32 weeks, 5 days. I’ve never taken a picture like this, before. But I’ve never felt compelled to take a picture like this, before. This pregnancy has moved me in deep ways. This is my third. My first baby girl. Our rainbow baby after a hard miscarriage and long recovery. That alone makes it all significant, but there’s more. I’m a preeclampsia mama. Both of my boys’ deliveries were induced due to complications, putting all subsequent pregnancies at high risk. Of late, this pregnancy seems to be following the same course. I take my blood pressure daily, I pee on sticks at the dr’s office and at home. I worry, a lot. And I pray. For her, for me, for the rest of our family. That we can please do this and it will all turn out all right. I’m not as naive as I used to be. I find myself leaning on God more and more every day. And when I see that belly and feel Baby Girl moving inside, I am so grateful for grace and strength and growth and one more day.
2017 Favorites
2017. So full of good and hard, but mostly people I love, and you can’t ask for more than that. Happy New Year ☀️💛 #2017favorites
Getting Out
Today I would have liked to stay inside, curled up with a book in my bed. But you didn’t need that. You needed out. You needed to run and yell and be free. So we went to the park. As I watched you play and the sun sparkle on the ice, I was cold, yes, but also a little more alive and free, myself.
Gift of Sunshine
One of the best and most humbling parts of parenting is recognizing and learning from your children’s gifts. In spite of a rough beginning in life, this little boy was born with sunshine in his soul. He is an eternal optimist. Daily he reminds me to look on the bright side, often by sharing with me one of his many “isms.” Here are a couple of my favorites: “So that’s great!” As in, “We’re having eggs for breakfast (or some other desperately normal occurrence), so that’s great!” Or “I’m wearing my blue shirt today! So that’s great!” Another one is, “But that’s ok.” As in, “My art project broke, but that’s ok! We can fix it!” Or one that always cracks me up, “I️ hurt my *insert body part*, but that’s ok! No blood!” How I️ love this boy and how God must have known I️ would need his perpetual grins, teases, and happiness to keep this mama going. ❤️
Two Boys
These two and their incredible brother bond. ❤️
Backyard Mallows
One time we tried roasting s'mores in the backyard. Except it was super windy and we had to shelter the fire with the kiddie pool, and ash was blowing everywhere and the mallows tasted not the good kind of smokey so the kids wouldn't even eat them (minus the one kid who eats everything). But it makes for a ridiculous memory. 😜
Pre-Graduation Thoughts
I took a lot of official-looking graduation pictures for this guy, but before I share any of those, I want to share this one. Because this is my guy. Tomorrow there will be pomp and circumstance and fancy pictures, but what I'll be celebrating is eight years of dreams come true. Eight years ago, we had no degrees and lots of lofty goals. We knew it would be hard, but didn't know what that meant. Two kids, eight moves, four states. Grueling academic programs, extra certifications, interviews and resumes and more interviews. Late nights, early mornings. Lousy living arrangements and years away from any family. Working two jobs and going to school full time. Hard WORK. And prayer--so much prayer. Prayer with tears and miracles and grace and more good friends and amazing experiences and growth than we could have imagined. There has been so much change but this guy and God have been my constants through it all. Tomorrow I will probably bawl my eyes out because I am so dang proud of this man. And so very grateful for the ride.
The Kitchen Table
I took out my camera today, like I do many days, but didn't realize how these images would hit me. It happens like that. I remember when we left Colorado and I took a picture of my oldest playing on our wood floors---the floors where my babies learned to walk. That image hit me, too. And here we are, two years later, getting ready to move, and it happened, again. Just an ordinary moment... How many times have we sat at this table and practiced our ABCs or learned how to add? The meals. The crafts. The homework assignments and church lessons. This table will hit storage for awhile when we move, and we'll likely never enter these walls again once we close the door that last time. But we LIVED here. Can the next occupants ever know how much life is wrapped up in these walls? How many ordinary moments mingled with milestones? Who we were and who we became here? Do places remember us when we leave, a bit of our hearts and histories forever beating in their air? This is the table where my babies outgrew booster seats and sippy cups. Where they learned their ABCs. Where a significant chapter of our life--spread out across the country in chronicles--happened. I will miss it.
Welcome!
When I was in college I had a dorky list of “Things that Make Annie Happy” posted above my bed. Silly things like chapstick and mascara and chocolate on graham crackers. These little things (and some serious things, too) are what kept me going through the papers and finals and awkward dating experiences that make up college life. Paying attention to the little things has proven illuminating in my life and years beyond university classrooms, as well. I believe there are times in our lives when we see better than other times. During those times we notice and find joy and purpose in the mundane details. Or perhaps we take time to step back and gain a new or broader perspective. Always we look back on these moments of clarity for purpose and hope. I cherish the moments when I see clearly, and continually work at training my inner eye to notice the details that make life special.
It’s just these details of life, joy, love, and gratitude that I seek to soak into my soul and distill with my camera. I look for them in my own daily life, and I look for them in my photography sessions. These moments, smiles, and sparkles of daily magic are what make us human. And there’s really nothing more beautiful or important to capture than that.
This website features photography from both my personal and client work. Maybe you’ve come to book a session, maybe you're checking in on our latest, or maybe you’re just stopping by for some quiet inspiration. Whatever brings you here, I hope that you stay awhile, look around, and find a thing or two that makes you smile.