Jena wins a free photo shoot

The other night, just before I went to bed, I leaned of a contest to win a free photo package from Mirror Images Photography. To win, applicants had to submit an essay of why they or someone they knew deserved to win. I submitted the following on why I thought Jenalee should win. The next morning I got an email that said Jena had won the free photo shoot!

I love my wife. She is amazing. She is strong. She is beautiful. She is many things. But most of all, she is loving. And there isn’t anything she loves more in the world than her children.

About three months ago, my wife, Jenalee, gave birth to our son. There were complications during the delivery and he had to be born via an emergency cesarean section. Our son Owen spent the first two days of his life in NICU. Jenalee had to spend the first couple days of our son’s life separated from him. It was very hard for her to miss that time with him. Then, when the doctors cleared him to leave the NICU and be with us, Jenalee got very sick. She was unable to take care of herself and her children. We soon found out that she had contracted two infections from complications from the emergency c-section. She soon found herself back in the hospital for another week. It was another week away from her young son, who was growing and changing every day. I know that the pain and discomfort she felt from her infections, the I.V.s stuck in her arm, and the tubes that were stuck in her, pumping the infection out of her body, was nothing compared to the anguish she was feeling by not being able to be a mother to her children. She had to rely on our family and friends to take care of her kids, while she tried to get better.

Jenalee has finally healed completely. But she will never get back those first precious weeks that are so special to a new infant and a new mother. That is why I want her to win a free session from Mirror Images Photography.

One thing we have learned as parents is just how fast children grow. Our daughter, Baylee, is turning three in a few weeks, and our son, Owen, is already nearly four months old. Baylee is now nearly out of diapers, and Owen keeps growing into bigger ones. I want my wife to have some wonderful pictures of our children before they get any older and bigger. I want her to always remember our children as they are now, because we have learned that they won’t stay that way for long.

My wife missed out on happy memories with our son at a very special time of his life. But this time of his and our daughter’s life is special as well. And there is no better way to preserve and remember these times than by the power of photography.