On Saturday the 2nd of April my sister hosted a baby shower for us @ MPWC!

Stephanie Martin – the bride on my header and homepage – MADE this cake for us! Samm told her what she was thinking and then let her have creative freedom!

Samm made this diaper cake for me! I love the washcloth lollipops and the sock roses!

Peggy – a former barden photography bride – brought along her little miracle!

A close-up of the washcloth lollipop and the frozen baby game! Samm got these little plastic babies (which were pretty creepy) and froze them in ice! Whoever melted all the ice and got the baby out – without sucking on the ice – won!

Samm with our niece Rowyn! Oh I just LOVE her!

Who has the best diaper? HAHA! Loved this game! I had to pick Ashley – she is on the far left – because of the pacifier!

THANK YOU to EVERYONE who came to our shower! I had a great time and felt so amazingly blessed with all the goodies you gave!

On Sunday – March 27th – my bff Johna threw a baby shower for our little guy! She made me an awesome diaper cake and some fantastic cupcakes!!

Her little gal – *M* – who I just love!!

She helped me open gifts – and was so excited about EVERYTHING Fitzy got! She proudly showed me the butt paste she got Fitzy!

I thought is was SO funny!

My dear friend Jessica got this little outfit! SO CUTE!!

From Gramma Barden!

From our new – dear friend Ronda! Jared LOVES this one!!

Belinda’s little guy – *C* – OH MY WORD – the cuteness is spilling out of him!

I love love LOVE this girl!

And just because – our cheesy prom pose!!!

Thank you SO MUCH Johna and Matt for hosting this party for us! We love you guys SO much!

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

That is the “verse” we have chosen for Fitzgerald as his life verse!

We are so excited to raise this little baby with God’s direction!

I don’t even know what the prize might be – but I want to run a contest about Fitzy’s birth!

Make sure to comment on this blog post with your guess on his birthday – the time – his weight – his length!

I’m not sure if there will be one winner or four!

THIS CONTEST ENDS APRIL 24th – which marks 38 weeks!

More than anything – I am so excited to see his little face!!!!

It has been two years since I took a leap of faith and quit my job at Phoenix to pursue photography! God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams! I have made some amazing friends while capturing them through my lens!

As a birthday present to YOU – I am offering awesome specials throughout the whole month of April!

When you put a deposit down – during the month of April – for your upcoming wedding – you will get $250 off your wedding package!

When you put a deposit down – during the month of April – for ANY upcoming session – you will get $50 off your session!

I recently announced our BABIES special – the month of April will bring awesome deals on this too!

For that first year of life I offer – maternity – newborn – 3 months – 6 months – 9 months – 12 months all for $1000 (which is a $200 savings) BUT when you book this package in April – you will get an additional $150 off – making the whole package $850!

For those of you that don’t want to do belly shots – I offer – newborn – 3 months – 6 months – 9 months – 12 months all for $800 (which is a $200 savings) BUT when you book this package in April – you will get an additional $100 off – making the whole package $700!

Remember – if you are a former barden photography bride – you get an extra bonus!

When you choose the $850 package – at the end of the first year you will receive a 30 page – 12 x 12 album of your sessions AND a 16 x 20 canvas print! You can choose one print or a collection of prints to display on your canvas!

When you choose the $700 package – at the end of the first year you will receive a 30 page – 12 x 12 album of your sessions OR a 16 x 20 canvas print! You can choose one print or a collection of prints to display on your canvas!

Make sure to jot me a message at dcbarden(at)gmail.com or on FACEBOOK!

ALSO – DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL –

In October of 2009 I photographed Carl & Pam’s wedding – a BEAUTIFUL wedding with an amazing couple! In October of 2010 they were blessed with a baby girl – Piper! At almost a month old – Piper was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. She is doing remarkably well and has a wonderful support system! On May 21st – Pam and Carl will be participating in a CF walk with Piper’s Posse! You can read more about Piper’s story – here!

I would love to be there for Pam & Carl and their sweet baby girl – but since I cannot – I will be donating 10% of my revenue for the month of April to Piper’s Posse!

PLEASE click on the link above and give what you can to help find a cure! I also encourage you to check out Confessions of a CF Husband. When Pam first asked me to pray for Piper and her tests – I directed her to this website – which helped me understand CF. I don’t know how I came upon his blog – but have been following their story since their little girl was born!

THE CONTEST FOR APRIL –

Thank YOU for making barden photography what it is today – I am so excited about what the third year will bring!

On March 19th we had our first baby shower! We had it at our church – Liberty Bible Church – and had such a great time!

I love love LOVE peeps! I wanted to keep it low key – and the balloons and peeps worked great!!

My beautiful friend Stephanie made this cake for me – UNBELIEVABLE!

My friend and fellow photographer – Megan Hampton made these for Fitzy!!! AMAZING!

Kelly and Hannah got this BEAUTIFUL diaper bag for us – OH MY! I love it!

Tarren MADE this AMAZING scrapbook for Fitzy! I can’t even begin to describe the awesomeness!

THANK YOU EVERYONE who came out to celebrate our baby with us! We are so blessed to have EACH OF YOU in our lives!

Remember when I announced the . BRAND NEW . special!

I also offer a BABIES special!

For that first year of life I offer – maternity – newborn – 3 months – 6 months – 9 months – 12 months all for $1000 (which is a $200 savings)

For those of you that don’t want to do belly shots – I offer – newborn – 3 months – 6 months – 9 months – 12 months all for $800 (which is a $200 savings)

If you are a former barden photography bride – you get an extra bonus!

When you choose the $1000 package – at the end of the first year you will receive a 30 page – 12 x 12 album of your sessions AND a 16 x 20 canvas print! You can choose one print or a collection of prints to display on your canvas!

When you choose the $800 package – at the end of the first year you will receive a 30 page – 12 x 12 album of your sessions OR a 16 x 20 canvas print! You can choose one print or a collection of prints to display on your canvas!

If you want to set up your sessions – jot me an email @ dcbarden(at)gmail.com or on FACEBOOK!

My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on March 11th!

On March 5th we had a party for them with their friends and family!

This frame was from their 40th wedding anniversary celebration! Their wedding topper and memory book!

How cute is this little guy! His great-grandmother is my grandma’s sister – I think! There were so many people there!

My cousin’s baby *B* – he is such a cutie!

*B* is Vanessa’s nephew – she is so good with him! I can’t wait to have her come stay with me this summer!

My aunt LuAnn and her sweet grandbaby!

My cousin’s son *D* – he will be 5 in September! *D* poked my belly and when we told him there was a baby in there – he looked horrified. He wanted to know if I had eaten a baby! Jared and my cousin Zach played angry birds to pass the time!

These sisters are too cute! We had a session earlier this year – finding out that we were related through my grandma! Craziness!

My grandma with her sisters!

My mom, grandma, uncle Ronald, grandpa, and aunt LuAnn!

Happy Anniversary grandma & grandpa! Love you so much!

Two years ago today I woke up to incredible pains at 4 am – knowing that today would be the day that Enoch left us. It was painful and emotional and one of the most difficult times of our lives.

We knew for a week that we would be miscarrying – but having it happen made it so real and so permanent.

I write today to remind myself of where we are. To encourage you with our miracle to keep hoping for yours. Remember – I am that person that found it hard to hope – I still do at times! It was hard to hope without getting my hopes up – cus they would be gone every month.

Here are the blogs that I wrote 2 years ago to help get out my feelings about what we were going through.

3.11.09 – COMFORT

3.12.09 – BEAUTY FROM PAIN

3.13.09 – PROMISES

3.22.09 – SPRING

4.21.09 – FINDING PEACE

We have a little more than 7 weeks until our expected due date with Fitzy – our miracle! I sit here and shake my head as I type – still in shock that there is a baby kicking me. That after two years of heartache we will be blessed with another child – this one in our arms!

I write to encourage you. I write to give you hope. I write to let you know I am praying for YOU! I am praying that God will give you peace – strength – comfort – and the ability to give up control – to let it in God’s hands.

We miss Enoch so much – but we rejoice in the knowledge that he is rejoicing with Jesus! He is safe and happy and beautiful! We will see him again someday!

We are so thankful for the chance to reach out to all of you that are struggling! We are so blessed to know all of you and pray for you!

Thank you so much for your support, love, and prayers you have showered us with on our journey to becoming parents!

I wanted to end this post with a promise of new life – a promise that God cares!

If God takes care of the flowers in the ground – He will take care of YOU!

My BFF Johna has a little girl – *M* – who I just love!!!

We try to get together at least every two weeks – and this time I took my camera!

I mean seriously – look at that face!!

Giving me her mad face!

And her happy face!

I cannot wait for her and Fitzy to become friends!