Cindy + Mike = One Rockin' Maternity Session!

Mike & Cindy are two of our absolute dearest friends. They are definitely some of our "AZ Family" as our blood family is so far. Their friendship means the world to us. We have been praying for this baby for YEARS and so we, of course, had to celebrate little Brielle's impending arrival with an awesome photo shoot! We had so much fun with this, and Cindy chose the most amazing outfits (definitely my fav is the blue & orange dress that makes her the hottest mama on the planet!!) She also wanted some locations that communicated "new life." Check out the insanely green grass and sunflowers!

M+C: You 2 are going to be incredible parents. This new role that God has designed for you will be the highest calling you will ever have, and I have no doubt you will answer amazingly. Brielle is one lucky girl. I can't wait to continue this adventure with you...all the way til our children are wed and beyond!! :) Love you both!

Difficult to decide which of these next two is my favorite...love them both so much!

HOT MAMA!

Back In Business!!

The last three months have been so great. Thanks for being patient with me as I took the summer off to have my baby and be with him for awhile. But, I am so excited because over the past week I have had two awesome sessions! This is Grace and Charles, celebrating their anniversary with a fun photo shoot!

And a view of what is to come in the near future...

A new logo...why not have new cards, new website, new everything?! Stay tuned!

FREE iPOD!!!

Hey Seniors!! Check it out! The first TEN seniors to book a session for the fall semester will be entered in a drawing to win either a brand new 16GB iPod Nano with a video camera OR an 8GB iPod Touch! AND...if you purchase $100 worth of prints or the $125 CD, you will be entered TWICE! In order to be entered, you must send a $50 deposit to reserve your date which must be before the semester is over. Please email me to inquire about available dates. Can't wait to hear from you!!

Session Rates: You get up to 2 hours of my time and incredible talent :), one location of your choice, 3 outfits changes to showcase your style as only you can, and 50 edited images uploaded into your very own online gallery for just $100.

Print Prices: All images are professionally printed on high-quality paper with a lustre finish. Name and graduation year can be added to any size for $5 per image. Here they are...4x6 ($3), 5x7 ($4), 8x10 ($6), 11x14 ($12), 8 wallets ($6).

CD Prices: To get your own copies of your photos to copy, print, and upload til your heart's content, you must pay $50 for 10 images, $125 for 30 images, or $200 for 50 images.

Just a reminder of the goodness of a FREE iPod...

More Gushing...

I just love him :)

Enjoy Greyson's various photoshoots...he is 5 1/2 weeks already!

Introducing...

Greyson Vincent DeZago!  I am so proud and excited to let you all know that he is finally here!  Greyson was born at 8:45 pm on Friday, July 17th.  He weighed a whopping 9 pounds 4 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long!  He has TONS of dark hair like his daddy and is just beautiful!  Friday was a tough day, as I was in labor beginning at 2 am.  We went to the hospital around 5:30 and they asked me to walk for an hour and see what that did.  It progressed me another cm, so they decided to admit me as I was finally in actual labor!  Long story short...I ended up having three (YES, count them) THREE epidurals because for some reason my spine doesn't take to them very well.  And guess what?  The third one wore off too!  And just in time to push.  So, I went through two agonizing hours of pushing with no medication.  Finally they decided after two hours that I was making NO progress and it was time for a c-section.  So, they zipped me off to the OR and gave me the best numbing stuff I'd had all day!  Greyson was then quickly delivered at 8:45 pm.  When they told me how much he weighed, I thought he was someone else's baby!  Then, I realized that he would have never made it out with all the pushing in the world!  Crazy kid.  :)  Anyway, we got home from the hospital Monday afternoon and have been falling in love ever since.  Here are some photos that tell his story.  

His first bath.  I just love this confused look he gets...he is so good at it!

All cleaned up!  I love those eyes. :)

This is Greyson's Yankee outfit.  He looked so handsome in it.  :)

The TWO men in my life.  I LOVE this shot of daddy.

Another shot of the Yankee outfit.  This was the day we brought him home!

Dan has been posting updated pictures on Greyson's very own website.  So click here to view those.  And keep checking back because I will definitely be posting updates consistently. 

5 Years Ago Today...

I made one of the best decisions of my life...I married my best friend.  [Sappy post alert... :)]  The last five years have been full of so many ups and downs, but I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else by my side.  God has used Dan in countless ways, to teach me countless lessons...most of which I am still learning.  For those of you that know us both, you know there couldn't be two more opposite people :).  Dan wasn't my "plan."  Dan loves to sit at his computer doing who-knows-what for more hours than I can stay awake in a day, he hates any food that grows from the ground [exception: mashed potatoes], he had never been camping before he married me, he didn't understand the point of owning a puppy, he's a die-hard Yankees fan, and he is the most literal, exacting, calculated person I have ever known.  But, he loves Jesus with all his heart, he has a faith that challenges mine every day, he wants nothing more than to use what has been given to him to serve God and help others, he works so incredibly hard to support his family, he is enormously creative, he is always coming up with new and better ways to do things, he is a high school boy at heart [and I hope he never loses that], he loves his unborn son more than words can say, and he is my very best friend.  I know this is a really long post, but I just wanted you all to know how incredibly proud I am of my husband.  I wouldn't be who I am today without him.  He is God's biggest tool [in a good way!] in my life.  

I love you with all my heart and I know that as we enter this adventure called parenthood, I will love you even more than I can imagine.  Thank you for being you, because I can't imagine life any other way.

july 10, 2004:

Some Fun Shots :]

A few weeks ago, Dan and I took a weekend trip to Flagstaff just to get away.  It was sort of a pre-baby, early-anniversary, let's-get-out-of-the-heat trip.  While up there, we drove up to one of our favorite places we've camped, Lockett Meadow, and took some "maternity" shots.  Dan did a great job since it was just the 2 of us, and the ones with both of us in them are a product of the timer and a nice stump.  They didn't turn out half bad, if I do say so myself!  So, here we are...about 35 weeks pregnant.  

P.S. - I really love all the lines that the aspen trees create.  Made for some interesting images, I think.  And, if you ever get a chance to head up past Flagstaff, make the trek up the 3 mile dirt road to Lockett Meadow.  It is amazing and definitely worth it.  :)

Still Here...

...and still pregnant.  This month has been a super dry blogging month.  Sorry.  I have been "done" with photo shoots for a little while.  [By done, I mean on a break for baby].  Anyway, June has been a busy month of getting the house ready, the nursery finished [finally!], and keeping my feet up.  So, that last thing is the biggest reason for not much blogging.  I use a desktop computer now and have found that sitting at it for any period of time causes my feet to swell to ginormous proportions.  NOT. FUN.  

Another excuse is that lately (the last week) I have had countless contractions (some that were very painful!) and have even been able to time them at regular intervals.  All of this excitement has led me to think baby is on his way sooner than expected.  So I've been kind of on edge.  And then yesterday morning I timed these said contractions at 3-4 minutes apart for over an hour.  (That is the threshold point for get your butt to the hospital!)  I called the Dr and they said, "go now."  So, that's exactly what I did.  Dan was at work 40 minutes away (too long when even the triage lady on the phone sounded concerned) so I called my dear friend Cindy and she excitedly zoomed over to drive me.  Dan met us there and we waited and waited...hooked up to the monitor for a long time.  Then we walked around the entire hospital for an hour.  Then we waited some more.  THEN they sent us home.  Still at 3 cm...which is apparently a "generous" reading.  So, I am just hanging out...walking, resting, doing laundry, and trying to keep my mind occupied.  One week til the due date.  Which, when I think about it, is NOTHING compared to all the time Greyson will be here in our lives.  So, I am trying to be patient and trusting that in HIS perfect timing, the God of the universe will allow our little boy to enter this world.  I know He has the perfect birthday picked out.  And you can rest assured that when that day comes, there will be a PLETHORA of photos posted on this blog.  Til then...

4 posts in 1 day?!

YES!  And you know why?  Its because I am DONE with work for the summer!!!  Woohoo!!  I love it when summer comes every year, but this year is particularly awesome because this summer brings major changes in our house!  We are sooo close to the arrival of our little boy, and we can't wait.  AND, I can't wait to see my feet again!  So, today I have been catching up on blog posting that should have been done a long time ago.  And I also realized that I haven't posted anything about the baby in a really really long time.  

So here goes...We have named him Greyson Vincent DeZago (a mouthful, I know, but we love it)!  Vincent is after Dan's grandpa who passed away last year.  And Greyson is just a name we love.  I am 34 1/2 weeks right now, anticipating the impending arrival of the long-awaited 9th month.  :)  AND, the painting in the nursery is officially complete!  In case you can't tell from the following photos, we are theming his room "vintage baseball" and have taken waaay too many hours painting pinstripes to please my Yankees-loving husband.  :)  This said husband (who is pretty much incredible, by the way) has also stained the bookshelf and dresser to match the crib.  I love him.  :)  Don't they look awesome?  So, enjoy the update photos of the nursery...and of the growing bump (which is more like a mountain at this point!)

My already-spoiled son has a closet full of more clothes than I do!!


And the tired, stretched-out, sore, and SUPER-excited mama :)
My view...notice somethings missing?  The very swollen feet!  Nope, I can't see them either!