Through Sunday, January 29th,  if you go to my website, www.photographybyheatherroach.com, click on clients, and type in sale you can purchase a future 1 hour session with CD for $125. That’s savings of $175. The offer will not expire so you can use it at any time during the year. You may also purchase more than one deal, or buy one for a friend. This may be the only sale this year and will definitely be the best, so don’t miss out!

The past 2 months have been crazy for me. Well, different anyways. I decided it was time to move, and to help with costs I decided I would watch a kid or 2. So, I posted on facebook. I had one reply. I had no idea what I had signed myself up for.

In June I started keeping a then, 11 month old, now 14 month old little boy. The first 2 days were awesome. He was the best little baby. And then came day 3. Day 3 I wanted to run away crying. Ok, I did actually cry. And I put us both in the car and just drove. I didn’t know what else to do. And on that day, I questioned having kids and ever watching him again. I watched him 5 days total in June. (which means I did end up keeping him again)

July and August I kept him a lot more. But in July and August I grew a lot. I learned so much about kids. We had our rough days, but we also had awesome days. I learned that doing photography and having a life is hard with a kid. But, it’s manageable. I was a little slower with editing, and I had to work some sessions around keeping him, but it worked. I learned you do things when you can. Honestly, I fell in love with that blue eyed little 1 year old. Even when he drove me crazy, I still loved him. And I’m thankful for the experience. I know not everyone gets it before having their own child. But I’m grateful I did. It made me stronger. And I admit, I’m gonna miss him, his yucky dog he loves to chew on, and his obsession with cheerios.

So here’s the deal:

The contest will apply to all kids ages 0-12.

You must live in the middle GA area or be willing to travel to me.

To participate this is what you will need to do:

Submit a current, non professional photo of your child to heathers.photography@gmail.com
including your name, your child’s name, and phone number.

I will upload all photos to my facebook page, www.facebook.com/heatherroachphotog,  on June 6th. Your job is to send the link to your family and friends so they can vote. They will need to add me as a friend and click “like” under your photo. The photo with the most “likes,” wins.

Entries will be taken from now until June 5th.

You can only vote once. Voting will go from June 6th until June 12th.

The winner will be announced June 13th and will win an hour photo session with all images put on a CD with copyright release.

So what are you waiting for – submit those photos!

http://www.thechalosadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/

But, I’m blogging anything but scary today. This little beauty did an amazing job. With just a feed before we really got started, she was good for the rest of the session. It was hard for me to limit myself to favorites to post. But, here she is!

Mommy and Me Mini Sessions will be Saturday, April 30th, 2011. Sessions are $100 for a 20 minute session and the CD of your images. Spots are limited so message me soon to reserve your spot.

The past 3 weeks have been a real challenge to me. I have been on a diet it seems like for the last year and a half. I’ve had a few breaks, but it always comes back down to dieting again. Quite honestly, I was sick of it. I had gained about 10 pounds back after losing 45 pounds, which was frustrating, and I just wanted to get back down and hit my 50 pound goal I had started with.

I heard about a diet from a guy that attends my church. I heard 500 calories, and I thought he was crazy. I thought better him than me. Then a friend I have been dieting with said she was considering doing it. I thought she was crazy too. But as my weight was yo-yoing even when I was doing good,  I decided I wanted to be done. This diet seemed to be the answer as you were supposed to lose at least a pound a day. Better yet, no exercise to do it.

So, on January 31st, I rode with my dieting buddy to the health store, and we bought some HCG drops.

You take these drops 6 times a day, 6 drops each time, for 23 days. The best part of this diet was on the first 2 days you get to load, meaning you get to eat everything horrible for you for 2 days. I have to say I enjoyed that part. I also gained about 3-4 pounds. That part I didn’t enjoy so much. On February 3rd, it was time to start the 500 calorie part of the diet. Let me also mention you don’t get to pick what foods you want to eat for your 500 calories. There is a list. I happen to be a very picky eater, so my list consisted of 6 items: Chicken, Hamburger meat, Cucumbers, Onions, Apples, and Oranges. I thought I could do anything for 23 days though. After the first day I lost 3.1 pounds. The next 1.8. Then .7. But the shocker was the 4th day, 4.2 pounds. On the 5th however, I gained .5. Back to losing the next day but only .2 pounds. That meant it was time for my first “apple day.” What’s an apple day you ask? It’s a day you eat only apples. 3 apples. That’s an apple for every meal. That was the day I wanted to quit. Especially when the next day I only lost .2 pounds again. Basically I struggled through the rest of this diet, wanting to quit. As expected, there are side effects from only eating 500 calories a day. I stayed hungry most of the time. I had intense cravings for everything I wasn’t supposed to have, and during Valentine’s day season, things were only worse when going to the grocery store for food. I should also  mention that I have been dizzy every day of this diet when I stand up. One time I honestly blacked out, although I didn’t pass out. Pretty crazy. The weight loss fluctuated, and I totaled 4 apple days. When the countdown got to 9 days left, I decided I was in the single digits and I couldn’t quit. I had to keep going. I have never not cheated on a diet, and I think I just had to prove something to myself. Not to mention I had a support team behind me I didn’t want to disappoint either. Probably the worst part of this diet was my moods. I admit I have suffered through some depression and irritability. The best part though was the fact that as of today I have lost 15.5 pounds. I am back to my previous  lowest weight, and have actually lost a little past that. I know the drops say they last 40 days, but, that’s a lie. They don’t. They lasted me 20 days. 3 days shy of the 23 days. I admit I was beyond ecstatic though. I have been ready to quit for a long time. The weight loss is great, but the diet is not. I honestly couldn’t recommend this diet to anyone. It’s great for quick weight loss, but you have to have the right mentality. You have to know what you are going into. You also have to know that if you just go back to eating afterwards, you will only gain it back. You have to know going in that afterwards you are going to have to still eat good and do some exercising. Quite honestly, I am SO ready to get back to exercising. I have 2 days of 500 calories left without the drops, and on Wednesday, which is my 23rd day, I get to increase my calories and get back to exercising. I admit, this isn’t exactly how the diet goes. You do 3 days of the 500 calories with no drops, and then do 3 weeks with no sugar and carbs but increasing calories. But quite honestly I am proud of myself for making it for 3 weeks and sticking to something. This may not have been great for me, but in a way it was. It helped my mind. I was able to push through and finish. My saving grace during this diet was my great support team, and well, oranges.

Oranges were the sweetest thing I could eat. And quite honestly, I looked forward to when I ate them. ( :

I would like to say thank you to Ronda. Thank you for being my diet partner, for pushing me, for listening to me whine (I know there was a lot of that), and for not giving up on me.  Quite honestly, I couldn’t have done this without you. And it was so much better going through this with someone.

I would like to say thank you to Rhonda. Thank you for knowing just at the right time to say you were proud of me so that I couldn’t give up. Thank you for dealing with my whining and constant talk of food. Thank you for dealing with the mood swings.

I would like to say thank you to Matt. Thank you for telling me to suck it up when I wanted to quit and was in the single digits. I needed that.

And last, thank you to everyone else who supported me, told me I could do it, and told me you were proud of me. Without a support team, I know I would have given up.

Quite honestly, this was hard. But I don’t regret doing it. And I am thankful for the weight loss. I know I can last through these last 2 days on 500 calories. After all, I’ve come this far. ( :

This little cutie stole my heart at her newborn session. She wasn’t totally up for photos, but we worked a system and got some great shots. A few weeks ago she came back in for her 3 month session. She still wasn’t really up for photos, but again we managed to get some cute ones. I am anxiously awaiting her 6 month session.