Or, should I say, my world has been rocked? This blog has had some serious radio silence recently, and well, it’s because we had our baby! I’d like to introduce Ms. Thea Cori Hurst to everyone. She was born at 2:35 PM on April 7th. To make a very, very long story short, I was two weeks overdue and Thea did NOT want to be born, so my obstetrician said I needed to be induced. We drove to the hospital around 7PM on April 6th, and the induction started around midnight that night. After a long and sleepless night, Thea was born at 2:35 PM on Wednesday, April 7th. But due to a few small concerns the doctors had during the delivery, Thea had to spend a full week in the NICU. It was the hardest week of my life being discharged while my baby was still in the hospital. I camped out in the NICU and hospital lobby for the week, feeding my baby, changing her, and just waiting for the ok from the doctors that we could bring her home. It was just so hard having to say goodbye to my baby every night. But now she is home, happy and quite healthy. And it’s been six weeks already. Six weeks!? I still don’t know how time is going so fast, but she is growing and doing new things every single day. We even get smiled at now and it instantly melts mine and Kyle’s hearts. I never thought being a parent would change my world so completely, but I have found out how deep love can go and how truly blessed a person can feel.

Also, I shot my first two weddings for this 2010 season already!! The first one was exactly two weeks and three days after I gave birth too! It was tough, but the wedding was fabulous and I feel so energized and excited about my 2010 weddings to come! Images from Ryan and Vanessa’s wedding and Amanda and Matt’s will pop up on the blog soon enough. But I really DO have a TON of other images to blog about first. Sadly, there are gorgeous images I shot back in 2009 (I told you I was behind on blogging) the still need to be shared!!! But all will be revealed in due time.

In the meantime, here are just a very few images we have taken since Thea has been born.

Here is my very overdue pregnant belly!
And Thea at just 11 days old and finally home from the hospital.
A late night jam session with her Dad.
One of her first happy days!  We also used this image for her birth announcement.
A detail of her eyelashes.  I’ve kissed them a thousand times,  I am sure of it.
I will be taking her photo each month until her first birthday!
She LOVES her bath time!

I have been a bad blogger as of late. Forgive me internetland! But I’ve been pretty occupied with the arrival of our baby! Kyle and I have attended all the “newbie parent” classes, we installed the car seat, the nursery is all set, the changing table is well stocked, and we are just counting down til birth day! But with a week and a half until my due date, I plan on getting quite a few posts up in the next couple of days! I think blogging will help get my mind off the waiting! I can’t guarantee a blog a day, but I am going to try my hardest to get every last wedding and engagement session up on this here blog for everyone to enjoy! So then I can shower the blog with pictures of our little addition to Kimberly Hurst Photography!!

Which brings me to one last little bit of business. I am going to be checking email, making calls, and working with clients up until the last minute. And after the baby is born, I will still be home checking email, making calls, and working with clients on their albums, etc. but please understand my response time might be a bit longer than before…at least for those first few precious weeks! So, please be patient as baby, Kyle, and I settle into our new life together! And remember, check back often for pictures of our little bundle!!

So, without further adieu, here are some faves from Jia-Lin and Kristin’s wedding up in Stony Point!

So exciting! Kimberly Hurst Photography is featured in the 2010 Spring Summer issue of The Knot New York! Congrats to Helen and Eric who’s lovely wedding at the New Leaf Cafe gets to grace its pages! So, check it out and go pick it up on the newsstands now!

YAY Helen and Eric! YAY The Knot!

Well, the time has come to let everyone know some exciting news! Kyle and I are expecting our first baby in March!! I am just starting my 6th month as of today and am feeling pretty great! I’ve shot a bunch of weddings this year already and have one more in the bag before I can shift gears and start thinking about all the baby related things like our nursery, the baby shower, clothes shopping, etc. We are so totally stoked on starting our family and can’t wait to meet our baby in March. We are waiting to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl until baby’s birthday, but I love asking people what they think we are having. It’s been pretty divided as of now, so I guess it’s just a matter of time until we know for sure!

Kyle and I were in Philadelphia this past weekend visiting our dear friends Joel and Cynthia of that girl photography, who are also expecting their first baby. And when we had a few moments, Cynthia and I swapped portrait sessions! Here are two pictures from my mini-maternity session with Cynthia!

WARNING!  This post contains no pictures!  I can’t take photos and run my tuchus off at the same time.

I’m just going to lay it all out there. I’ve never been an athlete. I grew up in a family of four girls, all of which were wildly more athletic than I ever was. Cori loves fishing, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, etc. Chris has ran two marathons and is contemplating her third. And Candice, well, Candice was a star on the field hockey field, has ran a half marathon herself, learned to ski in a matter of hours, rides horses, etc. Then there is me!

Art kid to the core.

Seriously, I won’t deny that I can photograph, draw, paint, heck, fold origami circles around my three sisters. But, put us in a head to head American Gladiator type competition and I will most certainly be the first to bow out gracefully, or more likely, clumsily and ungracefully.

So, the decision to run this marathon was a big one for me! I knew I’d be starting from scratch with my lack of athleticism and ability. But if I am nothing else in life, I.  Am.  Determined.  If I set my sites on something, say a goal, I stop at nothing to accomplish it.

And with that, I jumped on the treadmill Kyle and I purchased shortly after Christmas. And I started to run.  Because my good friend Gretchen asked me to run and train for a half marathon with her in June.  I thought to myself “Heck, why not?!  You can do it!”  And the day I ran a mile without stopping, I jumped off the treadmill and ran around the house like Rocky. Hands over my head, fists pumping. And then I realized rather quickly that I would have to do that 12 more times in order to finish the half marathon. Ummmmmmmmm, what?! Really, what did I get myself into? What did I sign up for? I think I should just keel over now.

But I got back on the treadmill again. And again. I’ve pushed myself to the points of nausea, pain, suffocation, boredom and more, quite a few times, over the last few weeks. But something started to happen in between all my bitching and complaining. I started to run for longer and longer clips. One mile turned into two, which turned into five.

And this past Sunday, Candice and I headed out together for a “long run.” She was going to run ten miles. Me? EIGHT! Yes, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8!!! I was really, really nervous. I honestly didn’t think I would be able to do it. I thought I’d get about half way through and be stranded on the trail that we were running on. That I would have to walk back to civilization from the depths of the Bethpage State Park. I packed two Nutri-Grain bars in the back pocket of my windbreaker because I was convinced I’d need HOURS to get back home, and heck, I needed sustenance! But I started out on this long ass run. And after I was quickly passed by my sister, I just hunkered down and ran. One foot in front of the other. My music on extra loud, pushing me through those random pains that popped up here and there, I actually kind of enjoyed myself.

I now understand why runners call the treadmill the “dreadmill.” Running outside, in nice weather is far superior than staring at a fixed point, or at a television, or if you work out at a gym, at the sweaty gross dude in front of you.

So, the run was great. And I did it! I ran 8 miles! The longest I have ever run in my life, and I lived to tell the tale! At least until I run my next long run and we add that 9th mile to the mix. Ooof, let’s just wish me luck. And hope I stop hyperextending!