I think one of my favourite things about my work as a photographer is to witness the sheer joy and love between parents and their new babies.  Having grown kids of my own, I know there are bound to be rough patches (far) ahead when these babes grow into adolescence, and I always imagine them surly and uncooperative with hormones, but still needing their parents’ love so much.  I imagine these teens staring hard at images I once took to fill themselves with the adoration on their parents’ faces alight with joy at welcoming them into the world.   Professionals maintain that hanging photographs as art in the home increases children’s self esteem and sense of belonging…of course.

Little V came to Jane Photo for 100-day photographs, and it was my great pleasure to work with her family to make some of the first artistic images of her life.

Did I mention how much I love my clients?  I just seem to get genuinely nice people through my studio, and they are a joy and a delight to work with.  V’s family was such a pleasure.  Lovely to see Dad so involved and caring with his little gal, too.  Thanks for everything, and for having such a cutie patootie for me to photograph, too!

Please feel free to feed our organization of the month, Pacific Post Partum Support Society, by leaving a comment below and by telling your friends and family members to do so too.  This organization helps out moms experiencing anxiety or depression after childbirth, and their work is much needed.  Each comment you leave during March is worth $1 to their coffers up to a monthly total of $200!  So please give generously.

Here are some words of wisdom from mom:

Tell us about the day you realized you were pregnant with Ms V.

I kinda suspected it so it wasn’t that suprising to me, but my husband didn’t know yet so I put the pregnancy test in a brown bag and he thought it was his snack. LOL

What is the best thing about being V’s mommy?

She smiles everytime she sees me (though she might be thinking, Oh, here comes my food)

What moments between V and your husband really melt your heart?

When my husband kisses her and she is just laughing and giggling.

How was your labour?

Labour was just bearable. I had one of those back labours so it was a long 20 hours, but otherwise not too bad for a first timer (as people keep telling me).

You just moved into a new house. Have you had fun decorating a room for V?

We haven’t done much yet, still busy getting all the furniture.

What is V’s favourite thing in the world?

She loves keypads: remote control, computer-she loves pounding on them. I think she’s figured out that those keys change the screens.

What are your hopes and dreams for V as she grows?

We just hope that she grows up to be a happy person.

We are back and firmly in the grip of jet lag. Had an awesome trip. More on our trip and our work in Thailand later when I get images downloaded and sorted.

Meantime, it was lovely to come back to a Vancouver firmly in the grip of spring. The cherry blossoms! Is it really February? I just can’t believe it. Our garden is perking up even without spring cleanup…we have daffs already blooming, the snowdrops are on their way out, and there are the first muscari in bloom. Amazing. And to celebrate it all, here is the spring cover of Urban Baby and Toddler, featuring the adorable little baby girl, Mona. I photographed Mona twice last year when she was under one, and she was just such a pleasure to capture. Love her look…the awesome chubby cheeks, the tiny little mouth, the big dark eyes. In this shot, she’s sitting on a stump in our front spring garden…lovely wild spring all around her. Her mama just sent me a recent photograph…Mona is now 18 months and drop dead beautiful. Not a surprise to me. Congrats, Mona, on being the spring 2010 cover girl for Urban Baby!

Here’s a link if you want to explore the issue in more depth or check out our ad in the same issue:Urban Baby and Toddler Magazine

Jane Photo donates $1 up to a monthly total of $200 to a worthy organization every month, and this March we are donating to Pacific Post Partum Support Society, which offers moms going through depression or anxiety after birth, so please, take the time and leave a comment below for this post or any other post on my blog. And please tell your friends! It’s easy to organize a group of women to leave comments and help this worthy organization. Giving is easy! Pacific Post Partum Support Society.

Jane Photo donates $1 up to a monthly total of $200 to a worthy organization every month, and this March we are donating to Pacific Post Partum Support Society, which offers moms going through depression or anxiety after birth, so please, take the time and leave a comment below for this post or any other post on my blog. And please tell your friends! It’s easy to organize a group of women to leave comments and help this worthy organization. Giving is easy! Pacific Post Partum Support Society.

Here are some words from Michelle:

Tell me about how you came to start your new company, Vitality Marketing.

I decided soon after my twin boys were born that I wanted to be closer to home and have a more flexible schedule than my corporate employment allowed at the time, but I still went back to the corporate world for a year and a half (after my maternity leave was up) before making the big plunge into self-employment.  One of the twins was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in September of 2008, making my decision to leave the corporate world that much easier.  I am still pursuing my career ambitions, and I am now also able to participate in their lives much more actively and monitor my son’s health more closely, too.

How did you decide on the name for it?

Vitality means energy and vigor, and vitalize means to give life to something.   I specialize in bringing product ideas to life: I work with my clients to develop the brand, the marketing & sales programs, and the product positioning and pricing.  Vitality has a strong positive meaning that embodies my approach to working with my clients.

What exactly does your company do?

I provide contract marketing and strategy consulting services for small to large companies across many industries (tourism, financial services and media, to name a few).  I also am very proud to be a local writer and social media manager for www.savvymom.ca.  I have been working with Savvy Mom for 6 months now, and love it.

What do you hope for, long-range, for Vitality Marketing?

I would love to see Vitality Marketing become an integral part of the Vancouver business community for years to come.  My goal is to continue to nurture the relationships and contracts I have now and work on growing the business more substantially once the boys are in school full-time.

You’re a mom.  Can you introduce us to your kiddos?

I have twin boys:  Jakob and Ryan.  They are 3 years old already…it goes way too fast!  They are an amazing amount of fun, and they have introduced me to an entirely newlevel of energy (where do they get it from?!).

What advice would you offer other moms thinking of starting up their own businesses?

Never underestimate the amount of hard work and energy required to get a business off the ground.  Be sure to join Twitter so that during those hours or days when you are feeling overwhelmed, you can draw on the talents of and gain support from the wonderful community of mom entrepreneurs who will answer all the questions that pop up along the way.

Any tips for mom business owners out there?  Things you wish someone had told you?

Get an accountant and keep track of all your receipts.  I wish I were more organized with the back-end side of the business!  Also, make sure that you schedule time during your week to take care of the financial side of the business.

Meet the ever-adorable Ms V, whose luxurious hair sticks almost straight up (not that you can see it in this image).  Sooo cute.  She has the most adoring parents, too…incredibly patient and loving.  Dad does all the heavy lifting, as Ms V at 100 days is already getting too heavy for her tiny mom to carry for long!  She has these awesome plump thighs…I hope I see her again at 6 mo-1 year, because she is bound to get even plumper when she starts on solids.

This month, February, we are continuing to collect comments (each is worth $1, so please be generous) to benefit Battered Women’s Support Services.  This is because there won’t be many blog comments in February, given there won’t be many posts in my absence.

I will hopefully have some comments from mom to share when I do a full blog post for Ms V and her parents when I get back.

Meantime, here is Ms Gorgeous:

Jane Photo donates $1 per comment left on this blog, up to a monthly total of $200, to a charitable organization doing good work in the Vancouver area. This month we’re continuing on with Battered Women’s Support Services, so please, take the time and leave a comment below for this post or any other post on my blog. And please tell your friends! Giving is easy!

Here are some words from Karen:

Tell me about how you came to start your now 3 year old company.

Like most mom-business owners, I saw the opportunity to bring a great concept and product to market and marry this with my idea of having a flexible working schedule to be more available to my family. And also like many mom-business owners, I have learned that running a successful business is more than a full time commitment!

Are you online or retail or both?

We provide a virtual store at www.newandgreen.com . As a mom, I know that my time with the kids is best spent on kid-focussed activities rather than shopping. Providing an online store allows parents to shop when it’s convenient for them. You will see us out in the community at baby shows and teaching our Cloth Diaper 101 workshops. We are out every week teaching workshops throughout Greater Vancouver. To date, we’ve educated more than 500 people.

Tell us about your diapers and what is innovative about them.

Modern cloth diapers are easy to use and easy to care for. There are also many options for different families including organic fibers, stay dry features, birth-to-potty diapers. Many diaper come with the absorbent and water proof components integrated with easy to use Velcro or snap closures and some diapers grow from fitting a 7lb baby all the way to a 35lb toilet training toddler.

You’re a mom. Can you introduce us to your kiddos?

Yes, I have to wonderful girls: E who is three and C who is one. I love having the ability to be present in their lives more than I would if I was working in a more traditional productive role. My daughter E knows more about cloth diapers than the average three year old. Just ask her which one is the Fuzzi Bunz – she’ll point it out!

What advice would you offer other moms thinking of starting up their own businesses?

Really know what your goals are and the reasons you are starting a business. Do market research. Meet a great accountant. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and other mom business owners who know where you are coming from. Be prepared to work harder than you ever have. And be prepared to love it!

Any tips for business owners out there? Things you wish someone had told you?

Set up your company as you see it five years down the timeline. It is difficult to envision, but doing things with systems in place can really help you along the way.

This is little Mr A, who actually wasn’t so little after all, weighing in at over 9 pounds at birth, every one of those pounds wide awake and attentive! He was two weeks late, which in my experience always makes a more alert baby, and because of the holidays (he was born Dec 22 and his folks wanted to relax and enjoy him without distractions) and the cold I caught, he was already three weeks when I met him. But what an adorable little guy, and totally ready to rock out. Didn’t get too many sleepy, zonked out pix , but ah, who cares? He had wonderful eye contact, and I swear you could see this little old soul peeking out. Very much his own person.

This month, we are donating money for Battered Women’s Support Services. Please help by leaving a comment on this blog post, or any other; it’s worth $1 to BWSS. At the end of the month, we’ll add them up and send them off a cheque.

Here are some words from A’s mommy:

What did you do when you first knew you were expecting?

We celebrated and then J (Dad) flipped a coin to see if we were going to have a boy or girl. The coin said boy!

How was your pregnancy? Any problems?

Pregnancy was incredible- I loved being pregnant. I miss being pregnant! A was breech for a while and I became obsessed with getting him to flip so was doing acupuncture, the Webster technique, swimming and inversions every day. Something worked and he flipped head down.

Baby A made his grand entrance just a couple days before Christmas. You were two weeks overdue; was it hard to wait?

It was difficult waiting for labour to begin. Again, I became obsessed with natural ways to induce labour- I tried everything under the sun but nothing worked! I stopped answering phone calls and emails from people asking if the baby had arrived.

What is your favourite thing, so far, about being a mom?

Being able to spend so much time with him each day and noticing those subtle changes that take place over the course of the week. I also find breastfeeding very fulfilling.

What are you most looking forward to over the next year or so?
Watching him interact and learn about the world around him.

What are your hopes for Mr A as he grows?
That he is truly happy and follows his

What is boudoir?

Modern boudoir is bedroom photography by women for women.  Whether you want to share a surprise with that special someone in your life (weddings, anniversaries, birthdays), or want to remember yourself as you are now, or just want to get out from under the spit-up and diapers and recreate the woman  you were before kids, boudoir sessions are perfect for celebration.  Boudoir is for women of all ages and body types…women have discovered the session is empowering and liberating, and best of all, makes them feel incredibly beautiful.

What to wear, how to prep?

It’s time  to play!  Please treat yourself to three sensual changes of lingerie, including boots, high heels, stockings, garter belts, corsets, gloves, hats.  Practice giving “come hither looks” into the mirror so you know  what expressions look good.  Feel free to have a drink or two beforehand.

Can I do this with my girlfriends?

We can do a boudoir party at a local boutique hotel with a minimum of five women; you split the rental between you and then the hostess can spend the night after an evening on the town with her honey.  If there are only a couple of you, we prefer to use the studio in east Van, but certainly, you can come together and make each other laugh!

Are men welcome?

These sessions are for women only.

But my body is not perfect/I am getting older…

No worries!  The talents of our makeup artist, some false eyelashes, and a clever understanding of how to bring out the sexy will show you at your very best…and a little bit better.  You’ll look alluring and captivating…we promise!

What about my crow’s feet/blemishes?

Full retouching of all ten images is included in your cost.  We will work on each image with close attention.

How much does a boudoir session cost?

Posh Session:

Only 800 and is all-inclusive, including hair, makeup, your 1-2 hour session with three outfit changes, and 10 images presented in your choice of a little black book or a Boudoir Diva magazine.

Red Hot Session:

Only 1550.  Same details as above, plus also includes all ten images as digital files.

Ten digital files only: 1300

What happens after the session?

You’ll be invited back to the studio for an in-person ordering session, during which you’ll view a slideshow of between 15-20 images of gorgeous you.  From these, you’ll choose your favourite ten for your album or magazine.

Cash for Comments:  This month, Jane Photo is donating $1 for each comment left on our blog to Battered Women’s Support Services up to a total of $200.  Please help out a worthy organization by taking the time to leave a comment here!

To view slideshow below, please click on image. This may not be suitable for young viewers.

I was thrilled to take L’s mat photos!  She is so gorgeous (why is it that all my clients are so good looking?), and that makes my job easy.  She had this tiny little perfect belly.  I made these images back in December, and by the time we met again this week, after time out for the holidays and me being sick (my ears are still plugged up and it’s like walking around under water), this perfect belly had popped out about another six inches.  Well, I dunno, I didn’t measure, but that’s sure what it looked like!  Anyway, it was such a pleasure to create art to fill L’s empty walls; they will be perfect! And I can’t wait until the new babe arrives.

This month, comments on this blog earn $ for Battered Women’s Support Services.  Tell your friends!  It’s so easy to make a difference.  One comment here=$1 for BWSS.  Leave one comment, or explore more posts and leave a bunch, it all counts to a max of $200.

Without further ado, here are L and B:

Due to the Olympic games, this will be the last mixer until late March so it is a great opportunity to meet sitters to help with Valentines day, spring break and the Olympic activities. If you’ve been longing to find reputable sitters, this event may be for you! It surely would have tickled my fancy when my kids were little.

Lullaby League

Hey, folks, help fundraise for Battered Women’s Support Services by leaving a comment below! Each comment in Jan 2010 is worth $1 to their worthy organization up to a total of $200.