Happy Birthday Haven

Posted on January 31, 2010

I’m posting a few shots of little Haven on her second birthday….labeling this as “a little of both”, because it’s both personal and business related. I pretty much always have my camera with me, so even when I’m a birthday party, I’m gonna be taking some pics of cute kids! Can’t help it. Haven is my godchild ~ and is obviously easy to photograph! You gotta love those curls! I met Christelle, her Mom, when we were both fairly new to Los Angeles, in our twenties and what some would call party girls. Let’s just say we had a LOT of fun in those days. We were roommates for awhile as well, and could mostly be found either at the gym or at a bar, when we weren’t working as waitresses. Oh yes, I spent many years waiting tables….with a college degree, much to my mother’s dismay. It was the best job to have during that time in my life ~ I could sleep in and enjoy my days off, go to work at night, then meet up with friends for drinks. Rinse and repeat….many times! Aaaahhh…..life before kids. Seems like a million years ago (mostly because it was!) but I do kinda miss the carefree-ness of those days..yes, I know that isn’t a word. There is no such thing as carefree once you have a child, and then two more – at the same time. Yeah, kinda changes things. But Christelle and I have remained close friends all these years…..sure it was different after I had Reece – for a little while there, it was very difficult for either of us to understand each other! I was the first of my friends in LA to have kids – I often felt as if no one could possibly ever understand what I was going through. My evolution as a parent wasn’t an easy one. It was filled with self-doubt, anxiety and a good bit of depression. Motherhood wasn’t what I had envisioned it to be. Eventually I found my way back to sanity, and just when that happened, I got pregnant with twins….and Reece was diagnosed with Autism….but that’s a story for another day.

Getting back to matter at hand – Haven and her curls on her birthday – I am so thankful that I could be there to help document her special day. I think she had a blast! So did we.