this beautiful creature… i had to talk her in to coming for images.
is she not absolutely breathtaking?
well done mama. i am proud of you. <3
carissa mommy and me
one of the most beautiful and extraordinary mamas i know <3
proverbs 31:10
sara mommy and me
love this sweet mama and her precious littles! <3
xoxo,
olive
hayley mommy and me
sweet mama and her littles!
valyn mommy and me
hello friends!
mother’s day is rapidly approaching! here are the first of the mommy and me mini sessions for this year!
enjoy!
xoxo,
olive
stella marie
hello friends!
meet stella marie!
i was so trilled when her mama contacted me for her newborn photos! i did her older brother’s images as well, and it’s always super special to me when i get to photograph siblings <3
how beautiful is this little angel?
enjoy!
xoxo,
olive
judah lion
hello friends!
today miss jody is back on the blog! she’s written about her experience with her brand new gorgeous rainbow baby.
if you don’t know the back story on jody, her micro preemies, and her loss you can read about it here, and here
please welcome jody back to the blog!
enjoy,
xoxo olive
My sweet little Judah Lion is here. Judah means praised, and we sure have praised God with the birth of this lovely little boy. Lion represents courage and overcoming difficulty. During my pregnancy with this little one I had to overcome difficulty and have courage so many times. Pregnancy after loss is hard, and beautiful, heart wrenching and healing. I had to face fears, look grief in the face, and learn that no amount of research could ease my suffering heart. No amount of reading could give me the answers I was looking for. In the end, I just had to trust. Carrying this little baby helped me to become stronger than I knew I was. But really, it was in times of weakness that I found the strength of Lord. Here are some scriptures that helped me along the way:
Philipians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who gives me strength
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight
Because of the type of cesarean I had with the twins (a classical incision), the rupture rate during a VBAC attempt was increased. So when I consulted with the doctor about letting me try for a VBAC, that ininital answer was probably not, but they would let me meet with a specialist. That specialist was particularily good at being frank and he communicated that although they couldn’t strap me down and cut the baby out of me without my consent, if I came to the hospital in labor, they would coherese me into having a c-section by telling me that my baby was dying. This led me to hours and hours of pouring over research and reading journal article after article that reinforced my belief that a VBAC really was the safest way to go. Especially because they wanted to take my baby by cesarean at 36 weeks, a full 4 weeks early. The thought of a repeat cesarean terrified me. And doing one that early felt CRAZY.
For me, as I dealt with anxiety, PTSD, facing another cesarean, reading scary statistics about rupture and catastrophic outcomes as I had to make choices about his upcoming birth, there were times that were overwhelming. It felt like no matter what I chose, there was no good options. I had to make the right choice so my baby would be okay.
In the end, it was prayer that really got me through. I prayed, journaled, went to counseling, prayed and prayed and prayed some more. Finally, I was given the gift of peace. I scheduled the cesarean for 37 and a half weeks, the latest the doctor would agree to let me go.
In the end, as I was walked into the operating room, I felt joy and excitement as I was getting ready to meet my son. The surgery was hard. I had complications. Judah struggled to breathe at birth and had to be on CPAP and have oxygen. My body reacted to the medication and I was very sick after delivery and for the next couple of weeks as well. I didn’t have the beautiful, healing repeat ceasarean that I had hoped for but I did have a peace that surpassed all understanding. That peace and my ability to trust in the LORD even when things were hard, even when things didn’t go as planned, even when my little guy couldn’t breathe on his own, even when they were worried about my heart function after delivery, even when…
That is when we really learn to trust in the LORD. It’s when we face the even whens in life. So no matter what you are going through right now, I pray that you would have peace.
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power and love and sound judgement 2 Timothy 1:7
and remember
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philipians 4:6-8
This last one is my very favorite verse in the bible. For me it’s saying, “Jody, go to God with your troubles. He wants to hear. He wants to know. But remember, the most important thing is to come with a thankful heart. Spend your time thinking about what is actually true in your life. Not worrying about the future what ifs. What is true today?J“
During pregnancy I would stop and touch my belly, I would feel Judah kicking, and I would tell myself, “Right now, in this moment, this baby is alive. He’s kicking. He’s healthy.“
What is true for you today? What do you have to be thankful for?
Today I am thankful for little Judah Lion and I’m praising God that I get to keep this little one and love him everyday.
joshua 1:9
Your love, in wave after wave
crashes over me, crashes over me
for You are for us
You are not against us
Champion of Heaven
You made a way for all to enter in
cause You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
no fear can hinder now the love that made a way
i am so proud of you, brave mama <3
tori maternity
hello everyone!
here is the first session of two that tori and i did during my trip to louisiana last month!
tori texted me before i flew out, and asked me if i would consider doing a milk bath session when i came down! i was SO excited! this is my first attempt, and i am very pleased
with the results! we had a lot of fun planning this out, and also during!
we sent her eldest boy out on a mission to cut us some wisteria blooms for this session. he also got us some gorgeous azaleas out of her yard. i love that we were able to use local flowers!
i hope you enjoy tori’s beautiful milk bath maternity session!
xoxo, olive
new orleans
hello friends!!
i just got back from louisiana this week, and what fun it was! i’ve been to the south 7 times, and this was by far the most fun experience yet!
my friend tori, of tori courtney photography is expecting her baby girl in may! she asked me to come and take her maternity images at her favorite lake… and of course i couldn’t say no!
i headed out fairly early from pdx on thursday morning, with my beloved house of flynn bags. if you’re a photographer, or just even a bag lover… you should totally check out maureen’s bag collections. you can find them HERE. i love the evermore bags, the backpacks, the shoot cases, and of course the travlers wallet.
my flights were great, and my seatmates were all amazing. i love how the Lord always has someone for me to sit by. He never fails, each time. <3
friday was our photo day, and we were super excited! however the weather was a little uncooperative! there were thunder showers all day long! but we got a quick break and headed out to fontainebleau state park, and did some quick shots before the rain came back! both mom and dad LOVE to fish, and really wanted to incorporate the water in their session. how gorgeous is this location? so in love! <3
after our session, tori started talking about something called a snowball…. and low and behold it’s a SNOWCONE, but better! these have such a velvety texture!! they are so much better than the snowcones you get up here in the pnw! and the have a million flavors and add ice cream to them as well! i loved the little gummy bear on top too. needless to say, i was in heaven with the drive through snowball places…. and we sure went a few times!
the next day we had tori’s best girlfriend come over with her new little baby boy. tori and i had a mini newborn session in her house! we worked on lighting and posing, and wrapping. i am SO proud of my little grasshopper! (thanks sabrina! 😉 )
that night, nate went out and got crawfish. for the life of me i couldn’t figure out what crawfish was, until tori showed me a picture.
crawdad. it’s a crawdad. we used to catch these in the river up here and bring them to my mother, and she would eat them.
needless to say, this was an EXPERIENCE for me.
like a teeny tiny lobster…. but not.
mister nate showing me how to uh, “shell” them. tori took a video of me as well, but we shall leave that one out. 😉
**omgosh tori the toothbrush! her little man would carry around two toothbrushes all day long! he loved the way the suction cups would make a sound on everything!
so let’s talk southern bugs…
i’ve been to tennessee a couple times and oklahoma once, and south carolina once. and never ever ever in my life have i seen such giant bugs like there are in louisiana. i’m hunting a carpenter bee in these images, because i’ve never seen such a large bee!! we have bugs up here, but we also have a million types of spiders… so it’s kinda like natural pest control. 🙂
tori also took video, but we will leave that out as well.
i’m not scared of bugs, but DANG.
the day i flew out, tori and i took a trip to noew orleans.
now, i’ve been before. and i swore i would never ever go back. i do not like bourbon street. at all. you couldn’t pay me enough money to go back to that hell. and i REALLY didn’t like all the voodoo places. it’s not funny, and it’s not cute. it’s not something to play with. just walking by those places gets your spirit on guard.
however going to new orleans with a native was completely different. we hit the french market, which i had been to before… but it was different this time. she showed me all the fun things that i NEEDED to try while i was here. this market reminded me of pike place market in seattle, one of my favorite places. 🙂
she took me for a muffuletta sandwich! i’ve never heard of this before and it was amazing! they even had gluten free bread for me! i took the cheese off though… no cheese for me.
and now i’m addicted and desperately trying to find the olive salad and i can’t find it!
we hit aunt sally’s for praline’s which i had never had either! i will be ordering these for delivery…
i couldn’t pass this gem up.
and NO i didn’t try any.
our trip couldn’t be complete without a picture of us together.
i just love this woman. she has a special place in my heart.
she is such a beautiful woman of Christ, and she definitely has a divine anointing on her life. i cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for our friendship!
so my flight home… sucked.
i’ve never had such an awful experience with southwest airlines.
my flight out of nola was so delayed, i would miss my connection in LA. so they gave me a different flight with a connection in oakland airport.
that flight was delayed two hours.
we get to oakland airport, and all of us pdx travelers have a 3.5 hour delay…. because the last pdx flight had left 5 minutes prior to our arrival. couldn’t hold it?
needless to say, i was pretty ticked and tired. i toured all over the oakland airport wing i was in, got decaf and oatmeal because starbucks was the only thing open.
finally it was time to go, and we all landed at pdx at 1am, which was 3am my adjusted time.
our luggage had been sitting out in the rain, so everyone’s items were soaked, and my case was broken.
it was like living in the twilight zone. way to go southwest, you’re winning it.
overall i had a wonderful trip, and i am really looking forward to returning when baby lakeleigh arrives in may! i’ve not had super wonderful experiences in the south, but i have to say i do love louisiana.
i’ll be posting images from tori’s outdoor AND indoor images this week!
xoxo, olive