Thanks!

oops... please try again

Welcome to the Erica Holland Photography blog and website! I combined my blog and my webpage to make things simpler for me and easier for you. Everything you need is all right here and this way you can look at even more images (which is the best part anyway!) I spend time in Germany, Washington State and sometimes Utah. I specialize in on-location photography of babies, children, families and seniors. 

I post a lot on this blog, so keep checking back. I'll put up sneak peeks from all of my sessions, and once a week I post something I love from Europe. You will also get to know my family here - my husband, Brad, and our daughter Annika.  We love to travel and we will be sharing our European adventures with you. Enjoy the pictures and leave a comment. It is great to have you here!

Grateful

Being pregnant with twins has been hard at times, and I hear that actually having infant twins is even harder, but even so, I don’t know that I deserve the outpouring of love and support I have received this pregnancy. I am incredibly grateful.

In no particular order:
I am grateful for a daughter who has sensed that big changes are coming her way. For an almost two-year old she has been incredibly understanding of my limitations and sometimes inability to meet her wants. She knows that Mommy can’t carry her, so she just asks that I “hold hand” when we walk down the stairs. When I am laying down she will run all over the house getting things for me and sometimes even picking things up for me. She likes to steal my chair, but always moves when I ask. She will be a great big sister. She is already a great friend for her mom.

I am grateful for two other daughters that have decided to hold out on making their entrance into the world. It has given me some much needed time to not only get our house physically ready for their arrival, but to prepare myself mentally for the changes in my life (at least somewhat.) I am almost 36 weeks now, and even though I feel like I am going to burst I keep reminding myself that everyday I don’t go into labor makes the babies that much bigger and stronger and healthier.

I am grateful for friends who have stepped in to bring me meals, to babysit Annika, to cut my hair, or just to call and talk. Thanks. It has meant the world to me.

I am most grateful right now, for an amazing husband who has taken the last few weeks without complaining and only a little bit of teasing. He works hard and then comes home and works even harder. He has cleaned the house, cooked dinners, washed laundry, done the grocery shopping, played with Annika, and finished his project of refinishing and painting our kitchen table and chairs. He has bought me peanut m&m’s just because he knows I love them and listened while I shared all of my fears (many of them irrational) about the babies coming. He puts up with extra pillows in the bed at night and extra messes around the house that I don’t have the energy to clean up. Yesterday we drove to Trier to buy Annika some birthday presents before the babies make it extra hard to get out. We hadn’t planned on taking pictures, but at the last minute decided to do an impromptu maternity session to document a size I hope to never be again. I am grateful for a husband that makes me feel beautiful even when I waddle and look like I swallowed a watermelon and by my own admission resemble a beached sea lion when I try to get off the couch or out of bed (at least that is how I feel!) Even though we both laugh at the impossible size of my belly he continually reminds me that I am beautiful, and for that, I am grateful. (Plus, he is a great photographer, no?)

Share and Enjoy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • RSS

Here’s Looking at You, Kid . . .

I was a little worried that me being on bedrest would mean Annika would get neglected. It turns out the opposite is true. I can’t be up cleaning, cooking, or doing laundry, so we lay on the couch or in her bed and read books, or she plays with her toys on the floor while I watch, or we just talk. Today we were laying in her bed reading a book and I asked her if she was still going to be happy once the babies come home. She is so spoiled with attention now, I sometimes worry that she will feel forgotten once I am overwhelmed with two newborns. I told her that her Daddy and I decided to have more babies because we thought that sisters would make her happy. She sat up in bed, looked at me very seriously, gave me a big cheeser grin, and said “Yeah, Mommy! Annika happy!” She then gave me a big hug and we finished reading the story. Moments like these remind me why I love being a Mom.

This was my photo from today. I was thinking about Annika’s newborn pictures and I wanted to take a picture of Annika’s no-longer baby toes. She sat down for me and I laid on the floor to get the shot. She immediately laid down across from me, looked at me like this and said “What is Mommy doing?” I never did get a picture of her toes, but this one will certainly do.

Share and Enjoy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • RSS

“Get out…No Slide!”

I’ve felt bad keeping Annika inside all week with so much snow. I haven’t really been off of the couch or the daybed, so I was excited to let Anni go out and play in the snow with Brad today. Unfortunately, when he took her across the street, she just stood and one place and said, “Carry. Carry!” As soon as they got inside, Anni wanted to sled, so Brad went out on the deck and made her a slide. Maybe we are cruel parents, but Brad went to all that work, so she was going to go down the slide, and she was going to love it! She didn’t.  Watch the video in HD to get a closer look.


I had high hopes that Annika would love the snow, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. She warmed up to it eventually, but still would rather be inside eating a cookie, and she let us know.

jan24-30_0018

Share and Enjoy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • RSS

Project Life

I have been meaning to blog about this for a while, but life keeps getting in the way. I haven’t posted pictures of Annika in a while, but it is not because I haven’t taken them. I challenged myself to a new project this year, and even though I am a little intimidated by it, I don’t think I will regret it. The challenge is this: I have to take a picture everyday and I have to journal everyday. Now, with twins on the way and an active toddler, I am not letting myself be a perfectionist. I would like to say that I am going to take a beautiful picture everyday and write something that is clever and thoughtful, but this is just not the case. I just have to take a picture of something and write something about what happened that day. So far, I am doing pretty good. I’ll admit that somedays I forget to take a picture, and I have to make up for it over the next few days, but I already have the first two and a half weeks of January put together in a book, and I am excited about it. The last week has been a bit rough — I am not sure what to take a picture of when I am laying on the couch all day. I took a picture of my feet today. I figured that’s what I was looking at all day, so I might as well document it. So many things are going to change this year; I want to have a record so I don’t forget all of the little details. I don’t know that I will post my project here all of the time, but I will occasionally. I think posting it will help keep me motivated.

Share and Enjoy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • RSS

A belly picture and a belly story

I really don’t like posting pictures of myself that much. I have much better subjects in my clients. But, still, this is also my personal blog, and since I have many family members and friends who keep asking for pictures of my belly (it is really not that exciting), I am finally posting one. I would love to have some great maternity pictures where I look glowing and beautiful to show you all, but this is just not the case, for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t have that cute little pregnant belly anymore — I have a big, unwieldy, pointy belly and no shirts that completely cover it. I am pretty sure I did not have this problem last time I was pregnant. Second, Brad is my photographer, and lately he has been working weekends and late into the night, so the only times he is home to take pictures it is dark and cold outside and dark and only slightly warmer inside. I kept putting off taking pictures until we could find some time to go somewhere and I could dress up and take some cute pictures. However, after this weekend we decided that I needed to just take a picture NOW no matter how late and dark it was, which brings me to my story,

I am now 33 weeks into my pregnancy. Despite the higher risks of twin pregnancies, mine has gone beautifully thus far. I haven’t had any blood pressure problems, my back hasn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, the babies have both moved into head-down positions and have developed wonderfully. Every checkup the doctor would say “Looks great! See you in four weeks!” I was starting to have high hopes it would continue this way until 37 or 38 weeks when twins are considered full term. However, this was not to be the case. I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions about the same time I starting going in for my bi-weekly non-stress tests. That is was not worrisome in and of itself, except that they started increasing in frequency quickly, especially for only being 32 weeks along. On Saturday I went out to dinner and to a movie and on the way home was timing my contractions at 5 minutes apart. When I got home I drank water and laid down, but they kept coming for the next couple of hours, so we decided to make the trip into labor and delivery. My contractions aren’t painful like labor contractions, and we really didn’t think I was going into labor, so I didn’t bring anything but my purse, and we woke up Annika and took her along, hoping for a quick trip. No trip to the hospital is quick. They gave me an IV, took lots of samples, monitored heart rates and contractions, and gave me a couple of drugs to stop the contractions. We finally got home around 6:00 in the morning with instructions for me to take it easy for the next few weeks, and to expect to probably have to come back again.

So, I am now on modified bed rest, and the babies are probably going to come sooner than we had hoped. I am doing my best to do nothing and keep the babies in for a few more weeks, but laying around all day is harder than it seems. Annika has been great. We explained that Mommy has to take care of the babies in her tummy so I can’t hold Annika, and I am going to have to lay down a lot. We read books together and Annika has played all morning on the floor next to me without complaining. She frequently asks if the babies in Mommy’s tummy are coming out and seems genuinely concerned. We’ve had so many people ask how they can help, offer to take Annika, and offer to bring in meals. We are extremely grateful. Brad has taken over without complaining and does a much better job of cleaning up the kitchen than I do. He may also be a better cook. On top of that he has been working late to try to finish his project of refinishing and painting our kitchen table and chairs. I think he feels the pressure with the babies coming shortly. I just feel like a lazy bum, but I keep reminding myself that it is just hard in a different way and that we are all doing what is best for these two little girls.

This is getting long. My blog is a  journal for me, so I felt like I needed to record the changes in our lives. I hope I didn’t bore you. As far as photography things go, this also means that I won’t be taking any more sessions until sometime this spring after the babies are here and we feel a little more settled. Thanks to everyone who emailed me about sessions. I am flattered and I really do wish that I could meet your families, and your new additions, and document all the wonderful things in your lives. Email me again in a few months!

I am not sure whether all this bedrest will mean more or less blogging. I guess we will see. Keep checking back!

Share and Enjoy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • RSS