Engagement Session: Amanda & Nick

CHICAGO ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER

Meet Amanda & Nick...They are getting married downtown next July, and last weekend we got together to snap some engagement photos.  Amanda and Nick---you are such a gorgeous couple!  Thanks for braving the cold and the pending rain :)  Special thanks to Amanda and Nick's wedding planner, the fabulous Heather Meibach of Heather Ever Present  who helped out during the shoot, as well as Ashley Condron for hair and Rachel Reiman for makeup!  

More Than Worth the Wait

It's been a while since I've blogged ... have been busy getting everything finished up personally and professionally in anticipation of our little one!! She was 14 days late and even then had to be encouraged to make an appearance...but she is finally here!!

Vela Carina Sitzes (pronounced Vay-lah) was born July 21st at 12:05 am.  8 lbs 7oz, healthy as can be and just beautiful.  I'd made a playlist for her birth, and when she was born Ingrid Michaelson's "I can't help falling in love with you" was playing...and I just broke down upon meeting her.  We never found out the sex so there was no way to know for sure---but I had secretly thought it was her all along.

You see, her name has a very special story behind it.  My name "Giana" came to my own mother in a dream well before she was ever pregnant.  So when she did have a baby girl years later, she used the name.  My mother passed away 5 years after I was born, but I have always known the story of where my name came from.

The summer after Eric and I got married, I woke up in the middle of the night with the name "Vela" stuck in my head like glue.  I'd never heard it before but loved it and couldn't help but think that maybe it was a message from my own mom? A name for a child down the road perhaps...

Then some months later I thought to google the name Vela.  One of the first couple hits was a Wikipedia description...it made my heart stop.

(from the Wikipedia definition)
Vela is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the sails of a ship, and it was originally part of a larger constellation, the ship Argo Navis, which was later divided into three parts, the others being Carina and Puppis.

Carina was my mothers name.

I know in my heart my mom was whispering in my ear that night 2 years ago.  It's magical to now have Vela home with us.  She is without a doubt the most amazing blessing Eric and I have ever received, and I cherish the fact that we will some day get to share this story with her.  

It may be a bit before I blog again...gonna spend some time with the prettiest baby in the world...but everyone asks where her name came from so thought this might be one way to get the story out there.  Also---I think a nice reminder for anyone who has lost a loved one...that they are never truely gone...always there, watching over us...and occasionally even whispering to us in our sleep.

Happy One Month Anniversary!

ST. LOUIS WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

This was a very special wedding to me for so many reasons!  The bride has been in my life for going on 15 years now.  In that span of time she has been a best friend, room mate (more than once!), sorority sister, co-worker (also more than once :), fellow Hanes House member, hat flicker-off'er (yes...I did look dumb in that hat)...through all of this she has become more like a sister to me than anything else.  People always ask how I feel about taking pictures at the weddings of dear friends---and honestly I love it because having that added level of intimacy between yourself and your subject does nothing but good!

There is a downside of course...in my case---I'm a bit of a sap (my husband likes to sing TLC's 'don't go chasing waterfalls' to me whenever I get welled up....and let's just say I feel like I hear that song a fair amount!) So it can be a bit tough to fire off the shot you really want if you are busy wiping tears from your face!  This wedding was no exception!

Amy you were the most beautiful bride...and Tom, ya just looked dapper and handsome as hell!  The rain tried to cut our pictures short but thankfully we managed to get some in at Union Station and the beautiful St. Louis Botanical Gardens before the skies opened up too much.  An absolutely perfect day! Congrats Mr. & Mrs. O'Brien ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Spring has sprung

OAK PARK PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER 

And then some! For those of you who live in Chicago...you know how lucky we have been this spring...with mild (heck WARM) temperatures in March! Makes for a beautiful backdrop when shooting outdoors! Everything is so bright and full!  A few shots from my session with Cameron and Tyler ...who were fun to chase around Oak Park's Chaney Mansion .

Dainty as Ever

CHICAGO PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER 

I've never seen a little one with a cuter 'step' than this little girl...Everton's walk is honest to goodness a mix of a tip toe and and a ballerina's step.  It is simply the cutest thing I've ever seen. Pretty much impossible to catch just how cute on camera...times like these I really should switch the 5D Mk II over to video!