Jacqueline Horning Photography

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We had a baby!

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Well friends, I'm sharing a post I drafted, oh, two months ago maybe?  I had one image to add and never got to it, so this post sat.  Hillary and Dan's wedding came and went and kept me busy, and it sat.  But finally!  It's fun to read something I wrote when she was about six weeks old since life already seems oh so different.  So, enjoy!  Here's a glimpse of our early days with the little darling.  (Although, at the time I was calling her my little tiger since she was so full of passion.)

                                                                                 ....................From April 20th, 2014:  ..................................

She's here!  Our little peanut (I'll call her baby e) surprised us and everyone else by coming three days early.  We met her just over a month ago and wow have these weeks flown by.  She is wonderful.  I really wasn't prepared for how much I'd enjoy her simply because she's ours.   

So, if you noticed things have been a little quiet around here for the past month or so, now you know why.  I knew I'd want to take a break from all things JHP and focus on our wee one, but I didn't expect it to be so hard to find a few hours to write this entry.  It turns out everyone is right: newborns take tons of time!  So, don't mind the crickets around here.  We're busy with more important matters.  :)

[click images to enlarge]

She's sleeping in our bedroom for now and I finally moved her changing station to our bureau too.  Why did I (ahem, more like P) spend weeks walking down the hall at all hours of the night for diaper changes?  Yes, he's awesome and when getting up was still an ordeal for me would wake up just to change a diaper.   

I used to dread the nights - bedtime just meant the unknown of how much I'd sleep and how long I'd spend rocking a baby in the dark, watching the clock move towards dawn.  Thankfully she's a decent sleeper and I no longer get depressed at dinnertime.  I may nod off during a 2am feeding and celebrate when I get more than three hours of sleep in a row...oh newborns...but I'm still happy to see her every few hours when her belly wakes us both. 

................................. And that's where I left off.  Baby girl, you've come along way in just 14 weeks.  I can't get my head around the fact that you'll be sitting, crawling, and walking one day - then growing up?!  Oh my.  

Thanks for being excited with us!  I have more to share here, but in the meantime, I post images from my iphone to instagram or my VSCO grid.  Feel free to follow along.  

(Also: More newborn photos for your baby fever.)   

Happy Mother's Day! (one day late)

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Happy Mother's Day to all!  I'm belated in posting this but still wanted to share this little excerpt. 

This was my first Mother's Day.  It was fabulous.  I am in love with our little one and feel so grateful to be her mom.  A card from my parents offered their wish: "May your day be filled with joy as you consider the precious gift given to you and P."  That's exactly what it was.  Thank you, Mom and Dad.  I get it - 10 weeks worth anyway - of what you must feel watching your three kids and three grandkids hang out around the table.  

P and I were gifted a book when our little E was born called Morning Song: Poems for New Parents.  I've loved reading through it (and reading some to e - she's currently indifferent to poetry) and wanted to share this:

"To love an other only for being." 

It's one little line from Denise Levertov's "Relearning the Alphabet" and it ran through my head yesterday.  It's why the joy of being a parent doesn't make any sense; it's a lot of work, money, and sacrifice, yet every parent I know loves it.  Since we live in a culture that celebrates life free of responsibility or limits, it's encouraging to me when hard or sacrificial things in life, like marriage and children, are also the most important, most life-giving, and most worth celebrating.

Wishing the best to you and yours - and to your mother.   

and two from the iphone:

Archiving Keepsakes [simplify]

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What a great idea!  In the spirit of newborn sessions and babies being born to so many people I love, I thought I'd share this idea.  Artifact Uprising is a relatively new company and I love their products.  (So much so that I offer them in at least one of my packages!)  

One photographer showed how she uses their photo books to preserve her son's artwork without keeping binders full of paintings.  I see this being helpful in the coming years...:)  Take a look!

I also see this as a great way to turn a photo book into a scrapbook.  I don't let myself keep train ticket stubs or maps from vacations, but it could be fun to photograph them and incorporate them into a photo book.  Especially now that there are apps like tiny scan and fast scan that let you easily take a picture from your phone and create a pdf.  The sentimental side of me is happy. 

Valentine's Day: our plans and my stance on flowers

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pete and i and the bump in november

pete and i and the bump in november

What are your plans?  After working for a big florist over Valentine's Day one year (during a snowstorm.  people were NOT happy and I got my feet wet in customer service!), I've told P not to bother to get me flowers for the holiday.  Although, we were just in Whole Foods and their roses looked glorious!  Maybe I'll change my stance next year.  ;)  

Tonight, we're making Fish Tacos together from this cookbook.  Have you heard of it?  I promise it's more PG than it sounds.  P's idea.  I'm a fan.  

Enjoy the weekend!  And, a reminder from a favorite blog of mine: it's not ok to steal kisses.