Is this little lady not the tiniest, sweetest little thing?? She was so anxious to meet her family, she arrived about a month early! Fortunately she was a feisty little one, her mama told me, and she was healthy and strong and came home so soon. We did wait a few weeks to do her photos, to make sure she was plenty strong and ready (although it was still before her due date, so she was just teeny tiny!). Strong she was — she wanted to stay wide awake the whole time! We finally convinced her to take a nap about two hours in, and successfully got some sweet sleepy portraits. But she made me work for them, ha!
Spending time with this amazing family reminds me of my family’s dynamics growing up — I have two brothers, one who is two years younger and one who is seven years younger. I remember waking up that summer night to finding my aunt in my parents’ bedroom, excited to tell me they were at the hospital for my baby brother’s arrival. I was SO excited to meet him, and I couldn’t wait until I got to babysit him. I was the type of big sister who maaaaay have snuck into his nursery to wake him up from a nap, just so I could play with him… Now as a mom, I realize that’s SUPER annoying and frustrating. Sorry, mom!
Well, this little lady will probably encounter the same multitudes of attention — she has two big brothers who are already doting on her! There was already a bit of tension when determining which brother got to hold her first for pictures… (no surprise, the oldest graciously volunteered to go second, so sweet).
And while there is an abundance of sibling love for a third child, there are also challenges of course. While little sis was taking a well-deserved meal break, her parents and I discussed the ups and downs of big brotherhood, the likeness between my son and theirs, and the resources and strategies we’ve used. I love that during photo sessions we often dive right into parenthood topics, share, and support one another. I so believe in the saying, it takes a village!
The mama and I also lamented about how when you’re expecting or have just had your third, people — complete strangers — give you a look like, or sometimes just outright ask, ‘a third… huh. was this planned?!’ And you want to say, “It’s none of your damn business! And if you really want to know, I can give you ALL the details of how we finally got to have her…” but you bite your tongue and try to laugh it off.
As you can probably tell, I just loved photographing this crew and spending time with them again. I can’t wait to watch Little Sister grow up and see her brothers take her under their wings… congratulations, W. Family, on becoming a family of five, and thank you for letting me capture this special time! xoxo
Jul 23, 2018
© Kate hollings photography