Mother of the Month - Liz
I met Liz years and years ago when I first photographed her and her family. Since then I have been lucky enough to capture special moments in their lives and create some of my favorite photographs together!
1.) Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family, how you decided to have kids, what your hobbies are, etc.
My husband and I met as teachers 22 years ago. When we met I was a new teacher and dedicated my every ounce of energy to teaching. After 4 years of teaching in a very high needs school I hit burnout. I ended up changing careers completely to become a Real Estate broker. We had planned on starting a family but I wanted some more time settling into my new career.
Also, at this time I was very into my hobby. My husband and I were very passionate bicycle racers. I used to travel to races and join pro teams from time to time as a guest rider.
After a little over 5 years of marriage we decided to start trying for a child. I was surprised that after a few years of trying for our own child I still wasn’t pregnant. I had always imagined getting pregnant would be easy. I still wasn’t worried because I thought the reason for my difficulty getting pregnant was my vigorous exercising as a bike racer.
When a few other bike racing friends had successful pregnancies I started to get a bit worried. I visited my doctor to see what could be done for my fertility and/or my husband’s. For a few years we tried very hard to conceive. I cut back on biking and racing and he did too. I read many fertility books and articles, visited a fertility expert, and followed a few different fertility methods. I was crushed when still no pregnancy.
We considered adoption and were looking into options. It seemed the month I had had given up all hope that I would become pregnant that I in fact became pregnant. The pregnancy and birth were very smooth.
A few months after my daughter was born my husband found out he has Multiple Sclerosis. I knew there was a chance he’d lose mobility and other symptoms. We decided after his diagnosis to not have any more children.
2.) Tell us why you decided to have professional family photographs taken and why you trusted Jen to take these special photos.
Having a professional photoshoot of my daughter (and sometimes a whole family photoshoot) was always important to me. When I was growing up my parents had our family get professional photos every couple of years. Those photos were always special to us and were framed on our living room wall. I always knew that was something I wanted to do with my family as well.
I was first introduced to Jen’s work when I was on a mom’s email group for our neighborhood. At the time my daughter was 3 1/2 years old. I had been thinking about a photographer but hadn’t found the right one. Jen came highly recommended so I checked out her work.
I am am not an expert in photography, but instantly I knew she had something special to her photos that I loved. I was drawn to her use of light. The connection she was able to capture between her clients and the camera in her photos was beautiful. My daughter was pretty shy and I knew I needed a skilled photographer to help her relax and connect. Jen did exactly that.
I have to admit that she far exceeded my expectations. Her photos were and continue to be everytime-amazing!
3.) Please feel free to include anything else you find interesting about you or your parenting philosophy (ex. books you read, tips or tricks, etc.)
There is a lot I could say because I worried too much about everything. My advice is to follow your gut and relax :)
Don’t wait for someone else to recognize that you need a break - make your own me time.