Mieke is a little miracle baby and we waited quite some time for her, and now she's a blessing to everyone who knows her. Eilandia her mom, is one of my very good friends and she was also my bridesmaid at my wedding and I was hers. I absolutely love her and her bubbly personality! If Mieke takes after her mom she's going to be a people's magnet just like Eilandia, and if she takes after her dad Riaan, she's going to be a real sportswomen. i believe she's going to be both! 

How stunning is this family, I fell in love with them! Not only do we share the same surname, but we got along so well and it was as if we've known each other for ages. Lianza is such a vibrant person and she and her hubby are stunning parents, they have so much fun with their cute son, Zane. Enjoy!

I have to warn you, this is the longest post I have ever done. Meet my gorgeous baby Ella! God blessed us with her on the 25th of April, strong and healthy, 3.49kg and 54cm tall. Our adventure began at Genesis Clinic, I have to thank all the staff at Genesis, they where so professional, kind, loving, generous, and I can go on and on. Our rockstar midwives Henny and Cornelia from Growth-spurt, thank you for everything, you feel like family! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Then off course my hubby Etienne, for his patience, love and all the back massaging. Also for trying to convince me I was doing excellent during labour and which I din't believe at that stage. You are such a great father and I love you!!!! Then I would like to thank our parents for all the support! To the grand dads, for Ella's stylish pram and cot, the humidifier and all the rest. The Mom's, my mom for the baby shower and my Mom in law for the cot canopy and other small things that you all do. Oh yes, and for babysitting so that I can still carry on with my business. To all my friends and family for all the gifts, and also to the people I don't know so well, that gave us gifts. You wouldn't believe it but I had people that i never met before, give me gifts, pretty cool! I have never felt so spoilt! Then to Marie and Rachel, for standing by me and motivating me, especially when Ella was in hospital! I love you both! To Cassandra for bringing me the PS Chocolate below, which motivated me and the food and biscuits you arrive with every so often. Also the the very special Sr. Hettie Grove whom we did our pre-natal classes with. You gave me the confidence to handle baby and enjoy being a mom. I cannot thank everyone enough! But most of all I want to thank God for blessing us with this beautiful, healthy, sweet baby!! I love you with all my heart.

Ok now we can go on with the rest of the blog before I get too soppy! This post was specially created to say thanx, but also for me to remember all the small things, that I want to remember, so please understand why I photographed eg. the monitor, I want to remember as much about all of this as possible!

Dad doing some last minute business before we left for Genesis.

My very last belly shot before Ella arrived.

Ok, to sensitive viewers, this is where you skip the next 5 photos. No I'm just joking, but I know that no image can describe how you feel during a contraction, I carefully selected the images so I look good (LOL!) The pain was bad, but if you ask me if I would do it again.... definitely!

1,2,3 and baby was born... yeah right! The first thing I noticed was her eyes look just like her dad's.

This Choclate I will never forget! And on the day we arrived home the moon was at its biggest and brightest.

To me the meaning of Ella is so stunning: "Beautiful", Spiritual connotation: Sustained, and God's promise to Ella: Ps. 91:11 "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways". I have made it my mission to memorise the whole of Ps. 91, so I can say it out loud whenever I or anyone else is afraid or uncertain.

Week 1 and 2

Week 3

Week 6. This ridiculous hat, makes me laugh every time I put it on for her. Even when she's crying, I cannot stop laughing!

I've know Nadia & Ryan for a for a while, I photographed their wedding a few years ago. And I was so excited when I received a mail from her wanting to do a maternity session. I remember Ryan singing and playing the piano at their wedding, and Nadia thought it would be great if we could incorporate a bit about them. So we decided to do the shoot with this Baby Grand piano (Thanx to my Mom in law) and some shots in the woods because they are outdoors people. I think it was a great idea, because it is very different to any other maternity sessions I've done. I hope you enjoy these images!