A family of three: personal || dfw wedding photographer

(on a completely unrelated to the rest of this post note: I've recently had my domain name for this blog stolen and may not be able to get it back for a while.  In the meantime I will be blogging here with my old URL www.jessicashaephotography.blogspot.com.  Sorry about the confusion!)
Judah Wesley Sherrill entered the world an 8 pound ball of beautiful screaming happiness in the wee hours of the morning on September 12th.  (I had been in labor for almost 48 hours at that point, so while I just really REALLY WANTED THAT BABY OUT OF ME I was slightly grateful that he waited an extra hour so he didn't have to share a birthday with one of the greatest tragedy's America has ever experienced.) Those next hours were the sweetest, most incredible moments of my life.  Better than my wedding day, better than any holiday, gift, party, trip, adventure I'd ever experienced or been given, those first few hours of holding and studying and smelling and kissing were overwhelmingly wonderful. That first night after he was born, before I fell asleep I asked Josh to put him in my arms.  I felt a little bit sneaky about it, because the nurse had told us we weren't allowed to hold him while sleeping, because they were afraid we would drop him out of the bed or something. But I didn't care.  He was my baby, I'd waited 9 months to hold him, I had rails on either side of my bed, and pillows all around me and him, there was no way he was going anywhere, and there was certainly no way I was giving him up to that hard plastic box sitting next to my bed.  I woke up so many times during that night, my body wavering between it's intense need for about 30 straight hours of sleep, and wanting so badly to just stare at the tiny person that slept quietly in my arms.  I remember waking up that first morning, feeling the heaviness of the little bundle laying in my arms before I'd even opened my eyes, and my heart splitting right open again as I soaked in that moment of awe that this was my son, and I was his mother. I never want to forget his tiny-ness, his skinny arms and legs, the thin little lips that smacked together whenever he was ready to eat, the thick brown hair all over his head, and perfectly formed nose.  I'm so very grateful to Elisabeth Carol for not only taking pictures of his birth (those will eventually be posted on our family blog with my birth story that I'm still working on) but also came over on his one week birthday and took pictures of our newly minted family.  I adore these pictures so much and get all weepy for another baby every time I look at them ;) Judah: meaning "Praise" and Wesley: after John and Charles Wesley. Judah has been my favorite boy name for a long time, I love how strong it sounds especially since Jesus is called the Lion of Judah.  We chose Wesley because we both love John and Charles Wesley and would love for all of our children in some way to be named after a hero of the faith.  Our prayer is that he would grow up to be a strong and fierce protecter of the faith and proclaimer of praise for our Lord Jesus!

meeting baby sherrill: personal || dfw engagement & wedding photographer

lil' raspberry,

i read the other day that from the very moment of conception every tiny microscopic baby has all the DNA programmed into it that is needed for its future growth.  but the even crazier thing is that long before He breathed life into you, God knew if your eyes would be blue or brown, wether you'd be tall or short,  or if your hair will be curly or straight. He knew wether or not you'll laid back and smart like your daddy or bouncy and chatter-y like your mom, and He knew if you were a boy or a girl.  and He knew all of this because He was the one who designed every last detail of your tiny self.  it boggles my mind that so much information could be programmed into such tiny cells, and that from the very moment your life began you weren't "going to be" a boy or girl, you "were" a boy or girl.

over the past 4.5 months you've gone from smaller than a poppyseed, to a 9 inch, 9 oz. fist pumping, head bobbing, never-ending-bouncy baby.  and though we know so little about you, understand this: your daddy and i love you so much already.

and last week we got to see your tiny face for the first time.  it was crazy.  it was surreal.  it was the best day.

i spent the day before our appointment frantically working, cleaning, running errands, and doing everything i could to not only make the day pass by quickly, but make sure that i was ahead on everything that i needed to get ahead on so that the next day (baby meeting day!) i could do nothing but sit and stare at your tiny perfect face for hours on end if i wanted to.

i was nervous.  i was excited.  i couldn't decide what to wear.  i painted my nails.  even though you weren't going to be able to see me, it seemed important that I look nice the first time i met you.

our appointment wednesday was first thing in the morning,  so i went to bed early to try and get some sleep.  what a ridiculous idea.  i lay there wide awake running through baby names in my head, feeling you kick and thinking how crazy it would be if we found out we were having twins.  the next morning when my alarm went off your daddy asked what time it was.  "7:10" i answered.  he looked at me a little puzzled, "ummm, we don't need to be up for a while..." and then rolled back over to sleep some more.  i didn't care.  getting up way earlier than necessary was the plan, because it meant i wouldn't be rushed and i could enjoy every minute of this day.  i agonized over what to wear, and changed clothes several times before i was satisfied.  it was a kind of chilly wet morning but that didn't stop me from wearing one of my favorite summer-y maxi dresses because summer is my favorite and summer clothes are the cutest.  we had donuts for breakfast because donuts are for special days, like saturdays, and birthdays, and meeting your baby days.

on the way to the doctor your daddy and i discussed our gender predictions.  he guessed "baby" (not a real guess.) and i guessed "boy."  i had been saying it was a girl for a lot of the pregnancy but i really didn't have a strong feeling one way or the other and so decided to guess boy just because most everyone else was guessing girl and i like to be different ;)

after the nurse/technician called my name and we started to walk back to the room, the nervous anticipation i felt pounding in my chest could only ever be matched by my pounding heart last summer when i saw your daddy standing in the middle of the botanical gardens and thought to myself as i started walking towards him "oh my gosh he's going to propose."  those 45 second walks were similar in so many ways.  knowing what was about to happen but having a hard time believing that it was happening and that it was happening to ME.

those first few seconds of seeing you were incredible lil' ras.  you are so tiny and beautiful.  your head was perfectly round and your little fists waved wildly at us.  our technician called you "feisty" because of how much you were moving around, and asked if i'd had any caffeine this morning.  "no, this is pretty much how it always is" i told her.  i smiled proudly at this, because i love your little energetic bouncy self.  it was a first of many "proud mommy moments" i'm sure i'll have over the years, but it was a little surreal to be laying there discussing how energetic my child was for the first time ;)  she said that you were bigger than what my current due date said you should be, so we get to skip ahead a week in counting!  you played with your ear and didn't suck your thumb, (thank you! keep that up!) made faces at us, and kicked and rolled all around, making it very difficult for the technician to get clear shots of all of your tiny features.

i wasn't sure what my reaction would be when she told us.  i figured i would cry happy tears, because tears come easily these days. ;)  but when she finally said the words we'd been waiting to hear, my reaction was almost exactly like when your daddy asked me to marry him.  (i didn't cry then either, even though i definitely expected to bawl my eyes out.)  i just sucked in my breath and giggled like a little girl and then didn't breathe again for what felt like forever.

(for you to be able to hear the video correctly, especially the most important part, you'll probably have to have your sound turned all the way up!)

music: i get to be the one //jj heller

oh sweet baby boy.  i love you so much!  i honestly didn't hope for it to be one way or the other, but i've said for as long as i can remember that i'd like to have lots of boys, so hopefully you're the first of many!  i can't wait to watch your imagination expand as we read books about pirates, and tigers, play in the mud, climb trees, and make forts on your bed (and i'll always let you be the captain!).  if you end up being the kind of boy that finds it necessary to bring home every beetle, worm, and tiny cricket you find in the yard, i will work on not screaming when you present them to me proudly, though i can't promise i'll touch them ;)  or if you would rather just cautiously watch them from afar, i'd be ok with that too ;)  i promise not to get mad every time you come in with grass stains on your knees or mud smeared across your shirt, because i understand that little boys can't always be bothered with thinking about their clothes while exploring the great outdoors.  i can't wait to teach you how to be a gentle protecter of your younger siblings (should you have them) and to watch you learn to throw the baseball with your dad.

you and me are going to be buds, i just know it ;)

i love you my feisty ear holding bouncy boy!

love,

mommy

p.s. your daddy thinks it's funny they used the word feisty to describe you, because he's always telling me i'm feisty.  sooo apparently it's a family trait ;)

announcement: personal || dfw engagement & wedding photographer

"It's delightful when your imaginations come true, isn't it?"

-l.m. montgomery

Yes yes yes, it is true, our newly formed family is already growing!  And we couldn't be happier or more excited :)  After finding out about this precious baby in December, we told close family and a few friends, but decided to wait until I started my second trimester before sharing the news with the rest of the world.  It seemed like the longest wait everrrrr, but it's finally here, I'm 12 weeks today :)  And we're so very thrilled to announce to all of you that we've been blessed with a little baby due to arrive the beginning of September!  We've nick-named him/her "raspberry" or "lil' raz" for short, to avoid calling him/her "it" for the next few months.

Praise the Lord for entrusting us with this precious little life, we're SO excited to be parents!

p.s. I started a little family blog a few weeks back to keep grandparents and other relatives who live near and far updated on our growing family (and let's face it, this blog couldn't handle the amount of pictures I'll be posting once this sweet little thing is born) so if you're interested in keeping up with the bump + what I'm cooking for dinner (or listening the the precious little raspberry's heartbeat!) you can check it out at: www.wearethesherrills.com


Much Love,
Jessica Shae

7 states in 20 days: travel || dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

A few weeks ago my family took the longest vacation ever known in the history of man (or maybe just the longest one we've ever taken. ever.)  Over 20 days we drove across 7 states, made 2 emergency room visits, hiked + camped in sunshine AND rain, saw the grand canyon for the first time, heard the mormon tabernacle choir in concert, came within about 20ft of a bull elk, and spent an inordinate amount of quality time with each other in the car.  You know, just normal family vacation types of things. From the mountain tops to the flat desert, to the ocean and the tops of the Grand Canyon every single bit of it was an incredible testimony to the creativity of our Creator.  It was lovely, and I came away from the trip with the happiest memories, and some of my favorite travel pictures I've ever taken.  Enjoy. Winter Park, Colorado

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah



Salt Lake City, Utah
Tahoe, California

San Francisco, California














Grand Canyon, Arizona







Much Love, Jessica Shae