Little Crew's Newborn Portraits

Happy Friday friends! I want to share little Crew's newborn pictures with you today. What a handsome little man and so lucky too. He belongs to a beautiful mama named Courtney and you may remember this family from the time we shot Crew's big sister Birklee's portraits last year. I had so much fun photographing this sweet family just hanging out at home together. These are the best times, aren't they?

Here are a few of my favorites ...

 

Thank you Courtney for allowing me to capture these precious moments for you. Much love to you and the fam. xx Kirsty

Mama and Mini Francophiles

For Scarlet's 16th birthday, I'd love to take her to Paris. And today we're wearing our most Parisian stripes and berets, in the hopes that our ensembles will keep the dream alive (or better yet, that the French tourism board would come across this very post, see our mama and mini go to Paris looks, and think "We want them here. Our country needs them here", funding it immediately! ;) 

Speaking of, Elliot has requested that his 16th birthday trip is to see the Statue of Liberty BUT he is worried that he'll fall into the water. I think he envisions us scouring up the side of the statue with suction cup hands and feet which would allow for a very real possibility of falling right into the water. I remember making that same trip with my parents at 13 and walking around her crown. That was the first time I set foot on American soil, my first experience with snow (Washington DC and a family of South Africans somehow completely unprepared for freezing temps - which led us to a department store to buy gloves and scarves and felt to me like I had suddenly stepped onto a Christmas movie set). And that was our first time in Florida, a place that bewildered me with its swimming pools surrounded by "mesh" to keep the alligators out of them. Though I don't know why that seemed so funny and strange when our doors and windows in South Africa were covered with iron bars. Of course we also went to Disney World on that trip and it was kind of amazing. Always loved Disney. And not only all of that plus lots of time spent in Tulsa, Georgia and South Carolina visiting extended family BUT we even spent a long, long day in Rome, visiting mind-blowing places like the Coliseum and St Peter's Basilica, all while dealing with ravenous appetites that could not be appeased by the meager pizzas offered in Rome that day, after gorging ourselves on American pizza for a full month. Plus I'm sure my parents were fresh outta cash after that extravagant trip with 3 children. Ha! Wonderful memories. 

{me: hat - Target, shirt - Aerie, jeans - J.Crew, shoes - Zara

Scarlet: hat & shirt - Zara Kids, jeans - Target, boots - H&M}

Family Life

Just thought I'd post some of my favorite "this and that" pics taken this month. Scarlet and I are together all day every day, with the exception of two evenings a week for a few hours (when I'm teaching dance). So we have lots of chill time together and I try to make it a priority for her. It's those moments sitting together on the floor in that sun pouring through the window, sometimes just listening to music or reading a book. Or even snuggling up together for a cartoon, each with a drink in hand. We do this quite a lot, or at least in balance to the running around. I remember these same moments with Elliot, 4 years with him alone as my baby boy, and I loved those quiet times with him so much. So I wanted to absolutely make sure that, though I would have 4 kids and all the crazy busy that would come with that, I had to slow it down enough to enjoy the sweetest moments I'd remember in years to come. 

It's the reason you'll see waaaay more pictures of the little lady then anyone else. She's glued to me, everywhere I go. And I'm all the better for it. I am so completely infatuated with her, no less than when she was born. Her daddy and I still can't believe we have a girl … it's crazy. She's an incredible child and a huge, HUGE gift to our family. She's crazy about her brothers and they have an unending supply of love for her. Every once in a while I can steal Elliot away for a picture too but he has to be persuaded to do so, and it's always a quick in and out. Not always easy for a mama who takes a good 8 pics to get that one beautiful-enough shot. :)

So here are a few pictures from our day in and day out. Nap time, play time, lunch time. Those times when I'm trying to get some work done at home and she's "helping". 

I cannot begin to tell you how much I cherish these days. I have been feeling like I'm in a comfortable place as a mommy. It's just a good time for us. Our kids are all doing well and we're in a phase of life where we're not constantly struggling with discipline. They're comfortable with their schools, their extra curriculars, their friends, with each other and with us. They're getting along well and they're good to each other. Now this is new. We've been through tons of struggles raising 3 boys with incredibly different personalities. Tons! But it's just our time to sit back and relax and enjoy them and I'm so grateful for that. I know that excruciating difficulties are ahead (hello pre-teen!) but hey, I'm loving life and these kids just as they are, right now, so happy and perfectly imperfect, and so eager to please. Whew, that's a lovely thing isn't it? This time when our children are eager to please us (for the most part!). Thank you God for the incredible gift of a happy life. We're counting our blessings.