Just the Two of Us

Tuck and I have been celebrating 5 years of marriage this year and we’ve been talking for a while about how although 5 years shouldn’t feel like a huge accomplishment in terms of the longevity of marriage, these days it actually is.  We plan to make it many many more years… like 60 hopefully or more but for right now, we are pretty proud of our baby 5 and our little family to boot!

We decided to celebrate this year by taking some time for ourselves!  Life is AMAZING and crazy and wonderful when you begin a family and add a little one.  Any parent will tell you that life just gets better… indescribably better in so many ways.  One thing that does get harder though is finding time for just the two of you, especially the time to connect over the small things that don’t have anything to do with the baby or work or the home!

Tuck and I kind of laugh about it all the time, how hard it is to have a normal conversation now without talking about any of those three things!  It used to be soo easy but now because we have family our lives are actually consumed by Linc, work and the home!  We like to make plans for our weekends and fun adventures that we can do with Linc because now he is at such a fun age that we can go and do and introduce him to some really cool and neat experiences and really see him take off and truly enjoy them!  Tuck started a new job and he adores it and it’s interesting so we have a lot to discuss and plan for that we need to both come to the table and figure out as a family!  We also need to figure out how my job fits in and works around ALL of that:  Tuck’s new schedule and taking care of Linc which will always be my number one priority!  So when you get right down to it, finding the breath to talk about anything else just sometimes seems darn right tough!

Heck, let me be honest… we try to make it a point to sit down with a take out sushi one night a week (maybe more because I adore sushi) and watch a movie and I’m so tired at the end of the day that I sometimes fall asleep about a good half hour after we put Linc down!  I can barely make it through a full hour long TV show on the couch before I’m snoozing with the dog!  I’ve always been a early to bed early to rise kind of girl so this doesn’t surprise either one of us and Tuck is so kind he just nudges me and helps me off to bed and joins me later!

This year though, I wanted to make it a point to start doing things for ourselves!  Now that Linc is older and we found an INCREDIBLE babysitter, we can really take the opportunity to do this!

And Elizabeth.. well she provided us with a great opportunity to start!

Anniversary sessions are a huge part of her heart and a BIG part of her WHY behind her business!  She has a deep appreciation for couples and for love that endures and accomplishes and overcomes!  She has witnessed this kind of love all her life!  She was brought up with this kind of love surrounding her and she also knows this kind of love deeply in her own marriage that although she might still be considered a newly wed to some… she has been coupled up with her husband longer than most people have been married!  She understands what it takes to love unconditionally and what it takes from a very young teenage love to have and create a lasting enduring kind of love!

When we initially started talking about our anniversary session, I was over the moon!  We were going to head down to the beach where I usually shoot most of my family sessions and we were going to include the first few shots AS A FAMILY with Linc!  My momma heart was over the moon!

I believe in pictures… I believe in savoring time and preserving it as often as you can (especially as a family) because you just don’t know how much you will get and we all already know how fast and how fleeting time is!

BUT we also know that a good plan is one that has a back up and of course, our plan didn’t go quite as we expected!!!  Our idea to have Linc come with us along with someone else and then head home before we started our own little mini session fell to pieces and so we ended up having to hire a babysitter for Linc so we could fly solo on this one!

To be honest:  I was stressed!  I kept thinking… man as a mom I would be 100% down for spending any amount of money on a family session/anniversary session BUT having to spend money on a babysitter and just have the two of us photographed… I don’t know if other momma’s would go for that!

I was sweating and stressed!

BUT, FRIENDS… let me tell you what happened:  My heart was changed!

Tuck and I decided to go ahead and make it a date night and I promise you, it was one of the best nights that we have had in a very long time… biting flies included!

Something happens when you can let go and just feel free and relaxed!  This anniversary session for me especially as a mom, was a place where I didn’t have to worry about a little one running around or wandering off!  This was a place where I could re-connect with my husband in a way that the two of us hadn’t connected since our wedding day!

It was a time that reminded me very much of our wedding day and that just like Elizabeth reminded us… it really does begin with the two of us!

We have a family because the two of us fell in love!  We have Linc because we both love each other so much and although that love had changed over time and grown in so many wonderful ways in these past five years… it’s important to come back together and connect this way once again… just the two of us!

During this session I remembered WHY we work so well together:  He is sarcastic and I am not… but he makes me laugh!  I am goofy and I laugh too loud and with an open mouth that could trap all kinds of bugs and flies and that makes HIM laugh!

I’m accident prone and clutzy and he makes fun of me:  and we both laugh!

Our love is built on goofiness and fun and laughter!

He is my best friend and my better half because I don’t have to be serious around him and he doesn’t have to be serious around me!

Linc is a great combination of the both of us… He is silly and goofy and he is a sassy and spunky!!

I realized all of this in a simple hour session… that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to focus on if I was too busy worrying about my beautiful/crazy wonderful toddler!

Family sessions are amazing… it’s what I specialize in and I adore!  Sometimes though, getting back to the basics of just the two of us… it’s just good for the soul!

Thank you Elizabeth for helping me realize how lucky I am!

I have too many favorites from our time together… but here are some of my MOST favorites!!!

Sometimes when I walk, I trip….. often!  Surprisingly that night I did alright!  But Tuck usually takes any walking opportunity to make fun of me!

We were lucky enough to have an outfit change which was amazing since my Mr. sweats… a lot!  Sorry babe.. calling you out!

Elizabeth says I make the best faces… I say I just feel super awkward being in FRONT of the camera!

So… I adore all these pretty and gorgeous images… but I’m super happy Elizabeth also kept it real for me because ya’ll this is who we are MOST of the time!  It’s a window into our real world on a daily basis…

Welcome to my life… I say… KISS ME… and he does this…

He’s so romantic!

But actually he can be!

These are some of my favorite images below!  This one right below is my screen savor!

But since we can’t have too many pretty ones… Right after, my romantic husband decides to wipe his sweat all over me!  Love him!

KISS ME PLEASE!!!!

One of the most surreal parts of the night was the fact that there were like 20 dolphins swimming incredibly close to the shore break!  We were able to just stand and watch as the sun set and although I have lived here ALL of my life, I have never seen anything as beautiful or crazy as we did that night!

We all left the beach… the three of us and the tourists too talking about the number of dolphins swimming and dancing out in the ocean!

After our session, Tuck and I ate at Baja and had ourselves a proper date night!  We talked about Linc just a little bit but mainly just caught up with each other the way we used to.

We came home around 9:30 or 10:00, I’m not even really sure but to a sleeping babe and a quiet house!  The two of us headed up to bed together that evening and I realized what a true gift Elizabeth had really given to us.

What I thought was stressful and started out not as planned really was a true blessing for Tuck and I.  5 years of marriage and 3 year old and a pitbull that really believes she is a newborn baby at times!  Tuck travels and I own a small business and am a yoga instructor and full time mom!

When you sit down and really start to think about all you are and all you do and the many roles you both play in your lives and then remember how many hours in each day there are… you realize sometimes you just need to STOP THE CLOCK YOURSELF!  You decide what is important and when it is important and family and marriage… that is incredibly important!

Time doesn’t wait for anyone and these moments they fly by all too fast without warning!

Anniversary sessions, Family sessions… while they may seem silly or frivolous right now, I can promise you will be so incredibly important a year from now or two years from now or maybe even a month from now!

We don’t know what time holds for us but I do know what today holds and I want to be truly invested and truly present in it and I want to appreciate every second!