As I was gently rocking Isabella to sleep, I could hear Dre telling his mom about me over the soft crash of the waves. She had asked where they had found me and he explained that I photographed their wedding and did their maternity photos and that “the stars aligned” for me to come up there to do Isa’s newborn photos. He put it perfectly. I’ve known Danielle since we were kids, but her and Dre live in Destin, FL now which if you’re not good at geography is about 10 hours away! It just so happen that my parents had a camping trip planned up in St. George right around the time of Isabella’s due date. I was only going to be in the area for three days so we all prayed she would come on time so I’d be able to do the photos. Our prayers were answered when Isa was born on July 2nd. She was beautiful and healthy.
The night before I left with my family to head up that way I asked Danielle for her address so I could mapquest how far it would be from the campground. When I saw the total trip time say 3 hours my heart started racing. We all thought we were great at geography and that St. George was only 45 min to an hour from them. Boy were we wrong. I immediately text Danielle to explain the situation and tried to come up with a solution. Maybe I could sleep on their couch, drive there and back in one day, etc. Then my mom chimes in that my uncle had plans to trailer his motorcycle up to Birmingham, Al the day after we get there. The stars were aligning. Long story short, I was able to hitch a ride with my uncle early Friday morning and we met up with Dre at a halfway point. Dre being the amazing man that he is woke up at 4:30am after having no sleep (he is a new dad after all) drove an hour and a half to pick me up and then drove an hour and a half back. I spent about four hours with them and then he drove me again an hour and half to meet my uncle and then back home. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
Danielle and Dre, you two have fallen into the roles of parenthood with such ease and grace. Isabella is lucky to have you as your parents and I already know you will go the distance to do what’s best for her. I look forward to watching your family grow and may your days be filled with love and laughter.
This was my first time doing newborn photos at the beach and it was so much fun. Isabella takes after her parents. This girl loves the beach!
Then we headed back to the house for a few more. How adorable is that floral diaper cover?
Baby yawns are the cutest
I am so glad we got this last photo. Danielle had shown me an inspiration photo for a picture like this that she wanted to recreate. Since she served in the Air Force, she wanted a patriotic photo. When we first attempted it, Isa was waking up and getting fussy and I didn’t feel comfortable suspending her in the air when she was so fidgety. Danielle was upset we weren’t able to get it, but while she was upstairs getting ready for their family photos, Dre and her mom helped me try it again. We decided just to lay her down so there was no risk of her getting hurt and I was able to get this photo. We kept it a secret from Danielle and on my way back to the campsite I sent it to her as a sneak peek. She was surprised and overjoyed!
Aren’t these family photos just so sweet?
Isa’s smile just as Dre was about to kiss her melts my heart
by Julie Jarrell
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