lifeXpressions photography blog | Naples Baby Photographer | Fort Myers Children's Photographer | Estero Family Photographer

As I sit here this evening racking my brain on what my first post should be about (as I have since being given the honor by Ms. Terrilyn to contribute to her awesome blog), I’m also watching Celebrity Apprentice – so there you have it.  My originality is impressive, eh?  Could that also be why I have an Abyssinian cat named Abby?  Nah

So, here I am – Kelly (uh, that’s my name), also known as Terrilyn’s right hand woman, T-Lo Junior (it’s a tall order, don’t be fooled), the packer/shipper, her apprentice/work in progress – you get the ‘picture’.  And I hope to stick around for a long, long time. You’re probably thinking a little background info on me would be helpful about right now, so here goes:

It all started waaaay back in 2006 when I found out I was pregnant with our first child – we’ll call him Jack, the cutest baby ever *wink*.   Anyway, I was getting pretty far along in my pregnancy, oh about 7 weeks or so, when my Type A personality shifted into high gear – make that overdrive – at which point almost everything was pushed aside to accommodate my all consuming search for the perfect maternity/newborn photographer. I knew exactly what I wanted, and simply refused to settle for anything less.  This was, after all, our first child!  Roll out the RED carpet – you know how it is *smile*.  Anyway, I almost did cartwheels when I found Terrilyn and lifeXpressions – almost.  Remember, I was pregnant?  Yeah, no cartwheels.  But she was perfect – exactly what I was looking for.

Fast forward about 25 weeks and our maternity session was finally upon us!  Yippee!!!  I was sooo excited, having spent (and I’m dead serious here) hours upon hours trying to decide what the heck to wear, having purchased numerous items as “options”!  After all, I was sporting a pretty big belly by then and, personally, I wasn’t feeling very glamorous or feminine.  Just large.  I figured Wiggins Pass Beach was a great place for me because I really felt more like a beached whale at that point!   (If you ask real nice, Terrilyn has a rare photo of that same beached whale laying in the sand).   So, off to Wiggins Pass we went.  We couldn’t have picked a hotter or more humid September morning either.  By the end of our session, Terrilyn had seen just about every part of me *blush*, but was ever the professional and always reassuring.  I, on the other hand was hot, sweaty, a smidge cranky, very hungry, and absolutely certain that none of the pictures would turn out.  Boy, was I WRONG!

We waited for what seemed like an eternity for our online gallery to go up (um, it was really about a week or so – an eternity, like I said!).   Oh my.  It was worth all the time, sweat, and anxiety – the pictures were absolutely STUNNING! This chic has got-it-going-on! (Not me…Terrilyn)! I could not believe what she was able to capture – the essence of my pregnancy… that little life growing inside and all the love, wonder, and anticipation my husband and I shared for him.  Just beautiful – I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the pictures and ordered darn near every single one of them!

Fast forward again to mid-December for our newborn pictures with our brand new baby boy – Jack Stanley Turner.   Actually, let’s rewind to the week of his birth first.   I’ll spare you all the details, but offer up some Cliff Notes instead:  Jack was born by c-section (after 3 days induced labor) on November 21st, 2006.   Oh, about 6 days later, my husband was bringing our *new* stroller (which we had NO clue how to use) down the stairs for our first check up with the doctor when he FELL DOWN THE STAIRS (yep) and BROKE HIS FOOT!  Had to have surgery on it a few days later too.  So, guess what that meant?  My convalescing and new mommy bonding time was over.  Uh-huh.  Now, I was suddenly a new mom, a patient – still had fresh staples of my own, and a full time nurse to both my husband and new son.  Oh boy, was that fun!

Ok, so this is the scene Terrilyn had to deal with when she came to our home to take newborn pics.  And again, she was ever the professional, was very reassuring and understanding, and totally didn’t mind when Jack pooped in her blanket – this chic was cool!   And again, I practically counted the minutes on the clock until our proofs were online to view.  Then poof! One day they were there!  And again, STUNNING! Only this time, I cried.  And so did both Grandmas, a few friends, and probably even Stan, my husband.   Terrilyn had captured the most beautiful, tender, and yet profound photographs of our first son. We were speechless, our hearts were overflowing with love…and for those precious, priceless memories, I will forever be thankful.   So much so that I had her do it all over again exactly one year and 5 days later when Jack’s little brother, Jake Daniel, was born.  Jake is our birth control pill baby (LOL) by the way – but our lives would be so empty without him, and Jack would be so bored hanging out with us all the time!  Ho-hum!   We love having them both in our lives more than words can say.

Man, this is getting long! And here I was worried about what the heck I was going to write – LOL!  Anyway, I offered my services to Terrilyn because she really needed someone she could just load up on and know she could depend on.  Although my day job is a litigation paralegal here in Fort Myers, I knew I could help her out and wanted to.  Deep down, I have always, always, loved photography.  It’s an art.  It’s beautiful and moving.  I consider it a true honor to be working under the guidance and leadership of  Terrilyn.  I respect her talents and skills tremendously and aspire to be at her level – someday    So stay tuned….I hope to meet each and every one of you!

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from all of you out there in cyberspace!  If all goes well, you can look forward to at least a weekly post from me on the blog and I need stuff to talk about!  I plan to cover some local happenings here in Lee and Collier Counties each week.  As a mom myself, it seems like I’m always hearing about events after they happen. So, this will be a good exercise for me and my family too.  Please feel free to leave comments about anything you’d like! I promise my posts from here on out will be MUCH shorter too!

Looking forward to getting to know each other more!