One Last Christmas

Every  mother has a vision that she will have a perfect healthy child.  Sometimes that just doesn't happen.
This year has been a huge roller coaster ride with my youngest daughters health.  She has had various unrelated health problems this year including having to undergo surgery.  She has pulled through every obstacle that has been thrown her way since birth.  She is one of the strongest kids I know.  Going to regular doctors visit with Chrisiana  aren't  normal for me anymore because I dread going.  I'm so scared her doctor will come back diagnosing her with something new. They are just as difficult for her as they are me. When its time for her to go see the doctor she will hide and become very serious. She wont go if she doesn't have her comfort toy or blanket.  Seeing my daughter have high anxiety in going to her routine visits is just heartbreaking as a mother. My older daughter saw a St. Jude commercial one day and told me. "Mommy that's where Chrisi needs to go so they can make her better and her hair can grow." Of course I just lost it and sobbed.  I didn't know she was being affected by everything.  Kids understand much more than we think. 

I'm so thankful that God has allowed her to be in our lives for 4 wonderful years.  When I first heard the song in the video, I cried.  I was in my car & I just cried & cried.  It's such a touching song.  It doesn't matter what my daughter has gone through or will go through, SHE IS STILL HERE WITH US.  Ive learned that everyday I have my girls with me is a blessing because at any moment God can decide to take them home with him.  This Christmas give thanks to the healthy children in your life and pray for the ones that aren't.

Help - Portrait 2010

On Saturday Dec 4th, 2010, photographers world wide came together to volunteer their time & expertise to give back to their community and help underpriviledged families, by taking & giving them free portraits.  I volunteered at two locations this year.  Each location had its own organizer, which I must say did an outstanding job, & each location had dedicated photographers & make-up artists to glam up all the ladies.  Both locations were filled with donated food for the families as well as stuffed toys that my friends & neighbors donated to the children.  I collected over 108 stuffed toys and every child received one.  A huge thank you to everyone who donated their gently used stuffed toys; you helped make a difference this year in a child's eye. The holiday season is not about receiving, but about giving.




Your donated toys.

 

The kids rushing in for the gold after their picture was taken.

 


Make Up Galore!

 




The set up from our morning location. The organizer went beyond.



Boys Will Be Boys

Like my post title says, boys will be boys. I had an adventurous time with these two cute little boys, as you will see in these pictures. This family has been a huge support for my family. I can always count on them for anything. Sadly, like all military familes, we get moved around. They soon will leave & I will miss them greatly. Thank you for allowing me to photograph your family.

Gotta love little boys with such big personalities.

Thanksgiving 2010

I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week. My family spent Thanksgiving with another USMC family and we had lots of delicious food. In being a ''military family'' your friends that you meet become your family, since your immediate & extended family are always almost in another state. During Thanksgiving week, I had the opportunity to help photograph the Armed Services YMCA San Diego as they helped other military families through Maria Shrivers Million Meals Giveaway and Jackson and Blanc Turkey Giveaway. Lots of wonderful people showed up to help including Chopper the biker dog. Chopper is well known all over San Diego and loves to help others. He is so cute and always has his motorcycle with him. The ASYMCA served 1160 military families with Thanksgiving Food Assistance. They are awesome & a wonderful organization that genuinely cares for others. I love volunteering for them!

Two of the San Diego Chargers came out to help pass out turkeys & take pictures with the families.

Our Family Portraits

This past weekend my family & I had a wonderful opportunity to be photographed by my friend, photographer Lauren Nygard. Lauren is a wedding & portrait photographer, using only natural light. She is based in Oceanside, CA, which is not too far from San Diego, CA. She is a sweetheart. My girls took right to her & they continue to talk about how nice she was to them. She is very kid friendly.


It had been years since our last professional family portrait. Hard to believe huh? Well, it's kind of hard to take pictures of myself with my family. = )

I'm really glad we finally took family pictures that turned out beautifully. I couldn't have picked a better photographer. "Thank You Lauren." They will be hanging up in my living room proudly on display.
Here are just a few of my favorite images. Click on the pictures & you will be redirected to her
website. I highly recommend her.

Play Time with the Galvan Girls

Here are two adorable little girls who took their photo shoot and made it "play time" instead. They both had lots of fun running around in the park and talking to me. My one year old client made me work to find her smile but we got a couple smiles at the end.

What is Help Portrait?

Take a look at last years Help Portrait event.  Click on the link to see how last year's event impacted families. Help Portrait 2009


Don't forget that this year I am collecting teddy bears/stuffed animals or stuffed toys for Help-Portrait. These children will spend their Holidays in a shelter. If you have any that you would like to donate please contact me. Any little bit helps. Thank you in advance.
chriselda_turcios@yahoo.com  or
chriseldas_images@yahoo.com

Chrisiana's Hair

For those of you who know me and my girls, you know that we have always had extremely long hair....At the begining of this year I had my youngest daughter's hair cut above her shoulders. Now, I always get asked the same question over and over, "Why did I cut Chrisiana's hair?" Here is my answer:  My daughter was diagnosed with alopecia, an auto immune disorder which causes patchy hair loss on the scalp.  It affects about 1% of the population and occurs mostly in children.  My daughter literally had bald spots on her head overnight.  Imagine your child  going to sleep perfectly fine, then waking up with bald spots.  I was confused at the time because I had no idea what was happening to her.  I took her to the emergency room where they told me she had alopecia.  After many days of crying, because I didn't know if she would be like this for the rest of her life, if she would lose more hair or if there would be a bigger problem to the picture; I made the decision to cut her hair, so I wouldn't have to pin up, tug or pull on it, due to it being so fragile.  Now, I've shared the reason as to why I had my daughter's hair cut.  Thankfully, after about 3 months, her hair has begun to grow back & is still growing.  I am truly more appreciative and thankful that we have hair, and the ability to do what we choose to do with it, because many people lose their hair and it does not grow back.

My daughter Chrisiana with her long hair before it was cut. 

Her now with her hair cut.

Help Portrait 2010

This year I am collecting teddy bears/stuffed animals or stuffed toys on behalf of an organization called Help-Portrait. They will be going to children in San Diego area who will spend their Holidays in a shelter. If you have any that you would like to donate please contact me. Any little bit helps. Thank you so much.
What is Help-Portrait; You Ask?
Click Here To Find Out.

Depth Of Field

                                

Playing around with depth of field. Depth of field adds character to a picture. Depth of field is the distance from the focus point that a photo will be sharp, while the rest becomes blurry.

  
               

Last Teaser

Last teaser from Sauturday's shoot at Coronado beach.

Coronado Beach

The sounds of the ocean were amazing this evening at the beach in Coronado. I had a fun evening with this beautiful & engergetic couple.

Dia De Los Padres

Happy Fathers Day to my wonderful husband and father of my girls. I couldn't have chosen a better father for my kids. To be a Marine sometimes means to sacrifice holidays and special events as my husband is doing today. We love him so much and our kids know that today we celebrate their dad even if hes not here with us because he is a UNITED STATES MARINE!

Qincenera

Sneak Peak

Sneak Peak of Baby Aaliyah's Session.

Military Appreciation Day

Cox Celebrity Championship hosted by Drew Brees Military Appreciation Day with The San Diego Armed Services YMCA is an event to appreciate military family's and all that they do. There were moon jumps, free snow cones & popcorn, free face paintings, as well as a free lunch from Carl's Jr. I'm glad and truly grateful I had the opportunity to photograph this event because I'm sure anybody who's a huge sports fan would have traded places with me in an instant. Here's the link to the Armed Services YMCA gallery.  Event Photos  

Peek-A-Boo

What an adorable little girl she is. Last sneak peek photo of her session.