So yeah, if you didn’t know, we had a baby in November. Our first kiddo. A boy. Philip James. He’s adorable. But before we brag about him more, we thought we’d share some of our journey from this past year since the most you’ve probably seen are the photos at the end of each blog where you watched Christy’s belly get gradually rounder throughout our wedding season. So here’s our chance to add a few more details from our life and let you get to know us just a little better, per usual, through photos of course. This blog is a random mixture of ‘fancy camera’ photos and iPhone photos. We kept our life pretty low-key through the winter with a new baby and that consisted of simple snapshots with our phones using minimal editing (VSCO). It kept the moments raw, intimate and spontaneous. We did shoot our own Plus One session at our favorite Akron location, which was fun to get in front of our own cameras for a chance to feel the awkwardness of it all. We sympathize with you. But yes, the camera never matters. The moments matter and the people matter. Any photo that tells part of the story is a good photo.
So our story… If you’re familiar with our history, you know that Christy was my cousin’s cute friend in OH, we dated long distance four years, got married young, lived in AZ and finished college, moved back to OH four years later in 2007, Christy did the grad school years, we both had high stress medical jobs, we hatched a plan to get Christy out of her job by starting our photography business as a way to spend more time together and enjoy something artistic and fun. Through the years we’ve enjoyed every day with each other, travelled, been involved in our church (where Christy works part-time now), increased our love of great food and loved every minute of it. It’s crazy how fast 20 years goes! And so, what was next on the list… BABY time! We’re one of those nutty couples who actually love AND like each other a lot and we’ve always been thankful for the time we have together and try to take full advantage of it. We questioned through the years about having vs. not having kids and when to have them and all the details that go with planning your future, but in the end we decided that life would never be the same without adding to our family and experiencing that joy together. Another challenge. Another journey. Another way to grow together and experience God’s grace and purpose in our life. And once that decision was made, there weren’t many more weeks until those two pink lines showed up and we knew that our life would never be the same again.
And this is how we told everyone…
After that fun announcement on Christy’s birthday in May, it was time for the gender reveal in June right on Eric’s birthday. We went for something different that we hadn’t seen before…
After that, it was a few months of waiting, enjoying the summer, picking a name, finishing off our weddings, shopping at IKEA and preparing for our little guy…
We know you’re interested in what our nursery would look like, so here’s what we came up with…
We actually got our Plus One session done about two weeks before the due date. Cut it a little close, but hey, gotta wait for that perfect fall weather…
A few weeks later, we had the craziest and most memorable night of our life and then Philip was finally here. Our sister-in-law, Kim, was our support person at the hospital and was also able to grab some photos for us…
We spent 5 days in the NICU with our little guy after a tough labor on both mama and baby. It didn’t matter where we were, he was healthy, doing well and we enjoyed every tired minute of it…
We got home after the longest 5 days we’d ever experienced and just watched as our little 6 lb. 4 oz. baby grew into this round, tall, chubby boy within a few months…
That face! Oh, how we love that little face. There are a million other pictures we’d love to share but we’re afraid this blog just can’t contain them for now. We just have to say that as difficult as those first few months were (people warn you, but you really don’t know until you’re in the middle of it) we’d do it all again to have this little guy with us every day. He’s a joy, he’s a stinker, he’s a miracle and a treasure and all the other words parents often use when describing their babies. It has truly been an amazing few months watching this little baby grow into a boy as we care for him and raise him up into the man he’s going to be. Maybe a fellow photographer. Who knows. I’m sure he’ll get his first camera here soon enough. :o)
Now that we’re on this adventure, we can’t imagine not taking it. It’s been tough. It’s had its challenges. But we are so grateful for God’s gift to us and how we’ve already grown in our relationship together through what is only the beginning of this beautiful journey. Our love is strong. Our joy is full. Our life will never be boring again…
