Here it is…. the post that I knew would be hard to wrap my mind around… Graham is ONE. How was it a full year ago that I gave birth to my sweet rainbow baby? His birth was everything I hoped it would be. I had prepared myself for the worst but the worst never came….. really, nothing abnormal or scary or complicated came. I gave birth to this 9lb 14oz boy naturally and just a couple of hours after I arrived at the hospital. I prayed for this. Michael and I both felt like we held our breath throughout his entire pregnancy and we just wanted him to get here safely.
I wanted the redemptive story of having a complication-free birth, getting to see Evy meet a baby brother that was living, having our families walk into our room and hold a baby that is pink and warm and healthy…. and I wanted to get to leave the hospital with a baby in the backseat of our car. I specifically remember tears streaming down my cheeks as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot with baby Graham in the backseat beside me. I had left that hospital just one year prior with no baby and a memorial service to plan. I spent SO much time envisioning how I hoped God would redeem the beginning of Graham’s story that I didn’t think about the beauty that was to come with the first few weeks, the first few weeks, the first year.
Graham is our rainbow baby but he’s so much more than that. His sweet personality is so different than Evy’s. He’s so calm and a little more reserved. He is still loud and squawks but nothing compared to Evy. Evy has a BIG personality. Graham has a calming, gentle personality…. something that our little family needed. Sometimes I’ll glance back at him while we’re in the car and through the mirror, he smiles at me and scrunches up his nose. Sometimes he crawls over to me and just lays his head on my leg, almost like he’s just making sure I know that he loves me. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to be his momma. It’s wonderful, redemptive and I cherish each day with him!
Baby Graham was an easy baby… another thing I never prayed for but I REALLY appreciate! I don’t worry about taking him places or traveling because he’s so chill. I do worry about his super sensitive skin that he got from me (sorry bud) and I spend a ridiculous amount of money buying him Tubby Todd cream. Ha! He’s our easiest baby to go to sleep. He’s got a smile that just melts your heart. He dances with his head and not his arms or legs. He loves music and cars and trucks and basically anything with wheels. He’s snuggly and relaxed and everything I ever hoped for in a baby boy.
I have a connection to him that is equally as wonderful as my connection to Evy but my relationship with each of them is so different. When I snuggle with Evy, I feel excited to hopefully be her go-to person as she navigates life as a big girl, then a teenager and then a grownup. When I snuggle with Graham, I just want him to love me as much as he loves me now, FOREVER! I have a soft spot in my heart for him because he’s so attached to me and I love it. I’m realizing now why mommas bawl their eyes out during mother-son dances. It’s just such a special connection. I know one day, he’ll meet some amazing girl and will love her and spend his life with her…. and I’ll cheer them on…. but one day I’ll miss these days of being his everything. Right now, I can fix anything that upsets him… anything that makes him sad. So I’m holding tight to this season because it’s fleeting and I love it.
So my baby boy is ONE and while we couldn’t have a full-blown birthday party, we did have our family come together and it was such a sweet day. I played this video from his birth and while it may be a year later, these moments bring back so much emotion for me. Enjoy the video and a massive blog post of images from his 12th month of life!!! (And KUDOS to me for actually doing his 12 posts!!! I almost got off track back in november/december but I caught up and I’m so thankful I did! These posts are so much fun to look back on!
Ps. Thank you Jill and Ty for capturing these moments I will cherish forever!!!
He is hands-down the MESSIEST eater of the entire family!
Evy was “smellin the flowers”! They’re fake.
Evy colors everything COMPLETELY. No concern for the lines… her only concern is that EVERY inch is colored!
These cars and their bikes have saved us during this quarantine!
Evy saying after she falls over “Oh, I OK!!!!!”
Lunch at Joe and Emy’s!
Again, a MESS.
Safari Park adventure!
Real life: It’s hard to take his photos… thank goodness this is the last one!
“Graham, where’s your HEAD?” …..
Giving each other haircuts….
Unke Corey always checks her license and registration! She LOVES it!
The lake house isn’t big and so the kids have to work to get along in a tighter than normal space and sometimes…. they just don’t!
Drives like her momma….
Twinsies!
More quarantine moments….
This bounce house…. best Amazon purchase ever!
The day he discovered the piano!
Easter was so different this year but we at least tried to have our same family tradition…
The easter egg hiding was taken very seriously this year…..
Easter outtakes….
Oh my goodnessssss….
This is the best we could do!
Grammie’s birthday is the day after Graham’s!!!
It’s hard to believe I’m writing this… my fourth birth story in four years. I’ve given birth in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Just typing that makes me tired….. and so grateful…. unbelievably grateful. These last four years have been the best and hardest of my life. We cherish being parents and welcoming a new baby is hands down the most incredible thing we have ever experienced in our 18 years together. I’m so excited to introduce you to our newest member of our family and tell you the story of how he came into this world!
Whether you’re brand new to business or have been in business for quite a while, this brand new Youtube video is for you! Michael and I, early on in our business, struggled to relinquish tasks to other professionals outside of our business. Really…. It was more of MY STRUGGLE than his.
Welcome to December’s Student Spotlight!! It’s a new month and we have new photographers to celebrate!! I’m so thankful for them and for their willingness to give of their time and share their stories!!!
This shoot was supposed to happen about a month earlier on the exact day that leftover rains from a hurricane swept through Washington. I’m so thankful we rescheduled! Our reschedule date was absolute perfection! The temperature, the glow, the locations…. it was beautiful! Tyler and Abby’s outfit choices were wonderful and the leaves were full of color and still hanging on the trees.
When Michael and I were in our early years of dating, I would go on trips with his family for Thanksgiving and summer trips to West Virginia and I spent time with his cousins! “Bri-Bri” was so little! He’s the youngest of all of the cousins and it’s crazy to think that he’s old enough to be getting MARRIED! He’s actually older than we were when we got married!! We have known Shannon for years and we were THRILLED when we heard that Brian had proposed because we always hoped that would happen!!!
Maybe it’s just me…. but I feel like this fall is FLYING by! It seems like just the other day that I was sharing about three more KJ Students who are doing amazing things in their businesses! Well, this weeks marks the beginning of November and I have three amazing students to introduce you too!!!