Today was the big day for Nick and I to have our first ultrasound and discover that this little baby I’m carrying in my belly is a ….. BOY!!!!! This month has been filled with so much anticipation as we counted down to the very end, waiting for that doctor’s visit where we’d find out the baby’s gender. This afternoon was so wonderful, watching this little life we created punch and kick as the technician worked to capture a few stills for us from inside the womb. I wish we could have taken that machine home with us!

We are elated that our biggest wish (and the answer to so so many of my prayers in recent weeks) was that everything looked healthy with our little guy. I can’t remember the last time I saw Nick smile so wide as when we got this news — already I know he’s planning future fishing and camping trips with his son. OUR son. Wow. So surreal to say that.

Thanks to everyone who’s been sharing this ride with us, wanting to hear the updates, sending positive vibes and prayers our way. I found out today that I’m actually measuring two days early. Why is that cool? Well, I think it would be awesome if I delivered on my new due date—10/11/12. How easy would it be to remember that birthday?

Can’t wait to start thinking of names and picking out a wardrobe for Baby Boy Werner. Of course we had to start with the perfect pair of shoes :)

A profile shot of the babe And one of us. Because I couldn’t pass up capturing the two of us together on what’s been such a special day. Can’t wait to see this handsome (proud) hubby of mine become a father.

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

My Ball State co-worker, Stephen, approached me some time last fall with this idea he and his wife, Lindsey, had to surprise her parents with family photos for Christmas. We knew the shoot was going to be a spring session, but it’s still so awesome to think that Lindsey’s parents got excited upon opening up a gift certificate over the holidays with my photo info on it :) Fast forward a few months to a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and we were able to make the session happen at the Ahaus home in hilly southern Indiana with Stephen, Lindsey, her parents and her two sisters, Kate and Colleen. I’ve gotten to know both Stephen and Linds pretty well over the years (we even took a work trip to NYC together two years ago that was a blast) so it wasn’t a surprise to me that Linds’ family was just as funny and down-to-earth and fun to be around as she is.

To the Ahaus family, thank you for welcoming me into your home, laughing at my corny jokes and inviting me to stay for burgers on the grill and some great conversation after we wrapped. Maybe some day we can do this again!

VIEW THEIR SLIDESHOW

Lindsey and Stephen had one request — to get a nice shot of them with their sweet pooch, Bailey. Done and done! It was SO great to work with a family of grown children — totally different dynamic than family sessions where I’m chasing toddlers around- haha! These six loved to joke with one another, which made photographing them SUPER easy! Beautiful sisters….SO photogenic! Lindsey and Stephen hadn’t had professional photos of themselves taken since their wedding six years ago. Happy to grab a few nice shots of them—Stephen, I hope to see at least one of these in that office of yours ;) Everybody deserves a photo this sweet of their parents, don’t you think? The Ahaus women….I LOVE this photo! Not going to lie girls, jealous of this one! The girls had asked for some shots in the pine trees on their parents’ property, where they used to play all the time when they were little. I was only too happy to accommodate and, at the same time, snap a few shots of the couple who started it all! Thank you guys again so much for this opportunity to capture this time in your family’s lives! Hope you all enjoy these shots for years to come!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

There’s a part of me that feels guilty for letting this blog collect cobwebs…but then I sit back and realize two things: 1) I’m pregnant and seriously, it’s affecting my willpower to put words to a page. These days, just getting up from the couch involves a mental conversation in my head that goes something like, “Musssttt.makeee…theee…effooorttttt.” and 2) I’ve been so busy enjoying life these past few weeks—creating memories as they’ve happened—that I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and blog about them.

So here’s an update on two major milestones I don’t want to soon forget. At the end of April, I welcomed my sweet friend Tina to my place for the weekend. Here’s the awesome thing about our friendship: Tina and I met back in 2009 at Melissa Jill’s MJ2 Day Workshop. Attending that workshop taught me so much about my craft (I adore Melissa with a capital “A”), but more importantly, it introduced me to someone who has become one of my closest friends. Someone I know I’ll still be in touch with when we’re old and grey. I visited Tina in her hometown of Philadelphia back in 2010 and it was during that trip we decided life’s too short for us to go years without seeing one another. Which is how she came to visit me this year, and how we reached a decision to grab a plane ticket every other year or so and make time for one another, circumstances be damned.

Here is Tina and I, bundled onto my living room couch. I surprised here while she was in town, inviting a few other of my dearest photo friends over for a night: That’s Betsy King on the left, Maya Laurent beside her and, to the right of Tina and then me, April Smith (whose family you might have spotted on this blog before). We girls put on our PJs, opened up a few bottles of wine (sparkling grape juice for me!) and talked until 4 a.m., old-school slumber party style. And it was perfect. Love these women so much and my heart fills with gratitude to know photography brought all of them into my life (and just a heads-up, all of them are gals worthy of your blog readers ;))

I told Tina her visit made me think of a line from one of my favorite essay’s in Shauna Niequist’s “Bittersweet” (if you’ve never read Shauna, her books are like chicken soup for your soul): “Share your life with the people you love, even if it means saving up for a ticket and going without a few things for a while to make it work. There are enough long lonely days of the same old thing, and if you let enough years pass, and if you let the routine steamroll your life, you’ll wake up one day, isolated and weary, and wonder what happened to all those old friends.”

And speaking of plane tickets and people I love, I myself hopped a plane the first weekend in May to head out to Los Angeles and visit the ever-sweet Jasmine. Last summer when I visited her and her hubby, JD, I joked in an email, “What do you think the chances are Coldplay is playing at the Hollywood Bowl while I’m out there?” and we laughed and made a wish for just such a show and agreed that, if it ever were to happen, we owed it to ourselves as fans to go. Fast forward to this month, when (thanks to the incredibly thoughtful JD), Jasmine and I found ourselves doing that VERY THING. (Seriously Internet, my mind is sometimes blown at the way wishes can come true). As we sat under a full moon, the Hollywood sign in full view, Chris Martin crooning “Yellow” to us way up in the stands, I had a pinch-me moment for sure. And the realization that life can be as beautiful as you allow yourself to dream it.

It was a short trip—just a long weekend—but plenty of time to squeeze in an AMAZING concert, lots of wonderful conversation, good food and relaxation with a California girl whose got a piece of my heart residing in her guest bedroom.

So if you have been wondering what I’ve been up to, like I said before—I’ve been soaking up moments with the people I love as much as I can. Before I get ready to welcome into Nick and I’s lives somebody who’s going to demand my full attention this fall—not to mention make me fall head over heels in love in a whole new kind of way. Can’t wait!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

This is a shoot that’s been YEARS in the making …. Erik and Erin are sweet high school classmates of Nick’s who I’ve gotten to consider as good friends over the years as well. When the two of them moved to Switzerland three years ago, I took an avid interest in following their lives from abroad, oohing and awwing over all their adventures together (I even had Erin guest blog for me when Nick and I took our OWN Euro adventure back in 2010). Last May, they welcome their little girl Priska into the family and Nick and I couldn’t be happier for them. They made it back home for a rare visit this month and after several attempts over the years, Erin and I FINALLY made a shoot happen. SO happy we did! Much more to come of this sweet family (with MAD Euro style…seriously!) but for now, one snap of storytime and Priska’s favorite book (she clapped her hands when the caterpillar became a butterfly….ADORABLE!) Love you guys!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.