.anna turns eight.

This beautiful girl of mine. She is something else. A bottle of vivacious potential that has been on a 24 hour road trip in a really bumpy car. Her personality and Anna-ness just bursts from her.  This can be beautiful, wildly entertaining, and also the most exasperating thing ever. She is big into writing cards and notes - these sometimes are quite large and require 18 sheets of paper - but her words are thoughtful and expressive well beyond her years. School is a breeze for her and she yearns for a challenge...a project. The creativity in her is something to be hold. One night last month, she spent 2.5 hours completely by herself creating a "disneyland ride," out of cardboard and random junk drawer contents. It almost worked. And, while her verbal dialogue is ceaseless if you are with her (and, I mean, the words. don't. stop), she is also content to have large windows of time by herself. She loves her kitty, Frankie, and smothers him with all her love. He likes it...like actually likes it! They are meant to be :) She never sits facing forward when she eats, and is notorious for leaving part of her meal on the floor. She loves home decorating shows and frequently comments on Joanna Gaines' awesome style and excellent flooring selection.

She makes hilarious videos. Honestly...leave your cellphone with her for an hour and see what you get. She struggles with herself. Her instincts are to explode - both good things and bad things. Her support of you and enthusiasm for something absolutely shines...and is loud!  But, if there is injustice, or adversity, or piano practice, it's the same strength of instantaneous reaction. 

I am determined to champion this girl as she learns how to process all these feelings; she will be a powerhouse one day.

Every night before bed, I tuck her in with her 11 jellycat stuffies and numerous other soft friends. We rub lotion on her dry skin, and we pray. We ask God to give her patience, and peace when she doesn't feel it. We ask Him to help her keep loving others well, and for help loving her sisters when it's hard. And we thank Him. We thank Him for how He made Anna on purpose, with so many gifts and abilities. We thank Him that He has a plan for her, and that He will use her in mighty ways as she follows him. We thank Him that He has promised to be behind her and that He has also gone ahead of her. And He always forgives her and always loves her. And then, without fail, she buries her face into my neck and cheek and tells me she loves me. She often tells me I'm the best mom. She wraps her arms around her top three items that she sleeps with: her bunny, her buddy (blankie) and my old housecoat.

And my precious eight year old baby goes to sleep. I love her so.

Happy super belated birthday, my girl. It's OK to not get everything right all the time. Love, Mom

.cait + brian. styled elopement

Oh this night. It was so good. As a photographer, I usually arrive on a wedding day and capture the culmination of dreams and efforts of our dear couples. The day they have visioned, and I get to capture it. Pretty amazing job. A lot of photographers also put together what are called styled shoots. It is a labor of love and teamwork; gathering fellow vendors to do their master craft and get beautiful images in return. But you get to influence vision...so cool. It's been 19 years since I planned my own wedding day, so the opportunity to put together this golden hour, mountain top elopement, overlooking my neighborhood lake was just amazing. I'll be honest...I had visions of a grand pampas grass arch. I drove the streets of Victoria and creeped with giant sheers on boulevards. It was SO hard to find! But, of course, now I see copious amounts everywhere I go! 

As a momma, I choose to keep most of my spare time for family and friends. I must say though, that putting this session together for fun and creative  pleasure was good for this artist soul. Huge thanks to my phenomenal cohorts...who baked the bread (pre-shoot snack of champions), fostered the vision, climbed the mountain, crafted the arch, patched the arch, held the arch, blew the grass and just did all the things not expected of them!!!

Videography: my faves Evergreen + Bound Films

Dress: Chass for Lavictoire (local and insanely gorgeous collections)

Hair + Makeup: Casey Talbery for Heartwood & Co. (this gal also tagged along and helped the entire shoot!!!)

Florals: Cait Wind (swoon)

Ring: Which I wanted to take home - Little Gold

Models: Real life loves, Cait + Brian - thank you guys SO much for your gooey love!