Today is our dear friend Margaret Lakes Birthday and I wanted to take the time to tell her how much she means to us and tell y'all the story of how we met.
Margaret was the second and last wedding photographer we interviewed before we got married about 5 years ago. As soon as we left we knew she was the one we wanted to take our wedding photos. She was very friendly and her work was amazing. She is a documentary style photographer, meaning she wouldn't just get a few posed shots but would capture the whole day of our wedding and the pictures would be able to tell the story of that day for years to come.
The day of our wedding she got there early to get pictures of me getting ready. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do and she said you can do whatever you want, just be yourself. So after that I just got ready and did what I would normally do. I didn't even notice she was there. In fact after our wedding I told Jason I don't think Margaret got pictures of this moment or that one because I didn't see her, but sure enough when we saw the pictures she got everything and much more than I would have hoped for. Our pictures are amazing and every time I look at them I remember exactly what I was feeling at that moment in time.
Then when Kenya was about 8 months old we have family pictures done to celebrate Jason's brother, Uncle Toe Toe, graduating from college. Again she was amazing and we loved the pictures.
Fast forward to 2008 when we found out about Melody and Madison being conjoined we started doing a ton of research. During that time we found out about an organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep it was a group of professional photographers who take pictures for families who have babies that are not expected to live all free of charge. We knew right away this was something we wanted to do. We wanted our moments with Melody and Madison documented and I also didn't want Jason or I to have to worry about taking pictures. I wanted us to be able to love on our girls without thinking about anything else.
The more I thought about it though the more I realized I didn't really want a stranger sharing these moments with us I wanted someone I knew and trusted. So I emailed Margaret and told her all about the twins then I told her all about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. I explained to her that I couldn't imagine anyone else taking these pictures and asked her if she would be willing to do it. Without hesitation she said yes.
When we found out we would be delivering Melody and Madison I was really nervous about having the pictures taken, I'm not sure why. I called Margaret and told her we would be delivering that day sometime around 6pm I told her she didn't have to come right away if she didn't want to but with in a hour she was there. I was so thankful she came right up there I may have chickened out and not had them taken if she didn't. I was so glad she was there she was able to capture the moments we had with our friends and family before the girls were born. She was able to take pictures of us getting their clothes ready and our family and friends praying for us after we went into the OR. She took pictures that mean the world to me of moments I would have never gotten to see while I was in surgery. She was there while our friends and family got to meet the girls. Margaret was such a blessing to have there. She became not only a friend but a part of our family that day.
She took family/pregnancy pictures of us a few weeks before Judah was born. Again she out did herself.
After we had Judah, Margaret and her family came up to meet him. It was so neat to get to introduce her to our son. She was so sweet and took pictures of him at the hospital. I will share those at the end of this blog post.
So that is how we met and got to know our amazing friend/ photographer Margaret Lake.
Margaret, We love you dearly and we are so thankful God allowed us to be a part of each others lives. You have been there for us in our happiest and saddest moments and we are so blessed by the gift you have been to our family. I hope you have a great birthday and I hope you know how much you are loved!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Love,
Jason, Vanessa, Kenya and Judah
And now for your viewing pleasure the pictures Margaret took at the hospital.
Jason's Dad (Papa T) holding Judah.
Margaret was the second and last wedding photographer we interviewed before we got married about 5 years ago. As soon as we left we knew she was the one we wanted to take our wedding photos. She was very friendly and her work was amazing. She is a documentary style photographer, meaning she wouldn't just get a few posed shots but would capture the whole day of our wedding and the pictures would be able to tell the story of that day for years to come.
The day of our wedding she got there early to get pictures of me getting ready. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do and she said you can do whatever you want, just be yourself. So after that I just got ready and did what I would normally do. I didn't even notice she was there. In fact after our wedding I told Jason I don't think Margaret got pictures of this moment or that one because I didn't see her, but sure enough when we saw the pictures she got everything and much more than I would have hoped for. Our pictures are amazing and every time I look at them I remember exactly what I was feeling at that moment in time.
Then when Kenya was about 8 months old we have family pictures done to celebrate Jason's brother, Uncle Toe Toe, graduating from college. Again she was amazing and we loved the pictures.
Fast forward to 2008 when we found out about Melody and Madison being conjoined we started doing a ton of research. During that time we found out about an organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep it was a group of professional photographers who take pictures for families who have babies that are not expected to live all free of charge. We knew right away this was something we wanted to do. We wanted our moments with Melody and Madison documented and I also didn't want Jason or I to have to worry about taking pictures. I wanted us to be able to love on our girls without thinking about anything else.
The more I thought about it though the more I realized I didn't really want a stranger sharing these moments with us I wanted someone I knew and trusted. So I emailed Margaret and told her all about the twins then I told her all about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. I explained to her that I couldn't imagine anyone else taking these pictures and asked her if she would be willing to do it. Without hesitation she said yes.
When we found out we would be delivering Melody and Madison I was really nervous about having the pictures taken, I'm not sure why. I called Margaret and told her we would be delivering that day sometime around 6pm I told her she didn't have to come right away if she didn't want to but with in a hour she was there. I was so thankful she came right up there I may have chickened out and not had them taken if she didn't. I was so glad she was there she was able to capture the moments we had with our friends and family before the girls were born. She was able to take pictures of us getting their clothes ready and our family and friends praying for us after we went into the OR. She took pictures that mean the world to me of moments I would have never gotten to see while I was in surgery. She was there while our friends and family got to meet the girls. Margaret was such a blessing to have there. She became not only a friend but a part of our family that day.
She took family/pregnancy pictures of us a few weeks before Judah was born. Again she out did herself.
After we had Judah, Margaret and her family came up to meet him. It was so neat to get to introduce her to our son. She was so sweet and took pictures of him at the hospital. I will share those at the end of this blog post.
So that is how we met and got to know our amazing friend/ photographer Margaret Lake.
Margaret, We love you dearly and we are so thankful God allowed us to be a part of each others lives. You have been there for us in our happiest and saddest moments and we are so blessed by the gift you have been to our family. I hope you have a great birthday and I hope you know how much you are loved!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Love,
Jason, Vanessa, Kenya and Judah
And now for your viewing pleasure the pictures Margaret took at the hospital.
Jason's Dad (Papa T) holding Judah.
Kenya being silly
Uncle Toe Toe
And one of the many faces of baby Judah
blogger wont let me up load anymore pictures so I put the rest in a picasa album go check them out HERE
Oh my goodness.....The pics on here with Kenya and Judah and their mouths open look identical!God is SO good!
ReplyDeleteVanessa, I am so blessed to have a friend like you, words can't really express it. Thank you for that, I mean, "Wow"! I am humbled at your kind words & Christian friendship. God bless you & your family! That is one of the best birthday presents I've ever received...no, THE best!
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