Piper is already 6 weeks old, has lost half her impressive newborn locks and quadrupled in size (well, she hasn't grown quite that much, but her number of chins really has quadrupled). She and her sisters are our dream come true, and I am so happy to share (finally) her birth announcement with you. We prepped Piper's nursery before her arrival but left the queen bed set up for guests until we move her out of our room. Between great light, the bold wall color (Blueberry by Benjamin Moore) and the large bed, we had a perfect backdrop for a meaningful lifestyle session. Piper is wrapped in one of my favorite scarves. Somehow our wild older girls have had a calming influence on Piper since day one. She is actually smiling in the photo with them, despite being just three days old. Cricket and Nora are smiling out of pride—and also the knowledge that they would earn the cupcakes our neighbors brought over if they were on their best behavior for the session. Bribery is the only way, my friends. Thank you for sharing in our joy as we watch this new life unfold. It's always magical, isn't it? Want to see the other girls' newborn photos? Here is Nora's. Here is Cricket's.
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Cricket has been dying to retake this photo (above left) since we found out last summer we had another baby on the way. She finally got her wish last week. Everyone was randomly coordinated the other day, so I grabbed my camera and assembled them on the screen porch. We had neither the same clothes nor the same house, plus one additional human; we had to make some adjustments. There was much controversy over Nora's new position, since Piper would be "playing Nora." Where should Nora sit? Which girl should Daddy be kissing? But I think it turned out pretty well in the end. We also tried to recreate the hand shot (below left) from the same sitting. It quickly devolved into little hands smacking each other, but here's one non-smacking version. Jeff and I still keep looking at each other and saying, "We have three kids!" How did we ever get so lucky?
I think by now I've shouted the news from every venue except this blog. It only took 40 weeks and six days of gestation, eight days of early labor and one (thankfully very smooth) induction to bring this little angel into the world. Now we can't imagine how we ever lived without her. Please allow me to introduce our tiny love, Piper Skye.
When everyone says, "Rest when the baby rests," all I hear is, "Take a million photos when the baby rests." I just can't help myself. Proofs of Piper's formal birth announcement are on their way, and I can't wait to share them. There is so much to say about her arrival, like how special it was to be delivered by a wonderful friend, who happens to be a highly skilled doctor, and how amazed I am by our big girls' enthusiasm and love for their baby sister. But that will all have to wait. I'm too tired. Plus I forgot how hard it is to type one-handed with an infant in the other arm. I had my heart set on being otherwise engaged and unable to post this week. But here we are—past 39 weeks and twiddling our thumbs. So I decided to snap a few photos of my honey and me before he left for work this morning. He's getting a little sad he won't be able to laugh at my waddle for much longer. I am less sad.
Over and out. Click here for more Portraits posts. I carefully curate most photos I post to demonstrate a peaceful existence. These outtakes from my maternity session, however, show what is actually swirling around me whenever I'm trying to compose a shot of anything. (The image above could be titled, “Mom, can we please stop now? We've been working for at least three minutes.") Ahh, how dull life would be without my little assistants. The next five images (captured with my Triggertrap set on a one-second time lapse while I was walking back to the camera) remind me so much of a series I shot in the Galapagos of two baby giant tortoises fighting/playing. (Here's one photo from that series.) The girls recently wrote a song about themselves called, "The Sisters of Toughness," which would make an excellent title for this grouping as well. Someone has to be climbing something at all times just out of (or just within) camera range. I'm just going to pull a little harder on your neck to see what happens... As wild and "helpful" as they can be, I couldn't be luckier to be the mom of The Sisters of Toughness. I just hope this new little one turns out to be as tough as they are. In the meantime, my mom suggested we hire the baby a 24/7 bodyguard. Click here for more Portraits posts.
Well here goes nothing. If you read my blog, you know these things about me: 1) I'm much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it and 2) while nothing makes me feel more alive than a newborn, nothing makes me feel less human than pregnancy. (I think the authors of "What to Expect" are writing a new symptoms section in my honor, and a support group has formed for those upon whom I have vomited over the last six years. Sorry about that.) With a month to go (or less—please?), I would characterize my general functionality as this-has-got-to-be-some-sort-of-a-bad-joke level. But this isn't my first rodeo. If I really get a healthy baby out of the deal, I know this pregnancy will become just another hazy, extremely nauseating memory. And I know one day that baby will appreciate seeing some maternity photos, especially ones featuring the big sisters. The logistics went something like this. First I baked cinnamon-sugar doughnuts (and withheld them until after the session), so I had some serious negotiating power with the girls. I wanted Jeff to appear in the photos, but I really, really wanted him to finish painting the nursery that day, so he got a free pass. Hopefully I can snap one with him later. I planned a winter outfit with boots and a coat, but it happened to be 70 degrees, so we did a few shots with coats and the rest in short sleeves. For our family and self portraits, I use a tripod and Triggertrap, which connects my camera to my phone and has a nifty time-lapse remote setting. (No, Triggertrap is not a sponsor. But yes, I love it so very much.) When the sun was right in the late afternoon, we headed to the backyard woods and got to work. The best part of the session was just letting the girls be their wild selves. They acted as my stand-ins for focusing, made me laugh by dancing behind the camera and forced me to bribe them continuously from start to finish with those fresh doughnuts. And gave the baby an unimaginable number of raspberry kisses. The outtakes and pullbacks are so funny (including a play-by-play fight scene that I missed when I turned my back and didn't see until I uploaded the photos) that I'm going to put together a separate post with them. Remember these photos from 20 weeks? Well, things have changed a bit since then... Click here to view more Portraits posts.
The girls and I were standing at the front windows yesterday morning watching Jeff try to pull the car out of our steep driveway for the first time since it snowed/iced. I bet he wouldn't make it and would spend another day working from home.
During his second attempt, Cricket held something up to me and said, "Mom, look!" She had lost her first tooth. And I had a sudden panic. These last five years—these last arduous, sometimes slow-as-molasses five years—had somehow passed too quickly; she may as well have been holding out a college acceptance letter, packing her bags and hopping a plane to her future. It felt like a kick to the stomach. The look on her face was proud, confused and a little overwhelmed, so I knew I better hold it together for her. After some exclaiming and some confusion over why Nora didn't also have a loose tooth (they still don't really accept that they're not actually twins), we turned back to the window to see that Jeff had made it to the top of the driveway on his third attempt. The girls were so surprised they started to cry. "We don't want Daddy to go to the office!" He came inside to say goodbye, but I knew they had him firmly in their grasp between the tears and the lost tooth. Of course he would work from home for one more day. Jeff went upstairs to work, and we made it through another snow day morning: playtime in the tub, coloring, nail polish, batch #539 of cookies. Then I set them up with a movie and had a good, long cry in the shower. Maybe I wouldn't have been so sentimental if I weren't pregnant, but still. How could it be? There has been so much time I've wished away over the last five years: ear infections (probably 30-40 by now?) and allergic reactions, temper tantrums and a lot of missing my traveling consultant husband. Oh, and vomit. So much vomit. More mine than theirs, because pregnancy and I just don't get along. But now I was regretting wishing any of it away. Sure it's unrealistic that anyone would savor those especially difficult parenting moments, but I'm finally beginning to understand why all those older ladies stop you in the grocery store to admire your children and say, "Enjoy them while they're young! It goes by too fast." They know something. That tiny little tooth—hard earned by so many sleepless nights—had my head spinning. All I could think about was how soon the girls' mouths would be filled with adult teeth. That they would both leave home for college within a year of each other. That time had to slow down, or...or...or... And then something caught my eye: my big, bordering on enormous, belly. And instead of feeling the usual nausea, heartburn and anxiety over how I'll handle three kids when I can't even handle two, I felt relief. We get another shot! Yes, we'll probably make most of the same mistakes this time and wish away more moments than we should, but maybe we'll savor a few more of them this time around too. We've gained a little old lady wisdom for ourselves by now. Somehow this line of thought made it feel like I just might be able to accept that Cricket is of tooth-losing age, with Nora hot on her heels, and it's okay. Not only okay, but exciting. I just never realized as a kid how many tears were probably hiding behind my parents' smiles with every milestone my sisters and I hit along the way. After pulling myself together and eating almost all of cookie batch #539, we went outside to take some celebratory photos before the 60-degree sunshine melted the rest of the snow. No matter how fast they grow and change, may these girls always remain thick and thieves. And may this new little one only add to the strength of their posse. Check out my Instagram @jsoplop for more snow day photos. Remember this sweet family from their rainy session last year? Well a lot's changed in a year. A new crop of hair! More energy! Things are looking up. And once again, their session was one of my favorites.
When this little man decided to grab his camera to "help" me shoot the session, I knew it was going to be a good one. Then I spent the drive home debating which one of my daughters he should marry. I still can't decide... Happy Holidays from my family to you and yours! We wish you time with your loved ones, good health and, above all, peace.
This girl. She's our firstborn, and she just turned 5 years old. Strong, adventurous, meticulous. Energetic, driven, focused. An artist. A climber. A sensitive soul. A caring big sister. A cuddler. How can she fit so many traits into such a little body? Witnessing her grow from an angel of a baby into the person she is today has been a joy (albeit an exhausting one), and I can't wait to see who she becomes.
This year has been one of many changes for our family, and I wanted the context of Cricket's 5-year-old portraits to reflect the new place we call home in some way. So we drove down the road and explored a hiking trail along the Haw River. Few things in life make me happier than watching my girls experience a new-to-them part of this world, whether that adventure is close to home or on the other side of the planet. It only took her about 30 seconds (and one venomous snake encounter) to take to the river. |
My new book is out! Click to learn more about it.Hello thereI'm Julia Soplop, writer and photographer. I believe there is something profound in bearing witness to moments of joy and pain in others’ lives. My husband, three girls and I live outside of Chapel Hill, NC. You can read more about me here.
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