i've been doing a weekly photo project of ender, to see how he's growing from week to week. (if you follow me on
facebook or
google+ you may have seen them) here are just 2 of the series...
week 1
week 12 (this week)
it's been a whirlwind 12 weeks at the ol' tumminaro abode! lucy turned 8! thanksgiving tofurkys were delicious! and we've begun getting ready for ender's first xmas, and our first as a family of FIVE!!! (which means adam and i will be sharing a stocking until i can find another one that matches the 4 that i adore, or a new set of FIVE!!)
now that ender is 12 weeks old, i'm really starting to find my balance! plus...having a new baby is much easier with 2 extra sets of small, yet capable, hands to help out!!! and believe me, lucy absolutely ADORES her baby brother! she even asked to change his diaper a couple weeks back! i videotaped the whole thing, and it just about blew my mind!! (speaking of which...we decided to do cloth diapers this time around, and i gotta say that i'm in LOVE with cloth diapering!!!!) and lucy is not alone in her love for her new sibling, elliot is quite fond of him, too! although, he's more eager for ender to be old enough to actually play with!
ahhh...i'm gonna go ahead and gush for a second, and say that i am one lucky mommy!!! :)
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for summer's first birthday, her parents were looking for some portraits to use for some really adorable birthday party invitations!
meet summer rae! she's 1 year old
i can't get over those CHEEKS!!! :)
now onto the girly-girly outfit and props that summer's mom picked out special for the invitation. at first, we tried to do it in a studio-style...but summer decided she'd rather do things somewhere else...
OUTSIDE! which is always fine by me, because i love me some natural lighting! one of the props we used was this personalized jewelry box
another prop was this delicious lollipop
just look at those eyelashes!!
i had an idea to have summer's daddy throw her up in the air so that it looked like she was a flying fairy. that didn't pan out like i hoped (scroll down for an outtake). so instead, i just had her daddy hold her up, and i strategically took the shot so that he wasn't in the pic.
as promised...here's the outtake from the flying-fairy idea...
it was such a fun session, and i can't wait to photograph those chubby cheeks again soon! :)
full disclosure: this post is back-dated, due to the fact that late-pregnancy, labor, and having a newborn have made for a couple very busy months!
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i know i've been neglectful of the blog for the past couple months, but i swear i have a very good excuse! that excuse is a tiny, little man named ender greyson tumminaro! the newest addition to the tumminaro family!!
he was born september 17th at 8:15pm! and although he is baby #3, everything about him has been so vastly different from the other two. from the health concerns we faced during pregnancy, to the delivery itself, to the fact that even though he was 8lbs 3oz, this kid looks like he doesn't have an ounce of baby fat on him! (unlike the other two who were little chubba bubbas). also, this time around, we had a decent camera in the delivery room, so adam took the reigns and acted as leaqd photographer for 11 of the 15.5 hours of labor! yep...15.5 hours of drug-free, natural labor! (my other 2 deliveries were also drug-free, but they were each only about 5 hours)
here's the slideshow of the delivery:
the full birth story:
i woke up shaking uncontrollably at about 3:30am, and noticed a few irregular contractions. then, at around 4:45am, i noticed that those irregular contractions were now regular and timable. so i woke up adam, and told him that if this time around was anything like the last 2 times, we should probably get showered/ready, and drop the kids off at my in-laws and head over the hospital. we all started getting ready, and hopped in the car for the hour-long drive.
when we got to my in-laws, the contractions were mild, but still regular. i gave my dr. a call, and they said to come on down to the hospital. after another 30 minute drive, we finally arrived at the hospital at around 9:00. they did a quick check, and said i was about 5cm dilated, which sounded like good news to me! they were going to contact my midwife, and if all went according to plan, she'd be here, and we'd be having a baby soon!
unfortunately, things weren't exactly according to plan! for one, my midwife wasn't able to come to the hospital, so i was going to have one of the OB's (whom i'd never met) be my doctor, and she wouldn't be able to arrive for another couple hours. luckily that wasn't a huge setback, just a little speedbump. adam and i stayed in the room, and i kept on laboring. i had arranged (with my midwife) to NOT have any IV's, so i was able to walk around the room, and walk around the delivery ward. the only drawback, was that they still had to sit me down and hook me up to the monitor once an hour.
at 1:00 the doctor arrived. after another check, she said i was STILL at 5cm! this was quite shocking, because i hadn't progressed at ALL after 4 hours of labor! (to be fair, it was 4 hours of manageable pain, but it was still 4 HOURS!!) so, the doctor decided to "break my water", in an effort to help things progress.
hours passed, and the pain did begin to intensify. but, it was still not even close to what i experienced with lucy (with lucy, they gave me pitocin from the start, and that was absolutely EXCRUCIATING!!! that was the reason why i became so adamant about no IV's and limited interventions) a few hours later, they came and checked me again...and i was STILL at 5cm! so, in an effort to help with pain management, i hopped into the shower, and that was a huge relief!
finally, at about 7:00, after another check of 5cm, the nurse told me that the dr. said that with my water broken, the longer we go the higher the risk for infection, and that i need to be put on pitocin. i was very apprehensive, but the nurse said that they would start it at the lowest possible dose, and hope that it would create enough of a "whiff" that it would get the baby in gear to come on out! after a private discussion with adam, i reluctantly agreed to an IV with a LOW dose of pitocin.
with the IV started, it did mean that i was a little restricted in my movements, but i was able to stand, at least, next to the bed. after about an hour of painful contractions, i started to fear my ability to make it to delivery, since i had been laboring so long, barely had food, and very little sleep. just then, i suddenly felt it was time! i told adam "i feel like i need to push", and he immediately rushed out to grab a nurse. but instead of just 1 nurse, a whole fleet of nurses rushed into the delivery room! i was still standing at the time, so in between contractions, i made my way onto the bed as quickly as i could...which ended up being quite difficult!
once i was on the bed, the nurses told me that i was ready, but that i need to NOT push! (since there was NO doctor around to catch the baby!) they called my dr., as well as the hospital's on-call OB. and basically, whoever got there first would be delivering my baby! unfortunately, what the nurses may not understand, is how impossible it feels to hold off a push when the baby is COMING!! it probably only took the hospital's on-call dr. about 5 minutes to get to the room, but it felt like hours! finally he got there, and i got the green light to start pushing.
after about 2 minutes, and 2 pushes, he was born!!! my hospital does this thing called "kangaroo time", which means, they put the baby directly on mommy's stomach, under her hospital gown, for immediate skin-to-skin contact. and they do all the checks and things during that time, instead of whisking the baby away. (that was the main reason we chose that hospital.) unfortunately, kangaroo time was cut a little short, because he needed some heavy-duty suctioning. luckily it was brief, and he returned to my tummy. then he stayed with me during the transfer to my post-partum room, as well as the rest of the night. (that's another reason we chose this hospital)
lucy, elliot, g'ma t. and g'pa t. all came to see me/him while i was still in the delivery room. and when adam ran into the waiting area to get them, i looked at my new baby boy, and that's when i decided that of the couple name options we still hadn't decided on, that he was definitely an...
ender greyson tumminaro!!!
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a couple months ago i received an email asking if i was available to photograph a 3-hour reception from the mother-of-the-bride. the bride and groom were already married, (they had a surprise wedding for close family in january), and were planning an intimate backyard reception for their extended family/friends. now, at first, i was a little hesitant, since i knew i would be almost 7 months pregnant, but after giving it some thought, i decided to go ahead and tell her that YES, i would be available! the bride contacted me, and we quickly found out that we were from the same town, went to the same high school, and the kicker...i was friend's with her older sister waaaaaaay back in middle school! needless to say i was very excited when their reception came around, so much so that 3-hours on my feet felt like nothing! i'm pretty sure my adrenaline was in overdrive, because i had a huge burst in energy that lasted until the minute i got in my car to drive home. (and after getting home, i promptly crashed for the night). but it was definitely worth it because everything was simply splendid and spectacular!
when i got there, danielle was dressed, and just doing some final accessorizing touches
the reception was gorgeous, yet casual.
we took a few minutes to take some shots of the two of them. (and yes, that's still their backyard!!!)
i think it should be a law that if you have a pond in your backyard...you should also have parties and receptions on a regular basis! such a perfect setting!
their choice of attire was absolutely, without a doubt...P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!! (and her dress had pockets!!!)
their idea of having some fun backyard games to entertain the guests and kids was genius!
that is samuel's brother...twin brother! and from what i could tell, this picture really captures their brotherly dynamic. :)
the tent set-up was very elegant
and the paper lanterns added additional style and brightness!
just as my time was coming to an end, it was time for dinner to be served. and anyone who's been to a wedding knows about the tradition of the clinking of the glasses at dinner. well, when the guests starting clinking their glasses, samuel's BROTHER was the one who got the kiss!
while danielle, and the rest of the guests cracked up!
click here for the "Best Of" slideshowall in all, i am so glad that i was able to be a part of their reception! as a photographer: it was the perfect setting, perfect subjects, and perfect styling, and on a personal level, it was great to be back in my old neighborhood, and catch up with old friends!
congratulations samuel and danielle, and thank you for a wonderful 3 hours!!! :)
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Read More Posts From Marcia Tumminaro: Wedding and Portrait Photographer, Chicago and Rockford
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