This blog, as well as these sessions will always be special to me, though a tad more personal than most of my posts. I've known Jenna all her life. I come from a large family and am the oldest grandchild. Jenna is my cousin and in the younger half of the grandchildren.

   Six and half years ago all our lives were rocked hard, Jenna's especially. Her father, my dad's baby brother, was murdered the Monday after Thanksgiving. She was a senior in high school. Ever since I can't ever express how much I look up to this younger cousin and the strength she's shown. I know she's had lots of family to help lift her.

  About nine months ago I had a very vivid dream which included my uncle that was murdered.

   In my dream our family was gathered for a grand get-together. There's more than 50 of us now, so if we try and all show up in my grandparents home, the house gets small fast. My uncle was comfortable on the couch obviously full from the holiday meal. He was so very happy. He was laughing and smiling. All my family has an ornery streak in them and tend to cut up and laugh. This time was no different.

   As I looked over to a corner where Jenna and Travis (her husband) were sitting, I noticed right away a smiling, happy, healthy baby. Jenna was spoon feeding this baby from a baby food jar. It seems there's always a little one running around and before it was nothing for Jenna or Travis to gather one up. This was different though, the baby was obviously their child. It was then she glanced back to her dad with a slightly aggravated look but with a smile in her eye. It seemed "Grandpa" had given this precious baby a taste of something (ice cream, mashed potatoes) and maybe shouldn't have.

   My uncle only laughed harder with the look he received. He was very proud to be a grandpa. He was even prouder of his daughter, his only child and the biggest part of his life.

  I awoke early that morning with a start from this dream. It was so real I had to stop and think and remember that my uncle wasn't here on earth anymore. I felt compelled to call Jenna that day and ask if she was pregnant or if the couple was trying to conceive. I nearly did more than once. I didn't for fear that I would upset her by the dream if she wasn't pregnant.

  I went to pick up my son that evening from my parent's house and my dad asked me if I had gotten the announcement text from Jenna. I hadn't, but knew what the the announcement was. I did send her a message that night about the very dream I've described.

  Both her and Travis asked the gender of the baby in my dream but I held back from telling them. The dream was vivid enough I felt strongly that I knew the gender of this precious baby. I didn't tell anyone. I agreed the day before their "big" ultrasound to reveal that in my dream it was a boy. Tears filled my eyes when I got word from Jenna they were indeed expecting a baby boy.

  I met the pair in mid December for maternity photos. We lucked out and the weather was pretty nice for us. Here are some of the images from the session:

   The timing for the maternity session was perfect for another reason as well. It seemed Kelby couldn't wait until is scheduled due date. On January 20th Kelby Lee was born weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces. His tiny size makes him the smallest newborn I've photographed. I felt I knew him from the moment I laid eyes on him, just hours old at the hospital.

   I'll be happy to watch him grow! Here are a few of his newborn session:

Special thanks to Jennifer Murray for helping me with the hats and diaper cover!