The Holidays Are Right Around The Corner !

I can not believe that I am saying this, but the holidays are right around the corner. This time of year always sneaks up on me. Usually in early December I say, Oh... we should have taken some photos, and by then it is too late for much more than a snapshot. I already have a pretty tight schedule for October, so I wanted to let people know as early as I can about my HOLIDAY SPECIAL. This year I am offering a special for your holiday photos. It will be a 45-60 minute session on location. You will have 10-15 shots on a disc to develop as you would like. Of course I will upload all of your photos onto Pictage for you to view and you are welcome to purchase prints or holiday cards that way as well. This session will be $100. If you are interested, email me as soon as possible at sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com to reserve your session! I look forward to hearing from you.

Learning To Explore Life At Six Months

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to do a newborn shoot for a beautiful little girl. I had so much fun and I got some of my favorite newborn shots. Click **HERE** to see some of them. Six months later.... we have a beautiful little girl who is just learning to explore. It is amazing to see the changes that happen in just six months.
Little Reilly is going to quickly realize that she does not have to stay in one place. She is going to be an explorer. She is rolling and almost sitting, and you can see in her eyes that she is excited about all of the new things that she is discovering in her young life.

I love the peacefulness and the quietness that Reilly exudes. She is a very content baby and she showed me a lot of patience through out the day.This cutie is such a blessing to her family, and it was a total pleasure to spend time with her and her entire family. I have to thank them for welcoming me into their home again and trusting me with their precious little one.

Reilly's mom was so laid back and relaxed, she even had time to make cookies with Reilly's sister during the shoot. Can you believe that!! A mom in control.... I was very impressed! When I try to have a shoot with my kids, I am sweating and nervous. So a huge kudos to her!! Here is a shot of big sister Hannah.... thank you for my heart princess artwork! You are such a sweetie and a big helper!This family selected a photo package that includes three shoots for the first year. I am excited to follow this little girl as she grows and I can not wait to share her one year photos with all of you in another six months.

Feeding 2000 hungry children by Living with Grace

I am so excited to announce the results for our first fundraiser for Live With Grace! We had a group of approximately 20 children that ranged in age from 4-6 years old. They did a variety of activities from selling jewelry to having lemonade stands with all of the profits benefiting The World Food Program's Fill the Cup Program. They raised money little by little, with donations as small as a penny at times. They learned about children who live every day hungry... live every day without toys or beds or homes.

I am proud to announce that these children raised over $475!!! At a quarter a day, this money will feed more than 1900 children! The lessons that the children learned, and the conversations that this project started between the children and their parents are just as valuable as the dollars raised. What a great success! Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you to everyone who donated!

Livi, Ava, Zach and I are all now talking about what is next for Live With Grace. We have had many requests for jars. I have some on order, and as soon as they are in, I will be sending them your way. If you would like to request a jar for your family or children, please email me at sara@saramontgomeryphoto.com and I will get you on our list. We are excited to now have certificates for children who participate in the Live With Grace program. Please let me know if that is something that you are interested in.

Stay tuned for more exciting information on Live With Grace and our newest project! Congratulations again and thank you to all of you for your participation in the Fill the Cup project!

The Gift That Takes Your Breath Away

Meet Brie......and her Baby!!!I am so lucky to know Brie. She is a wonderful friend of mine from my world at the hospital. We work together in the operating room. Brie and her husband are almost ready to welcome their new son into the world. If you ask her, I think that she would say that she was ready to welcome him a couple of weeks ago! I think that everyone feels pretty much the same toward the end of their pregnancy... you can hardly breath when you think about what an amazing gift will soon be in your arms, not only that, but there is usually an elbow or foot right under your rib making it difficult to take any deep breaths!Pregnancy... what a miracle...the beginning of live, the beginning of family, the beginning of parenting... the most wonderful challenge and gift that god can bless any family with. I was so excited to capture these beautiful images of Brie. I can not wait for her to look at these photos years from now or even one month from now and try to remember how if was to have that precious little one growing in her tummy.What a privilege it was to spend this time with Brie... She is so beautiful, and she is so excited to have this new addition to her family. This will be her first child, and I know she will be a wonderful mother. Her love for life, her kindness and her wonderful laugh will surely be a blessing for her as she jumps into her new adventure with her husband as parents. I can not wait to meet this new little boy. Congratulations Brie!

Oh... Sweet Baby Mae

My sister and brother-in-law welcomed a sweet baby girl to their family last week. If you do not remember my sister, click **HERE** to see a couple of photos of her family before this sweet addition. We were so lucky to spend time with her immediately after her birth. Little Mae is just the most amazing little girl ever. She is following all of the rules, and is absolutely beautiful. I am hoping to get to see them again in the next few days so that I can get some more shots of her to share with you. Here are a few from her first few hours in this great big world.

Finally... the Bride and Groom!

Here they are.... Travis and Jessi. They make such a wonderful couple. I know I have said it throughout the last two posts, but I just loved what this wedding was all about. They did not get lost in the flowers, the cake, or the program... they got lost in eachother. Now, don't get me wrong, the details were all in place, but they just did not get stressed out by them. Their relaxed attitude made everyone there smile. It made all of us realize that this couple was meant to be... that this family was finally complete... that God has blessed them with eachother. What a life they are going to have!Congratulations Travis and Jessi. What a blessing that you have found eachother. Thank you for trusting me to capture this amazing day in your life!

Mama... I am a whole handful old today!

My little Ava, she turned five in July. She woke up on her birthday and held her hand up and said, "Mama, I am a whole handful old today." It made me just melt. I can hardly believe it. She is growing up so fast. If I could stop time and just keep her like she is for a little longer I would. I know that sounds very cliche... but it is true. I am quite sure she really excited about growing up and learning new things, but she has assured me that she will not leave home... ever. I will have to remind her that again when she is 16!

I have to include a photo of her cake.... I am quite proud that I made it myself! She loved it and that made it even better. I knew that that high school job at Baskin and Robbins would pay off some day! We had a chocolate fountain with pink chocolate and a fountain of pink lemonade all thanks to Sweet Fountains. Thanks to them... I saw many many pink chocolate mustaches and smiles.

In just a few weeks Ava will be starting kindergarten. She is fine with it, I however am not. I just feel like it is the end of some special part of life, the end of really being carefree or of not having responsibility. I think that I am like the mama bird in this picture.... still feeding these babies even though they are too big to be in the nest and need to get out on their own... just like this mama bird, I am afraid to let her fly on her own.

I know I am being silly, and this is just another exciting stage in her life. I am excited to watch her learn and grow, but I will miss the innocence of being a young child. I went back and looked over a few things from when Ava was a baby and I just wanted to share them with you while I prepare myself to send my baby off to school....

This is part of a message I wrote to her when she was 13 months old...

... I love the way your hair sticks out in every direction when you sit up after a bottle, I love the way you tip your head to the side with a huge smile and hug me, I love how wobbly you walk, I love the way you say "duck", I love your cheeks, I love how happy you are in the morning, I love seeing your mind grow, I love watching you squat down to look at things, I love the way you laugh, I love the way you stuff handfuls of Cheerios in your mouth, I love finding you in a different position every time I check on you while you are sleeping, I love the way you throw food on the floor and then look at it as if you are surprised that it is there, I love the way your eyes look when they are tired, I love the touch of your hand.... Good luck to her as she starts this new and exciting time in her life.... please keep me in your thoughts as I sob when I send her off to kindergarten with her new backpack and lunch box.