Mommy & Me - Thirteen Years in the Making

The very first session of the spring minis was a Mommy and Me shoot for Melanie and Addison. A couple weeks before the session, Melanie and I talked about themes and props and the location and the predicted weather…you know, usual photo shoot stuff. When these gorgeous girls showed up dressed up and fancy, you know what Addison saw? A big patch of grass to run around and a few things to climb on and jump off of. She had zero concerns about what we had “planned” for the shoot. And what she had in mind was 1000 times better than anything we could have arranged. She and Melanie played and ran, and I cranked up my shutter speed and just tried to keep up.

This adorable relationship is so amazing to witness. Melanie and her husband, Beau, tried to have a baby for TEN years. Ten years of hoping and waiting and tears and disappointment, month after month. And to top that all off, they went through several rounds of IVF over the course of the next three years. Thirteen years. Just writing this out brings up so much disbelief that a couple can have that much strength to keep trying. Beau works his tail off for weeks at a time offshore, so Melanie often found out alone month after month that she was again not pregnant. Struggling for half this amount of time would have torn a lot of couples apart. But being parents was very much in God’s plan for Melanie and Beau. Little Addison is just shy of two years old, and watching the light that she brings to her momma’s eyes is so inspiring.

There was some pretty heavy fog the morning of their shoot, and I was a little concerned that we wouldn’t get the glowy, golden look I was hoping for (again…me trying to be a planner and going up against Mother Nature), but the fog over this creek made for a magical scene that was the perfect backdrop to for their fancy playdate.

I don't know what it was she was pleading for at this moment, but there's no way anyone could say "no" to these big, blue eyes and her sweet little smirk.

I'm sure we all know someone who has had fertility issues, but for that one person that we actually know about, there are even more couples who don’t talk about it. They don’t want the pity or the questions or even in some cases, the judgement. To anyone who might be in their own struggle, know that God is always working, and His timing is always perfect. I’m sure that Melanie would hope that their little family and everything that they have been through would be a perfect example of His amazing plan.

Melanie works in Human Resources and has become an advocate for helping other couples who struggle with infertility to find affordable ways to gain access to the assistance that they need. For more information, visit https://www.freedomfertility.com/.