Maternity: Shannon

Life moves crazy fast these days. I seriously cannot believe its March already! So I think its pretty important to take a minute every now and then to slow down and get all warm and fuzzy about something. And what better "something" is there than a baby?!
Shannon & Brian Pezzolla have already given birth to Chiara (Key-ah-ra) Mae Pezzolla. In fact.. she just turned 1 month old this past week! I seriously cannot believe it. And I'm sure the proud parents are trying to wrap their minds around it as well. And while I have already shot some adorable newborn photos of little miss Chiara.. I want to share Shannon's maternity shoot first. Because that's the way it happened. Obviously.
This is actually part 1 of 2. We decided to just shoot Shannon by herself at home for a little bit. Going for something easy.. very lifestyle, comfy and low maintenance.. but still have it be drop dead gorgeous. I think you'll agree with me when I say that these turned out to be exactly what we were going for!
Oh so much love went into shooting and working on these.. and really hope ya'll love them! 

We spent a little time in the nursery. Shannon hadn't quite finished putting it together.. but it was too stinking cute not to include in the shoot.

Love love love how she included the sonogram of baby Chiara in the room. And by the way, behind that picture frame is wall paper that Shannon used to cover the back of a bookcase. Just love all the touches that Shannon put into this baby room! But not as much as I love the story behind this next photo. Shannon's momma was able to save and preserve the little shirt that baby Shannon wore on the way home from the hospital. And as life would have it, Shannon gave birth to Chiara in that same hospital! I mean.. come'on!!! How much warmer or fuzzier does it get??!

From there we shot a bit around the rest of the house using all the available light we had.

At this point we were going for a quick change, and I just had to have her pose a bit in front of this mirror she has at the end of a hallway. Totally spontaneous.. but turned out to be my favs from the shoot. Its amazing how casually beautiful these pics are!

At this point, I want to encourage any of you readers who are planning any kind of shoot for yourself.. to not feel pressured to buy new clothes. Yes.. its fun.. but it isn't necessary. There is always something perfectly random that is sitting in your closet that you can make work. As long as you feel cute and comfortable in it.. and your photographer isn't vetoing it.. if you put a bit of thought in to your "look".. it'll work! Ironically.. these last photos have nothing to do with what Shannon is wearing and everything to do with that beautiful baby belly.

I love how this shoot started with a cool morning light.. and as the shoot progressed and we moved into a different area of the house.. the photos warmed up. It is such a pretty transition! Anyway.. I don't know what more I could say to convey to you all just how proud I am of these photos. As I've heard other photographers say.. I have yet to take my favorite photo. But the more I shoot, the more I find myself warming up to the idea that all of my hard work and dedication might be paying off. I am definitely my biggest critic but I am happy to report that these pictures make that critical part of me take a step back and think "hmm.. well, I definitely don't hate this!" :)

Anyway.. enough about me. Shannon & Brian... you have a 1 month old baby girl!! How insanely awesome is that?!! These last few months have flown by and I hope that this little blog post helps things slow down for just a moment. Can't wait to show off the rest of your maternity shoot and then of course, the photos of your pride and joy.. Chiara. Until then, enjoy every tiny little moment of parenthood and steal every tiny little moment of sleep that you can. And God bless your Amazonian family!   xo