Happy Easter! I’m sure you’d rather me just post these gorgeous photos of the kids, but like every thing else in my life…there is a story.
So, after I gave birth to BJ in 2012, this guy showed up in my hospital room saying he would be coming back later for newborn pictures. I was so excited and relieved! I may have missed the bus, but I seriously had no idea this was a thing in the hospital. I packed like we were moving in for years, so I had plenty of sweet things for him to wear, but the army fatigue custom knitted diaper cover and beanie were at home.
Anyway, the guy came back, took some really nice photos, and offered to take pictures for a year. Since BJ was born in September, our first session was in December. It was Christmas and it was perfect. (Except for the fact that my poor BJ had reflux pretty bad and although I timed the photos as perfectly as I could so that I’d feed him AFTER pictures, he spit up the ENTIRE time. I was ready to cancel and try again and the photographer was so sweet. I told me not to worry about it. His exact words: SPIT HAPPENS. LOL His assistant insisted on cleaning up the messes we made and he edited the spots out of his outfit perfectly. Acid reflux will get it’s OWN post. Promise.) And guess when the next 3-month mark was…March! They were doing Easter pictures and I was completely sold when the guy said that he would have a real bunny there.
When Harper was born, 18 months later, the man came back in the room. I already knew how this went so I was ready. I brought the pretty diaper cover and a headband, and I was ready to sign up for another year. I did that, but this time, it was a flop. The photographer closed his studio and promised we’d still do the photos in outdoor settings if we had to. He had been so wonderful that I was fine with that. Well, it didn’t happen. End of story. I was so sad. I didn’t get the Easter pictures with my sweet Harper or Braxton either. I really hated that. He wasn’t even at the hospital anymore when Brax was born.
Being a full-time working mom with TWO babies and a football coach husband, I simply didn’t have the time or energy to research who was bringing in live animals to take Easter photos. It was the furthest thing from my mind. I had a million problems and taking a picture with a bunny was NOT one of them.
So, now that we’re all caught up, you’ll understand that it has taken me 8 years to get another live-animal Easter shoot. I haven’t been actively pursuing it, but after it failed before, I just gave up on it. I was thankful for the 1-time it worked and I moved on. It would’ve had to literally fall into my lap for me to do it and it never fell. Again, having 3 kids who were all age 3 and under just has a way of making you not give a flip about stuff like special pictures. You have to press through so much to even care, because so much “in-time, real-life craziness” is happening all-the-time. That time of life is more like, “Help!” Anything beyond the basics was really too much to ask from me for at least a couple years.
My good friend, Keisha, posted these super cute pictures of her son for his birthday last year. And then another friend posted a family picture that caught my eye. I realized that the same person had taken the pictures, so I followed her on Facebook really just to see the rest of the her pictures. One day, she posted about Easter pictures with a lamb and I was like…DONE! I’m there! I honestly felt like my kids were too old for these kind of pictures at first but I didn’t care if they were 50! They were going to take these pictures with this lamb! LOL I was already super sentimental about my kids growing up. I think I’ve purchased my last “truly little girl” dress for Harper, BJ is almost out of elementary school, and Braxton is leaving daycare this year. It’s all too much. So, I felt like this was it. This was my shot to get the pictures I’ve wanted for 8 years before BJ looks at me straight in the eye and says that he’s not holding a chick for a picture. LOL I know it’s coming. Soon.
And the truth is that these pictures are better than any Easter bunny picture I could have had taken. The lamb of God who took away the sins of the whole world is what makes these pictures special, and it is what Easter is really all about. I think we all have fun with the bunnies, rabbits, chicks, and eggs, but at the beginning and end of all of that is a lamb. A lamb that gave his life, so that we could live, mess stuff up, and not have to pay for it.
Have an amazing Easter! From our Hart to yours!
Leave a Reply