Photos by J. Noel Photography

Before getting pregnant I was really anxious about the upcoming physical, emotional, and spiritual changes that would happen within me. There are so many books on "what to expect" when you're expecting and you can spend hours reading articles about pregnancy, but nobody really knows how each individual will be affected. Was I going to be nauseous? Would my fingers swell to the point of taking off my wedding rings? Would I feel an instant connection? What if there wasn't an instant connection... does that make me a bad mom? There are so many unknowns. BUT I knew one thing... this little baby had been prayed for, thought about, and talked about for way too long and I was excited to walk into uncharted waters in order to meet her! 

The beginning of the pregnancy was SO hard for me because I just wanted to scream "I'M PREGNANT!" to everybody that I saw. It was such a hard secret for me to keep, but I knew that we needed to wait a little bit longer to share our news just incase something happens with this pregnancy. I wanted to be cautious, but I also didn't want to stress my body by worrying about ALL of the "what ifs" in pregnancy. I was listening to my body, fueling it with the necessary nutrients (and Chick-Fil-A, let's be honest!), and trying to enjoy the new changes within my body. 

Our little one was measuring 2-3 weeks ahead at every appointment, so we got regular sonograms to check her growth. This momma got SO spoiled seeing her at every appointment! Some days she would hide from us, but it always helped reassure me that she was healthy and thriving. I think I left every sonogram telling my husband, "Gosh, the human body is so cool!" 

Overall, being pregnant was such a positive experience for me and when I started feeling down or uncomfortable, I just had to remind myself how lucky I am that God chose us to be Luna's parents and he entrusted us with her life. I take that responsibility so heavy and am very aware of how lucky and privileged we are. To all of the women out there who are craving for their day to come, I see you!

We had our maternity pictures done with the AMAZING Jenni from J. Noel Photography and she made this experience so special for us! It is always hard to be on the other side of the camera, but she made it effortless and fun! Thank you Jenni for these images...we will cherish them for forever! 

Some pregnancy MUST HAVES:

• Snoogle pregnancy pillow! I seriously would not have been able to sleep without it! I even joked about packing it in my suitcase when we would go out of town
• Maternity leggings. I lived in these on days when I stayed home and they were great for post partum as well! 
• AG Maternity jeans. These were a bit of a splurge, but I used a 50% off coupon. I wanted to get nice jeans because I knew I would be wearing them almost everyday since I was mostly pregnant in the winter. 
• Dress. This is the dress that I wore for this maternity session. I loved it and can wear it non-pregnant as well!
• Belly Support Band. I did a ton of research before buying this and asked my OBGYN, and she said it was totally safe. You guys, this was a GAME CHANGER for me during my pregnancy! If I knew I would be on my feet for a while or doing any exercise, I would throw this on and it instantly helped my belly not feel so heavy. Towards the end of my pregnancy I think I wore this every night because my belly was stretching and it was causing pains and aches when I slept! 

Photos by: J. Noel Photography

I've had the privilege to see this family grow from day one. I was there when Megen came to work after an incredible first date the night before. We talked all about Andrew and how amazing of a man he was. He made her laugh, he listened to her intently, and he was a man of God. A few months went on and their bond continued to grow each and everyday. Meg has always had a special light within her, but Andrew made it glow brighter even more. I photographed them once Andrew popped the question, party pictures during their rehearsal dinner, Meg's maternity pictures, the beautiful birth of baby Florence, and now their at-home newborn session. P.S. can we talk about how amazing Florence's nursery is? Meg thought of every detail and it is completely adorable! 

Florence, you are the luckiest little girl in the world to have Meg and Andrew as your mommy and daddy! And to your puppy  brother, Huxley, we are praying for a speedy recovery and some good news! You are SO very loved! 

If there was one vacation that I could continue to have every time I traveled, it would be to Provence France. Actually, scratch that, if I ever win the lottery and have money for a second home, I would choose Provence. A vacation is simply not enough time to capture the essence of "French country living". 

I'm not going to lie, planning our trip to Provence was a really hard task. I did SO much research (and stalking Instagram) to see where we should go within the area and what the peak season to catch a glimpse of the lavender was. I knew that we would be there during the very end of lavender season, but I hoped and prayed that it wouldn't be harvested until AFTER we left. (We had a scheduling conflict the two weeks before we went, otherwise, I would've bumped up our trip). The second our train arrived in Provence from Paris, we went straight to the fields! The drive throughout the Luberon region is absolutely beautiful and it was so amazing to smell the lavender as you drive through. We passed a smaller/local lavender field right outside of the train station, and I seriously think I screamed out loud! The scent comes through the air vents of the car before you even see the field ahead. Now, I recommend you go smell a lavender candle or soap while you read this blog so that you can get the full experience. 

I had a specific lavender fields in mind that I wanted to visit from the research that I had done prior to our trip. We were staying in the Luberon region and I found that the fields in the towns of Valensole and Sault were the largest. So, to Valensole we went!   I used the geo-tag on Instagram to check on them everyday when we were in Paris a few days before to see which fields had been harvested and which ones still had lavender on them. Most of the ones that I wanted to visit had already been harvested, but there was one in particular that still looked nice and purple! We went straight there and I'm so glad that we did because it was harvested just a few days later! (HALLELUJAH!)

Besides the amazing aroma, I loved that the lavender fields were buzzing with bumblebees! These bees were very different than the bees we have in Texas because they didn't bother us or even get near touching us. (French bees...so posh, aren't they?? haha). I seriously could have stayed at this field for many hours just standing in amazement. My husband on the other hand was like, "This is cool." *Takes a photo and video on iPhone* "You ready to go?" I think he was just secretly embarrassed that I was using him as my model for test shots in front of another couple. ;)

Once we got there, I was kicking myself for not bringing wine, cheese, and a baguette to enjoy in the middle of the fields! So after we left the fields, we stopped at a local market for a baguette, jam, and salami as we drove to our Airbnb. Not quite the picnic that I had in mind, but it was just as yummy and a great welcoming to Provence! 

My next blog post will showcase all of the wonderful towns that we experienced as well as the most charming and romantic Airbnb that is the quintessential example of a traditional Provence home! (Think blue shutters, roses, hydrangeas, cypress trees, lavender, and olive trees) Stay tuned....you don't want to miss it! 

I had the honor of shooting at the beautiful One Eleven East in Hutto, Texas for a precious family session. It is a historic building that was built in 1893 and is now an event/studio space! It is a natural-light photographer's dream because of the ample light that pours into the space from the beautiful windows. 

As we walked into the venue and set our stuff down, little Annabel was already on the move exploring the space and wanted to run around the bottom floor since it's a big open area. Since she preferred to be on the move, we moved with her! We were playing chase, spinning in circles, and dedicated a lot of time for tickles :) I love sessions like this because they require me to be on my toes and constantly ready to capture moments, but also because they are REAL moments! These moments are not posed or positioned, but simply photographing her as she wants to be. Does this make it more fast paced? Sure. But is it worth it? ALWAYS!  

Champ family, you guys are so precious and I love when you guys are behind my camera! Thanks for sweating with me during this session as Texas decided to be about 90 degrees this day.