I've said it before, and I'll say it again - it's so important to take yearly family photos! Babies grow into toddlers in the blink of an eye. In the next blink, that toddler is a sassy 5-year-old. Faster than you can even imagine, that sassy 5-year-old is telling you that a boy (with a car) asked her to the Homecoming dance!

The triptychs of the girls only cover a 3.5 year span.
Harrison's (at the top) covers a 4.5 year span.
Each of them, though, has changed in only a few short years!

I try to take pictures of the kids each spring, family pictures each fall, and a Christmas pajama photo each holiday season. I'll admit that I've missed a couple of springs over the years, and my husband and I don't always make it into the fall family photos. But I make sure to update the kid's portraits at least once a year, and we never miss the annual Christmas pj portrait.

These photos were taken in the springs of 2015, 2016, and 2018 respectively.
I try to vary our locations, and now that the kids are getting older, I let them have a say as well. On the left, the kids were 11-months, 8, and almost 10. On the right, they were 5, 11, and 13!

As I said, we don't miss our annual fall family photos! The top photo was taken in 2015 and the bottom is from last fall, 2018. We haven't taken this year's photos yet, but a color palette was picked, outfits are being chosen, and the girls have decided on this year's location. As soon as my husband is home for a couple of days, we'll go take them.
Now that the kids are older, between marching band, chorus, and soccer finding time to have our photos made as a family requires more planning to schedule but is just as important. Last year's photos were spontaneous - we were all home at the same time, the sun was getting lower in the sky, and everyone was in a good mood - so I threw outfits at everyone and off we went to Tarklin Bayou State Park.
If you decide to roll with spontaneity like we do, having a handful of good Pensacola area photography locations in mind helps a lot! We've had sessions at Tarklin Bayou, Johnsons Beach and Naval Live Oaks (both part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore), The photo in front of the gorgeous azalea bushes was taken at the home of Leila's violin instructor. We've also utilized pretty green spaces in our neighborhood as well as local parks.

An annual Christmas pajama photo is also a requirement around here! I prefer to have them just include the kids (and the dog when he's willing), but last year the girls really wanted my husband and myself in the picture too. 
If you can't tell, I have one kid who marches to the beat of her own drum and prefers to "coordinate but not match." 

Looking back over these photos also reminds me of the drama, threats, and bribes that often occurred to get some of those smiles. (I'm looking at you Christmas 2016 and spring 2016.) But that's the other thing, allowing the kids to have input into outfits and locations nowadays has helped with the attitudes as well. If you take nothing else away from my trip down memory lane, I hope you remember that - let the kids help plan something (even something as small as what necklace or hair bow they wear - if they have a stake in the game, they're much more likely to be willingly cooperative!

Finding Beauty in the Ordinary Photography offers Family Photography in northwest Florida that captures your family’s connections, emotions, and moments in a fun, natural way. Located in Pensacola and also offering maternity, newborn, and birth photography, service areas include but are not limited to Perdido Key, Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach, Navarre, Pace, Milton, and Cantonment in Florida and Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Foley, Fairhope, and Daphne in south Alabama. Family portrait sessions tend to book up to one month in advance, while maternity, birth, and newborn sessions should be booked early in the second trimester to ensure availability at the time of delivery. Amanda offers a full service experience including a pre-session consultation, exclusive access to her Maternity and Newborn wardrobe, an online proofing gallery to share and download your included high-resolution digital images, and an array of professional print, canvas, and album options. I can’t wait to hear from you and help create your own beautiful heirloom memories!
 
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Mom, Jennifer, had a plan.
She wanted her second baby, a girl, to be born vaginally.
Having had her first baby, a boy, a little over a year and a half before via cesarean, this meant she needed to find a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) friendly obstetrician and that she'd need to deliver at Sacred Heart Hospital. Finding a truly VBAC supportive provider isn't always an easy task, but Jennifer found a wonderful, supportive doctor AND she made the decision to hire a doula to offer additional support for herself and her husband.

The evening before Lilly's grand entrance into the world, Jennifer texted to let me know that she'd been having strong, but inconsistent contractions all day. Just under 3 hours later, they were headed to the hospital to get checked.
By midnight I was on my way to the Maternity and Women's Center at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, FL. 
Jennifer was amazing. She was so calm as she tried out just about every position in the book to labor her baby down. Her husband was so involved and sweet to watch as he did everything he could to be a helper and part of their baby's birth.
And, much to mom's surprise, dad was right there with me when I was capturing our first glimpse of baby's crowning head!

Baby girl, Lily, made her grand entrance earth-side just before 5am 6 days before her "official-due-date."

Other than the VBAC, mom's main desire was for a lotus birth. She wanted for the placenta to be delivered while baby was still attached to it via the un-clamped umbilical cord.

Did you know that dads can do skin-to-skin?
They totally can! And it's SO precious!
This dad had his shirt off within a couple minutes of his baby girl's delivery and was more than ready for his one-on-one time.

After photographing this big, beautiful girl's stats, doula, Lindsey, with Belly to Cradle, LLC and I headed out so this family could get a bit of rest of snuggles.