Smorgasbord Orgasbord Orgasbord {red river portrait and lifestyle photographer}

So if you people are as great as I truly believe you to be, you know from the title that this post will be about The Fair. Because you will remember this scene from this sweet childhood favorite of mine.

Thanks for being great. ;)

So, let it be known that no trip is complete with out M&A (if you poke around on my blog for any amount of time you're sure to hit a jackpot full of pictures and musings about them). They are just too eh-DAR-able. ;) And they successfully got us more than hyped to enjoy the night after going on and on while we were driving, about how much fun we were gonna have. We hopped out of the car humming Adele, basking in the setting sun, smelling the sweet smell of rusty contraptions, livestock, and sugary treats; thoroughly prepared to have a wonderful time. :D

Maggie was the brave one...she knew she was going to ride everything in sight.

Anna believed herself to be brave. Her courage was soon to be put to the test.

We were happily joined by their beeeeautiful friends: 4 year old Addison

 And 6 year old Avery :) {btw, these girls have amazzzzing eyes...wow...}

 Maggie gravitated quickly to her favorite ride first. No matter what they invent...the classic slide will be a forever crowd pleaser. :D

(To lay some ground work to straighten all this out...that's my Uncle Donald holding her {my mom's oldest brother.} It's Maggie and Anna's Paw-Paw because it's their Daddy's Daddy. SO, to set the record straight: Maggie and Anna are my oldest cousin's {on my mom's side} little girls. Thought you'd like to know. ;) Alrighty then...moving on...)

 Anna wasn't quite ready, she was still...ya know...warming up to the idea of being that high off the ground.

Uncle Donald: Look Anna, there's Maggie.

Anna: Oh. *Gulp*

 Uncle Donald: That looks fun, doesn't it?

Anna: Yeah!

Uncle Donald: You wanna do that next? Or just stay here with Paw-Paw?

 Anna: I wanna stay wif you, Paw-Paw.

 Next ride choice...the Go Gator {tiny} roller coaster.

 Anna was especially nervous.

 Maggie: I got this. This ain't even scary. Anna'll be fine.

Anna {to herself, through gritted teeth and rising panic}: *I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...

 Anna: No I can't!

Maggie had the prospect of riding alone for a full minute or so...

Then Anna was back!

Let's just say, she battled a mood swing or two before she finally convinced herself she was okay. 

Usually the ride starting suddenly makes your decision for you.

 Big sisters are such blessings...can I get an amen or aye?

 I was subconsciously eyeing this ride half the night...

 The cars were much more suited to Anna's anxiety level :D Personally I think this is an endangerment to society. Think about how many countless children that will be prepared to drive cars with two steering wheels! This can't be good...Our roads are going to be a dangerous place in a decade or so, just wait...

 Maggie and Anna's friends; Cousins Kate and Reece thought it a pleasant ride as well. But, really, isn't driving a firetruck always a thrilling experience?

 The perfect ride for a gaggle of girls to enjoy themselves in. :D The girls on the far left and right are Alexis (Reece's big sis) and Abby (Kate's big sis)

 My subconscious was finally satisfied. ;)

 That's my Aunt Dana in the middle...yep, that means I'm the one laughing hysterically with Snoopy on my shirt. ;) Generally having a blast. :D 

Anna was slightly worried but she felt better with her Grandmama (my Aunt Freda) so close to her.

Maggie was all smiles as usual. :)

 The last time I was crazy enough to ride this I was 4' 11", 9 years old, and my friend Jessica's flipflops flew off and slammed me in the face. I'm sure I had a black eye for weeks...

  You simply cannot leave a fair without getting a sugar rush, right? That's somewhere in a long-lost rule book, isn't it? It should be.

 Just between me and you...one of the girls got much stickier and colorful than the other...but I can't quite remember which one it was.

 Uncle Donald couldn't bare the fact that there was no pictures of me. So he took one. And I, having the great privilege of The Self-Conscious Photographer who has such a hard time letting go of the camera and all the implied rights and getting in front of it, enjoyed myself by super-over-editing this...I had to have some control, ya know. ;)

When we left we were all sufficiently filled with high fructose corn syrup no doubt, our heads were spinning after all that circular movement, and our eyes were swimming with neon color. "Umor has it" we had a lot of fun. I'd say so too. ;)

~Through Christ's Love ♥

i {heart} faces A Touch of Sun Photo Challenge {northeast, tx portrait and lifestyle photographer}

"I don't want diamond sunbursts or marble halls...

I just want you."

| anne with an "e" |

~Through Christ's Love ♥

Home is where the Sun Shines...[Atlas Elizabeth Update!] {paris, tx newborn photographer}

If you were to travel southwest of Paris, out of pure curiosity to see the landscape or just to take a leisurely drive you may soon come across a sign that looks like this:

This may get you thinking and it might make you remember this post or perhaps even this post about a certain baby girl who once lived in the NICU.

If you continued down this road in this little close-knit community you would eventually come to a field such as this one:

And across from this field you would find a cute little house surrounded by a pack of gorgeously bred majestic Great Danes like this one:

If you walked down the driveway, took a left turn at whispered dreams, hidden hopes, unspeakable love, and answered prayers you would then reach their home tucked behind all these. And inside there would be that little baby girl who finally got to come home.

She is...

Atlas Elizabeth: {Now over 6lbs and 18.5 inches long!!}

My parents and I arrived at my uncle and aunt's house Thursday night hardly able to stand the anticipation...I had planned on an inside shoot, assuming Atlas would not be able to be outside, and started contriving up ideas of big basket, fluffy blanket, cascading window light kind of poses... 

But to my surprise...

She was perfectly free to be outside in the luscious sunshine :D

Of course, we weren't quite aware how lush it was actually going to get...

But we were soon to find out...

Because Atlas was getting cold so we needed to move her more into the sunshine...

Best...decision...everrrrrrrr!

She was happy to be all warm and cozy and we were happy to watch her be adorable :D

Kenneth and Mary are already super amazing parents...it is SO fun to see them love their daughter....and they are more than grateful to their Lord for finally bringing her home to them. :D

You know, as if it weren't remarkable enough that Atlas survived the emergency birth, remained exceptionally healthy through all those days in the NICU and day by day she gained weight and was taken off this or that machine to function on her own...what is even more of a miracle in my eyes is that her Mama was able to carry her to even 31 weeks. Mary has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) which is commonly something that prevents someone with it to successfully get pregnant and carry the baby any significant length of time. For years, Kenneth and Mary expected that it would be far too dangerous for herself and the baby and so thought pregnancy was something they would never experience. But God was pleased to put just the right people in their life at the right time at an Ehlers conference and they found out she might be able to have a baby after all because of the type of EDS she had. And so, it wasn't long before we heard the news that Mary was finally pregnant...after all those years of hoping, and wishing, and dreaming, and praying. And now, to see her holding that precious baby girl...her precious baby girl that she carried in her body for 31 weeks even when everyone thought it was impossible...

its breath-taking  to realize how great God truly is. :')

Now, back to that luscious sunshine I was telling you about...

 This sign was SO cool! Mary is a school teacher at a local High School and one of her students found this antique sign...its from an old tire and battery company :D

 Then Mary put her in this adorable {and rather large} pink dress :D

It officially became the dreamiest shoot I have ever done :) :) :)

Just when I think, "Maybe golden hour is overrated...all we photographers talk about how essential and mind-blowing it is but are we talking it up? Is it really that wonderful?" And then when I take pictures like these I realize..."Yep. It is really that wonderful." ;)

This makes my heart happy :)

I think I'm gonna love watching this girl grow up :D

~Through Christ's Love ♥

P.S. If you are interested and would like to donate to the Ehlers-Danos syndrome Foundation go here. :)