so out of the 97 things on my to do list that I have going before we leave on friday, today was easily the one I was most looking forward to.

marsha and ladonna are sisters and have been great friends to us for the past few years. they had their little ones just a few weeks apart and today was finally the right day to capture the new additions to their family. marsha was a little worried because eliza had been having a few skin issues and ladonna had been up with micah for most of the night but the afternoon really couldn’t have gone better.

they were both the perfect little models and it was so much fun to watch these two cousins during their first photo shoot. micah has the biggest eyes and looks like he’s been tanning on a beach in mexico for a few weeks – so much fun to photograph! eliza was content to just cuddle in mom’s arms and look at the camera, occasionally frowning at the photographer who was interrupting her afternoon.

I couldn’t leave without putting up their preview so here is little micah….

and his cousin eliza…..

after a hard afternoon of shooting it was time to chill and take a nap….

I don’t know what to write here. there are simply no words to describe what this session was like and about the kind of people that des and jay are.

little drew came a few weeks early and I knew that this was going to be an incredible family to photograph again after the first few emails I got from des. she sent me a picture of the little guy during his first day in the nicu and then kept me up to date on how he was doing. I got another email from her a few days after they brought him home. I noticed it was sent at 3 a.m. and she told me that he was doing well but was having a rough night. I’ll never forget how she ended that note:

“so I’m up at 3am with our little miracle and it’s great!”

I can’t remember the last time someone told me they were thankful to be up at 3am! they are both truly grateful for their little miracle. the whole afternoon I was there they could hardly take their eyes off of drew and they were so happy to share all the little details of his young life so far.

on top of all that they are a true inspiration to me. as we get ready to start our ivf journey this summer they reminded me that despite the months and years that we have to pray, hope and cry as we wait for our miracle it is truly worth it in the end.

it’s true. they do seem to appreciate their gift more than most and that’s what I think makes them so special.

I wish you could have been there when we took these last few shots. I just asked des to lie down beside her little boy and after she was assured that I’ve never dropped the camera when taking shots from above someone, they turned out to be some of my most memorable snaps that I’ve ever taken. to see des so close to the son she had prayed and hoped for so often was beautiful.

I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun. I can’t remember seeing two people so in love with their child.

actually, the world miracle is what they used.