Mommy.

Mother.

Momma.

Mama Bear.

These are all names I have waited my whole life to be called.
Seriously. Since I was a kid I could not WAIT to be a mom, and I have dreamed of the beautiful faces of my babies that would look up at me with hope, love, dreams, faith and wonder, and these two little girls have held onto my heart with their sweet, chubby little fingers since the day we laid eyes on each other. I can't even begin to imagine how to accurately explain a mother's love for a child. As an educator, and life-long learner by heart, I did not feel that it would all just come naturally, I needed to prepare as best as I could - research! I've read countless books on parenting, "How-To" guides on being a mother and raising a child, articles, blogs, etc, and none of them can accurately prepare you for the overwhelming sense of love and joy that overtakes every cell in your body when those beautiful little eyes open for the first time and lock on to yours. It takes your breath away, quite literally. No, I'm not just saying that to be all mushy and pump up all the moms-to-be that I know, it's the truth. Every bit of it. From the mornings these beauties made me want to pull my hair out strand by strand because they thought we had to stay up all night nursing, to the mornings they woke me up from a peaceful sleep with their cute little eyes peeking over the edge of the bed, and their sweet little voices saying "Mommy can we pwetty pwease have spwinkle pancakes for bweakfast?!" - I wouldn't change one minute.

When we had our daughter Mallory, her entrance into the world was pretty traumatic and intense for us both. It was unexpected and honestly, I don't remember half of it. I didn't get to see her for a few hours after she was born due to the circumstances surrounding our situation, and when I was finally out of surgery and awake enough to be with her, it was the most beautiful moment in my life when they put her in my arms. That being said, I missed so much there at the beginning that I had to rely on the cell phone photos my husband had snagged, and the photos my mom had snagged with her camera. I cherish those more than you can imagine. A few days later, a blood clot scare left me back in the hospital and with some terrifying thoughts running through my head. My baby was left at home with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law as we were taken to the hospital and my husband joined me, and all I could think of was, "Will I see her again? Will she remember her Mommy if something happens to me? WHY OH WHY didn't I let Brett take more photos of us the past week even though I felt un-photogenic?!" From that moment on, we've taken photos of every important moment that we possibly can, and no matter how I feel about my insecurities - we TAKE THE PHOTOS. God forbid something happen to either of us, I never want my kiddos to forget who we are. I want them to have those memories they hold inside of how they remember us, and a tangible photo so we can be with them in some sort of physical form as well. I love to go back and look at photos of my family and friends growing up, and even the ones from the last four years of parenthood. I can't imagine not having them. The only photos I regret...are the ones we didn't take...

This blog will be a lot of things for me; it's a way to share my beautiful clients' sessions, stories about my babies and my love, pieces I have developed with other artists I collaborate with, and at times it may just be some random tidbits I need to get out into the world! Hopefully it allows for a glimpse into the crazy thing that my life has turned out to be so far, and if you can make it through my ramblings then we're destined to be friends! :)

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Mallory Grace entered this world three weeks early, and in a crazy fashion for sure - ending in an awful cesarean that I would not wish on anyone on the planet (my doctor's were amazing, but cesareans are not). She has brought nothing but love and laughter to our life since her very healthy lungs announced her arrival! As soon as we settled into our new life as a family of three, we scheduled our first official family photos, and they were nothing short of perfect!
This session below is from a photographer we found through some friends, and she has turned out to be a great mentor and friend! She's amazing, and if you're in the Columbia MO area and need some of your memories captured - get ahold of her!!! (Holly Beach Photography)

This session was so fun, and was EXACTLY what I had been looking for as to what kind of sessions, what kind of photographer, the feel of the time we spent capturing these images, and overall experience I wanted...so that became the foundation for my next adventure! Stay tuned!

Our next adventure, Holly Rose, came in a much more calm, relaxed fashion, but she is the spunkiest little spitfire we could have ever asked for! These two are my whole heart, and their daddy and I can't believe God picked us as their parents. HOWEVER, when we were ready for our next round of family photos (which were honestly about a year later than I wanted to) and when our favorite photographer moved out of our area before we could get family photos with both our daughters I was heartbroken, but another dear friend (Amy Geisendorfer) captured these next family photos for us! She's amazing at what she does, and she captured the spirit of my little beauties so well! (She has captured some of the most precious memories of my girls and their 5 grandmas too - I'll share those sometime!)

I know this post got a little longer than I wanted it to, so to sum it up - SCHEDULE YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS...don't wait. The Only Photos You Will Regret, Are The Ones You Do Not Take.

XOXO Bryana