augusta: Jessica's wedding

We headed to Augusta on March 15th to attend Paul's cousin Jessica's wedding.

Augusta was in full bloom and made Montgomery look practically colorless. Even the yellow coat of pollen was thicker and the wind blew yellow clouds of dust! The reason? Among other things, these gorgeous azaleas!

So we took full advantage of the beautiful color! The girl cousins just happened to sit down all together in the same spot for more than 3.2 seconds!

and Millie quickly added John and we had a pretty awesome picture of all 5 wamsted cousins!

of course, it took no time at all for that to move to eating shoes, pouty faces, tongues out and distracted gazes! But John just kept right on smiling! 

I think this one of the big girls is one of my favorites though. they are SO sweet together!

but these two are simply adorable! i love how john's looking up at his big sister!

we grabbed a few pictures of jay and millie's family, but kira was not about to crack a smile. she really wanted to be down playing with addie!

love

and love!

this was the first wedding i've actually attended in i don't know how long. i've been shooting weddings with allison for over a year now, so it was super hard for me to turn off my 2nd shooter mode. but i did, and even managed to stay incognito for a while and get some pictures of our families without getting in anyone's way!

the little girls look like they were having one serious conversation here...over drinks!

and Addie has really taken an interest in little ones recently. I can't wait to share the pictures of her, Cady and Cady's new baby brother Davis! She's smitten with these new little boys!

there was lots of playing and just chilling before the dancing begin.

even time enough to grab a picture of the wamsted men! handsome you say? why yes, i agree!

but all addie wanted to do was dance! so dance we all did! (she's doing the electric slide out away from the group in the first one. check out ms. gail in the background!)

alone...and with others!

but this picture holds a funny story. Audrey Kate was dancing with Gramma and Papa Al. She was seemingly quite content and enjoying herself. Until she looked up at Gramma. Looked up at Papa Al. Rolled her little eyes. Dropped their hands. Turned and walked away. It was like she was saying: I won't have anymore of this silliness! All 3 of us got a good laugh out of it!

of course, there was a ramp off to the side that provided ample opportunities for running races and acting a bit like swinging monkeys!

but when the ribbon/bell shakers were handed out, it got even sillier! it quickly went from uncle jay silliness...

...to all 4 little girls joining in the silliness while daddy sat trying to keep a straight face!

i intentionally didn't take a single picture of the bride and groom (bc our girls wouldn't stand still long enough to be in one!) or cake/cupcakes or food or others dancing or flowers or table details or anything not related to our little ones that i'd normally shoot at a wedding reception; but as you can see from our crew, it was a fun celebration!

And we decided it was time to take everyone home for bed when the little girls laid down on the floor and practically fell asleep! ♥

Congratulations Mike and Jessica!

Redirect: Allison Lewis Photography

I don't often blog about what I'm doing outside our girl's lives.

Mainly because most of my time is spent with our girls. It's my job, and I take it very seriously.

However, that doesn't mean that all of my time is spent with them. That wouldn't be good for any of us!

I have the most incredible husband who's supported my love of photography for many years now. He'll pull over on the side of a random country road to let me get some pictures. He'll sit with me for hours while I edit. He'll drag everyone out to the front yard and jump up and down to get the girls to smile. And he'll spend whole days, from the time the girls wake up until they go to bed, being mommy and daddy. 

That love has grown a little over the years and has become more than just a hobby.

It might be once a month. Sometimes twice. It's always on a Saturday. And it involves long, exhausting, joyful days of celebration.

And it's spent not only with a very talented lady but an incredible friend.

I've learned more from Allison while actually doing something I love than I could ever learn reading a book or studying a technique. I could quote you terms or explain how something should be done.

But doing it is a whole different ball of yarn!

I'm pretty honored to be second shooting weddings with Allison. Honored and humbled and nervous and probably a little giddy at times! When I told her I'd do it (ok, when I begged her to let me do one with her just for fun), I had no idea we'd be where we are today...with weddings not only booked out a year in advance on her calendar but now on mine too as her second shooter.

I am so thankful for each opportunity I have to shoot with Allison. I am thankful for my dedicated, fully present husband who is the most amazing daddy to our girls. I am thankful for Allison's friendship and her willingness to share her talent with others. I am thankful. God is good. All the time.

And so is His timing.

While the goal of a second shooter is to stay out of the photographer line of vision, it's pretty much impossible and other times purposeful to end up in a few (when you have your camera pointed straight at her and her's straight at you!)!

Here's a fun post Allison did that I think you might enjoy...

Ode to Second Shooters