Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach Florida Family Vacation

Last week we took off to Santa Rosa Island located in Pensacola, FL for our last beach vacation of the year <— that makes me so sad! I live (and work really hard) for beach trips! It’s where I feel relaxed. My mind is (ALMOST) completely off work and focused on my sweet family. I am able to free my mind, let my worries fade away. I always feel better! The sun, sand and waves just have a way with me. The water was beautiful and seemed unaffected by Hurricane Matthew. We had blue skies and lots of sun every single day. And every single day, we hung out at the beach until the sun went down. It was glorious! One evening we visited Fort Pickens, which is surrounded by white powdery sand and ocean, and we watched the sun set. The orange hues mixed with the blue skies were stunning. Like, give you cold chills and have you thanking God for sunsets, beautiful!!!

I've been out of the office. . .

I've been out of the office this week, spending my mornings at Malone Farms Equestrian Center with RyAnne. She is doing summer camp there and having the time of her life! I heard about this camp through my client Melody Morgan. While I was photographing her newest addition, Mack (See his session here.) she began telling me about how her family owns and operates the farms and how they offer a summer camp program. During Mack's newborn session RyAnne was my sweet little helper and she heard Melody and I talking about the camp. After Melody and Mack left, RyAnne, out of no where, says with her arms crossed and tears in her eyes, "I'm NOT going to horse camp!" I was shocked because this seemed right up her ally. After talking with her about it I realized she was just terrified of the unknown. That's when I started doing some good ol' Facebook research! I found the farm's fan page and thankfully they had just posted pictures of the kids enjoying horse camp and fun activities - like painting the horses! She flipped through the album and said, "Okay. I'll try it out but you have to stay with me."

I agreed to stay with her the first day to see how she liked it. About an hour into riding, she asked me when I was leaving. lol This is totally her thing! By day two, she asked me not to stay. She said she needed her alone time. lol This kid!!!

So here we are day four, our final day of camp. Every day I pick her up, she's upset because she doesn't want to leave. The confidence she is gaining from riding horses totally amazes and inspires me. While she has a healthy fear of these animals, her respect and courage shines Oh So Bright! Her knowledge has grown and it's incredible to see her doing all these horse things on her own. This is one proud motha right here!!!

Who needs a high five?

This morning, I noticed one of my friends "Liked" a bunch of my posts on Facebook. Not only does she always seem to "Like" my posts but she is always there in real life to give me encouraging words and support.  Y'all this is so important! I try hard to constantly surround myself with positive folks, but you know there are always those rotten ones that just keep creeping in. I want to encourage you to reach out to someone and give them some positive words, a hug (Miriam, don't cringe too hard my non-hug loving friend) or even a high five! While you may be thinking happy thoughts for them on a regular basis, hearing it makes it feel real and brings it to life. It can create a spark, not only in you for sharing but most certainly for the person on the receiving end.

And by the way, You look gorgeous today!

Love.

H.

Close to the beginning. . .

Yesterday my sweet neighbor, Cailey, came over for me to photograph her and her belly for the last time. :) Seeing her not feeling her normal self and somewhat down, it reminded me of my final days carrying my girls. With our first daughter, I was scared and excited because I knew our lives were about to change. It wasn't going to be just Trey and I anymore. And of course this is what we wanted, a family. But still, I don't like HATE change. I was unsure of so many things. . . who was going to watch her when I needed to be away, how was I going to run our business, is she going to be a good sleeper, a good nurser, would my delivery go as I imagined. . .Did I even have an image of what my birth was going to look like?????? Yes, I was quite overwhelmed when at my 40 week check up the mid-wife blasts into the room telling me she just called the hospital and scheduled my induction to begin THAT night. WHAT???? Yes! Without warning or addressing me otherwise - How rude of her. :( I had heard nothing but negative things about indications. That they typically result in a C-section. I was terrified and I cried all day. As my protest, I was 30 minutes late to the hospital to begin this indication process. Huh, take that! lol Not that they really cared and it most certainly didn't make a difference to my nurses. Birthing babies is so unpredictable. It can make you a crazy person. As if the hormones weren't enough, you then have opinions being thrown at you left and right from your doctors, midwives, your girlfriends and the lady in the check out line that has had five kids and breeds horses - she knows it all y’all! lol

JUST. BREATH.

I do know it’s the most beautiful experience of my life so far. Creating my babies (that was fun), growing my babies (incredible and exhausting), birthing them (a true miracle that my body was able to do that) and the very best part holding my fresh newborn babies (I grew this bundle of perfection). GAH! Just too amazing. God is so great.

Cailey gets to meet her daughter, Brooklyn Coy, this Saturday! I'm so excited for her and her family. :) Please lift her up in your happy thoughts + prayers!!!

My Olivia's Cake Smash

My doll turns TWO today! This morning, Trey, RyAnne and I all walked into her room and woke her up signing happy birthday. She was so excited to see us all that she said, "HEY!" and then started jumping up and down in her crib. She has to be the happiest baby I've ever met!

So, let's reminisce a bit! I don't know why or how I never posted this blog last year buuut I found it saved as a draft. I'm sure I had a major brain fart and forgot to "publish". lol I did this session last year for her cake smash. She still loves sugar!

Cupcake from Karen's Sweet Confections (visit them here)