The Mattivi Family: New Braunfels Photographer

A few weeks back, I got to photograph my friend Tara and her gorgeous family. Our girls used to go to school together, so it's always fun to catch up, and marvel at how grown up everyone's getting.

Cute fam. I love the outfit choices too!

LOVE Miss Olivia's smile with her happy, half-moon eyes.

Stunning mommy.

I posted this one before on Shutter Sisters, but had to put it up again because Miss Olivia took the shot. It's my favorite of them, because I know they're looking at their daughter through the lens. Sweet.

Shawn was so happy when the train went by, he could hardly contain himself! :)

I ADORE this one. It was taken in between set up for another shot, and I barely grabbed it. Totally goes to show how quickly you can miss the best moments if you're not paying attention. Or if you're always focused on what's next. 

And maybe my favorite shot of the whole session was posted on Shutter Sisters a couple weeks ago. It's my take on The Beatle's Abbey Road album cover. You can check it out here, if you want.

Thanks cute Mattivi's!

Oh, and did anyone see this link at Photojojo? You take a picture wherever you are, and upload it to the Earth Mosaic Project. Sounds fun! Not that I will have time to be working on any fun projects today, BUT...maybe you will. :)

I would like to say again how much I've been appreciating all the emails and comments that everyone has been sending. And if you're waiting for a response from me about anything, I promise I'm trying to work my way out of the mountain of editing and emails that accumulated over my the last week. In the mean time, Happy Hump Day!   :)

eleven days

I just realized it's been eleven days, and so much has happened since the mack truck moment. I want to give you an update. More importantly, I WANT TO THANK EACH AND EVERY PERSON who reached out to me over the past week. Whether it was by commenting here, or on facebook, or by email, or by phone...I was completely OVERWHELMED by your support, and your encouragement, your stories, your laughs, and your Kindess. For a girl who has a hard time letting people "in", and especially asking for help... I was bowled over. A million thank yous. xo

So, to get you caught up on "The Sitch"... we don't know much more than when I last posted. But I did have surgery on Friday. They took out the melanoma, as well as a lymph node (apparently you have lots of them). We'll know whether or not it spread by the end of the week. The doctor said everything "looked good". Whatever that means, I'll take it. Especially coming from my crusty, old Vietnam Veteran surgeon.

And I sound all brave when I wrap up the experience into the conciseness of "I had surgery". Closer to the truth is that I freaked, and begged Jason to ask his mom to come out with only a day's notice "to watch the kids". Mostly I was being a baby, and wanted a mom in the house. Thank you Maretta! 

Then there was DD And Katy On The Day Of Surgery. They bounded through the door in the morning, and within 5 minutes, were on a first name basis with the entire hospital staff. Doing all kinds of inappropriate things, like taking pictures of my urine sample "for the scrapbook". And telling the nurse that they need to re-check me for illegal drugs, "especially crack". Katy held my hand while I had radio isotopes injected into my hip, even though she hates needles and her hand was as clammy as mine. The best was when the been-there-done-that-a-million-times surgeon came in. They asked him if he could "do a quick boob job through the lymph node incision"... then when he closed the curtain to check me alone, Katy yelled "Maile if you feel uncomfortable at any time, you just let us know!" I don't know what I would have done without them to take my mind off all that was happening. Especially toward the end, when my thumbs started turning in. Since I was a teenager, when I get really nervous, my thumbs uncontrollably turn into my hands. I never knew what it was until my third birth, when the nurse told me I was hyperventilating. Oh! Breathing helps. And so does that "twilight" medication they give you. All I remember is being very cold on a table, and then waking up with unfrozen thumbs. AND a bunch of nasty scars, that have forever killed my aspirations of becoming a bikini model. God, I was so close.

And that's where we are now. Still waiting, but optimistic. And also feeling the need to rant just a little about the medical system. Without going into tedious detail, I will say that in order to make this surgery happen, I literally had to stop working, and DEVOTE MY ENTIRE WEEK to making sure everyone had the paperwork they needed. WHO KNEW IT WAS SO HARD TO FAX A DOCUMENT?! And why are they not digital anyway?! Not to mention the asinine insurance prerequisites... like needing a referral from a primary care physician whom I've never even MET. Four hours of waiting for a FIVE MINUTE signature from a stranger, who is okay-ing a surgery she knows nothing about. I feel SO SORRY for people with on-going medical issues, who have to deal with this circus of a system on a regular basis.

Alright, that's enough, and this is getting long. But I do want to leave on a happy note. A lovely post here, that speaks of everything that has become so clear to me recently.

And today is my Annie Bean's 6th birthday! As my good friend Amber would say, "My teeny tiny little newborn baby is SIX!". And as my Mom always says, "I'm so glad you were born". 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETNESS. XO

mack truck

I spent my childhood on beaches, and consequently in the offices of dermatologists. They always resulted in a phone call where the doctor ended her sentence with the word "benign". Yesterday her sentence ended with the word "melanoma". And it was a mack truck, complete with headlights and sirens. And there were words after that one, like "borderline" and "surgery" and "lymph nodes". And I couldn't hear the ones in between because my throat was swelling. And I was concentrating really hard on handling it like my sterile white-cloaked doctor. As if life is all about information and action plans.

But all I could think about was checking my kids out of school so I could hug them.

And then she hung up. And I sat with the dumped word in my lap, quietly. The Uncomfortable Silence Of Waiting. And the painful realizing that lots of the pieces of your life and your story cannot be controlled. And while some days are about fighting, and creating, and doing. Other days are about helplessly waiting. It's the suspended anticipation between a fist and a face. I hate those moments. 

And so I freaked out. I cancelled appointments. I scared the shit out of myself on WebMD. And then my awesome, amazing friends and family filled in the space between facts and hysteria.

And after processing the information, I'm feeling much better. As it stands, it has progressed JUST enough for me to need surgery. And I think they are mostly checking the lymph nodes as a precautionary measure. And while I have all kinds of reasons to be hopeful, I'm still seriously pissed that my first surgery was not for new boobs.  :)

All kidding aside, I've even had time to become a little grateful for this moment that stunned me into realizing how fragile it all is. These lives we work on, and count on, are precarious. Enjoy everything now. And WEAR SUNSCREEN.  :)

Chic Mama: Maternity Clothing San Antonio

Chic Mama is not just maternity anymore! Most of you know that the owner (otherwise known as DD Cobbalisciousness) is a fabulous fashionista, and also one of my best friends. She's been telling me about all the changes for a while, but I haven't had a chance to see everything in person. So last night when I spotted these on the Chic Mama facebook page, I freaked out, and stole the photos off her site immediately. I want all of these dresses right now! They are the perfect cut for every body type. And how much is that hot pink dress begging for turquoise accessories?! Love the grey one too. Totally perfect for summer. So if you're in San Antonio, go swing by her store this weekend. She has awesome prices, and I know the Maxi dresses are flying off her racks. I also know she's been shipping stuff all over the country lately. So you can call her to order, even if you're not in town. (210) 545-7217

Also, remember if you spend $100 at Chic Mama, you will receive $100 off a photo session with me! Just bring your receipt to your session.

And one more thing. This is like the best deal in town. DD's been having a regular drawing called the Chic Mama Of The Month. If you win, you receive a free makeover, (including haircut, color, styling, makeup artistry), PLUS a FREE mini maternity session with me, and a whole bunch of amazing products and goodies from the store. Here are the past two winners that we've worked with over the last two months. I've been meaning to post about this forever. In terms of winning drawings, I think this is one where your chances are pretty good. And you get SO MUCH when you win!

 

And look at what else she's doing, too. After you get your sonogram here, you can have it printed on a T Shirt, HERE. I think this would be such a cute way to tell someone you're pregnant, or to announce the gender of your baby. So definitely check it out. There's even more I wanted to write about. But I have to get ready to get GRAMMY at the airport! She's flying in from Kentucky again. The kids have been counting down, and we are pretty excited too!

Have a fabutastical weekend! xx

George to the world!

This morning, the sky was like a cosmic West Side Story dance. In one corner, the clouds were ominous and black, faintly seizing with the flickers of lightning. In the other, they were rimmed with happy sunrise promises. I love it when this happens because the sun is low enough to cast side-lighting. And the clouds are also low enough to bounce it back down and disperse it over you, like you're in the middle of a snow globe.

But just as I was thinking about grabbing my camera, the storm rolled through. And then Annie threw up all over the living room floor. We had finally found her shoes, her backpack. I'd just gotten her hair braided, and up came breakfast. Poor baby. And poor Houlihans restaurant (I guess). Because I'd been blaming them all weekend for my "food poisoning". Guess it's a virus after all. And here we go again. 

And as if my morning wasn't crazy enough, not five minutes after Annie pukes, Emily is up, belting her favorite song down the stairs (in nothing but her underwear of course), "GEORGE TO THE WORLD! Listen to the sea...listen to the sea!" And it makes me laugh, not just because it's a Christmas carol in March. But because it's so much more creative than the same old, predictable "Joy to the world!"

So I have some snaps from the Oregon trip. I had originally planned to spend a week with these wonderful girls, here. And then stuff happened which made me have to cut everything short. It was a bummer, but the time I got to spend with my mom and sister was incredible. And had it not been for the Photogirls retreat, and being in Oregon anyway, I don't think we'd have thought to plan something with just the three of us. Because it's one kind of wonderful when you visit with families. Kids and husbands get to play, while you make meals and do laundry, and squeeze fun moments in between the care-taking. This time, we just got to play. We stayed up, and slept in, went to flea markets, visited wineries, and pretty much spent the ENTIRE weekend laughing. I think I almost forgot that that's also how we spent our entire childhood, too. 

This was the cutest restaurant, converted from an old church. They make fresh bread every day, and the food is beamed down on plates from heaven.

Bill came with us when we went wine tasting. Which was probably a good thing considering he only drinks root beer.   :)

Seems like every restaurant in Oregon is a microbrew. And one of my mom and Bill's favorites is Steelhead Brewery. And you get to sit in comfy chairs, too.

Bill took this one of my unsuspecting sister. I love her expression here.

One thing I'm always trying to get people to do with me here, is paint pottery. But my friends mostly pat me on the head, and say "um yeah, maybe next month." So it was fun to get to play with paint a little. 

Mine is a travel coffee cup with my name on it, so Jason can't steal it.

And these are random snaps I took on a rainy day around my mom's neighborhood.

Also, if you emailed about the Hot Mama shoot, I will get back to you asap. And please don't worry, if you had a space in the last one, you will have a space in this next one. 

Later homies.