Seattle Black and White Maternity Photographer - July Mother of the Month
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself, Kudo and how you met. Why you decided to have kids, and why you decided to have a big family. Was it an easy process?
I’m a former producer/director turned stay at home wife and mom to four boys under six years old. Kudo and I met at a mutual friend’s party in Chicago, where he was living at the time and I was visiting from New York. I happened to reference the Mets, Kudo’s favorite baseball team, during our introduction and we clicked immediately! We planned our first date in New York and realized we shared another friend, who ended up joining us on our 'first date', which really put me at ease. Initially we were in a long distance relationship and we spent a lot of time getting to know each other via email and over the phone. Because of this we developed a really strong connection with each other.One thing that I really loved about Kudo early on was his big heart and seeing him with children. He's a big kid himself, but I knew he was going to be an awesome and involved dad after seeing him with his nieces and nephews. He is the middle child of 6 siblings and I have 3 siblings. Having a big family seemed natural and we always imagined more than one kiddo. We are so very fortunate to have our incredible boys!
2. What is your secret to happiness?
My children really help me with the happiness thing. After having a fulfilling career and stepping back to focus on raising my kids, I realized it's something I truly love to do. I used to work on commercial and film sets and I find there are so many parallels to raising children. Any given day on set or now in my life, there's a basic outline of what needs to get accomplished even when unexpected challenges pop up. There's the talent, now kiddos, that need to be juggled and you constantly have to prioritized various needs and wants. Also, similar to a film crew, we have a village of family and friends that are all helping us to achieve the same goal. So having the mindset that I haven't completey lost my career, but transcended it into something greater with more purpose has been pivotal for my happiness.I also think taking time for myself ultimately keeps me sane!! I love reading, date nights with my husband, girls’ nights and going to concerts.
3. Tell me about why you decided to have professional maternity photographs, and why you trusted me to take these special photos.
These past several years have been a bit of a whirlwind with pregnancies and babies and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the beauty and amazingness of becoming a mother to another little human. As soon as I saw your photographs I knew you were the one who could capture this. Photography can be such an intimate and vulnerable thing and after speaking with you, I felt comfortable with you and knew that we were after the same thing. Taking the pictures in your studio, with Rihanna playing in the background, I felt beautiful in my skin and was able to take a moment to appreciate what my body is capable of.I look forward to years from now, remembering our time together in your studio and reflecting on how incredible this time in my life was. Thank you so much again!!!
4. Please feel free to include anything else you like that is interesting about you or your parenting philosophy. AKA books you read, or like whatever. I am particularly interested in your multicultural family and how you are empowering yourself and your kids.
Family is huge in our lives and our children's lives. Two of my siblings, my dad and two cousins live in the PNW, along with my husband’s eldest brother living in the Bay Area. We FaceTime often with my mom and also have extended family members visiting often. Our children get to interact regularly with their very diverse family members (Black, White, Japanese, East Indian, Taiwanese), people of all skin colors that love them with no judgement. These have been the most important concepts that we have been teaching our children; family values and that everybody loves everybody. We are starting with that as our foundation and will continue to expose them to their cultures as well as others.
For more stories and photographs please visit the Mother of the Month blog. or visit again next month. I post every month.
