Ok, here are some highlights! :

• This month, you went to FLORIDA!
• You didn’t love the ocean but honestly, neither did Rhett! ha!
• We said goodbbye to our beloved Miss Whitney and momma cried a lot!! We will never be able to replace her! Thankfully, she went to Florida with us and we made some sweet memories together before her last days!
• We started building a garage!
• Graham was in the middle of his Tball season! It was a family affair!
• We celebrated baby James’ 5th Birthday and Dada’s 37th!
• You have learned to be comfortable being passed around quite a bit!! Evy always wants to hold you!
• You’re so happy, so chill, so content. Thank you LORD for that turnaround!
• You started to spit up more but it’s nothing like Graham so we’re thankful! :)
• Speaking of Graham… you still look JUST like him. Comparing your baby pictures is WILD! It’s a good thing because Graham is an incredibly handsome four year old!!! :)
• You aren’t on a schedule really…. I mean how could you be with so much travel and life stuff happening?! But it’s fine! You’re doing great at nights and I’m grateful!!
• You’ve lost most of your birth hair!! It’s falling out just like Graham’s did!!

Ok! Enjoy some of my favorite moments from the big camera from month three! :)

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So, let’s talk about taking a 5 week old to Scotland. I 100% recommend the plane ride! It was the easiest flight ever. He slept the whole way! Now, I do NOT recommend the struggle with the time zone change. We were exhausted but all things considered, it was an easy trip on the baby front!! Newborns literally just sleep and eat and that was very true of him on this trip!  The next trip was a road trip down to Asheville, NC a couple of weeks later and then a few weeks after that, we were in Florida! This guys KNOWS how to travel!!

Besides being full of travel, this little guy’s second month was full of change. He started to become more alert, less fussy, a better sleeper and SMILEY! The BEST!!! I love a smiley baby and the good Lord gave me such a smiler this time around!! Here are some other things I want to remember about his second month:

• I may have mentioned this before but he was never great at being swaddled! It was always a battle! So we didn’t do it. He slept on his boppy lounger in the bassinet for a while and then we put the owlet on and let him sleep on his stomach and it was a game changer! He loved it and in turn, we loved it!
• He didn’t spit up at all these first two months. It was amazing! (But short-lived!)
• His skin has just like his big brother’s!! He’s a rashy one!!!
• This month we had the Scotland trip and then at I took him on a girls trip to Asheville, NC.
• We moved the bassinet into the closet and got some freedom back!
• We started actually staying up after the baby was down… which is truly a part parenting that everyone needs! Having even just an hour to be “off” duty is a game changer in the newborn phase!
• His eyes couldn’t be bluer
• His cry is soft and peaceful
• He lost his dark hair this month!

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I literally just snapped a few photos thinking “This will be cute in the family yearbook!” but then I jokingly asked “Should I blog it?!” on Instagram and people said yes! Hilarious!

Ok, but on a more serious note, photographers…. pay close attention here: If I can take 4minutes worth of pictures of KIDS getting married in a pretend wedding and actually create a somewhat editorial style blog post from it, there is NO excuse for those of us that need portfolio images! Here are some things we can learn from a pretend wedding in my front yard:

1. Wedding guests will ALWAYS be annoying and have their PHONES out! ha! You have to shoot tight enough or move close enough to get in front of it and crop it out! AI will help clone it out later but overall, apparently this struggle happens even during a FAKE wedding! (Ahem! I’m looking at you Emy!)
2. Bow ties make anything look luxury! If you’re wanting to boost the look of your brand with a free shoot or two, make sure a tux is involved!
3. It doesn’t take much at all. You need good light and a simple background and you can create magic!
4. Curation is KEY. Goodness I could talk about this for days!! Scroll through these images and notice a few things: 1. Alternating B&W, 2. B&W was used when there were distracting colors (except for one and you can see Joe’s bright red shirt and it kills the vibe! Sorry Joe!) Photographers miss this on their website CONSTANTLY! And last but not least, all of the junk in our yard (toys, sidewalk chalk, etc) were hidden either with cropping, B&W edits or shallow depth of field!

You may think this is funny and just cute… but here’s there is actually A LOT we can learn from this!!!! Enjoy Micah and Harper’s pretend, front yard wedding!

Ps. All of these are edited with the “Golden Warm Fine Art” option in Step Three of the Preset Process!! 

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And then we had our seconds (technically our thirds) at the same time too.

And then we had our thirds just 13 days apart!

And NOW we are having our fourth babies 5 months apart!

That means come July, we will both have 6 year olds, 4 year olds, 2 year olds and newborns. WOW. Eight cousins, all the same age ranges…. about to live next door to one another! I never EVER could have imagined this. What a gift and a treasure in our lives. We are so grateful! I just had to share this because I haven’t been able to until now!

Ok Miles Lee… Let’s talk about your first month! Whew!

Your birth was beautiful. You were born at HOME and I still can’t believe it! What an answered prayer!! It was simple and straightforward. Your FIRST MONTH on the other hand was not simple and straightforward. It was quite the opposite. From the very first day, I knew we had something to figure out. Nursing pain was horrendous but it always is for me for a week or so… but you were chomping, it wasn’t quite what I remembered with the others. After two weeks of gassiness and tears from you and me, I started cutting dairy, ordering the probiotics, and asking for help. It was recommended that I look into seeing a tongue tie specialist even though we were told 3+ times that you didn’t have one. Well, you did and we had it released and saw instant results. Less pain for me, less gas for you and more weight gain… actually, A LOT of weight gain. My milk supply got to where it needed to be instantly and all was well in the world!! You started sleeping better and slowly but surely, we started to feel like we were figuring you out. Right when things seemed to turn a corner, we took you to Scotland for a work/fun trip with Buddy and Jill and Sunday! Talk about a whirlwind first 5 weeks!!

I’m currently typing this on the day you turned TWO months old but this is what I remember from month one:

• You may have been gassy, but you were so sweet. When you didn’t have a bubble, you were so chill and relaxed. That’s how we knew something was off. Your demeanor didn’t match the painful screams you would let out. I’m so thankful we found what you needed.
• You looked like Evy to me when you were born… but then you looked like Graham and everyone else agrees… but *sometimes* I still see hints of Evy in you!
• Your blue eyes are just amazing! I am praying they stay that blue!
• Your newborn acne was the most intense we have had!
• You love sleeping on your stomach!
• You didn’t burp or spitup at all your first month. We kinda wish you did to get the bubbles out!!
• You smiled early and it’s my favorite
• You have hair like Evy did! Thin, dark and stringy on top!
• You are amazing at riding in the car! PTL!
• You are outgrowing 0-3 month clothes and are now in 3-6month outfits
• We’re getting some great 3-4 hour stretches at night and I’m grateful!!
• You are SO loved by your siblings!!!

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The truth is, we are finally getting the hang of our new rhythm. The first few weeks were the hardest postpartum weeks that I have ever had. This has been the easiest physical recovery out of all five of my births. The struggle was mentally and emotionally. Miles was pretty fussy and just overall unsettled his first few weeks. I’ve NEVER had a baby that wasn’t content to be put down or happy in the swing. I’ve also never had a baby with gassiness and the discomfort that comes from that. So, needless to say, the sleepless nights led to a lot of tears and stress. It wasn’t just the sleepless nights, it was the fact that I knew something wasn’t right and I couldn’t help but keep trying to figure it out. Was it dairy? Was it a latch issue? Did he have a tongue tie? Did he just need some probiotic? Is he just a colicky baby and this is going to be our life for the next 6 months to a year?!

Thankfully, I reached out to the wonderful world of Instagram and was encouraged to see a speech and swallow specialist in Richmond who could truly see if he had a tie (Pediatricians and IBCLC’s often miss them and they did 3x in our case!). Sure enough, he had a posterior tie and a grade 3 lip tie. They were released and his gas practically disappeared, his latch improved, my pain in nursing improved, my milk supply doubled and he gained 2 pounds in 14 days. Talk about wins all around!!

So, why am I telling you all of that when this is supposed to be a birth blog post? Well, all of that (plus an international trip/wedding to shoot) is why I’m just now getting around to sharing this blog post! Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about his birth.

Mile’s birth was my most confusing but also my simplest.

Miles was born at home… on purpose… and I loved every minute of it. I seriously wish I could have had all three of my living boys at home because it was so incredibly peaceful and simple and dare I say RESTFUL! Yes. It was restful. The laboring was more restful and the postpartum experience was 100x more restful than being at the hospital!

Ok, so how did this happen? Why did I opt for a homebirth?! Was I scared? All of these are great questions and honestly, the best place to hear answers is on this podcast episode! I share my entire birth journey and details about my decision to do a homebirth. You can listen HERE! 

So, back to the birth story…. I had my first experience with prodromal labor. I basically felt like I was in labor on Thursday night and we were just minutes from calling Nancy, my midwife, to get on the road to our house…. and then I walked to the kitchen and it all stopped. It stopped and honestly didn’t return. So I had just lost a full night’s sleep and there was no sign of a baby. We waited until the next night and my midwife decided to come to the house to see how I was doing. She checked me and I was at 5cm. So all of the prodromal labor wasn’t useless… just frustrating. She adjusted/aligned the baby and then I walked laps with a belt on to keep him in place. Contractions came but they weren’t consistent when I would stop walking and so it was about 10:00 at this point and we decided to either call it quits or take Nancy’s castor oil concoction. Her concern was that this was my fifth baby in six years and that I had technically been in labor for over 24 hours at this point and I would be getting close to exhaustion when the time did come for full blown labor to pick up. I didn’t know what to do. I was definitely stressed about it. My body was literally doing NOTHING like I envisioned it would. In the past, I have started labor and that was it. It was go time and we had a baby in a matter of hours. This was bizarre and so incredibly frustrating to me. I felt like my body had just forgotten how to have a baby…. and what’s crazy is that Nancy (our midwife) had told me MANY times prior to labor that 5th and 6th labors can be like this. I wanted to will myself into making it happen and that caused more harm than good. I needed to just relax. Nancy told me that many times!

I decided to take her up on her ice cream, peanut butter and castor oil mixture. I ate it and then just waited. She told me to not think about it and go watch something on Netflix for 30mins. So I sat in the living room with Michael and my sister and watched a comedy show and didn’t laugh at any part of it!  ha! I was trying to relax but in my mind, I just kept thinking “What am I going to do?! Poor Nancy is here, I’m 5cm and fully effaced, she says I’m ready but my inconsistent contractions are driving me crazy. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before my 30mins of resting was up and I started walking again. This time, the contractions were stronger and I needed to stop for them. Nancy made me squat during several of them (pure misery!) and lunge for a few. I appreciated having her tell me what to do because I’ve never had a doula or midwife experience where someone was there to coach me through contractions and positions. I did everything she said because I truly trusted her. She’s spent decades bringing babies into the world and she told me “We’ll have a baby around midnight” and she was *almost* spot on.

After just an hour, I was in transition and decided to get in the tub. Hot water felt amazing. I think I had about 30ish minutes in the tub before Miles arrived. It was very much like I had envisioned. I wanted to be able to move around (super easy when you’re floating in water!) and I prayed that it would be straight forward. I wanted to trust my body even in the midst of the worst tension and pain. I remember thinking “I can’t do this…but I will” and in the past, whenever I got to that “scary place”, I just stayed in the “there is no way this is going to happen” mindset. This time, even though I was saying things that sounded like I was defeated, I knew it was going to happen and I had a peace about it that I never experienced before in birth. I remember feeling something shift when I was leaning over the tub and I knew he was getting close. Before I knew it, he was crowning, then a contraction or two later, he was here!!

If you listened to the podcast you know that I really wanted to be able to experience the Fetal Ejection Reflex. I had experienced it before but only in the midst of coached pushing on my back at the hospital. I knew my body could get this baby out if I just waited and relaxed and sure enough, it did! I wouldn’t say that I was out of control, but there there was definitely an aspect of letting my body do the work and I was just trying to relax instead of trying to “push”. The pushing was happening without my permission. It’s absolutely incredible what our bodies are made to do and when you learn about the physiological side of birth, it removes SO much of the fear of birth. Please listen to the podcast if you want to learn more. I’ve never felt more empowered or prepared for a birth than I did for this one! Knowledge removes so much fear, especially when it comes to birth!

At 12:54am, Miles Lee literally shot into the world, underwater and we gradually brought him to the surface. His first cry made me weep with joy and relief. I did it. I couldn’t believe it. After delivering the placenta and knowing everything was fine and there was no need to go to the hospital, I laid in my own bed in amazement. I had just given birth in my BEDROOM. On purpose! Who am I?! I’m a girl who had her eyes opened to doing things differently. Not to prove anything or buck the system… but because my education empowered me to make a decision that I knew was right for me this time around. Seeing my momma and sister watch our last baby enter the world was something that I desired but could have been tricky in a hospital setting. Giving birth in water isn’t allowed at our hospital and I really wanted to get to experience that. There are so many reasons this made sense for me… but I know it won’t make sense for most. My encouragement is this…. no matter what you desire for your birth, learn about the physiological process of birth before you’re in labor.  Really, learn about it as soon as you find out you’re pregnant. It will change your perspective, it will free you from so much fear and it will allow you to have a voice in your journey.

I really only intended to write a few words since there is an incredibly long podcast about all of this but here we are…. I overdid it again. Ha! Enjoy some pictures of the birth and of our family of SIX! Wow… We are still getting used to that! God is so faithful. What a story of redemption to have lived through a stillbirth and wondered if I would ever have a complication-free pregnancy and then give birth in our home. We literally slept for 6-7 hours after he was born and then the kids came home and met him…. and if that isn’t wild enough, Miles was born on Evy’s birthday and so we had a little family party for her 12 hours after he was born. That’s how amazing I felt! Isn’t that crazy?! We were running on adrenaline but it was a day full of precious core memories that I’ll cherish forever!

Thank you Emily Gerald for being our dream newborn photographer! I told her last time “Aw so sad this is our last time doing this!” and it wasn’t! But I mean it this time! :)

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• How I was pregnant with you in the beginning of the pandemic and how I gave birth to you in the midst of the worst of it!
• We can home and had Covid and didn’t know it!
• When I found out I was pregnant with you, I had just found out an hour before that Emy was pregnant with Hayden!
• My pregnancy with you was easy…. I mean, you were massive but it wasn’t complicated and I was so grateful!
• You were barely 10lbs but I’m so glad I got to claim that title! If I’m going to give birth to babies as big as ours, I want to be able to claim that at least one was 10lbs! Graham was just two ounces shy!
• You and Graham have had similar growth patterns. Sometimes I envision that I’m going to have two pretty big boys in my house one day. :)
• I never saw myself as a boy mom but that’s most definitely what I’ve become and I love it.
• You are walking!
• You are not talking much but you seem to be focused on your physical abilities!
• You love to climb!
• This was our last month of not being able to have baby gate up on the stairs!
• You love dumping out all of the kiddie plates and bowls from the cabinet!
• You made us feel like a BIG family. We feel like we have a “crew” of our own ever since you came along!
• How we feel outnumbered and at times, it’s a lot!
• Your squawk! You can be very loud when you don’t get your way or want attention.
• Your raspy old-man laugh
• How EVERYONE has been commenting on your teeth since you were four months old!
• Your sweet, sweet face! Your daddy and I always say “Look, look how cute he is!” randomly when you walk by!

Goodness there are so many things. I’m honestly two months late writing this blog post (I’m going to back-date it!) because life is FULL. It’s full in the best way. I’m doing what I love to do…. I’m a momma and I’m running a business that uses my gifts to help people. It’s a life that I don’t feel like I deserve. I couldn’t have ever imagined any of it. Out of all of my roles, being a momma is the greatest joy of my life. I look at you and Evy and Graham (and James in heaven) and I think about my life before you all. It was wonderful but it was missing something. We had freedom and time and sleep and time for “us” but we also didn’t know that there was a love waiting for us that transform us in the best way. Becoming parents was the greatest thing that ever happened to us and we’re so grateful.

Rhett Boy, you are loved and cherished. Happy one year little nugget.

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Anyone longing to have an adventure but aren’t ready to travel outside of the country, this was a perfect spot! We’re now big fans of Jackson Hole and we’re dreaming of the day we can go back!!! Maybe next time we’ll run into John Dutton :)

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Until this month, my dad has been the pastor of Salem Baptist Church for over 30 years and I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced anything so bittersweet in my life. This place isn’t just my home, it’s Michael’s home as well. We grew up together and the majority of our life was spent running around and doing life at the pretty white church at the top of the hill. My parents had Emily soon after we moved there, Corey came a few years later. Together with other young families at the church that were in a similar season of life, they formed friendships and a community that was rare, unique and beautiful.

I could spend days writing out memories of my childhood and thoughts about my dad and his role in our church and community… but instead of spending days and days writing it all out, I spent days (and some late, post-bedtime nights!) working on something that I will cherish forever. If I’ve seemed a little MIA on Instagram and in our education community this past month, it’s because I have been working hard on this video that tells the story of my Dad’s life as a pastor. What started off as a slideshow turned into my own version of a Netflix documentary. As I interviewed old friends, read letters from people in the community and pieced together this video, I found myself learning so much about ministry and also having the beliefs I’ve always had about my dad strengthened and confirmed over and over and over again.

Imagine thinking that your dad is steadfast, full of integrity and is genuine to his core and then hearing person after person after person say the same thing about him all day long. I couldn’t be more proud to be his.

Daddy, I’ve learned so much from you. As I look at my life now and the role’s God has given me in this world, I can’t help but see the parts of you that I desire to emulate. You’re a servant leader. You mop the church floors, not because you want people to see you doing it (because I’ve seen you spend hours doing that when no one was around) but because it’s something that needs to be done and it just makes sense to you to do it… but the reason this is so fascinating to everyone is because most people in a leadership position would assume someone else should just do that because they would have more important things to do with their time… but not you. That’s the other thing I desire to emulate as a leader. I am so thankful that you have never put yourself on a pedestal. What I’ve learned from your impact and your leadership is that the more you stay down to earth and don’t dwell on your “position”, the more connected you remain to those you’re leading. I am so thankful that no matter what role you’re in… whether you’re in dad mode, Pastor Kevin mode, Grandaddy mode, etc, you’re always the same. That aspect of you isn’t just a sweet compliment, it’s the core reason why you are so trusted.  You have faithfully carried decades of hard truths and secrets and scars of people in the church and in the community. You have been trusted with so much because you are so trustworthy and you are so trustworthy because more than anything, you answer to Jesus and no one else.

I could go on… but I won’t… because this video really says it all.

I know after your celebration, it felt like you attended your own funeral.  We spent two hours telling stories and thanking God for what He did through you these past 30+ years and we could have stayed for many more. You are such a gift and I’m so grateful for you. Happy Retirement Grandaddy!! I’m sad to see an official end to our beautiful season as a family in Sparta, but so thankful to have you and Mimi right down the road.  The best is yet to come. :)

To all of you who don’t know my dad…. you can get to know so much of him in this video. Enjoy :)

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Rhetty, you are so so loved. Graham tries to love on your but he’s still grabbing you around the neck instead of the waist like we tell him. Evy loves you and somehow still manages to pick you up and carry you everywhere! You’re getting close to the end of nursing. I can feel it. The trips didn’t help that at all!!! I cherish that literal connection to you… even when it happens in the middle of the night when I know you’re capable of sleeping through the night!!

This month you experienced your first Halloween (as Flounder from the Little Mermaid) and the pumpkin patch! I can’t wait to see you at Christmas!

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When I think about you, Rhett, I think about your joy and your ability to hang and push through even when you’re tired. I don’t have any fear of you disturbing people at restaurants and I barely have to entertain you! It’s amazing! I’m sure this will change with age but right at 9 months seems to be a sweet spot!! You’re eating more and more and you’re crawling at high speed!! You’re joyful and you’re smart! I love watching you figure things out!!… Both emotionally and physically!

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This month of your life was FULL!!!:

• We hosted an 90 person cookout at the house
• We had baptism for two sweet kids in our church in the backyard!
• You traveled to Utah! You road in a UTV!
• We visited a sunflower festival and it was probably our worst family outing to-date! So. many. meltdowns! Not by Rhett… by the other two!
• We hosted family and friends at the lake!
• The big kids tried to learn how to water ski with friends!

You fit in so well with this fast paced family!! What a sweet little nugget you are! Happy 8 months buddy!!! (Ps. This is being posted when you turned 9 months… just a sign of the times! Life is FULL!!!!)

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Rhett, you’re our “rally” kid… you can get happy even when you’re exhausted. You can be so far past bedtime and still crack a smile at someone who smiles at you. You are so independent but yet towards the end of this month, you have become very aware of when I leave you and it’s both precious and challenging. :) You’re so strong… you’re so alert and aware of everything around you… you seem to love being where the action is!!! We love you little buddy! This season of life is fast paced and challenging with all three of you but we’re loving it. We’re tired and exhausted most days once 8pm rolls around but we wouldn’t trade you guys for the world!

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This month, Rhett turned five months and I can’t even begin to explain how much has changed with him! But I’m going to try:

• He’s sitting up! REALLY well!
• He’s trying real food! Bananas are his favorite!
• He smiles at EVERYONE… all the time… it’s the first thing people say about him!
• He’s happy… 95% of the time. Thank you Jesus for a sweet, easy baby
• He got three teeth in one month! YIKES!
• He gets so distracted while nursing…I have to sing to him to get him to tune out other things and focus!
• He thinks Evy is hilarious!!!!!
• He’ll sit on the floor and play by himself for the longest time!
• He’s started laughing at the other two in the back of the car randomly and it’s precious!
• He’s in 12month clothes!!

Remembering Baby James’ 3rd Birthday

Mother’s Day! I’ve decided all I ever want on Mother’s Day is new, updated pictures with my kids!

Michael got a drone for his birthday!  The dads made brunch for us!  New camping chairs!  We headed to the farm for a quick visit! But first, strawberry picking!

Graham road the tractor with Buddy and even though it didn’t show on his face, he was THRILLED!  Michael’s 35th birthday! They cleared Mimi and Grandaddy’s land!

Hay Hay… what a chunk! Visiting the Ledford Lodge

Evy’s first baby shower! She was so cute! She just wanted to swim in the pool as soon as we got there :)

I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a family picture! ALL THREE SMILING!  Evy has started taking pictures of me and it’s the sweetest!  This is what monthly Rhett pics look like….. Evy helps me…

Graham scoops up the letterboard letters with his excavator.

Such a mess! One of my favorite personal pictures ever!

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You’re not going to believe this but sometimes I fear we don’t have enough pictures of our life. I know, face palm. It’s ridiculous to think that! However, I think I worry about that because I just love these sweet seasons and I don’t want to lose them. I have found a beautiful rhythm of being free to capture certain moments and then just be camera-free for others. It’s something I’ve been working on balancing since Evy was born. It’s a JOY to pull out my big camera, not a burden. I hope years from now it will be so rewarding to scroll through these posts and remember what life was like. Also, getting these blog posts together save me SO much time at the end of the year when it’s time to create a family yearbook!

So what is Rhett like this month?! Well…..

• At the very beginning of his fourth month, we did sleep training and took the paci away in one night. Whew. But it was only one night and it was honestly pretty easy. He struggled for 45 minutes (we checked on him every ten mins, dont’ be alarmed!) but after he experienced that he could calm himself down without needing to be held, MAN… what a LIFE CHANGING DEVELOPMENT!! We get huge chunks of sleep now… he goes down for a nap in 5-6 minutes (sometimes faster)… we have a schedule and routine and he’s SO much happier during the day! What a win!
• This was the month of the HANDS! He loves his hands so much! He bites them, sucks on them, plays with them constantly
• He started really squawking this month!
• He flew on his first airplane and did amazing!
• He went to Disney for the first time and was an angel baby!
• He outgrew his clothes at a record pace and is now in 12 month sleepers!
• He’s still a spitter!
• He LOVES laughing at Evy!
• He’s stiff and tough and tight… no chub, just really long and lean!
• He became swaddle-free right at four months
• He nurses GREAT! (Finally started nursing him on the less full side FIRST and that’s dramatically changed the over-supply let-down, choking issue he sometimes had)
• He’s by far our smiliest and happiest baby! We’re so thankful!!!!!

Their reward for taking pictures!

Awww, a nice lick from Sisi! ha! Welcome to the pool, Callan!

Gosh I love this shot from our hometown with hometown friend’s kids and our kids!

Our visit to Corey and Morgan’s! :

This ended poorly…..

About a week after this, his eczema on his eye went away! YAY! I realized it was actually best not to put anything on it!

I sincerely don’t know if I’ve met more of a “boy” boy. He likes to throw stuff, run into stuff, get dirty, roar, grunt, play with anything with wheels, makes motor noises, isn’t phased by falls or crashes…. Graham is a tough one!

Our new normal with Graham….

Micah wanted to be included…. hahahaha

Childhood best friend and our kids!!!!

Evy learned how to ride a bike in 20 minutes thanks to spending a year on a balance bike!

I’m sorry…. is this not the most precious thing?!?!?! See his little smirk? That’s about as expressive as he gets!!!! Me on the other hand?! I was dying with excitement!!!!! And then he almost plowed over the fam….

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We love having three kiddos. It feels crazy at moments but we have sweet times of just taking in the fact that we have three children! We feel like a BIG family and while I know there are MUCH bigger families out there, there is something about THREE that feels like we have quite a crew around here. Our craziest moments look like….. Graham having a tantrum and Evy being very emotional and melting down while Rhett is hungry and screaming while also sitting in a dirty diaper. Those moments are hard… but then there are moments when Graham is saying the sweetest new words while Rhett is laughing at Evy at the dinner table and I look at Michael and smile…. almost as if I’m saying “can you believe this is our life?”.  We started dating at 16 and I always tried to imagine what it may look like if we got married and had a family… and now I’m living it… everyday. It’s such a precious gift and even though we’re so tired, we’re trying to treasure this season with such tiny kids.

Recently, on a coaching call, we were challenged to celebrate 2-3 parenting wins a week…. and not dwell on the moments that feel absolutely out of control and like we failed. Recently, our wins have been….

• Graham saying “bless you” to anyone who sneezes without being reminded to…. “Bet you momma”… “Bet you Dada”… he does this for coughs, hiccups AND sneezes!
• Evy having the ability to control her emotions more
• Rhett doing big sleep stretches (we just had a 10 hour night and it felt amazing!)
• Graham not waking up in the middle of the night (we had a spell two months ago when this happened here and there which is abnormal for him)
• Graham knowing when he needs to “I’m sorry Eddy” by himself

These are the things that we celebrate when we feel like we’re struggling and it helps us keep perspective! Here are somethings I want to remember about Rhett in his third month!! :

• He’s so strong… I can carry him on my hip and he doesn’t have to have much support to stay straight up!
• His cries still sound like Evy’s cries as a baby
• He has a lot to say!!!! He TALKS so much… way more than Graham ever did!
• He has eczema on his left eyelid that won’t seem to get better so we’re going to try probiotics like we did with Graham!
• He’s LONG! We have him in 6-9 month sleepers and he’s three months old!
• He is still in a swaddle at night but naps on his tummy (with supervision) and loves it! (both our kids did the same!)
• He loves playing with his new “moose” that his Dada bought him recently
• He’s obsessed with chewing on his hands right now
• He spits up…. a lot… but isn’t fussy or losing weight so we’re thankful… seems like we have another “happy spitter”
• Kicking, smiling, sitting up, using his stomach muscles…. all of these things make him spit up!!!
• He has some dry skin on his head (using Squalane Oil is working so well with the Frida Comb!!!) but is also losing his hair… lots going on up there!
• He’s happy and healthy and SO dense…. there is pretty much zero “chub” to him and yet he is gaining weight and outgrowing clothes… it’s fascinating!!!

• For those who think taking the kid’s pictures is easy…. that picture on the left is proof that my husband is a saint and truly loves me. He works HARD to make them laugh while I’m shooting!

Our sassy, funny, expressive, and gorgeous girl. Evy you light up our days!

The wild one who gets more and more handsome every single day. We love you Graham. We love your new words, your new songs you just recently started singing for us (“Nowhere, nowhere”) and your sweet, soft voice.

These pictures make me wanna just go find him in the basement right now and squeeze him!!! What a cutie!! Stay this way!!! I love this sweet (and challenging) season with Graham Boy!

This one picture is worth ALL the work. I was literally sweating trying to capture these!

Mimi snuggles and crazy hair day!

Graham and Grandaddy share the same smile AND the same love for tractors!!!

The big kids went camping with Mimi and Grandaddy by themselves and they LOVED it!!!!

Notice Evy is in most of these with Rhett…. it’s hard to get her out of them. haha

We went to Great Wolfe Lodge with Grammie and Pa!

And Emy and I went on a girls trip to Charleston for two nights and it was wonderful!!!!!!

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So, let’s dive in!!!!

JANUARY 

This month is when the crazy first hit. Everything seemed normal and chill. January always feels pretty relaxed to us, especially with business stuff! We celebrate birthdays and don’t normally have anything crazy on the calendar. We also took a trip to the lake with some sweet friends of ours, Graham got Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, my GranGran had multiple strokes and passed away on January 26th and in the midst of all of that, Mimi had a fairly routine stomach surgery and it did not go well. She couldn’t eat anything and was in so much pain. We thought it would pass but MONTHS went by and it barely improved. She was diagnosed with a permanent condition called Gastroparesis and we were all in shock that something that was supposed to fix a minor issue was now going to affect her for the rest of her life. It was a very hard season… and she lost her dad in the midst of it all. However, spoiler alert for the April-May-ish part of the post….we all prayed for healing and improvement and really, a miracle for Mimi…. and God answered that prayer. Despite the permanent nature of her condition, her stomach started working again! Today (a year later!) Mimi has ZERO restrictions on what she can eat. During all of this, Grandaddy (my dad!)  took his first Sabbatical from being a pastor in 30 years. This all seemed to be crazy awful timing… GranGran, Mimi’s health struggles, a big trip and vacation from work for my dad to vision-cast…. but as 2020 progressed, we would see the purpose behind it all.   It as also during this month that we announced launching a Youtube Channel which would start in February!

This was also the month that Emy and I took two days and one night away at a hotel and I re-vamped the KJ Bridal Guide and created the KJ Grooms Guide!!! We launched them the very next week with our Sweetheart Sale and had record breaking numbers!! So many photographers are enhancing their client experience with these templates!!!

FEBRUARY

February was a big month!! Evy turned THREE, we launched our Youtube Channel and committed to making new videos EVERY single week (and actually stuck to that minus a handful of weeks that got thrown off with the pandemic later in the year!) and we took a trip to Florida with friends not knowing that it would be our last family trip for a long time because of Covid! We also photographed a BEAUTIFUL (and cold!) wedding in Boston at the Boston Public Library!! That wedding was SO great for KJ All Access that we decided to make it available as a FREE TRIAL so that ANY photographer could learn from it but not have to pay a dime!! If you’ve never tried KJ All Access, CLICK HERE to watch this Boston Wedding for free!! It’s a PERFECT wedding to learn from because over 40% of this wedding day was photographed with flash! As a natural light photographer, this was a stretch for me! We also shot a fun farm engagement this month!!

When our Youtube channel launched, we had a lot of ideas of how we thought this would go. We expected 20K subscribers overnight because we thought they would just transfer from Instagram and our email list…. NOT. THE. CASE. Youtube is different. It became very clear to us that we needed to earn our place on this platform and that it was going to take time and strategy!!! With the help of Tyler Herrinton, stuck with our commitment and have found a sweet spot on Youtube! We are LOVING all of the amazing new photographers that we’re connecting with there!!

Right before our trip to Florida, I flew down to Orlando to meet one of the sweetest KJ Couples for their engagement session!! The weather was perfect and the timing was wonderful! After their beautiful shoot, I drove like 5 hours to the panhandle of Florida to meet Michael and our best friends for vacay in 30A!!! Michael flew with both a toddler and a baby and he’s my hero. So proud of him!

MARCH

In March of 2020, the pandemic was really beginning to hit. We had to fly out for an Engagement session literally the day before stay-at-home orders were mandated. The airport was a ghost town but yet restaurants in Oklahoma were packed on a Friday night. It was bizarre.  We knew, on our way, that this was going to be our last time flying for quite some time! That shoot was just gorgeous and is a new favorite of mine! It was so nice to do such a beautiful shoot right before our world shut down and I wouldn’t be shooting for months. You can view their shoot HERE! 

March felt like a pretty relaxed month! As I look back on the calendar, I realize that’s because that’s when we pretty much began our quarantined journey at home AND it’s the month that we got pregnant but weren’t trying. So looking back, it was actually a very significant month!! At the time, it just seemed like a chill month to get some work done and be with the kids. It was during this month that I really worked hard to re-do the KJ Consistency Course!! I spent hours and hours every night after bedtime trying to get this done and it took WEEKS!!!

APRIL

This was the month that we found out that we were pregnant!!!! Not only were we pregnant but my sister and brother in law were pregnant too!! Due three days apart!! We told both sets of our parents on Easter Sunday and everyone was equally shocked and excited!! We were in full blown quarantine mode this month. The bounce house came out, adventure walks and cooking began! Graham turned ONE and that seemed like the fastest year of my life!! I started wrapping up the Consistency Course 2.0 project and prepping for launch! We had an amazing branding shoot with the talented Abby Grace before I started showing and we kept started doing weekly check-in’s within our KJ Education Facebook Group as our industry started to realize how heavily this pandemic was going to impact our businesses.

MAY

Michael turned 34 this month and we also celebrated what would have been Baby James’ 2nd birthday. We also LAUNCHED the KJ Consistency Course 2.0 and were completely blown away at the response!! We surprised our previous Consistency Course students and gifted them the updated course!! We also made so many trips to the Lake because #quarantine and we sadly didn’t get to do any of our May weddings. Graham started taking steps and Evy transitioned to a bed girl bed!! We also visited Aunt Sarah’s new house AND Corey and Momo’s new house!

JUNE

June was a big month because Evy Girl got her tonsils out and we started the re-design process for the KJ Website! This entire year we had also been in the process of transforming and recreating our online storefront, salespages and backend system! This process took over half a year to complete and it was HARD work! Also, this was the month that I wrote and filmed the KJ Bridal Details Mini-Course but it wouldn’t be ready for launch until later in the summer! We also spent more time at the lake…. surprise, surprise!

JULY

July was the month we moved Grammie and Paw to Goochland! They are so much closer to us now and it’s wonderful!! Michael’s family was in town for a few weeks to help with the move too! We also celebrated Fourth of July, basically lived and worked from the Lake and flew to July for a very tiny, Covid-friendly destination wedding in Aspen, Colorado!!! It was gorgeous!! We love Jack and Haleigh and their sweet family! Our kids started Survival Swim School at the end of this month and it was a COMMITMENT! Every Monday through Thursday for 10mins for 6 weeks in a row! Whew!

AUGUST

Weddings! We finally photographed some weddings this month! Two to be exact!! We did a few other shoots as well and it felt good to do what we love again and have a little bit of a rhythm! These shoots and weddings kept us busy. I know this because when I look at our family pictures and what we were doing outside of work and it was next to nothing!! We barely had time for the normal day to day! We had less visits to the lake and more time in the office but that’s just a normal cycle for a wedding photographer! Not only did we shoot several weddings but we also LAUNCHED A NEW WEBSITE! Woohoo! We launched a brand new Katelynjames.com that Jen Olmstead designed and we also launched the new shop and overhauled backend of our system as well! It was technically scary but also so fulfilling and exciting! This was also the month that we hosted our small group pool party and my parents decided to put our childhood home on the market! Oh also, I shot two local engagement sessions!! Whew! Here are some visual highlights from this month! :

SEPTEMBER

Whew! September rolled around and we FINALLY launched the KJ Bridal Details Mini-Course to the world!!! Mimi and Grandaddy (my parents) sold their house (and my childhood home) during this month as well! We photographed two weddings this month. One was local and one was just outside of Dallas, Texas. Brandon and Meaghan were married against an old, rustic barn that was perfect for their casual, simple wedding!  Jonathan and Melanie were married at the Grand Ivory which is a venue resembles the stunning Pippin Hill in Virginia! The only bummer is that while we were shooting this wedding in Texas, Evy got her first concussion back home. She’s fine but that was NOT my favorite experience in September! We also photographed a fun Richmond engagement session for a 2021 couple! Thankfully preschool started back up this month and we did our final lake trip for the year!! Also, while I can’t share much about this right now, it was during this month that we purchased another rental home and a commercial space for a future dream that will launch in 2022… and no it’s not a wedding venue. :)

OCTOBER

This was the month of extra intense hustle! I had one more huge project that I was dying to get done before the baby came! I met my friend Jilly multiple times to try to finalize this product. We originally planned to launch it in October but it actually got pushed to November. Also…. I forgot to mention that at some point throughout this year, I started a tiny podcast! I don’t even think I did it on this month but overall, it was a hit! I just need a bazillion more episodes!      This month went by quickly because we took a trip down to Holden Beach with friends, shot several engagement sessions and then Emily and I took a few days off to go to the Salamander Resort for a momma-trip! We also had family portraits taken before I became too big with this baby coming in December! At the end of October, we took a mini Babymoon to Austin and did a shoot for the sweetest couple, Nikhil and Paige!!  I loved this shoot! However, it was during this trip that Graham got sick back home and was hospitalized. Talk about a hard flight home! We got home as soon as we could to be with him. So thankful for his Mimi taking such great care of him! Halloween was more of a success this year and we also somehow made time for the pumpkin patch AND apple picking!  During October I was spending every free minute I had on that special new project I wanted to launch before having baby number 4!!

NOVEMBER

And now we’re all the way at November! It happened so fast! November started off with a bang! I finished and launched the first ever KJ PRESET PROCESS into the world and it blew us away! We had a goal to sell 1,000 before 2021 and we sold over 2,500 in one WEEKEND!!! It was insane and so encouraging to see so many photographers thriving with our four step editing system in Lightroom!! At this point, I’m huge. I’m less than a month from my due date with my fourth baby in four years and I’m just tired!!! But life is so good and we’re so thankful for the Lord has entrusted us with. We spent two days driving to Winchester and then to DC for our final two local eshoots and they were beautiful!! We celebrated Thanksgiving with Michael’s family and then our family in Virginia Beach! This was also when we got to really celebrate the fact that my brother and his wife Morgan (kids call her Momo!) are expecting their first baby!!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!! Cue the tears! We also visited the Zoo, experienced a big shift in our church life, hosted our annual Black Friday Sale, visited our sweet friends in Lexington and they threw Emy and I the sweetest sprinkle for the babies, went to Christmastown at Busch Gardens and prepared for Christmas and a new baby. Whew!!! All of this was happening while we continued to produce content for KJ All Access monthly, Youtube content weekly and my sister’s house was under heavy construction!  

DECEMBER

We started the month with a visit to Miss Whitney’s house to see her farm animals again and the kids LOVE it every single time we stop by!!! December was also our month of BABIES. I was due December 18th and my sister was due December 15th! Hayden Jo (my sister’s baby girl) was born on December 8th and Everett Hill (Baby Rhett) was born on December 21st! Those 13 days of my sister having her baby her and me still being VERY pregnant with a 10lb baby were SO hard!!! We welcomed Rhett to the world and then we celebrated our first Christmas a family of FIVE! This was the beginning of our maternity leave and such a sweet (and tiring!) season for us. We LOVE our new family dynamic… it feels fun and chaotic but so full of life and excitement.

The family finding out that we had a BOY!!!!

Overall, this was the CRAZIEST year. I can’t believe what we accomplished, what we lived through and what we created!!! By far, the most amazing part was getting to grow and meet baby Rhett. However, we have so many other things to be thankful for as well. My sweet mom’s permanent diagnosis somehow reversed and she’s healed!!! We thank God constantly for this miracle!! The beginning of 2020 started off so hard and while it got harder in other ways, we saw answered prayers and beauty come from the struggle.  My parents decided, after living through months of thinking my mom’s health was in decline, that they were ready for a life change. My dad is currently in the process of retiring, they are intentionally planning their next season of life and they are being proactive about what they want in life. It’s inspiring! I think so many people have experienced that shift in 2020. What does life ACTUALLY have to look like? What does SCHOOL actually have to look like? What do WE consider success? 2020 has FORCED us to consider the idea that LIFE as we know it can shift…. it can change… it can be re-imagined. It’s been a hard, challenging but beautiful journey. While this experience technically happened in 2021, it’s worth sharing that our entire household got COVID-19 from what we think was our hospital stay having Rhett. It could have been from something else but timing wise, that makes the most sense. My sister’s entire family was living with us and BOTH grandparents got it as well. It was hard…. the virus itself was incredibly mild (for us, I know it’s not for others and our hearts break for those with much more serious and tragic outcomes)… but the stress of quarantining with just a WEEK old baby was tough. We’re now two months removed from that season and we feel like we’re getting a handle on life with 3 kids. 2021 may not be as productive, but it will be FULL of life and we’re excited about it!

The post A 2020 Recap <span class="kj-subtitle">A Weird and Wonderful Year</span> appeared first on Katelyn James | Online Educator for Photographers and Entrepreneurs.