Matilda March - Jackson, TN Birth Story

It was such an honor to be present at the birth of sweet little Matilda March Montague, born to Brad and Kristi Montague. I was lucky enough to be at the birth of their first child Miles as well. Brad and Kristi have been part of my life for about seven years now. I worked for Kristi first as a student photographer, then as her assistant after I graduated. Kristi taught me so much of what I know about photography so really, I wouldn't be here without her. 

I was SO, SO nervous because Kristi's due date was actually March 8. You might remember from my most recent blog post that I was in Louisville, Kentucky shooting a wedding on March 7. I was so worried that she would go into labor while I was shooting a wedding six hours away. Lucky for me, Kristi's babies absolutely love her womb. They always refuse to leave and have to be given an eviction notice. Wedding weekend passed, no baby. Then the week after that passed, no baby. Finally, on Sunday March 15 Kristi started having contractions during church and let me know that they would keep me posted. 

Later they Kristi told me they were heading to the hospital and I should go ahead and come. At the hospital they told Kristi she wasn't progressing and should walk around the hospital for an hour to see if something changes. This is our one hour hospital adventure.

Brad taking a selfie of him "at the beach"...

... and bragging about it to Kristi.

We climbed about 8 flights of stairs to try and get things moving. I felt terrible because I was more out of breath than the pregnant person. That probably means I need more cardio, right?

Kristi tried to plie the baby out.

You can't say she didn't try... but when her hour was up Kristi still hadn't dilated at all, so they sent her home so she could come back on Monday for the scheduled C Section.

I arrived at the hospital Monday morning at 7:30 for her c section at 8:00. We hung out in the room for a minute while they prepped for surgery and then they took her back.

Kristi and Brad went back to surgery. I couldn't come in because only one person is allowed. Kristi chose Brad... still don't understand why. Psh.

I waited for about an hour reading a book in the recovery room. I thought I had just a few minutes before the c section would be over and I decided to try and rush to the bathroom. On my way out the door I ran in to Brad and he had a tiny human with him!

Finally Kristi was wheeled in to the recovery room and baby was able to spend time with mom. She must have been SUPER hungry because she nursed for like 45 minutes the very first time. Like a pro.

While Brad and Kristi swooned over their new daughter, they deliberated names. I liked so many of their choices! They picked so many adorable baby girl names. I don't remember what made Kristi laugh, but it was something Brad said. I love that these two always make each other laugh.

They finally picked a name and this is Brad's "We Named Our Baby" dance. You should have seen it in person. The photo doesn't do it justice. I think he's also on a rolling chair, so the whole thing was very graceful.

This is Matilda March Montague!

Baby Matilda was wheeled away to the nursery to get cleaned up and I followed to get some photos. Once she went into the nursery I never saw her though! They took her back to bathe her and so I just waited. While I was waiting I bumped into these cool people! Big Brother Miles!

Miles was super excited to see his sister and kept trying to find her in the nursery, but she wasn't in there.

I have a photo of this, but decided not to share it. Kristi was being moved from recovery to her private room and she wheeled right past us waiting at the nursery window. Miles saw her in a hospital bed and immediately started crying. He was so scared! What I think is incredible is that I don't think anyone has explained to 2 year old Miles that hospitals are where people are sick and sometimes are in trouble. There's nothing intrinsically frightening about a hospital bed, they are frightening because usually it means that someone you love is sick or dying. I don't get it, but Miles knew that his mom in a hospital bed was a bad thing and panicked. He needed some comfort and cheering up so the rest of the family headed to the waiting room and Miles went to go make sure mom was ok. 

When Miles arrived at the private room he was upset to see her in the bed again, but Brad and Kristi convinced him that everything was fine. Brad and Miles sat down on the couch and had a snack and talked about the new baby! Apparently for weeks Miles had told everyone that he was going to hold the baby and then boop her on the nose. Kristi asked him to show me how he was going to hold the baby and boop her nose and this is what happened.

Brad and Miles went for a walk while waiting for baby Matilda to come nurse.

I love little bitty baby hands.

Matilda finished nursing and then Brad brought Miles back to meet his baby sister!

THAT FACE.

This very excited big brother immediately wanted to give Matilda the gift he brought her.

Miles was so excited to introduce everyone to his baby sister. He went to the waiting room and brought everyone back. 

You can't tell from this photo, but Kristi's sister April is pregnant and will have a baby boy in only a few short weeks! April was excited to meet her baby boy's cousin Matilda.

Rachael & Felipe - Louisville, KY Wedding

I'm so excited to share this wedding with all of you! Rachael and I go way back as photographer and subject. She's been a bridesmaid in THREE weddings I've photographed AND she was the reason I booked all of them. Rachael first recommended me to her friend Holly, who hired me to shoot her wedding back in 2011. A year later Rachael's sister Rebecca got married and hired me as her photographer. Then in 2014 her brother Alex got married, and of course, I was the photographer. I've been waiting for the day to actually photograph RACHAEL'S wedding for a long time now. I'm so glad it finally came! 

This wedding was so much fun to be a part of for so many reasons. I loved that I know the family well, since I've been at every family wedding. I loved that I know Rachael trusts me to do good work, since she's recommended me to all her friends and family. I loved how happy everyone was to be celebrating with Rachael and Felipe. There was so much love for the two of them!

The primary thing I love about being a photographer is telling stories. If you know me you know that I love to tell stories about ridiculous things that have happened to me. I love when one of my friends suggests to someone who hasn't heard a particular story, "Get her to tell you this one, it's such a good one." This is why some my favorite photos from a session are usually the candid ones. I originally intended to major in photojournalism, but got sidetracked somewhere and ended up with a degree in graphic design. Anyway, the point is that I love to tell a story. 

I feel like I have followed Rachael's story for a long time through her friends and family who have hired me. I've been documenting someone else's special moments, but she was always there weaving in and out of the story. Today she's the star of the story. Her and her amazing husband Felipe.

The wedding party stayed at the Seelbach Hilton hotel in downtown Louisville, which was a beautiful spot for photos. We did most of Rachael's bridal portraits in the hotel. She looked stunning!

Rachael and Felipe are adorable together. Like, want to punch them in the face they're so cute. I loved photographing them together because I could see how genuinely excited they were to be getting married and how much they love each other. Rachael and Felipe sort of met online. Rachael added Felipe on Facebook after believing she'd met him at a party where a bunch of his friends were present. Even though he wasn't actually at the party he accepted her friend request and started talking to her immediately. Lucky mistake! Thanks, Facebook. 

Rachael and Felipe's ceremony was beautiful and sweet and they couldn't keep their eyes off each other! I've thought all of the Wells children's wedding ceremonies were beautiful. I am reminded of one of my favorite moments from Rachael's older sister Rebecca's wedding. Rebecca and Louis wrote their own vows and Rebecca chose to read hers to him in Spanish, his first language. I loved that choice. Marriage is about compromise and sacrifice and trying to assist the other person before yourself. Rebecca put herself out there and expressed her love to Louis in a way that was most meaningful to him. I loved it.

These two looked so happy during their ceremony. I love it!

This photo is wonderful for so many reasons. The newlyweds were leaving the church to head to the reception. There was still snow on the ground from the crazy weather a few days before so Felipe offered to carry Rachael over a patch of slush so they could get to their car. Adorable, right? And the sun was setting and the light was perfect. Beautiful photo. 

Then he tripped and they both fell. 

Luckily, Felipe is a true gentleman and never actually let Rachael fall. She just sort of landed on top of him, still in his arms. No one was hurt, including the beautiful wedding dress, so we can all laugh about it. 

The reception was at the beautiful Starks Building, right across the street from the Seelbach Hotel. I loved all the gold details!

Look at these sweet grandmothers!

Everyone had such sweet things to say about Rachael and Felipe. It was so wonderful to be in a room full of people who genuinely love the two of them. People flew from all over the world, literally, to be with them on their wedding day. It was very sweet to see how many people care about them. 

These two...

I've never had so much fun at a wedding reception. There was great music and everyone was having so much fun. One of the great things about a wedding in which people flew from all over the world to be present - they're not about to cut out early! People stayed for hours dancing and having so much fun. I loved being part of such an amazing party! Thanks Rachael and Felipe for inviting me to share in these moments with you. I hope your wedding photos tell your story well!





Alex & Andrew - Nashville Engagement

This engagement session with Alex and Andrew was so much fun. The couple was in Nashville to celebrate Andrew's birthday so we decided to meet up and do an engagement shoot before their wedding in May. I was super nervous about this shoot when it was bitterly cold and rainy all day the day before. I figured we would just wing it and see what happened. You know what happened? Perfect weather. We started shooting late in the afternoon and were blessed with amazing golden light for the whole shoot. I think the photos turned out wonderful and it certainly doesn't hurt that these two are super adorable.

I was so excited when Alex contacted me about doing her wedding photography. Alex is stylish and beautiful and I can't even imagine how amazing her and Andrew's wedding is going to be. I'm excited to be part of it! 

This next one is straight out of camera. I LOVE this lighting, especially on Alex's hair. I thought it was beautiful. 

Before we started shooting these two insisted that they would have no idea what to do in front of a camera and would need a lot of help. They truly had nothing to worry about - they were so adorable! Working with Alex and Andrew I could really tell that they are in love with each other and there's nothing better than capturing that.

Also, isn't Andrew's smile kind of amazing?

Alex told me that she wanted to take some engagement photos with ice cream because her and Andrew love ice cream and often go on ice cream dates. To this I said YES. Fun fact about me: I adore ice cream. I could easily live without all other dessert varieties but I must have my ice cream. The three of us are kindred spirits.

I ran into several poor people trying to cross the street while getting this shot. Sorry about that.