This was SUCH a special session for me! Brittany & I used to work at the same restaurant together back during our college days & have stayed in touch via social media. We’ve watched each other start & grow families & to asked to photograph her family was SUCH an honor to me!!! We had great weather & all her kiddos have the cutest personalities & most beautiful smiles! Here’s a few of my personal favorites- enjoy!
This sweet little girl is very dear to me! Her mom is my bestest friend. We’ve been in each others weddings & have been a part of each other’s lives for several, several years now. Seeing this little miracle in Kendra & Jeremey’s arms is one of the best gifts in life I’ve been given. I LOVE seeing my friends start their families.
Amelia’s parents love super hero’s & have already passed that love onto Baby Amelia 😉 I enjoyed being able to mix their style with my style of photography & coming away with images we all loved! Here’s a few of my favorites from our time together 🙂
Kayla & I connected just under 2 years ago when I photographed her brother with his family, Kayla & her family & their parents. Little Gracie was so little! And when Kayla got in touch with me in 2017, it was time to capture the newborn session of Gracie’s coming brother! And here today I’m sharing some of my parents from my time with the Ulrich Family <3 Gunner is just weeks old here & I already good feel the dynamics of the family changing from 3 to fabulous 4. There is such sweetness in these photos! Enjoy friends!
Welcome to the world little guy!!! 
This couple friends, THIS couple! Ah! We have the greatest time together! Or at least I do & they say they do so hopefully they mean it 😉 😉 😉 I had the honor of photographing Robin & Nicole’s engagement pictures (see them here!) & so when Nicole wanted to do another session together I was completely excited to catch-up with them & work with them! Robin is just a goof & super sweet to his wife during pictures so basically I just watch them interact & take pictures! Easiest session ever! We also have an inside joke that if I ever want to be pregnant, I just need to book a session with them because I’m apparently ALWAYS pregnant when I take their pictures hahah!
Robin & Nicole have recently bought & basically completely renovated their entire house. I love that they work together on projects to make their dreams come true. And their dog is just BEAUTIFUL! Here’s some of my favorites from their session!
I know I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again 😉 I am SOOO thankful when I get to work with the same client time after time again. Building a relationship through the years is one of my greatest joys as a photographer! Plus, each session with that family just gets better & better because we’ve worked together before & we’re just so relaxed & ready to just hangout & have fun! And that’s what it’s like for me when I get to photograph the Rumley family! And if you know them, you know they’re already a hoot & like to get loud & have fun, so yeah, we just have a great time 😀
I’m sharing some of my favorites from my last session with them! It was a new location for me & they rocked it!!!!!!! Here’s the Rumley Family!!!!
I really LOVE doing Group Family Sessions! I know some photographers don’t prefer them, but to me the more people the better! I love meeting grandparents, aunts, uncles, seeing siblings interact & often seeing parents be all silly with their adult kids & grandkids. Basically, IT’S THE BEST.
The morning we had the Bliese Group Family Session was CHILLY & WINDY & RAINY but we stuck it out! Even running under a pergola from time to time! But we really did have fun! I think you can tell by the expressions in everyone’s faces! And it was super special for me to work with this family since my husband was in the same homeschool activities as the siblings AND I’ve photographed Heidi & Jordan 4 times now!!!! ALWAYS GOOD to see them! Here are a few of my favorites from our time together!
This is the third time I’ve had the honor of photographing this sweet family. I know I’ve shared before but Elyse & I go way back! We worked at Cracker Barrel together & I’m so thankful that other friends, get-togethers through the years, our daughters & now being due with Baby #2 just a few days apart has kept us connected even though our work paths have changed 🙂 I’m thankful for my friends that become clients & my clients that become friends 🙂
Now here’s a few favorites from my time with the Fishel Family! Charlotte was about to turn one & we got some precious family moments as well!!! (And if you want to go down memory lane with me, HERE’S their maternity session when Charlotte was still inside Elyse & HERE’S her newborn session!
I just looked over my list of pregnancy tools/resources that were my favorite during my pregnancy with Elizabeth (view that post HERE). While I am using ALL of those things in this pregnancy as well, I have a few new “favorites” this time around. I only know what I’ve personally learned to be helpful so I wanted to pass that on & share with you all! I wanted to document them so that I can remember them for the future (because let’s face it, that mommy brain IS REAL) & be able to share with other expecting momma’s. Sharing is caring I say!
This list is QUITE longer then the last list, but almost all of the resources I’m listing are FREE!
PRAYER JOURNAL My top favorite resource to use while being pregnant still remains the same as last time- the Pregnancy Prayer Journal by Val Marie Paper. I plan to have one of these journals for each pregnancy. I know I shared in my blog post while carrying Elizabeth why I love it so much & those reasons have not changed! But since that post, I’ve decided that I’ll be gifting each Pregnancy Prayer Journal to each child when they are older. I can’t wait to show them how I prayed for them while they were still in my womb & how the Lord has guided their lives from the very beginning! I also use this journal’s blank pages to keep track of fun things like my cravings, weight & even name ideas. I can’t wait for the day that I’ll hand these journals to our grown up children!
MYPLATE Not many people know this but with Elizabeth, I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia & had to be induced. With this pregnancy, I’ve been doing several things to try to stay ahead of the game & hopefully not get pre-eclampsia. One way I’ve done that is to eat protein like it’s my job. I did eat a lot of protein with Elizabeth, but not near as much as I have with this pregnancy. I’ve been using the free smart phone app MyPlate to keep track of my daily food intake. It’s actually an app used for those wanting to gain or loose weight BUT it has a protein counter in the daily summary & I’ve been using that to keep track instead of a paper chart I had on the fridge when I was pregnant with Elizabeth. I started with the paper chart this time too but soon realized that wasn’t going to keep me motivated OR help me remember to eat protein so I found this app & I’ve liked using it! And just keeping it real, I don’t use it every day BUT it’s been really helpful the days I have 😉
PRENATAL YOGA I would need a whole other blog post to share why I’ve fallen in love with yoga! My favorite youtube yoga instructor has 3 prenatal yoga videos that I rotate between & have been doing through-out this pregnancy. There’s a short one & then two longer ones. HERE they are. I LOVE THEM!!! Carolyn also has a post-natal yoga flow that I look forward to doing in just a few months from now 😉
PODCAST Another thing that would take an entire blog post of it’s own is how much I love listening to podcasts & which are my current top fav’s to listen to. One of my favorites is The Risen Motherhood & just a few months ago I went back into their older episodes & listened to their two on preparing your heart for your birth & when your birth doesn’t go as planned. I’ve linked those episodes right HERE & you can also just search them through whatever app you use to listen to podcasts & just search The Risen Motherhood for Episode 25 & 26.
MAMA NATURAL My last but certainly not least pregnancy resource that I’ve been using this pregnancy are my favorite weekly “bump” emails that I receive from Mama Natural aka Genevieve! I probably will buy her book for my next pregnancy as I’ve enjoyed her weekly emails SO much & how she hits each week of the 3 trimesters by looking at it from a Spiritual, Physical & Emotional perspective. I look forward to this email every week that comes with a personal video of Genevieve herself as she went through her second pregnancy. Click HERE to signup for her weekly enewsletter & HERE to check out her very informative site.
And for a bonus “resource”, if you’re into reading birth stories, especially from a Christian perspective, these stories from Surrender Birth have been very interesting to read!
How about you? What resources/items can you not live without during your pregnancy or highly recommend? I’d love to hear what they are! And here’s the info regarding my Maternity Leave & when I’ll be back to taking sessions if you haven’t read it yet!
34 weeks here! Currently 35 when posting this blog post 🙂 
I can’t believe this girl is graduating from high school in just a few months! As I’m counting down the days until our second baby arrives, I know that she is looking forward to the next season of her life- college & beyond!
Nahdia’s mom got in touch with me about senior pictures for Nahdia & the three of us met just a few weeks later. Nahdia was SO easy going & totally open to whatever ideas I had! And man, did she bring it to her session! Even though it was basically FREEZING outside during her session, Nahdia rocked it! We wondered around Uptown Normal & a favorite park of mine & talked about shoes, shopping, volleyball, colleges & more!
I seriously had such.a.hard.time. choosing a few personal favorites to put in her blog post 🙂 They are all AMAZING. Just as amazing as Nahdia.
Stop girl! Ah! I love it! 
Model status right here. 
Still my personal favorite right here!!! 
I told her that we were done with pictures & could go get warm & told her to get excited & this is what she did 😀 Hahah love it! 
Oh Nahdia, a new journey awaits you. The Lord will lead you if you trust & follow Him. Soooo excited for you!!! 
I’ve started to get emails from clients wondering when I’ll be out on maternity leave for our second child (YAY!) & I wanted to share just a few things regarding that!
My Maternity Leave:
If you have any questions about anything, please don’t hesitate to email me (naomi@nomi-photography.com) & we’ll chat!
And here’s a my 30 week bump picture for those of you who are into that sort of thing 😉
