The Ried Family

Huntersville, NC  Family & Children Photography

I have waited a long long time to photograph this beautiful Ried Family.  Misty contacted me last year and after rescheduling and working around many bumps we made it work–YAY!!! Ben and Misty are beyond amazing parents. They have two beautiful babies, Braxton & Allie. I truly can’t begin to share their incredible journey on here in one short blog post but every one of them are an inspiration to me. Braxton (who is 5 years old) has what is known as Dravet syndrome, and I am so thankful that Misty & Ben have opened up their hearts to help educate others (like me) on this rare syndrome.  If you would like to learn more and keep up with their precious boy-  you can look go to http://www.braxtonsweb.com . He is precious, and completely all boy. Full of happiness, love and life. He wanted to sword fight and made me smile all morning long. I hope more than anything I was able to capture that for his Mom & Dad. I am sure those are the moments that really matter, and the memories that are priceless. (not the never-ending days & hours in hospitals or doing therapy.) Braxton adores his little sister Allie. And she adores him right back. Allie is vibrant and fun. And boy does she love her Daddy! Misty and Ben are some of the very best people I have ever met. Every moment of their day is wrapped around their children—including all night long as well. I really hope I get to spend a lot more time with this incredible family and they will be in my prayers every single day. Braxton is a reason I am a photographer.  ❤

http://www.dravetfoundation.org

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and to add even more reasons to love this precious lil man…he was singing, and this shot was mid-song. I adore. untitled-199 copy copy

The Rush Family in 2013

Davidson, NC  Family Photography

 

What a sweet joy it was spending a morning with the Rush family over their spring break! {putting in a quick personal note below…it ties in with the Rush Family’s session though}

My morning started out so perfect, mainly because I actually got to grab a coffee and a yummy muffin- and sit in peace to enjoy all of them. (wow) But the other huge treat for me was I brought my first baby boy along for the ride- ok he’s my first “fur” baby, but he’ll always be my first baby. Cooper is my almost 9 year old cream french bulldog- also known as owning 1/6th of my heart. Cooper is more like a human than a dog…he is more sensitive and understanding than any human I have ever met. And by far, MUCH more loyal. He is beyond special. OK honestly, when I started to write this a few moments ago I didn’t think I was going to go down this path of tears and stories of my precious pooch. geez. {so skip all this next rambling if you really don’t want to hear Cooper’s health situation-but it does give you a glimpse into why my morning with the Rush family, and Cooper was extra special}

~Well, about 8 days ago I took Cooper to the vet because he randomly threw up a lot of blood. (seriously, out of nowhere.) and just for those of you who don’t know my life personally- our dogs are treated like children, and maybe sometimes even a tad better. Basically the vet said in a nutshell that Cooper isn’t getting enough oxygen and we will have to do surgery. 😦 Being almost 9 years old,  that is just scary to me. So, at this point we are currently awaiting a surgery for our sweet boy- to open his nose holes up and to check his throat and airway to make sure air is able to reach his little body. This mommy is scared, and sad for Cooper. But I know it is in God’s hands and he has been loved beyond imagination since the day we brought him home. Please say a little prayer if you have a moment.

So, Cooper got to ride with me to meet the Rush family in Davidson- and he must of been in heaven. He just wants to go with me everywhere, so I have decided to try to give him a little more special time these days. Having 3 kids takes away a lot of my one-on-one time that I use to have with Cooper. 😦  He enjoyed some of my muffin, listened to me sing loudly to the radio and even got to go into CVS with me to buy some chapstick for the chilly session. He made my day. And at the end of our session- he made the Rush’s youngest son’s day too. Wyatt was absolutely in love with Cooper. And it made my heart smile. Cooper has taught me so much in life…and I think he probably reminded the Rush family of some things they had been pushing aside as well. Animals are such beautiful & unconditionally loving creatures. ok…I am going to get back to the Rush family now, sorry for going off on a tangent, it has weighed heavily on my heart this week.

Ok so moving on to the beautiful Rush Family…we had a blast running around Davidson College and trying our best to keep warm. (even made a fun stop for treats at the coffee shop) They have the cutest little ones, oh my. Val and Chris have taught their 3 munchkins all about smiling & flirting- and I couldn’t get enough! Eli smiled as if he were in love from the moment I saw him up until the very end- I just want to squeeze him. 🙂 I hope you enjoy this pretty family!

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