I want to use today’s blog post to pay tribute to a wonderful friend of mine who is celebrating a birthday today. That friend’s name is Jessica, and we actually met in high school (though we were not super close). Of course since we were acquaintences in high school, this automatically made us friends on Facebook later in life. This is how I became more involved in Jessica’s life. She had an amazing, beautiful beach wedding to her awesome husband. And then not too long after I got pregnant, she got pregnant too. But unlike me, she was pregnant with TWO babies. Both girls.

Kate and Sam were born almost exactly six months after my son. So Jessica and I went through a lot of mommy milestones at around the same time. When I was first trying to become a photographer, her twins were nine months old, and the month after that I got to take their pictures because Jessica was the only one who answered my Facebook post begging friends to let me practice on them. I was jazzed. What’s better than one super cute girl baby (when all I have is boys)? TWO SUPER CUTE GIRL BABIES.

One thing I definitely wish is that I could go back in time (with my current skills and equipment and knowledge of course) and retake those first pictures I took for Jessica. Of course, she’s never been anything other than impressed as hell at anything I’ve ever produced for her. But as I’ve grown as a photographer, I feel like Jessica has grown with me, as a client. AND SHE IS BASICALLY A DREAM CLIENT. Because the thing about Jessica is: she is up for anything. She is willing to let me learn during her sessions. She is willing to let me think outside the box, and to think outside of it with me. So many of our sessions, she’s helped me plan. The one you’re currently looking at is part one of two. I haven’t yet edited part two, and we’ve already kinda started planning the next session.

Someone who’s that excited about photography, and that in love with my work .. DREAM. CLIENT. Jessica sees the value in having high quality photos of her children, just like I do, and that’s part of what makes working with her so much fun.

So like I said, today is Jessica’s birthday.

Jessica, I hope you’re having a wonderful birthday. As a mom myself I know that once you have kids the birthdays are never about you anymore. Even your own. But there’s still something so sweet about that – every year on my own birthday, I make someone take a picture of me blowing out my candles with Grayson on my lap. In recent years he’s started helping me blow out the candles. I love that my birthdays are no longer about me, and I know you feel the same way about yours.

I know sometimes you feel unsure, like you’re losing your mind, like you’re failing. But your strength as a mother amazes me every time we hang out or chat. You’re doing twice as much as most of us, and that is nothing to shrug at! Your girls are so loved. And I know how much you love them because I know how much you love pictures of them. Frozen moments in time. I am so lucky you value freezing those moments, and so lucky I’m the one who gets to do it for you. The way you support me as an artist and as a friend is nothing short of amazing. I hope Grayson, Ryan, Kate, and Sam are friends for years, and us too. Beers and playdates (and photoshoots!) anytime, friend. We love y’all!