Happy first birthday sweet Harvey! I cannot believe it's been one whole year since I got to witness his birth!

The day was July 3, 2018 and it also happened to be my 30th birthday. I woke up to a text from Ariel (Harvey's mama) at 8:15am. She first wished me a happy birthday, then informed me that she had been experiencing labor for a few hours. I called her shortly after so I could hear her experience a contraction, and sure enough, she was in labor. She could barely talk through the contraction, so I knew it was time. EEEEK I was soooo excited!

We got off the phone and left it at she'd give me updates throughout the day to let me know how things were moving along. 

Around 5:45pm I decided to finally take a shower and what do you think happened? As soon as I got in the shower, my phone started ringing. It was Steve, Ariel's fiance. Him and Ariel were at Transitions Women's Wellness Center and I needed to come there ASAP. I took the fastest shower I possibly could and was out the door a little after 6. 

I arrived at Transitions and started photographing around 6:15pm. Harvey was born just over 4 hours later, as the Manistee Forest Festival Fireworks were going off.

Being able to witness and photograph his birth was the most amazing experience ever! See below to witness his birth, his rockstar mama, and amazing birth team.

At the beginning of the year I started a new weekly self-portrait project. 14 weeks in and I'm super proud of what I've created so far. It's been no easy task either and I've wanted to give up a few times, but i'm still going strong. Keep scrolling to read and see more! 

Week 3/52
Self-portraits in the shower...sure why not. 🙃 (If you’re curious about that eye on the wall, my significant other and I use our kids’ bathtub crayons to leave each other notes in the shower. That eye is a part of an “eye” love you note/drawing.❤)

Week 4/52
Being a mama to these three is the greatest thing ever!!! Some days are super tough, others are a piece of delicious chocolate cake. But no matter what kind of day we're having though, I wouldn't trade it for anything. ❤

Week 5/52
Polar vortex self-portraits. ❄️

Week 6/52
Our washer broke  and as I was cleaning the laundry room preparing for the delivery of the new one, I noticed an amazing pocket of light hitting the wall where the dryer normally sits. (I had moved it out of the way to clean behind it...there were soooooo many socks back there!) I jumped on the opportunity to take self-portraits in this spot because I probably won't get to photograph in it again until our ancient dryer inevitably breaks...LOL!

Week 7/52
My self-portraits this week were taken in front of our freshly painted kitchen walls and we played around with long exposures. It was so much fun! I'm pretty excited that dad got in the frame as well! ❤

Week 8/52
I've been missing the beach like crazy so I did my self-portraits there this week. ❤

Week 9/52
When double exposure self-portraits with flowers don't work out and you start to get frustrated, you resort to making a pot of coffee at 5pm, then you use your almost overflowing mug of said freshly brewed coffee to double expose your face onto. ​😜⁣😂😄

Week 10/52
Not going to lie, this week's self-portrait was super freaken frustrating to create. I wasn't feeling inspired, my kids kept pulling down my background, I was tired, nothing was working out right, and I almost gave up. I even thought to myself quite a few times, "eh, maybe I'll just skip this week..." But I pushed through the frustration, created this, and I could not be happier! It feels so good to not have given up! ❤

Week 11/52
"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy."
–Sunshine on My Shoulders by John Denver

Week 12/52
I am a flower in the springtime...I'm only just starting to bloom.⁣⁣🌱⁣

Week 14/52
"We're just a mess of moments
That's adding up to where we are⁣
And you're the frame and focus⁣
That's making sense of it so far⁣
I'm not depressed or hopeless⁣
I'm only walking in a blur⁣
And you're the frame and focus"⁣
-Frame and Focus⁣ by Lights

"Brothers don't necessarily have to say anything to each other- they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other."     

​-Leonardo DiCaprio

Normally I'm not one to make sugar cookies because they always turn out too thin and crispy for my liking, or they spread like crazy and combine into one giant cookie the size of the baking sheet... But I found the BEST chewy sugar cookie recipe EVER and now I'm obsessed with making these. They are sooooo good that they don't even need frosting...crazy, right!?! Of course I still frost them though...it just wouldn't be right if they weren't frosted haha.

Below are photos of my girls helping me make them. It started off a little rough, but ended up being a ton of fun!

Here's a link to the cookie recipe in case you want to make them yourself. https://addapinch.com/chewy-sugar-cookies-recipe/​

Merry Christmas!