We *almost* kicked off this week with a lazy Sunday afternoon around the house…

(Almost)

But when we saw the BEAUTIFUL weather outside…

We mustered all the late 30s strength inside of us to take the kids to the park 🙃

Lately, when we’re feeling that running-on-fumes, running-out-of-patience, parents-of-little-humans weariness

We try to remind ourselves of every nostalgic country music lyric from our high school days 🥹

(We even made an Exhausted Parent Playlist that we play around the house when we need a perspective shift)

The song at the top? Darius Rucker, of course.

🎶 It won’t be like this for loooong 🎶

That’s usually the pep talk we need to go from hiding under the covers during nap time, scrolling social media, hoping our kids don’t find us…

To emerging from our room like the parents we actually want to be.

There was a free concert happening at the amphitheater right next to the park — a local cover band (in their 60s and 70s) playing 60s and 70s music.

The audience was mostly senior citizens, but we fit right in.

The kids danced with Mom to oldies tunes and wrestled with Dad (who was mostly just *feeling* like an “oldie”…)

We managed to get a quick whole family pic (squished ear/half of Emily and all) and headed to the ice cream truck for a very pricey scoop of ice cream (because MEMORIES!)

The ice cream melted down fast (and so did our kids on the drive home, if you know what we mean) 😂

Still totally worth it.

Another major highlight was doing a session that was a little out of the norm for us.

We’re not usually newborn photographers, but some of our dearest friends, Melissa and Ryan (who moved with us from Arizona to Tennessee four years ago) just had their second baby, and we couldn’t resist getting them in front of our camera (and soaking up the baby snuggles).

They had a sweet little girl named Marlowe 🎀

(And we’re OBSESSED 😍)

Amy could’ve snuggled Marlowe FOREVER and really didn’t want to give her back, but she eventually relented so we could take these photos!

We’re sharing some of our many faves on the blog this week, but here’s a little sneak peek of a few of our favorites 🥹

(Just click to see more on the blog!) 🤩

They’re making two under two look easy, right?

We pulled out all the toddler stops for the shots with Jack.

Jordan got him to laugh by pretending to eat one of his picture books… and then “give birth” to it through the bottom of his shirt.

It was equal parts “boys will be boys” and “do whatever it takes to get the shot” 🤣

Shout out to the incredible focusing system on our Canon R6 MII for making this split second shot of Jack possible! 🙌

You wouldn’t know it by looking at these photos, but at the very end of the session, baby Marlowe was SO ready for milk and a nap.

So naturally, as babies do, she let us know it by suddenly WAILING.

We coached them through this final pose, cheered them on and assured them nobody would be able to tell Marlowe was crying.

Did we pull it off?! 🤣

The final highlight of the week?

Jordan also took Becks to a pro soccer game this week! ⚽

J played soccer his whole life (his dad was his coach) and he has such good memories of going to games together.

He was even in the stadium when one of the most famous moments in U.S. soccer history happened…

Remember this?

Little Jordan was there!

So when he heard the Men’s U.S. National Team was playing just a few minutes from our house, we couldn’t pass it up! 🇺🇸

The bad news…

We lost 4-0 😬

(Which is like losing 100-0 in basketball 🙈)

The good news?

Jordan texted this after the game:

“Made a good memory with my boy. That was worth the price of admission. Now he’ll always be able to say he saw his national team play with his dad in his hometown.” 😭

💡A little small business/life reminder before we go…

This week reminded us that most of the moments that matter often don’t look or feel perfect.

They aren’t always smooth or Insta-ready.

There’s usually a kid meltdown in the car.

A crying baby at the session.

A blurry iPhone photo with half a smile.

But that doesn’t make the memories less beautiful.

That makes them real.

And whether it’s your family life or your photography business…

The magic is almost always found in the mess.

Here’s to embracing it.

Laughing through it.

And capturing the goodness inside it 💛