Happy First Birthday Ava Rae!!
This girl right here is one of the sweetest, most gentle babies I’ve met. It’s been so fun to watch her grow and change at play dates and get-togethers over the past year.
We started off the session with photos of Mama and Ava. As mamas it often seems like we are the ones behind the camera, taking photos, rather than the ones in front (I’m sure you’ve heard that a time or two). I wanted to devote some of this session to capturing Taylor with Ava and the undeniable bond they share. The beauty of maternal connection demands to be captured in photographs.
People say “moms just know,” which is something I didn’t understand before becoming a parent. I was worried that I wouldn’t “just know”. To my surprise, when I became a mama I also developed an intuition that came along with it. I bet Taylor would say the same. I think it comes from our connection to our babes which starts long before meeting them.
A first birthday is a milestone; not just for Ava, but also for her parents. Ava is transitioning from baby to toddler, while Taylor and Aaron are transitioning into a whole different world of parenting. This involves reflecting over the last year while looking forward to the future and all that is to come. Some of the questions that came to me when my daughter turned one were:
• How have you grown as a parent?
• How have you and your partner grown as a couple?
• How have you grown as a family?
• How has your baby grown?
Just when it seems like we had the caring-for-a-baby-thing down, they grow up! Now they’re movin’ and groovin’ and havin’ lots of big feelings. We better buckle up!
Now you know we had to get some photos of just the birthday girl.
Then we brought out the cake!
Ava started out a little shy and made one attempt at running for the hills. After some reassurance from mama, she was intrigued. She ended up thoroughly enjoying her cake, starting with little tastes of frosting then moving onto bigger handfuls. Towards the end she was going in for some big chomps, making for the most memorable photos!
Taylor –
I’m so glad we were able to get together and celebrate Ava’s birthday a little early with this fun photo session. Thank you for choosing me to capture it. I’m thankful beyond words that LC and Ava are friends and I’m grateful to have you as a friend, and fellow mama. Being able to watch our girls grow together has been so rewarding and I can’t wait for what’s to come.
Love,
Jen
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