It's been a tough week around here. A tough month really. You probably read in my last blog post that Erik's grandfather, who everyone calls Pap, had been sick. Unfortunately, just a few days after arriving at Myrtle Beach last week, Erik, Willow, and I learned that we needed to head back to northern Virginia to say goodbye.

Yikes! It's been two weeks since I've blogged! What in the world. There are a lot of excuses for that, but you know, it is what it is. No apologies! Life has been hectic and then just hasn't been a priority unfortunately.

Today's portrait session has such a great story. I first talked with Michelle over the phone. She had a wedding coming up and asked me how I felt about photographing a small wedding with around 20 guests for a couple, previously divorced, getting re-married, with two children. I told her I couldn't imagine something more meaningful and intimate and that I would love to be a part of it. We spoke some more about the wedding and then when we were deciding which of my wedding packages she should book, I realized all of my packages include engagement sessions and that would be a little silly for this particular couple! So instead I asked if she wanted to switch out an engagement session with a family portrait session to celebrate their family coming back together. She loved the idea and here we are!

She lays in bed, wrapped in blankets and
the quiet of deep night. 
Tired, but awake, because her little one hasn't called yet.
And she knows it will be soon.
So she waits while her husband sleeps beside her,
until she hears the cry.
And even then,
she waits.

I wanted to share this family portrait session because the idea of it is just SO sweet. First off, I love "at home" sessions. I always tell my clients that the best locations aren't necessarily the most beautiful, scenic ones... but the special ones that have personal meaning to you. Well, this session is the perfect example of that.

Ah, typing that title is crazy! It's officially happened. My girl is a whole year old. I gushed about how much that means to me in my last post, so refer to that if you are feeling emotional today. This post is about Willow's birthday party and what has changed since month 11.

Erik and I were eating dinner last night when he said "It's crazy to think how quickly this year went by, and that that's only going to happen seventeen more times before she's grown and gone."

It's so true. Time has never felt faster. They grow and change in a flash, and it's a heartbreakingly joyful thing. 

Six years. That's a long time. We're almost 30! I think it's safe to say, we're really doing this adult-ing thing, and slaying it at that.

Our annual anniversary photo is not my favorite haha or maybe it is, I mean, it's kind of Willow's first one so that makes it pretty great in itself. It's tough getting a baby and puppy to cooperate for something like this. Especially when there's no one behind the camera to look at. And ESPECIALLY when your crazy old lady neighbor won't leave you alone to take the one dang picture you try to take every year! Go away, please, we need to take this picture and get to dinner before baby has a "it's bedtime!!!" meltdown! Kthxbye! :) 

Reading Willow's 10 month post, I feel like so much has changed in this past month. Like my girl is so much bigger already! Last month she wasn't standing much, but this month it's pretty much all she wants to do. Diaper changes have become a total nightmare because ONLY BABIES LAY DOWN, BIG GIRLS STAND UP! Duh.

Things have been quiet round these blog parts. I have to admit that I have sacrificed blogging time for recharge time a lot lately. Maybe other people are like this, or maybe it's just me, but I tend to have super productive days where I take on the world and get a million things done... boom bam boom! And then days where I can't seem to do more than get by. I may get some laundry done and keep the kitchen half clean, which is a full time job when you're at home all day and make three semi-healthy meals for you and your baby. 

Ah, this wedding. I've been looking forward to Holly and Bryan's wedding day ever since I met them. Ever since Holly and I gushed about Pride and Prejudice on the phone when she booked her wedding with me. I just knew this would be a fun, inspiring day. Add to that, shooting at Upper Shirley Vineyard, a brand new wedding venue! I'm always psyched to learn about vineyards in the Richmond area, personally and professionally, and Upper Shirley did not disappoint! It was incredibly gorgeous and the owner was so sweet, driving Holly, Bryan, and I around to pretty spots on his property, showing us the river, the horses, the vineyard. It was a beautiful place for a wedding, or just for hanging with some wine. I'll definitely be back for the wine hanging fun myself! ;)

Look at those cuties. I swear.

I had to share a little sneak peek from the wedding I shot last week at Upper Shirley Vineyards since editing this sucker has been my main focus for the past week! See, now you can't be bummed at the lack of blog posts lately. Look at those faces and you get it... that couple needs their wedding images amirite!?

Stepping through the slick blades of grass,

the dew just beginning to dry.

A new sun peeks over the horizon.

The air is fresh and wet with morning

as I breathe long and deep,

only the sounds of birds in my ears.

My three best friends and I have a longstanding tradition, dating back to 2004 of taking a trip together. We knew each other years before this, some of us as early as elementary school. Every year we reconnect, despite the miles that have separated us since the tradition began in high school.

But I've explained the history of all this before, and you can read more of those posts here and here (last year's girls weekend didn't make the blog since I had just had Willow and was taking a blogging break!). Today I want to focus on 2017.

As I feel the one year birthday creeping toward us, I get completely swept up in nostalgia and also excitement. I love every second of Willow (now that she's BORN haha) more than I ever thought I was capable of. I knew I'd love being a mom. I knew I wanted a family. I knew this would always be my top priority in life. But I didn't know how much fun it would truly be. Every time I scroll back through my #willowgrowsup pictures on Instagram I marvel in how quickly she's grown and changed, but also how ‘Willow’ she was right from the start. I think of pregnancy, the absolute non-stop rolling and kicking and dance parties, and think… yup that's our Willow. Baby can't stop, won't stop.

I haven't written much for the photographers out there lately! So I figured I'd focus on a topic that I get asked about ALL the time. If photographer friends ask my advice on anything it's about blogging, in person product sales, and SEO! And you know, SEO is good information to have for anyone with a website that you'd like people to find.

First off, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization... or, how likely is a search engine likely to find your website? And since most people are using Google, I would just focus my efforts there.

I have been thinking about creation lately. I'll let the cat out of the bag slightly about something I'm working on right now, which is that a friend of mine and I are planning a podcast together. It's been my "Willow's in bed" hobby for the past month, researching, planning, crafting. And the other day I was getting a little bogged down in all the details of that when it struck me what a habitual type of hobby this is for me. I am always creating.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I was thinking about this lovely holiday which gives us an excuse to wear green, pinch people, and drink whisky (the Irish are so charming). And I thought, what could I write about in regard to this day? Oh, right, I live with two redheads. Those of you who don't have a lot of experience with the mystical ginger 2% of the population may think "oh lord, like the color of your hair makes you so special." But, I'm sorry to tell you, you're clearly not well versed in this field and since I am married to a redhead, and have actually created one myself (learned that trick in Advanced Baby Making 402), I'm going to deem myself an expert on this topic and share all my secrets with you now. Secrets of survival if you will.

Twelve tabs are open in my browser,

Eight hundred and sixty five pins in my Pinterest,

Too many emails to count,

And seven items on my to do list.

Time is flying. Willow has officially been out of mommy longer than inside, hurray! That's pretty crazy to think about. And validates how incredibly LONG pregnancy feels because um IT IS INCREDIBLY LONG. However, it is so much more fun to have Willow out and about so now time is flying. I mean, look at that picture. She's so big! I mean. She's little. But big! You know what I mean.

Spring is coming! And holy moly has the weather been a tease this year. I'm still waiting for an arctic blast to come roaring back with a vengeance like we've never felt before. I am not really a winter person. I definitely prefer the sunshine and long days of Spring and Summer. But I am obsessed with snow and I feel a little jipped this year. I guess I'll just accept it and enjoy these weird February 70-80 degree days while they're here and try not to think about global warming and other dismal things. In fact, here in Midlothian, it looks like a storm is brewing outside my window as I type this. Yikes.

What does that mean?"Joyful organic storytelling."

It hits you in the face as soon as you visit my website, my Instagram. But I don't think I've ever articulated what that means to me. Yet, I know that those three words have struck a chord with clients. A senior once told me she booked me solely because I used the word "organic" haha! A couple left me a sweet review that said "Tiffany delivers on the 'joyful organic storytelling' promise." I thought it was so kind and I was happy to see that the message I was putting out was being picked up by the people I hoped would find value in it.

It's been quite a week in the Heidenthal house! In all the madness, there wasn't much time for blogging so let me catch you up...

I shared our family portraits a couple weeks ago and at the time, I promised to share some images of the Pesce family who I was so happy to photograph. It may be the first time we did a family photo swap, but I don't think it will be the last time! We were a little bummed the day was so cloudy and blech when we squeezed this quick session into our busy holiday schedules, obviously coordinated around two babies and their nap needs. But you just have to go with the weather sometimes and do what you can! This entire session was done in about 15 minutes because we were hurrying to squeeze as much as possible into as short a time frame as we could! Basically, we are nuts.

If you're a parent or have any association with that world, (who doesn't?) then you'll know that there is a certain subset of parents labeled "crunchy." Growing up, my mom used to say "that's too crunchy granola for me!" any time something natural seemed a little too weird or out of the ordinary. Disclaimer: she's come a long way and is pretty crunchy herself now haha but she will still say this from time to time!

Time for your monthly barrage of Willow. For her eight month baby pictures, I wanted to try something a little different. I'm running out of favorite locations in our house, and it's too cold to plop baby in the grass outside. So I did something I haven't done EVER. I plopped out a roll of backdrop paper and decided to take some photos "studio style." 

Every morning, every night,

that little breath of quiet, 

that perfect pause in the shuffle of sounds

restores the peace and balances the day.

This is me: 

"You guys. Family portraits are SO important. You should take updated family pictures whenever you get the chance because they are awesome and you will absolutely never regret them. Don't just take a bunch of pictures of your kid and think that that's good enough!"

Proceeds to blog and instagram millions of pictures of Willow and a few here and there with Erik and myself haha.

I can't believe that I haven't shared this family portrait session on my blog before. I have to admit that every now and then I get caught up in a bunch of sessions all in a row... photographers definitely work in waves and seasons! And then somehow my sessions don't all get blogged. It's a travesty and today and next week I'll be working on correcting that because I have a few portrait sessions that have never made it to the blog and that is just not right!

We wake up and start the day and it is fresh.

Fresh like my coffee, rich and hot, a little sweet and a little bitter.

Just the way I want it.

The dog has made an accident on the blanket I washed yesterday. 

And the baby's teeth are too painful to not be held by her mommy.