Baby Mason 5 days new

Chicago Newborn Photographer

Got to shoot this sweet bundle a few weeks back.  Teeny tiny and oh so precious, he was a total doll to work with!!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Naperville Portrait Photographer

"Spotty showers" may be my new favorite weather prediction for portraits! Okay...Okay...I kid...rain of any kind on the forecast for a day I have an outdoor portrait session is cause for panic.  That said...if I HAVE to have rain...I will from hereon out wish for "spotty showers."

In the midst of this sweet little girl's 1st birthday session...the sky just opened up. We had about a minute of light showers to gather ourselves up...and right about the time we all made it to shelter in our vehicles...it just began outright pouring. Like crazy hard rain!

And then about 5 minutes later...it stopped as fast as it began.  And as we emerged from our cars...what did we see in the distance but a beau-ti-ful rainbow!!!  

It was such a gorgeous site!  But didn't hold a candle to the beauty in this tiny human.  With the rain delay and all...this was a longer session than I typically get out of babies this age --- and she endured the whole thing with a huge smile and no shortage of adorable personality! Sweet Caroline indeed.

Fall Catch-up Part II

Chicago Portrait Photographer

I'm baaaaaaack. And only a few short weeks (okay more like 3) later...congrats to me!  Just another quick review of some of my favorite fall portrait sessions.  

This last one was so bittersweet! It was my last session of 2012. I shot this sweet family when they were expecting their darling little girl...and again for her newborn session.  About a year later they got an amazing opportunity to ship off to Amsterdam...LUCKY!! But sad that it will be some time before I shoot them again.  Thanks to FB I can tell they are having an amazing time :)

Saying goodbye to Chicago :(

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.

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!