team to answer my questions either, so it was all on me. I emailed the family and got things set up to meet at Riley on Friday. I was hoping for outdoor pictures, but of course when I woke up on Friday it was raining, and it continued to do so all afternoon. My nerves got even worse! I just got my external flash a week ago and was nervous to do my first indoor shoot with it so soon. I had practiced a lot though, and got pretty good results, so I knew I'd be ok. It just wasn't the ideal situation. I prayed ALL DAY that the rain would stop before I got there. No such luck. It was pouring bad when we walked out of the parking garage and over to the hospital. We (Makayla went with me to assist)walked in and Tom, Aleigha's dad came over and introduced himself. Super nice guy. I relaxed a bit. Then we went over to meet the rest of the family. Aleigha wasn't standing there just yet, but I met the rest of them. Super nice family. Then Makayla and I went to check out the Ronald McDonald house in the hospital where they said we could do the pictures. It looked like it'd work pretty well, but I was dying to go out in the courtyard right outside it. Too bad it was still raining... ha.
So we went back to where the family was and this time Aleigha was standing there. She wouldn't even look at me when her dad introduced me. Uh ohhh. Nervous again! Then I gave her the build a bear that the kids made for her. That seemed to help a bit. She went and showed it off some while her mom was getting her clothes. We all went back to the Ronald McDonald house and the girls went to change. I asked if it was ok if I opened the doors to let in a bit more natural light and whatta ya know, the rain STOPPED! YAY! We got to do the entire session outside like I'd hoped! So anyway, once she changed into her first outfit, Aleigha was not the shy little girl I met in the lobby. She was so cute and sweet and fun. She had a blast changing into all her cute little clothes, and I had just as much fun taking pictures of her. It was an amazing experience to hang out with their family and do these pics. All of them were great. The older girls were super cooperative and gorgeous as well!
As you can see, we are STILL on the first outfit in these pictures. *I've edited more than 5 total. I'm not THAT slow,haha* but these are my faves and there are lots of similar pictures in the same poses, so I'm picking and choosing what to share right now.
Enough of me, here's more of Little Miss Aleigha :)
This is one of my absolute faves so far. LOVE IT.
From the left... Katie, Aleigha with her new build a bear, and Jessie. Such pretty girls!
So we went back to where the family was and this time Aleigha was standing there. She wouldn't even look at me when her dad introduced me. Uh ohhh. Nervous again! Then I gave her the build a bear that the kids made for her. That seemed to help a bit. She went and showed it off some while her mom was getting her clothes. We all went back to the Ronald McDonald house and the girls went to change. I asked if it was ok if I opened the doors to let in a bit more natural light and whatta ya know, the rain STOPPED! YAY! We got to do the entire session outside like I'd hoped! So anyway, once she changed into her first outfit, Aleigha was not the shy little girl I met in the lobby. She was so cute and sweet and fun. She had a blast changing into all her cute little clothes, and I had just as much fun taking pictures of her. It was an amazing experience to hang out with their family and do these pics. All of them were great. The older girls were super cooperative and gorgeous as well!
As you can see, we are STILL on the first outfit in these pictures. *I've edited more than 5 total. I'm not THAT slow,haha* but these are my faves and there are lots of similar pictures in the same poses, so I'm picking and choosing what to share right now.
Enough of me, here's more of Little Miss Aleigha :)
This is one of my absolute faves so far. LOVE IT.
From the left... Katie, Aleigha with her new build a bear, and Jessie. Such pretty girls!
This isn't a client picture, it's not even a GOOD picture... at least not technically speaking. I just happened to have my camera out and was playing around with my new flash the other night when I saw this moment and couldn't let it get by. Every time I look at this picture, I tear up a bit because I know that these moments are about to get put on hold... I know the next time I get photos like this, my little baby is going to be a big 3 year old. My middle son will be 10 and my daughter will be 11 and a half. It's with a heavy heart that I tell those of you who don't know, my husband is leaving for Iraq again very soon. We're looking at another 18 month deployment when you count all the training beforehand. So even though this isn't the best photo I've ever taken, I'll treasure it every day for the next year and a half, and I wanted to share it with all of you :)
If you go back a few posts to the C family photos, you'll see the awesome woman who made this tutu for me! I LOVE it. Aleigha was my first 'model' and she looked absolutely beautiful in it. Can't wait to use it for more sessions!
I like parts about all 3 of these... I can't decide which is my fave. Not that it matters, they'll get them all! This one really speaks to me. I think there's a lot of symbolism here.
Aleigha's dad sent me an update from last November till now of Aleigha's story.
In November 07 Aleigha relapsed. Her Drs. told us that this time the cancer would take her. That hit us hard, but Aleigha she looked at her Dr. and told him he didnt know what he was talking about, and preceded to tell him she would beat it this time too. Aleigha was put on an experimental clinical trial in Nov. 07. She goes to Riley ever 21 days for one day to start each round of chemo. She has 3 chemo meds to take. The first one is only on the first day. She gets that thru her PIC line and then the other are for 5 days and they are oral chemos. Day one is at Riley and days 2 thru 5 are at home. She cant stand the taste of them but takes them anyway. Then once a week we go to Lutheran Hospital here in Fort Wayne for lab work and check ups.
It was very hard to hear that the cancer would eventually take her. We had long talks and decided to live with no regrets. That is to do what ever Aleigha wants to do. That way we never have the regrets of not doing something. We also let everyone know that Aleigha was in charge and we will fight this with her as long as she is able.
The scans started to show small shrinkage in each of the three hot spots. Then in June the scans stayed the same no changes. That was good that they stopped growing and are now stable. In August 08 we went to teh PPB family get together and conference in Bloomington Minnesota and met other PPB families and the top Drs. in the study and treatment of PPB. Aleigha is patient 203 in the world and now there are only 254 cases in the world. We learned both good and bad news, and made connections with the other families and we keep in touch with them. The bad news that we leaarned was that no one with stage 3 PPB has survived after relapsing. We learned that our Drs. are doing an awesome job, and we believe Aleigha will survive this and pave the way for others to beat it too. The trial we are on ends in November 08. We will discuss with her Drs. what the next best coarse will be and continue on that path.
Aleigha has been just amazing through all of this and has maintained a positive strong attitude that she will win. Aleigha is our Hero and has many followers on her web-site that encourage her and the rest of the family to fight on. Thanks go out to God, Aleighas Power of Pink, and all thoughs who pray for her.
Daddy of the Pink Princess
I'll leave you with that and this final image from my photo shoot with Aleigha. I just had her look out the window, but the way she's looking up in this one almost looks like she's having her own conversation with God while I'm snapping away. I love it.
For those of you who are following this blog and Aleigha's story, I encourage you to keep visiting her site and leave her a message of encouragement now and then. After meeting this little girl, I know if anyone can beat this, she will :)
In November 07 Aleigha relapsed. Her Drs. told us that this time the cancer would take her. That hit us hard, but Aleigha she looked at her Dr. and told him he didnt know what he was talking about, and preceded to tell him she would beat it this time too. Aleigha was put on an experimental clinical trial in Nov. 07. She goes to Riley ever 21 days for one day to start each round of chemo. She has 3 chemo meds to take. The first one is only on the first day. She gets that thru her PIC line and then the other are for 5 days and they are oral chemos. Day one is at Riley and days 2 thru 5 are at home. She cant stand the taste of them but takes them anyway. Then once a week we go to Lutheran Hospital here in Fort Wayne for lab work and check ups.
It was very hard to hear that the cancer would eventually take her. We had long talks and decided to live with no regrets. That is to do what ever Aleigha wants to do. That way we never have the regrets of not doing something. We also let everyone know that Aleigha was in charge and we will fight this with her as long as she is able.
The scans started to show small shrinkage in each of the three hot spots. Then in June the scans stayed the same no changes. That was good that they stopped growing and are now stable. In August 08 we went to teh PPB family get together and conference in Bloomington Minnesota and met other PPB families and the top Drs. in the study and treatment of PPB. Aleigha is patient 203 in the world and now there are only 254 cases in the world. We learned both good and bad news, and made connections with the other families and we keep in touch with them. The bad news that we leaarned was that no one with stage 3 PPB has survived after relapsing. We learned that our Drs. are doing an awesome job, and we believe Aleigha will survive this and pave the way for others to beat it too. The trial we are on ends in November 08. We will discuss with her Drs. what the next best coarse will be and continue on that path.
Aleigha has been just amazing through all of this and has maintained a positive strong attitude that she will win. Aleigha is our Hero and has many followers on her web-site that encourage her and the rest of the family to fight on. Thanks go out to God, Aleighas Power of Pink, and all thoughs who pray for her.
Daddy of the Pink Princess
I'll leave you with that and this final image from my photo shoot with Aleigha. I just had her look out the window, but the way she's looking up in this one almost looks like she's having her own conversation with God while I'm snapping away. I love it.
For those of you who are following this blog and Aleigha's story, I encourage you to keep visiting her site and leave her a message of encouragement now and then. After meeting this little girl, I know if anyone can beat this, she will :)
I FINALLY finished editing the entire set of Aleigha's pictures and I can't stop with the last image I put up yesterday. I have just a couple more I can't help but share here. This is really it though.
I'll get all of these on a CD for you guys ASAP and put it in the mail! If you need anything else, let me know :)
Thanks again for this opportunity. Aleigha is amazing! So glad I got to meet her.
So sweet! Lovin mama
love how Katie is looking down at little sis :)
And the whole fam... :)
I'll get all of these on a CD for you guys ASAP and put it in the mail! If you need anything else, let me know :)
Thanks again for this opportunity. Aleigha is amazing! So glad I got to meet her.
So sweet! Lovin mama
love how Katie is looking down at little sis :)
And the whole fam... :)
If you remember I did a littlest heroes shoot recently for a beautiful little princess named Aleigha. You can read her original story HERE and the rest of it HERE .
I got news recently that Aleigha is considered NED which stands for No Evidence of Disease. She has had her last chemo treatment. Please keep her in your prayers that this is IT and she'll never have to battle with that horrible disease again:)
You can leave well wishes for Aleigha at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aleighasweet.
I got news recently that Aleigha is considered NED which stands for No Evidence of Disease. She has had her last chemo treatment. Please keep her in your prayers that this is IT and she'll never have to battle with that horrible disease again:)
You can leave well wishes for Aleigha at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aleighasweet.
Was a beautiful day yesterday, so I had to drag one of the kiddies out to play with my new camera! He was just as excited to be outside as I was, and NOT in the mood to sit for photos.
Love this one though:)
