Today on the blog I’m sharing a few thoughts I wrote about Quinn Everly turning two.

You may want to buckle up for a little bit of emotion from this mama.  I can’t believe the baby of the family is so grown already!

 

With each of my kids, I had *a* movie or show that I watched in the weeks leading up to their arrivals.  It kept me entertained and served as a distractor in the early stages of labor.

For Reese, it was Castaway.

For Sullivan, it was Ted Lasso.

For Quinn, it was White House Down. lol

So a few nights before her second birthday, I watched it again feeling a little in my feels, despite the chaos ensuing on screen.

I was transported back in time to the day she was born. 

The one in which, I woke up at 4am and discovered that the internet had decided to break.  As any rational #nesting mom would do, I called Comcast right then.

Lucky for me, I landed on the phone with the sweetest lady whose timezone graciously did not align with mine.  After scheduling a technician to come out first thing in the morning, I felt the starts of contractions coming.

As we were about to hang up, I giddily responded “I hope I’ll still be here when he arrives, because I think I might have just started labor!” LOL.  Add that to the list of conversations I’ve had in which I’ve made someone feel uncomfortable.

I tried to fall back asleep and finally around 8am with things progressing, I hid upstairs in our room for the nice gentleman to fix the internet.  It was then that I could distract my contractions in peace with my new friends Jamie and Channing.

Is this perhaps why Quinn Everly appears to live with a bit of a violent streak?  Was her swatting in response to her siblings, not in fact their fault at all, but rather a predestined arrangement within her because of the conditioning I set forth during labor?  I guess we’ll never know, but some things just aren’t coincidence.

This fiery little spirit is now somehow two years old.  She is the definition of a sour patch kid — so sour or so sweet.  She wants to be a big kid all the time. 

She is fierce.

Year 2 was big.

She learned to walk (begrudgingly), to talk, to run.

I wish I could bottle up the sounds of her giggles, the way her little tiny hand feels in mine, and the sweet little sounds of “no thank youuuu,” as opposed to her normal “NOOOOOOO!”

She is easy to celebrate and the most perfect part of our family.

But look out world, because here Quinn Everly comes.

 

We love you, sweet girl.

I first “met” Gillie on our initial phone call and I was instantly drawn to her warmth and joy.  She has this way about her that’s equal parts infectious and calming.  Plus, I loved hearing what she and my sweet friend Adriana have planned for the wedding next June.  It is going to be incredible… and that’s a major understatement.

… all that to say — I’ve been looking forward to Ben & Gillie’s Georgetown engagement session ever since.

We spent the morning traveling through all of my favorite nooks and crannies of the place they call home.

Georgetown has so much to offer — the canal, beautiful homes, the waterfront… really it’s a photographer’s haven.  But what I love about photographing in Georgetown, is that it ends up being a bit of a wandering session.  We spend time walking in between locations which lets people relax in between.  More importantly, it let’s me really get to know the couple I’m photographing.

Ben & Gillie were a joy to wander with!

Ben is hilarious, Gillie has the best smile, and between the two of them, laughter is never far off.  They just adore each other and it was so fun to capture their love.  In fact, I love when couples are so comfortable with one another.  There’s something special about the exhibition of joy that comes at the intersection of love and friendship.

Can you tell that I could go on and on about this shoot?

I have about a million favorites from this beautiful Georgetown engagement session, but in order to spare your internet browser speed, I will TRY to limit myself to just a few.

Safe to say I am very excited to be celebrating these two again next June! For now, enjoy a peek into their Georgetown engagement session.

 

Happy Wednesday, friends!