I met the M family on a recent muggy morning when we got together to do a quick mini shoot at their new home.

I love this series of father and son.

But don’t forget baby sis.

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JACKSONVILLE – Just a few slots left for Holiday Mini Sessions! See Investment page for details.

Because I try to be all about being real when it comes to life, photography and especially parenthood, I had to share these 11 steps. I got them from my friend Jennie who I met at Me Ra’s workshop and who happens to be an amazing person, mom and photographer herself.

I have my hands full for the next several days, so probably won’t be posting much…have a great weekend!

11 Step Program for People Who Want Kids

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Thinking of Having Kids? Do this 11 step program first!

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2 ~ Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their…

1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, an d overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the
last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3 ~ A really good way to discover how the nights might feel…

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and
be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4 ~ Can you stand the mess children make? To find out…

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5 ~ Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh..
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this – all morning.

Lesson 6 ~ Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don’t think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Tele tubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you’re thinking What’s ‘Noggin’?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying ‘mommy’ repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each ‘mommy’; occasional crescendo to the
level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years.. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the ‘mommy’ tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

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BOOK NOW for Holiday Mini Sessions! See Investment page for details.

A few slots left for  Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta families! Contact me at jenmen@gmail.com

I am booking now for Saturday, October 17. This is the only day that I have free in Atlanta prior to the holidays, so book NOW and don’t wait until the last minute!

See the investment page for options, including Mini Holiday Sessions. Another great option is to get some friends or extended family together and split the session up. This is also a fun way to get pictures of grown-up siblings, cousins, best buddies, etc, which also make wonderful presents. I’m always willing to work out custom packages. Contact me to come up with something that works for you.

I know these pictures aren’t exactly relevant to the post, but I can’t post without photos and I just happen to love these random ones from last week…

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BOOK NOW for Holiday Mini Sessions! See Investment page for details.

A few spaces still available for the Fort Lauderdale families! Contact me at jenmen@gmail.com

I was with the bride the day and morning prior to the wedding. Here are photos from a shower, the rehearsal, and getting ready on the day of the wedding.

Magnolia lawn, where the ceremony was originally slated to take place. Check out Abbey’s blog  to see how beautifully Plan B turned out inside. I’ll have some pics from the ceremony and reception here next week.

The father of the bride with his lovely wife…and daughter.

The ladies got ready and were treated like royalty at G Salon.

Whether at a dress fitting or for the  main event, putting on the veil is always one of my favorite moments. I don’t know what it is, but it makes it all come together and feel real. It was then that B’s sister and “MOH” (maid of honor) said, “this is really happening!” and a few tears were shed by all. Those are the mothers of the bride and groom in the background.

Last few moments of prep and anticipation…

You can find more “bibi+ yoyo” posts under the Weddings category.

I had the honor of photographing B&J’s wedding at Magnolia Hall in Piedmont Park in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Despite the rain (and wind and lightning) that threw a wrench in their plan for an outdoor wedding, they managed to pull off a beautiful celebration. I have been to a lot of weddings, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple that was any happier than these two clearly are. I am going to break this event up into a few different posts. This one will focus on the bride…

and groom.

I love to look for the little telling moments of interaction. These two did not let me down. Lots of hand holding, kissing, and…ahhhh…the way they look at each other.

A spontaneous kiss for her new husband while on the dance floor.

Did I mention there was a lot of kissing going on between the happy couple? And every time that I saw them, whether I had my camera pointed at them or not, he would break into a smile mid-kiss.

Congratulations, bibi and yoyo!! More to come here in the coming days and, I promise, you’ll have all of them just as soon as Abbey and I can get them edited!