It’s time. My Instagram posts are getting ridiculously long. One picture is never enough. I’m no good at hashtags. I promised my sister. I need to write again. There’s a few reasons I’ve revived the blog, but the catalyst was receiving the images from my maternity shoot with Tangled Roots Photography.

When I found out I was pregnant with my son, Harrison, my husband Sam and I were newlyweds living in a camper, working 12-14 hour days 5-6 days a week. We  hardly had time to sleep much less prepare for a baby. There wasn’t much we could do anyway. I cleared out a cabinet for baby clothes and crammed as much baby gear as I could behind the recliners in our “living room”. (See earlier blog posts for a good visual on that one.) I never thought about maternity photos. I did a weekly Instagram update for family and called it good.

We live in a house now, about 15 minutes outside of town. It’s small but it feels enormous after camper living. Nothing like residing in a 32ft shoe box to give you some perspective. Our home has been just right for our little family. I was so excited to find out this summer that we’d be adding a new member! I kept thinking about how I’d get to really experience nesting this time and plan for baby’s arrival.

Almost right away, I started bleeding. It was relentless. For almost 7 weeks from the time I found out I was expecting, I was in the OB office weekly. The bleeding would stop and then start again. Every visit I held my breath expecting the worst; every visit, I walked out wiping tears of relief from my face. They could not give me a reason for the bleeding, only speculation. When I finally reached the second trimester, my doctor told me he was pleased “the pregnancy had survived”. It had been a terrible roller coaster, and it made it hard to feel excited. We waited to share our good news till almost 20 weeks. By that time we knew we were having a girl. ❤

Because the pregnancy had been so difficult, I hadn’t really taken any “bump photos”. It had fallen off my radar until Lexi, the incredible woman behind Tangled Roots Photography, approached me about maternity photos. She had done our family pictures the year before and I loved them and I loved her ability to make my grumpy 1.5 year old look like a happy child for the Christmas card. I decided it would be nice to have some pictures of the pregnancy, especially since I was still struggling with worry about losing the baby.

Eloise Lorraine was born 1.17.17, happy, healthy and whole. I’m so, so grateful to Lexi for capturing these last moments of our little family of 3 waiting for her arrival. My heart is so full as I look at them. I love everything about them, but especially that they are so full of light. You can’t be afraid when it’s that bright.