S. Carter Studios

It’s time for the truth, there’s another man in my life. He’s a little too young for me but that doesn’t keep me from laying kisses all over his cheeks, fingers and toes! This summer I became part of Ezra’s life on a regular basis and I couldn’t be more thankful for the perspective he brings. I knew we’d be busy this summer and the temptation when you’re busy with weddings and editing weddings and looking at other people’s photos from weddings is to get caught up in a world that isn’t realistic and certainly doesn’t encourage any selflessness. So, God hooked me up with the best distraction ever: Ezra. As a secret project for his parents I brought my camera with me a few times to capture his silly faces and little glimpses of his life as a brand new 1 year old.

A normal day: I get there early and we play.

Then, when he gets a little grumpy he crawls up to me and this means its time to eat.

I mean really, look at that face!

Part of the reason I can’t eat bananas like I used to.

Then we get down and do some crawling.

We do this until we get grumpy again and then it’s time for lunch.

I promise, he’s teething, I’m not torturing him but just look at that expression. Have you ever sen anything so sad?

George ( a throwback from his dad’s time) keeps us company.

But the truth is, Ezra is a messy eater.

So somtimes lunch time is also followed by bath time.

Which is followed by nap time.

Nap time is very helpful for renewing.

Just one standard, 1 year photo session shot. Which is now hanging on my fridge.

I’m sure it won’t be long until he can crawl up in that chair all by himself, but until then, I’m thankful I get to be there to help!

I love having a unique name. There really aren’t very many Sabrena’s out there. Especially spelled with an E. It had its draw backs though. I never had personalized pencils in school or my name printed on my lunch box. I think as a result I became very fond (perhaps obsessed) with seeing my name in print! God must have laughed a little and given me my new last name Deal so that I would find my name in print everywhere. I’ll admit, it’s just as exciting! What does all this have to do with anything? Well, when I was engaged I attended a party that my friend Brittany threw. It was an Uppercase Living party. I loved it! Uppercase living is a fantastic company that creates vinyl expressions which you can apply to almost any surface. You can also create custom expressions by picking fonts, sizes, colors and whatever saying you’d like. The best part is that they are affordable. I should also mention they leave no damage on the surfaces (a bonus for renters!). I was so pleased with my first expression that I decided to host a party myself last year. We had a great time & Josh and I just put up the expression I received as a “gift” for hosting!

The first expression that I used was a stock Monogram with a custom expression: Est. 2009. I applied it to a window pane that I purchased for $3 at the Restore in Lynchburg. We used this as a decoration at the wedding and now it hangs in our dining room!

I invited my friend and S. Carter Studios bride Kelsey to the party and she bought letters which served as monograms on her unity sand containers.

We just recently hung the expression we got at the 2nd party I went to and I was just giddy to see it all come together. We had the piece of scrap wood hanging around, painted it black and applied our expressions to it. The For Ever & Ever part was a stock expression and we custom ordered the amen portion ourselves!

It hangs above our bed and I couldn’t think of a better place for it!

If those photos didn’t leave you feeling inspired check out a few photos I got courtesy of the Uppercase Living product showcase website.

As a monogram at a reception hall.

Living Room Decoration

In a little girl’s bedroom.

For the new baby’s room.

Or for a bridal shower decoration!

Please share your stories if you’ve used Uppercase Living! I am looking forward to browsing and seeing where else I can add more expressions! To find the nearest representative in your area click here!

Another familiar face for today’s catch up post: Elijah. If you have time you should read this post to find out more about him and his family but in a nutshell he’s God’s gift to Ed and Carrie who love him very very much and adopted him over a year ago! I photographed him in May and was glad to chase him around this December as we attempted to get him to smile! He’s such a serious young man but when that gap toothed smile shows up he’s all little boy! Enjoy!

I first met the Chiens in 2007 when I took their wedding pictures. It was a joyful, beautiful occasion that I can still remember well. God saw fit to give them another bundle of joy in their son Stephen who just recently turned one. We met for a mini session and I’m excited to finally share the results with you!

Love this facial expression!

What a handsome and loving family. Thanks for inviting me back into your lives to capture these new and precious memories!

It’s really not a surprise to anyone that we love the Parks family. You can tell because they are probably the family, other than the Browns, who appear most often on this blog! So it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Josh and I to be over at their home for dinner and Spades. Jackie, just five days shy of her due date, had told us she had a few random contractions that morning and that they had returned while she was making an amazing trifle for dessert but she was content to go forward with our dinner plans. Over the course of dinner her contractions got closer together and before we knew it we were trying to talk her into going to the hospital! Yes, my friends, we were over at their home when Jackie went into labor with the newest and little Park-it: Cole! She left the house around 7:35pm and Cole made his appearance just over an hour later! As you’re looking through the photos it’s okay to marvel at how amazing Jackie looks after just giving a natural birth to a breech baby! Enjoy some photos of Cole Benjamin taken just one day after he was born!

Yeah, just seven intense contractions, and then this little miracle arrived. The next day she was e-mailing us about fantasy football!

What a beautiful family. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some more photos with Cole’s big sister Lydia soon!

PS. Heather Hatchett is the winner of the $5.00 iTunes gift card for being the first to post a joke! And 5 cool points to Hilary for the BEST joke!

This post is about Brinley. Brinley and I were well acquainted at the ladies retreat. We shared a bed! Well, it was a king size bed and his mom was in it too, but still. This little boy has the very best facial expressions you can imagine. Since I get to see him at least twice a week and they still make me laugh each time, I thought I’d share them with you! It’s only natural to be jealous!

This is a classic Brinley face!

Hopefully we’ll be taking one year pictures of Brinley so you’ll see his handsome face again soon!

I think that the older I get, the more I see that there is a blurry line between friends and family. There are some people in my life, like the Jancarts, who make me feel at home when I’m with them. Mike, a very talented web designer, and Amanda, love me like family and I love them and their two little girls just the same! It was great to have Josh come with me during this visit. It was a great time of enjoying each others company and the beautiful home the Jancarts have been blessed with! Thanks for the great conversation and letting me take pictures of your adorable family.

Tirzah just became a big sister to Rainey two months ago. She’s a great sister and full of laughter and funny faces.

I think she and Pooh bear have a love hate relationship…

She has a thing for shoes, and Josh caught her in the act of trying on his Sperry’s.

She is certainly one beloved child. Her daddy can’t get enough!

I love that the girls have similar expressions on their faces!

Rainey is a little more low-key than Tirzah. Rainey is a snuggle bug…

She’s got a lot of photographic potential in those big blue eyes!

Josh took this, I couldn’t get enough of those little feet!

Love you guys!

There are cute kids…and then there is Lydia in a Christmas dress. Really…I mean…look at her! Jay and Jackie are going to have their hands FULL with this one. We took a few pictures to celebrate the festive attire and hopefully give Jackie something to frame…haha. I love this face!

Jason, Crystal, Olivia and I spent some time on a Sunday morning taking family pictures. I have loved being a part of the Hinds lives! I remember Jason and Crystal talking about wanting to have a baby. I also remember Crystal announcing to us that a little one was on the way! I can’t believe Olivia has been here for months now! She put up quite a fight about smiling but I really think that just made the sweet pictures we were able to get that much sweeter!

What a face!

Much better! Olivia had lots of special smiles for her mom too, I promise!

I think she was on to me! I love it!

Some of you may not know this about me, but I LOVE children. There are few things that make me happier than spending time with a child. Occasionally as Angi and I eat lunch we are visited by Kara. Kara is just over 1 years old and is probably the friendliest baby that I know. Her mom has been such an encouragement over the past few months. I took some pictures of Kara to celebrate her birthday and probably waited about 5 minutes before I had to edit a few. I know, it’s an addiction. Enjoy a few!

We taught Kara how to play in the leaves…

The prompt for this was “Praise the Lord!” Seriously, so fun!

Seeing the relationship between parents and their children helps me understand how doting God is and how very unaware we are!

I think Jeremy will like this one!

« Older Entries