I just finished a session with a darling three-month-old. Like, my clients literally JUST left the studio. I feel so compelled to write this now because my heart is feeling absolutely abundantly blessed, and I wanted to share some of those feelings with you. This precious baby’s name is Lauren, and I think it goes without saying that she has totally stolen my heart as all of my clients do. Her session began with a lot of smiles, coos, and some of the craziest kicks and arm flailing. 🙂 About 30 minutes into photographing her, she began to get sleepy… so her beautiful momma rocked her to sleep. It is one of my absolute favorite things when I have the privilege to work with sleeping “older” babies. There was a moment before I began to pose Lauren that I couldn’t resist to film because it absolutely melted my heart. I’m sure all parents are familiar with the total innocence and sweetness of sleeping babies. I grabbed eight seconds of the moment so that I’d never forget.

                                             

 

This morning, I woke up feeling grief. I posted on my Instagram account (@taylorelchert) that grief is a funny thing. I would say it comes and goes in waves, but the reality is that it is always there… some days it is just felt a little more strongly than others. It has been a little over a month since losing my dear grandmother. While she was embracing her final moments, drifting in and out of sleep, I sat beside her and silently prayed to the Lord to give us more time, but I knew deep in my heart that she was ready to go home to Him. In her sleepiness, she turned to me, and upon seeing my tearful face, her face lit up with a smile that I’ll never forget. Peace filled my heart.

Today, on National Grandparents Day, I was blessed with peace yet again. As Lauren’s session came to a close, her mom began to pack up the clothing and all of the other baby items.  I offered to help her carry her things out to the car so that she could carry the carseat, but she declined and told me that she would take the bags out first, and then come back in for Lauren.  So as she took those things out to the car, I knelt beside the carseat, and Lauren had woken up.  I asked her, “Lauren, do you have any idea how absolutely precious you are?”, and in that moment, her pacifier slowly fell from her sweet baby lips… and her beautiful baby face lit up with a smile that I’ll never forget.

I am forever grateful for the kind of peace that photography, and more specifically, my clients continue to give to me.

xo