Wren Verona

Added on July 26, 2014 by Stephanie Chan.

After all the editing and compiling the photos for this post together, I'm at a loss of where to begin with Little Miss Wren. I've known the Schmidt sisters since Grade 8. Like many other girls, we were shuffled against our will to attend Little Flower Academy, an all girls Catholic school. Yes. I'm one of THOSE girls… The girls that attended Blessed Sacrament Elementary were a tight crew and I was introduced to Ashley Schmidt via a number of her friends. I was intimidated by her height and how she loved to play pranks on her friends. Her sister, Nicole, 2 years older terrified me all through high school. Ashley and I have continued to be friends after all these years, growing much closer in the last few. It was only until Nicole gave birth to her first little guy, Rook, 3 years ago, that we began to hang out and I learned she was much less terrifying and a lot more hilarious.

I am so grateful to have such wonderful and loving friends in my life and I'll say it a million more times, I am so honoured to photograph their life milestones and growing families. It's so special to be able to see such a long time friend welcome their first baby into the world, to share that love and wonder with them, to see the features of a face you've known forever suddenly appear in a brand new miniature version, and to see their heart transform before your very eyes as they fall in love with this tiny little person.

It is insane the things first time mothers do during their last weeks of nesting, Ashley and Ivan handmade this beautiful bird mobile.

Beautiful Wren

I look forward to seeing you grow up
and to count the many ways you will be like your Mama.

2014 Reader's Choice Awards

Added on June 16, 2014 by Stephanie Chan.

Yes, I know. Damn, that's a big photo of her face… I share it because it is not often these days that I'm feeling anything other than nauseous, exhausted and beat down with headaches with this pregnancy. Looking nice is very far down the list of priorities so I figured I'd snap a photo of me feeling pretty damn good about myself. Also, it's a portrait... and I just happened to have won this The Delta Optimist's Reader's Choice Award for best Portrait Photography second year in a row!!! Not too shabby for a selfie.

My sweetheart Mr. O'Brien escorted me to the reception. For all the time and muscle he has put in to making things happen behind the scenes, I felt he was reasonably deserving.

We sat outside on the patio where I thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancy plate of goods with the other winners of Ladner & Tsawwassen. The cherry on top of the lovely evening was that Cait was working in the next room and brought me a personal bowl of hot crispy french fries to munch on while waiting to be called up. French Fries have been the Number 1 craving this pregnancy, so yeah, I was pretty darn stoked about that.

A million thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the ballot forms! A special thanks to all the parents that sometimes don't have enough time to take a shower and took the 15 minutes to fill out 25 of their favourite places and services in our small town. Thank you for all the love, support and kindness over the past couple of years, I wouldn't be here without you!

Mini Cali Vacay

Added on May 27, 2014 by Stephanie Chan.

Thought I'd share a few photos from our weekend trip to visit my sister in Cali. We stayed at in San Diego at a beach house to be closer to Lego Land where we would be taking Moses on his birthday the following day. It was so beautiful! Sadly, it was cold and windy on the day we arrived and did not get the opportunity to hit the beach and waves.

The rest of our time was spent relaxing at my sister's home. The kids got to spend quality time with their fave Auntie, and when they were not, you could find them in the hammock, building legos or mesmerized for hours in front of the television. It was a rough week of weaning them off when we returned home!

And next year we will have a 5 month old baby

Jessie + Dave

Added on May 19, 2014 by Stephanie Chan.

Jessie Koop, the littlest sister of the Koop Sister Trio from my childhood days has become a mother. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again, photographing the growing lives of people I have known from a very young age is definitely one of the most special perks of being a photographer. Caitlin, was the middle sister with whom I attended school from Kindergarten to Grade 7. She was the nice girl that everyone wanted to be friends with. We were besties in our later years and she and her sisters attended the same high school with my husband. Both sisters would save me a seat on the bus when it came to my stop from Vancouver to Richmond. And now little Jessie, just a few years younger than I, is all grown up, married and a new Mama to a beautiful baby girl: Audrey Harper Steele, born May 22. Here are a few of the belly photos we took with her and Dave at Gary Point before their newest arrival.

Beach Bump with Alvaro, Stephanie + Emilia

Added on May 6, 2014 by Stephanie Chan.

It was a sunny afternoon when my cousin Nik introduced me to Stephanie at The Beach Grove Cafe here in Sunny Tsawwassen. It was 2010 when our bellies met, Stephanie pregnant with her first, Emilia, and I pregnant with my second. We drove into Vancouver on Saturdays to attend Prenatal Yoga and 4 years later here we are with our daughters in the same dance class and once again... both pregnant! She is due in two weeks and I am 9 months behind her. We seized the beautiful sunny weather and headed to Centennial Beach for an evening Family Session.

These last days as a trio are coming to a close and, soon, will be nothing more than a distant memory. As my family will soon grow from 4 to 5, it was a beautifully surreal experience to capture some memories of their last days as a family of 3. As difficult as it is to imagine what the mysterious little newcomer will bring to the family, it quickly becomes just as difficult to imagine your family living without this tiny new life.