Shared with permission from Miss E - The fertility Goddess. Mother-extraordinaire - This lady has FIVE kiddos under FIVE - That is not a typo. She's wonder woman!

Shalista ~ 

Let me start off saying WE LOVE the photos & the album! I have been meaning to let you know how much since I received the book... but all these babies take up so much time!

I have been married to my rather conservative farmer for 7 years in June. I moved in with him one year after we were married - as we remodeled an old farm house that belonged to his grandparents. Of the 6 years we have lived together now (72 months), I have been pregnant for 50 of those 72 months. We welcomed our 5th child on June 1st - six years to the day that we moved in together. I lay this all out to paint a picture of our relationship, my mental state and why I would choose to do a boudoir session while pregnant (because honestly... when am I not pregnant?). 

If you are pregnant/have been pregnant you understand the emotional and mental state that takes you from frumpy to carefree to stressed out to Fertility Goddess in a matter of moments. I know my husband loves me and my body - whether my body is my own or being shared by another little human. I chose to do this session more for me than even for him - but saying it was for him helped really push me to do it! I wanted and needed to see the Fertility Goddess that in fleeting thoughts I knew I could be! I thought about taking more mainstream maternity photos - as I hadn't done maternity photos for any pregnancy. Not knowing if this would be my last chance I threw caution to the wind and booked Shalista! 

I will never regret that decision. Shalista is kind, approachable, and down right fun! This Mom just needed a day away from her kids and even if I needed 'girl talk' even more than the photos that day, she managed to balance being my professional photographer and new best girlfriend all at the same time. I felt at ease always with her & though 'being sexy' is not my forte, the photos speak differently! We took much more traditional maternity photos that I was completely covered up all the way to racy and nude.... and I am so glad that I got such a wide range of images! I never felt uncomfortable or pushed to do anything I didn't want to do... though the progression of dressed to undressed moved very naturally and never 'got weird'. 

The experience was great, the viewing session was amazing to see how she captured my sensuality and getting my book in the mail made me gitty! I would sneak peaks through the book at night for weeks before finally being able to give it to my husband. And when I finally got to give it to him - I was excited as much as I was worried about his reaction to me doing such a session. He opened the book and sat quietly knowing it must be photos - but having no idea I would do such a thing. When he reached the first photo of me his eyes got large... he looked up from the book and all he said was, "Ma!" He then continued through the book in silence. He gazed at each page slowly, looking up at me every now and again. I knew every photo in that book that would cause him to look up at me and he did, until he reached the end. He then quietly flipped back through the book from end until beginning. I waited for him to speak and he started back into the book... front to back and then again back to front without saying a word. I was getting nervous that I wasn't the fertility goddess I thought these photos captured. I was worried he would think badly of me for having such sexual photos taken. I was thinking he may be angry I let someone else see me naked and document it! The 'thank you' he gave me after he finally set the book down resonated loudly... Shalista captured my pregnancy as beautifully and as sexy as I felt being in it. 

I the days following he did ask lots of questions about these images... mostly about who took them, if they are now somewhere on the internet, if anyone else can get access to them. All of these are valid questions - but I know they are safe.. safe with Shalista, safe with me and safe from getting somewhere we don't want then... unless one of the kids finds where we hide the book  And there is a bonus... we both know that book exists... and we both know we sneak peaks of it... there is something very sexy and fun about just knowing it is there and I had the guts to do it - even if there is always too much of an audience in our house to get it out and look at it! The only other thing that needs to be said about our book is 'have you made sure you have it hidden... you know your mother likes to snoop around when she comes to watch the kids!' 

Thank you, thank you, thank you Shalista! I am positive there is no one else in hundreds of miles that could have given both of us such a wonderful set of images! These will be cherished and oogled for decades to come!