A Day with KP

Katie Prentiss is a long time friend of mine, and when she told me she was coming to Birmingham last summer (has it really been that long?) I knew I had to make a shoot with her happen.

I can't jump into photos without reminiscing a bit though...

My earliest memory of Katie is when she showed me (and a group of about 50 other college age girls) how maternity jeans worked. It was easy to become friends after that. A couple of years later I remember feeling true stress for possibly the first time in my life. I was graduating college and feeling pressure to do big and glorious things, yet feeling also the pull to just stay home and work for a year. She reminded me (though I'm not sure I really knew it) that God was more concerned with who I was becoming than what I was doing. What a relief. 

And that's pretty much how our relationship went for a while. I laugh now at the thought of me sharing my hardships in life with her while we were both living in California. She had just moved across the country with 3 kids the same ages that mine are now. Bryan and I were newlyweds, with our hardest decision (in hindsight) being wether to sleep in our spend the day in San Francisco. 

Ah Katie, how gracious you are. 

Snapshot of our visit with them in Portland last Spring~

Even with our history, Katie had never met my kids before our shoot. Yet of course with ease swoops in like she's known them all their lives, and they let her.  So much so that as of this shoot, no one outside of home had seen the fullness of Lillie's personality. I don't have to tell you what that means. These images say it all ~

I treasure these KP, and you. Thank you, thank you, and come back soon!! 

You can see more of Katie's work here. While you are there, go and vote for your favorite image of 2013! You should be totally unbiased, and vote for that cutie squishing her mommy's cheeks with the sweetest kiss ever! 

***after posting I realized that all of the images are different sizes. ugh. Hopefully I will find time to go back and fix this, but I don't have the heart to take them down until I do! 

A Saturday in 2013

2013. 

What a year. 

I had a big post about it all written in my head, but after just filling five pages in my journal about it all, I think I will let images do the talking here. 

I was lucky/privileged/blessed enough to have TWO of my favorite photographers and friends take photos of us this year. Even as a photographer, it is hard to say "take photos of us" because really it is so much more than that. They documented a part of our lives, in the most beautiful way. They helped sear in my memory blips of time that I will never get back. They created images for my children that will help them remember their childhood. They created art that nearly every family can relate to. 

When I asked Katie Purnell to have a session with us, my vision was to capture our lives as it really is, in its most seemingly mundane moments. No beautiful location, just our house. No fun activity, just doing what we do. I even had the thought of being in yoga pants with no make-up because that is really me, but the true me is also more vain than that. So I spent a whole day cleaning my and putting flowers in my vases. And then I was still putting makeup on the first few minutes of our session. 

When Katie gave me a disc of a million images (yes, I really did edit a lot for this post. it was hard) I cried. I cried because sometimes I cry over how long these days can be, and how I can miss the beauty in these very moments. The beauty in tangled hair and cheerios everywhere. 

of mismatched clothes and fights over matchbox cars. 

of unmade beds and whiiiiny kids. OH, the whiny kids. 

of stories read for the thousandth time

and tickles so painful they beg for more. 

So here it is, our little life at home on any given day

(just a little more cleaned up)

~

I must note that Bryan and I did not intend to match here. Katie took some photos one morning, then came back a different night for dance party and dinner. As with all late afternoons, I was only thinking about putting dinner on the table. Not until we got these images back did I even realize we were wearing the same thing! 

You can also see Katie's take on this session here.

Words can't thank you enough neighborfriend!