Where's My Christmas Card?

As we are quickly approaching Christmas Day, my mailbox continues to flood with the loveliest of Christmas cards from so many of our dearest friends.  Receiving Christmas cards each year is one of the things I look forward to most.  I love seeing the creativity behind a Christmas photo shoot and seeing how families and kids have grown each year.  And I absolutely LOVE having my own photo shoot and designing our personal Christmas card each year!  Throughout the entire Fall season I've been dreaming up and envisioning what our card would look like this year and I was so excited to proudly display BOTH of my babies on the card....last year we were just a family of 3 and now we are 4!!  Yay!!!!

It's amazing how much can change in just 1 year.  It's been an exciting year for us with sweet Pierce joining our family.  It's also been a challenging year between having a rough pregnancy, his miraculous delivery, adjusting to being a mommy of 2, Ava starting kindergarten and having homework and spelling tests every week, being a wife and stay at home mom who also happens to have a photography business and some amazing clients that have kept my schedule joyfully packed.  I just wrapped up my last pre-Christmas photo session last weekend and rushed to get it edited so I could try to coast into Christmas with a clean slate and the hope of being pressure-free.  Yet, all the while, a photo shoot with Ava and Pierce and the designing of our Christmas card still loomed over my head.

I've been doing a quick photo shoot with Pierce every month for his baby book (don't ask if I've printed any!) and he turned 6 months old on December 15th so I dropped everything else on my "to do" list and did a quick session with him and Ava last week.  That may sound easy enough to you....but.....when you're a perfectionist of a human being/photographer, it's never quite so simple.  Session completed but there's still the culling process and then the editing process and while one thing gets accomplished there's always something else, somewhere, that falls behind.  Laundry.  Dishes.  A clean house.  Grocery shopping.  Christmas shopping.  And so on.

Could I have gotten a Christmas card designed with a quick snapshot of the kids and a sweet little Christmas wish perfectly centered in a pretty font on the back?  Yes.  Could I have gotten them ordered and delivered to my doorstep this week?  Yes.  Could I have gotten them addressed, stamped and dropped in the mailbox by today?  Yes.  Would I have missed out on doing Christmas crafts with Ava?  Yes.  Would I have missed extra snuggles and giggles with Pierce?  Yes.  Would I have missed Ava's Christmas party at school?  Yes.  Would I have missed Christmas shopping with Jordan?  Yes.  Would I have missed these memories in order to send all of our precious family and friends a Christmas card that you would have only enjoyed for maybe 3 days?  Yes.  And every time I pondered what mattered most to me in this season, right now, the hustle and bustle and stress to follow tradition fell short.  Way, way, way, way short.

As I type this, I glance around my living room to find a half decorated mantle that is nowhere near what I wanted it to be because I never had the time to make the pretty burlap banner I had wanted to or make a pretty garland from fresh Frasier Fir branches.  The very top portion of our Christmas lights on the tree went out a few days ago and we haven't changed them out and won't at this point.  Pierce has a stocking that doesn't match the rest of ours because I never got around to making new ones like I wanted.  But in this very moment, there is peace and stillness, not only in my house and not just because the babies are asleep, but it's nestled down inside me because I've chosen to not fret over things I can't change or things that matter less than what I cherish and value most in my life.  My family.  I would rather Ava remember that I sat down in a tiny little chair right next to hers in her classroom.  I'd rather remember the excitement on her face when I made it to her party on time.  I'd rather remember all the fun of our first Christmas as a family of four than fill my heart and my home with anxiety and tension over what I "thought" this Christmas should "look" like.  And I'd rather share my love with all of you here, in this blog post, just so you know that you weren't forgotten or wonder how you didn't make my "card cut" this year.  No one did.  But it wasn't because you weren't loved or that we didn't think of you.  We've thought of EACH one of you and we want YOUR Christmas to be filled with what matters MOST, too - the ones you love most!

I'll cross my fingers and challenge myself to be ahead of the game next year because I do want to share in the card giving again!  It just didn't happen this year and I'm thankful that I know you understand.  :o)

I wouldn't dare leave you without some cuteness so please enjoy a few of my favorites from the photo shoot last week.  :o)

From our happy little family of 4 to your precious family...

xoxox

christy

(and Jordan, Ava and Pierce, too)

Barger ~ And Then There Were Three

As a woman, you can dream about starting a family of your own and anticipate the joy and excitement of having a new life growing within you.  However, sometimes, the reality of that experience can be overwhelming and challenging; especially when its marked by months of extreme nausea, sickness and discomfort.  In the light of 5+ months, it may not seem like a long time.  But when you break that down into days and hours, when you're sick, it can seem like an eternity.  You can only pray that the worst will be over and you can't bring that sweet life into the world soon enough.  

But once that miraculous life is in your arms, you know it was worth every single struggle and discomfort.  And when you hold that precious gift in your arms and you know what a blessing you've been entrusted with, you're emotionally overwhelmed.  And a priceless moment that brought this photographer to tears happens.  

Butch and Tara, I am beyond thankful and blessed to have captured sweet Luke's newborn session.  He is blessed to have such a wonderful mommy and daddy to love him and steward his precious life well!

There are so many more from this session to share with you but I have to wait until after Christmas.  :op  Until then, I introduce to you, Mr. Luke Barger and his sweet family!

(click image for larger view)   

*I melted over this one!!*

*He grinned and we all melted!*

*There's nothing like a father and his son.*

xoxox

christy

Malone Family

I LOVE watching my clients children grow.  I've been photographing this little sassy thing since she was born.  She's 2 years old now and such a cute little diva.  She melted my heart when she reached up to me and said "hold you".  I couldn't tell that sweet face no so I loved on her quite a bit during our session.  This is such a precious family!  

I hope you enjoy your sneak peek!!!  :o)

(click image for larger view)

xoxox

christy

Pickens ~ Newborn

This sweet couple drove all the way from Hueytown on a cold, wet and rainy day so I could capture the newest addition to their family.  Baby Ashton was P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S.  Do you see all that gorgeous, thick, dark hair??!!  Oh my.  And, although he didn't show them off too much during the session, he has some sweet little dimples in those cheeks!  Swoon.  

MeKeisha, Reggie, thanks for taking on such a nasty day to come for your newborn session.  I hope you love your sneak peek!  Can't wait for you to see the rest!!  :o)

(click image for larger view)

xoxox

christy

Leonard ~ 1 Year

You know that cute, contagious, full giggling that you can get babies to do if you get their "tickle spot" really good?  That laugh that makes you laugh and turns you into a puddle of mush because its the sweetest sound on the planet?  Well, this A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. little boy, who is about to turn 1 year old (where did the last 12 months go?!), did that belly laugh on his own, without tickles or silly faces, the W H O L E session.  I wanted to just scoop him up and take him home with me.  He couldn't get any cuter and I couldn't adore his precious family any more than I do.  It's been an absolute joy watching baby Jack grow this year.  I know God has B I G plans for him already and he is blessed to have some amazing parents to steward his precious life well.  

Happy Birthday Jack!!  We love and adore you!!!  

(click image for larger view) 

xoxox

christy

Hicks ~ Senior

If I could tell you a thousand times that I have the BEST clients on the face of the planet, I would.  The day before I was scheduled to do this Ragland High School Senior's photo session, I had to take my 4 and half month old son to Children's Emergency Room with what appeared to be a stomach bug.  Matt's mom was way beyond understanding when I had to reschedule and reassured me that taking care of him was more important.  

In the middle of the busy photography season, it's not always easy to feel torn between taking care of my family and taking care of my clients too.  Paige lovingly reminded me that I am a mommy first.  Thank you Paige for being so selfless and understanding!!  I am so thankful we were finally able to get Matt's session done.  I love them and I hope you do too!  

Matt, thanks for being up for whatever I asked and doing it all with a smile...even though you were running on just a few hours of sleep.  ;op  I hope you have the rest of your senior year is awesome!

(click image for larger view)

xoxox

christy