welcome, Haven | Nashville lifestyle newborn photographer

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am Adonai, your God, the Holy One of Israel — your Savior.

… Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the East and gather you from the West. I will say to the North, ‘Give them up!’ and to the South, ‘Don’t hold them back.’

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

— Isaiah 43:1-7

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welcome, Adelaide | Nashville Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

“To love or have loved - that is enough.

Ask nothing further.

There is no other pearl to be found

in the dark folds of life.”

— Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

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the Farmers | Nashville Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

Return to the LORD your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger

and abounding in steadfast love.

- Joel 2:13

(From the beautiful She Reads Truth print, on their living room wall.)

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the Wheelers | Nashville family photographer

“Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance,

and have faith that in this love

there is a strength and a blessing so large

that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” 

― Rainer Maria Rilke 

Letters to a Young Poet

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the Dixons | Nashville family photographer

“With you, I can be myself;

With you, I don’t have to be somebody else.

It’s like putting on my favorite pair of shoes.

I like to be with me when I’m with you.”

-Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

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welcome, Caleb | Nashville lifestyle newborn photographer

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 3:3

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the Hawkins | Nashville family photographer

“May this our home be a harbor of

anchorage and refuge,

and a haven from which we journey forth

to do your work in the world.

May it be a garden of nourishment

in which our roots go deep

that we might bear fruit

for the nourishing of others.

“May this our new home be a place of knowing

and of being known,

a place of shared tears and laughter;

a place where forgiveness is easily asked

and granted,

and wounds are quickly healed;

a place of meaningful conversation, of words not left unsaid;

a place of joining, of becoming,

of creating, and reflecting;

a place where our diverse gifts

are named and appreciated;

where we learn to serve one another

and to serve our neighbors well;

a place where our stories are forever twined

by true affections.”

— excerpt from “A Liturgy for Moving Into a New Home,” from Every Moment Holy by Doug McKelvey

These were their first family photos as Nashville-dwellers, which is why I chose a section of this liturgy to accompany the photos. I absolutely loved my time with them, and I hope that comes through in these photos.

Bless you, sweet Hawkins.

welcome, Olivia | Nashville lifestyle newborn photographer

“You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah.

Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are from the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land.

And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world.

And he will be the source of peace.” — Micah 5:2-5

“The unexpected Bethlehem King is the once and coming King, the King of the first and still coming second Advent, the King coming again to rule the earth and make all the sad things untrue. The wonderland is unfolding even now, Kingdom coming, because His Word ‘will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands’ (Isaiah 55:11-12, NIV).

The dance of the sugarplum fairies just withered a bit.

The very trees of the fields are going to dance and clap their hands. The King is coming, and the new Kingdom is stirring. And stirring in you. When the King rules your world, you cease to worry. All worry dethrones God. All worrying makes you King and God incompetent.

There is a King born in Bethlehem and on the throne. You can breathe.”

— Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

(You’re right — it’s April, and we’re in Lent now, not Advent. But Olivia is a December baby, and I wanted to share her newborn session — and take the excuse to revisit Ann’s Advent devotional book, The Greatest Gift, which I love reading year-round, not just in December. I hope her words and the photos of this marvelous little family bless you.)

the Finchers | Nashville family photographer

“It’s funny:

I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shiny tools:

the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience.

But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said,

Do the best you can with these, they will have to do.

And mostly, against all odds, they’re enough.”

— Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

welcome, Violet | Nashville lifestyle newborn photographer

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a beautiful, brave little family. This Emerson quote made me think of this mother and father — and I expect it will ring true for their children, as well. Their love of learning is contagious, and I love getting to be their friend. I hope that comes through in these photos.