My Blog

May 01 2012

harrigan family {coronado island}

i met this adorable little family last year when Regina won a mini session. at the time her baby was tiny! and now Miss V is a adorable one + year old- walking (with a mission) and just amazingly independent (with a mission). its amazing how quickly time goes by when you have kids! it feels like yesterday that i met them! it was awesome to meet Regina’s partner in crime, Matt, who owns, according to my surfer hubby “the best surf shop” Surfy, Surfy in North County. i knew he was a surfer but discovering that he owned ‘the best surf shop in town’ was pretty rad :) it seemed fitting that they requested a beach session. so we headed over to Coronado (one of my personal favorites). apparently their little lady REALLY loves the beach. she was hysterical. she could not be bothered with me- the sand was far to amazing. and i gotta say, i don’t blame her! so we focused on fun, getting wet and sandy and jumping over waves. it was a blast. i really enjoyed getting to know this beautiful family.

next time we do a session, Harrigan’s, we are bringing out the boards for sure! maybe even a ‘shop’ session! i LOVED spending time with you all and hope we get the chance again!

xo, jenna

ok. seriously. her walk KILLED ME! it was so full of purpose and gusto i had to laugh every time i saw her on one of her ‘missions’. love this kid!

no comments

Apr 23 2012

and the winner is…..

George Flynn!! you -great- husband- you! you have won your lovely wife a photo session! (imagine virtual streamers and confetti falling).

ok. first i must say….THIS WAS SOOOO HARD!!! all of these comments were so touching, sweet, funny, endearing. i LOVED them all. and i LOVE you all for sharing them with not only me but the other 10 people who read my blog :) you all are incredible. i loved these stories because they were all so different. but all still recounted such joy, silliness, introspection and thoughtfulness.you all have grabbed these small moments out of life and kept them in your hearts. its just awesome. i gotta say, hearing a Daddy’s perspective and the way he shared the love and respect he has for his wife..wow….weepy city over here! i LOVED this story and i LOVED that he took the time to sneak away and write it for his wife. Nicole, hold on tight lady! its awesome, George, that you not only loved what these ladies did for you but that you really respected and thought about the amount of time and effort it took to create it. a lot of love went into that project and it was for sure not lost on you. and a lot of fun, silliness and laughter when into to creating each moment too! this was a seriously sweet little love note and i hope she sees it. :)

thank you ALL for taking the time to post these comments. i know its not easy these days with all that we have going on. but i love that you thought about it…took a second to remember this moment (or moments), wrote it down and shared it with us. i hope all of you amazing ladies have a wonderful Mother’s Day. i wish i could give each one of you a session with your beautiful children!

HUGE hugs,

jenna

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

As you all know (OR SHOULD KNOW!) Mother’s Day is right around the corner (May 13th). i absolutely LOVE Mother’s Day. i love it for so many reasons, most of which are obvious, but i also love this day because it truly bonds other Mommy’s. its a day where we all really nod our heads at each other and think “yup, i know what a HUGE job you have. i know what you have given up- i know what you have gained. i know at times you feel incredibly blessed and at others you feel incredibly overwhelmed. i know most of the time you probably don’t feel as appreciated as you should but i know most of the time you don’t care as much as you should. i know that you know a love that you never knew could exist and sometimes it just makes you gasp. it makes you feel both very, very grateful and also very scared”. i feel like on this day we are all on the same court, all at the same party, all on the same side, all knowing the same things about each other and loving each other because of it. as incredibly bonded as i feel to my daughter and hubby on this day , especially as i remember WHY i am able to celebrate it, i also feel incredibly blessed to be a part of such a incredible group of beings. Mommy’s are just awesome. simply put.

This is the deal. I really want to celebrate YOU, Mama. Therefore, these contests are only for Mommy’s (sorry if this creates a few drippy-droppy-tears for some). Daddy’s can jump in too! but you can only enter ONE contest. So lets do this!

COMMENT ON THIS POST AND WIN….A MINI SESSION!

HERE IS WHAT TO DO:

STEP 1: Mommy: In the comment section below, tell me about a time that your child {ren} helped (or made!) you completely let go of being “mature” and “in-control” and just helped you be totally silly and unabashed. What did you do?

Daddy: tell me about a time that you witnessed your partner completely let go- WITH your children- (hey, its a family blog), and thought ‘now THAT is hot!’. What was it and how did it make you look at her differently?

**Make it as long or as short as you want! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO COMMENT! Anyone {local} can win this one- of- a- kind prize! (i have images of a ‘leg lamp’ in my head right now)

STEP 2: ”like” my Facebook page (Jenna Rowe Photography) if you haven’t already. Do it! it will make your life so much better in so many fascinating ways.

THE LOVELY DETAILS:

* the mini session is 30 minutes and will be a very special session with just mama and child {ren}. location will be my choice but time and date are flexible.

* i will choose the best comment on May 7 at 5pm.

* i will announce the winner on my blog that day

* the session can be given as a gift but only to the mama who is in the photo you send and the person who will win the session (example: you can’t send in a photo of you with your child and give the session to a friend. BUT you can send in a photo of your spouse or daughter with her children and gift the session to her. the session winner must be in the photo.

* mini session must be redeemed by the end of October.

* good luck!!

~ OR ~

WIN A 15.00 CAFE CALABRIA GIFT CARD

Ok. Im a bit biased. i LOVE Calabria. And you will too! Give yourself a hour or so…. sit outside and enjoy the sounds of North Park all while inhaling the scent of fresh (in-house) roasting coffee beans and sipping the best cappuccino you have ever had (mainly because you are by yourself and you actually have a moment to taste it). feel free to invite me too! xo

HERE IS WHAT TO DO:

EMAIL ME a favorite photo of you and your child {ren} and tell me why it means so much to you…. how does it make you feel when you look at it?

Daddy’s: email me a favorite photo of your child {ren} with their Mommy and tell me why it is your favorite and what it means to you.

THE LOVELY DETAILS:

* you need to be a fan of my Facebook page (Jenna Rowe Photography). So go “like” me now if you haven’t already :0 if you are new to my page, let me know. write on my wall and say “Mom’s Rock!!!” no, you don’t have to do that. but introduce yourself for sure.

* email me the favorite photo at jenna@jennarowe.com, SUBJECT: MOTHER’S DAY CONTEST. tell me why you love this image so much. it does NOT have to be a good photo at all! this is not a photo critique. but it has to mean something special to you. or at least remind you of a really special time. share as much as you want or as little as you want! this is not a writing contest either :)

* email your photos by May 7 at 5pm

“WHAT? you ask!? how can she do this? its incredible! amazing!”

all joking aside, its because i love you dear reader. and i LOVE Mama’s. And its Mother’s Day. Almost. on the 13th…of May…. [eh, hem. paul]

my turn….

This is one of my favorite images of me and my daughter. It feels like I took it yesterday but it was more like 2 years ago. We were having so much fun.

Its not the best image in terms of quality but to me it’s a BIG reminder to get out of my own head.. (because im there a lot)

When I laugh, when im silly….sometimes I forget that is how she loves me most.

This image reminds me to let go.

15 comments

Nicole

There are so many moments to catalogue, it’s so hard to pull out just one! The most recent one I can come up with was a family chicken hoe-down in the kitchen. My hubby had just recently come back from deployment and we decided to do a family movie night and watch the new Muppet movie. Everyone fell in love with the movie, hubby included. And once the chicken version of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” came on our kitchen CD player the next afternoon…everyone was doing the chicken dance and clucking around. The hubby was such a great sport being silly with us three girls and I know even if my little ones forget about that one moment out of many, I sure won’t!

Heather

Favorite memory lately would have to be family Fri night movie night. We order pizza sit on the floor in front of the TV eat it straight out of the box and then eat a huge amount of popcorn! We love it! The girls always pick the movie and its either Tangled, Toy Story or the Tinkerbell Movie. I love those girls more than anything!!!!!

Heather

FYI. eating in front of the TV. Jeff’s idea not mine. Big No for me :)

Melanie Collins

Mama Entry: In one word-CANDYLAND! Everynight before bedtime, my 3 1/2 year old daughter, Caroline wants to play Candyland. And I’m right there with her! By the time the craziness of the day is over, and the kids have been fed and bathed, there is about 30 minutes of just F-U-N playtime. Whatever didn’t get done that day, well, it just didn’t get done because after bath is Candyland and everybody knows it at our house!! Every single night. I never played board games growing up so in a way, I’m going through this excitement and anticipation of ‘WHO’S GOING TO WIN?’ too. Those rascally little candy cards-you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. In these moments I see different aspects of my daughter’s personality come out like her competitive spirit of “I WANT TO WIN!!” or when she was playing with Grandma who was sad that she was in the rear-Caroline said “you’re doing good, Gigi” as she patted her hand. When Caroline wins, she usually asks me what candy i’d like her to give me from the candy castle and she pretends to feed me and I pretend to eat it and we’re both wishing it was real candy. This daily routine is so comforting to both of us because we know despite whatever happened that day, we’re going to end the day having fun and EATING CANDY!!

jennarowe

i adore all of these stories!! thanks for opening up about these super fun family moments! can’t wait to hear more!

Erika

Bieber. He has taken over my stereo, computer. My life. His catchy little annoying songs are played constantly throughout my house. Over and over again. So what is a mom to do when she just wants to scream and pull her hair out in annoyance and demand NO MORE BIEBER!? I dance. I dance and spin and act crazy and let every ounce of cool that was ever in my body leave while I giggle with my kids to the 100th playing of “Boyfriend” that day. I dance with Teigue on my feet and swing him between my legs, I spin with Stella and try to copy her slllooowww cha cha that only Stella can do well. I wish I could act this way more often because it makes me feel so utterly wonderful afterwards but, alas, I must go back to being a regular mom and clean, fold clothes and make dinner.

Carrie Pipkin

A mother’s love- the person that will love you unconditionally, stay up all night with you, clean up your throw up, rock you to sleep, laugh until you cry or cry until you laugh, the person that brought you into this world and made you her whole world. I lost my mother to cancer seven years ago- Life kind of came to a screeching halt for me. This person that made me her whole world was gone… My mom was truly my best friend and basically the glue that held my family together. The sadness that enveloped me was suffocating for a long time. Mother’s Day was brutal. I felt cheated…

As time went on, I wasn’t as sad all the time, but missed and thought of her everyday. Anyway, I got married and subsequently found myself pregnant from my honeymoon! For me, who is the ultra planner, this blew my mind. Not only was I not ready to have a baby yet, but to not have my mom there really killed me. This was not part of “The Plan!” To top it off, I was scared to death to give birth. As a teenager and young adult, I had nightmares about it. I wasn’t thrilled about any of the options on how this kid was going to get out of me. I needed my mother to help me be brave, to reassure me that I COULD do this. In my most fearful moments, she had always been the one I relied on most. As my due date pushed on, courage was still not in my vocabulary. Then the day came, I was crying in the delivery room, saying to my husband, “I can’t do this. I’m not ready.” His response, “It’s too late… I’ve got to push forward and not quit.” My head was spinning, thinking, “Am I going to die?” (I was in surgery having a C-Section at 42 weeks late.) The minute I heard the first cry of my baby boy, the fear left me, courage and overwhelming emotion started flowing through my veins. I kind of came out of myself, sort of speak… It wasn’t about me anymore. My whole world was THIS CHILD and the unconditional love I had for him. It was like a full circle. I was a mother and this child was going to look at me the way I looked at my mother. I LET GO.

So now, with two babies under my belt (literally), Alexander 3 yrs old and Hunter 16 months, my life has changed dramatically…. FOR THE BETTER. I do not look perfect all the time as I was so concerned about, or wear makeup every day. Blow drying my hair seems to be few and far between. At some point of the day, I am walking around with some sort of baby food on my clothing. Being on time anywhere with two babies in tow, one attached to my front and the other trying to squirm out of my hand as we walk, is somewhat of a lost cause…. But I am happy and enriched and so loved to have these two blessings in my life, not to mention my husband too. We now have daily dance parties in our living room- our neighbor’s get a good laugh since we live in a fishbowl. (Back in the day, I would have been mortified!) We talk about “Nana in Heaven” and the things she would do or say if she were here. We laugh and sing our hearts out almost daily. We go on nature walks and are in constant discovery mode. We race and have rolling games down the beach. We practice swimming in the tub and then have splash contests- it is a mess but I figure their memories of laughing and playing will far out weigh my extra time to clean it up. There really isn’t one thing- it’s a lot of little things that have made me LET GO. I TRY to not sweat the small stuff and think to myself love endures all things… even death.

So here’s to mommies, whose lives suddenly “end” and begin☺

Nicole Eisenberg

So many…..the most recent was a week ago while I was in Perth, Australia visiting my deployed husband. It was the longest time I’d been away from the twins and the time difference and internet capability were making it difficult to connect by Skype. So…..I took the computer down to the very nice hotel lobby and sang “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “A, B, C…,” “Baby Balugia” and our favorite “Hush Little Baby” with Cooper and Mackenzie on Skype. Mind you, this was a “business man’s hotel” and I CAN NOT sing, but I didn’t care. What mattered is that I was able to interact with my kids and make them laugh……which is the most precious and joyful sound in the world!

George

This past Christmas I spent in Afghanistan and on Christmas Day opened one of the many care packages I received from my wife and found a small photo album with “Merry Christmas” written on the outside. It was the best gift I have ever received. Inside were many different pictures of my two beautiful girls, Gianna and Tessa, and my wonderful wife Nicole. The pictures told a story as in each one of them the girls held up a sign with a few words on it so as you flipped through the album I read the most wonderful and thoughtful Christmas letter from my family. The picture’s locations where everywhere from the backyard to the living room, to the beach, to the local playground; even the dog was included in some of the pictures. It was awesome. It was easily the most precious gift I have ever received. My favorite picture is of Nicole holding both of our little girls smiling at the camera as they sit in the living room of our home. I remember thinking over and over all the times I looked at this gift throughout the deployment how awesome of a gift it was and also…”man, have I got a hot wife”. Knowing all the time and patience that Nicole needed to have to make each sign, have the girls decorate it, and then pose for pictures just to bring a smile to my face was and is still humbling to think about and it definitely caused me to appreciate what I have in my wife more then ever. The best part is that I know that in the smile she has on her face in those pictures that she absolutely loves being the mother that she is to our little girls and it makes me so lucky to have her as a wife and those girls so lucky to have her as a mom. I never would have expected getting such a simple yet wonderful gift like that for Christmas and it showed me how lucky I truly am. As I write this she is probably thinking I reading some article on ESPN right now so hopefully this comment will serve as a nice surprise for the coolest, warmed, most loving wife and mother that I am lucky enough to share my life with. Happy Mother’s Day Nicole.

jennarowe

Nicole, i can TOTALLY see you doing this! and i LOVE it! and i can totally see how that just made your day…and theirs! you are someone who will find the time- no matter where you are or what you are doing in life-to make sure your children fully know how much they are loved and adored. you are such an incredible mama. thanks for sharing this story! xo

jennarowe

carrie, this completely made me cry. thank you for sharing this really huge part of your life and sharing with us this amazing person who made you the mom you are today! the respect and admiration you have for your mama is so touching and beautiful. i have a feeling i know where you get your patience and grace :) i admire you so much for pushing past such a hard time period and finding such strength in yourself to brave some pain, fear and sadness in order to bring these two amazing lives into the world. it sounds like you really know what is important in life and that is simply awesome. xo

jennarowe

erika, this made me laugh out loud. and also wish i could set up a camera in your house! you are the QUEEN of knowing when to let go and also a huge inspiration to me when i know i need to. its literally sometimes like ‘what would Erika do’? you balance fun and responsibly with such ease and grace. you make it look so easy! but alas, i know its not. which makes me admire you even more! thanks for sharing this hilarious scene with us. now i know what you are doing when i see “Bieber” come up on your Spotify! xo

jennarowe

melanie, i LOVE this!!! in fact, i have already stolen it from you! i love that you and your family play Candyland every night. what a great way to end the day! i just love it! i love that Caroline encourages her Grandma….she is such a sweet girl. i love that you are pretending and devoting this silly, special time to your daughter. the end of the day gets so easily lost among the dishes, the tiredness, the ‘what do i need to do the minute my kids go to sleep’ stuff that its really hard to stay connected. i adore that you encourage this connection right before bedtime. it really proves just how important it is to you. and i love the tone it sets right before bed! just really very inspiring. thank you so much for sharing. xo

jennarowe

heather, this seriously makes me want to be at your house on a friday night. makes our ‘pizza movie night’ look pretty boring in comparison! i ADORE that you guys all eat the pizza right out of the box on the floor. hilarious! and SOO much damn fun! its so easy sometimes to get lost in ‘our should be doing’s’ and whether or not the house is getting messed up or the kids are watching too much TV or we should be eating a ‘proper meal at the kitchen table like a proper family’–i love that you just let this go for one night just do it YOUR way. i love the picture it gives me of you all just ending the week with no rules except fun and family time. seriously a beautiful picture, my friend. love you! xo

jennarowe

nicole, this is hilarious!!!! WHAT??! family chicken hoe-down!?? this is so funny. i can completely picture this in my mind which makes me laugh even more! now THIS is silly, my friend. your girls will NEVER forget these moments and i just simply tip my hat to you. i just find it so hard to be silly sometimes that i just really admire those who make it look so easy. and you are one of those people. its been a long time since we have had a session but i will never forget the one we had! it was so much fun. i literally left you guys thinking ‘now THAT is a fun family!’. you guys really know how to let go and enjoy every moment together. thanks for letting us step into your kitchen for a night for a wonderful family hoe-down! xo

Apr 17 2012

jonathan and lisa {youngren workshop, san diego}

i very rarely get the chance to shoot couples {although i REALLY love to! hint hint}. its just a very different way of shooting for me. i’m certainly not as comfortable as when i am with families, especially children, but because of that its a challenge that i completely welcome. AND if i have the opportunity to photograph the right couple….well then that is just plain delicious. i had this opportunity a couple of weeks ago as well as two of the best days ive had in a long time. i was among a few other professional photographers who were lucky enough to attend the {1st ever!} 2 Day Workshop with The Youngrens. i have been asking them for a couple of years ‘when oh when they might host a workshop’. i knew it would be amazing if they did. they always told me ‘it wasn’t quite time’. well, dang if it isn’t time now! these guys completely changed aspects of my business within the first few hours…and it was two days long! yeah, it was pretty intense. anyway, i could devote a entire blog post to this phenomenal experience but im here to talk about this gorgeous couple, Jonathan and Lisa. we had SUCH a blast photographing these guys. they were fun, adorable, tender and completely…utterly in love. pretty much everything they did was crazy cute. not to mention that they acted like it was just completely natural to have a gaggle of photographers with their cameras all over them and geek talking all around. they did not seem the least bit uncomfortable. which made the session so smooth and seamless. even though we had to shoot at a less than idea time of day- it oddly turned out to be amazing light! in a gorgeous field in Del Mar. did i mention that Lisa and Jonathan are crazy adorable? so all around, it was quite simply perfect. its hard to shoot among a bunch of other people that are trying to get the same shot- but this group was one of the most respectful ‘workshop groups’ ive been around. we all had our ‘moment’. it was such a rad day and im excited to blog the photos. i welcomed the challenge of stepping out of my comfy zone for a bit (give me a 4 year old any day!) and had a blast doing it. no matter what you are still capturing LOVE, CONNECTION….FAMILY. the subject may change but the intention is always the same.

thank you Jonathan and Lisa for really going above and beyond for this workshop. you two are amazing and i simply cannot wait to watch your family grow. seriously…. call me! im putting in my bid for your first family session. :) you two are blessed with such love- it was a honor to capture just a part of it. thanks! xo, jenna

jeff getting us started..

2 comments

Erin Youngren

OMG they’re SOOOO AWESOME! Love love love! The one with the hands is just purrrrfect. Way to rock it!

jennarowe

love you, Erin. thanks a bunch!

Apr 16 2012

lucas {9 weeks old}

i have to get this post up QUICK. this family will be on their way to the upper peninsula in just a couple of days. my heart is breaking to see them leave. Amy and i have been friends since their first family session a couple of years ago. it was one of my very first sessions and one of my favorites to this day. perhaps because we all were in a unique time period in our lives: they were brand new parents and i was just starting my business. perhaps it was because they were so happy, so natural and just really excited to have a photo session. which of course made me super excited! the light was perfect that day (i would show you the pics but i didn’t even have a blog then!)…we just had a lot of fun. so we all have very fond memories of this session. skip a few years and a few sessions later and they have introduced another little boy to their beautiful family. believe it or not, they were actually going to skip town without getting any pictures of him! tisk, tisk. when Amy told me that she had pictures of her first born boy at the same age but sadly will not have any of Lucas, i knew we HAD to find time for a quick session before they left. Lucas is seriously one of the cutest babies ive seen in a long time. hes HUGE! and smiley and sweet…..seriously cuddly. he was asleep when i arrived so we grabbed a few sweet sleeping shots but he got to curious and needed to find out what was going on out there. i love it when babies open their eyes and see me there with my camera. they just really don’t know what to think about all of that. its very cute. anyway, it was a speedy session (as you can imagine, they are a little busy at the moment) but this sweet boy is just a natural. he loved the camera and loved the attention his big brother was giving him. i adore that i knew Gabe (big brother) BEFORE he became a BIG brother and now i see him with this little guy in his lap….it melts my heart. he is so sweet with Lucas. so loving and truly pretty stoked to have him around. its so awesome to see. i could go on and on about this family. i love them. i wish they could stay. i will miss them. but it really makes my heart happy that i was able to get these shots before they left. that’s what its all about , right? making and preserving memories? i love my camera so much at these moments…..

love you guys. can’t wait to follow you and your amazing new adventures. xo, jenna

it melts my heart to watch the way a baby looks at his mama….so sweet.

lucas looks so much like his brother in the one on the right. so cute.

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