Maternity.

We got all of our maternity photos back from the wonderful Sarah Scruggs (Again, Sarah, you are incredible) and I just had to share them. Rather than putting them on facebook, where the world can see them without asking, I thought I would put them up on the blog with a forewarning.


I wanted to put all of our favorites up, including some of the ones that show my bare Olive belly, because I think that fully shows the beauty of what God created our bodies to do! I am so blown away by these shots Sarah took. They really captured our joy and the emotion of that period of time in our lives, expecting Olive and delighting in how God was forming her inside of me. Seeing these pictures, especially the bare belly ones, reminds me to find thankfulness and happiness in what my body did and has been through. This is really important for me as a post partum mother, I think. We watch our bodies go through so many changes, and often times, at the end, we slip into the trap of self consciousness over our new "mummy tummy" and whatever else usually accompanies growing and birthing a child! 


So, I put myself out there and post these as a celebration of the pregnant figure and what God has done in creating Olive. For me, I think, it will be cathartic and an attempt at making peace with my body. 


Proceed only if you want to and it's appropriate for you to do so!

                 

 

Photographed.

This weekend we had our maternity photos taken by our friend, Sarah Scruggs. We were so blessed to have her! Sarah is such an easy person to be around, and her presence and style really put us at ease. The whole time she was shooting her face would light up with excitement over a new idea, or her eye would catch the simplest line or color or detail on the scene. Despite the FREEZING temperatures and the crazy amounts of wind at the marina (that my body would succumb to, in the form of a cold, the following day. still, well worth it!), we had such a great time. Thanks, Sarah!

Here are just a few of the previews she sent us. We couldn't be happier about them, and can't wait to see the rest!

Besides the photo shoot, we were able to stay in a beautiful hotel thanks to Sarah's husband, Charley, being a pastry chef at the resort! We went out to Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island that night for fish tacos and burgers, then walked across the street to a sweet little wine and espresso bar. There were about five older men in there, having a jam session, and, as fate would have it, they loved playing Creed songs. Imagine our excitement. We were so grateful for a short pause in life to spend together-- things have been pretty hectic lately.

We also decided over the weekend to go ahead and announce Little Girl's name! We have had it picked out for months and months, but for a lot of reasons decided to wait. Colin and I's daughter's name is...

We couldn't be more in love with our "little branch", as Colin calls her. I have loved the name Olive for a long time, and love that all over the Bible it is used as a symbol of peace. In Romans 11, Paul writes about how we, as Gentiles, were wild olive shoots that have been grafted onto the tree (God's people) and are able to share in the "nourishing root" (Salvation). Beautiful. Her middle name, Rae, is special to us, because two awesome women in her life share the name! Rae is Colin's Grandmother's first name and his sister's middle name.

34 weeks down! grace and peace!