The Garbe Family is a typical family living life to the fullest as they enjoy their day to day occurrences. Two beautiful girls and two loving parents. All with real dreams that will be best suited together. Their dreams were on course to Italy, instead their visiting Holland.

Lisa is often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability — to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. She says it’s like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans… the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, Gondolas. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After several months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!” “Holland?” you say. “What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. I’m supposed to… be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It’s just a different place. So, you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around. You begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. And Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.” And the pain of that experience will never, ever, ever go away. The loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you might never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Trip To Holland
By Emily Perl Kingsley

We had such a fun time with the Greenlee’s yesterday. We can’t wait to share more images from their shoot, but until then here’s a sneak peek.

We’ve been told that it takes special people to care for and Love a child with special needs.  As parents to the child, we love our children because they are a product of us…but to a brother or sister, it’s a different sort of love and respect.  They don’t always understand why people make such a fuss or what makes their brother/sister special…they simply see the person.  Families that are blessed with such a gift become an inspiration just by loving and providing. We had the pleasure of meeting such a special family last weekend. 
 
The Garbe’s started the morning off in the good ole Texas HUMID heat.  Even though it became extremely hot it didn’t stop us from having a fun-filled-family on-the-go photoshoot.  It didn’t take long for us to relate to the Garbe’s and photograph that “togetherness” that they share.  Each person has their own unique role in the family making a fully functioning team.  
 
Sheridan and Brooke are adorable sisters with their own separate agendas.  They kept us on our toes throughout the shoot and provided us an ample amount of photographic opportunities.  When I settled for a bit, I had the pleasure of sharing cuddle-time with Brooke as she sat in my lap while I continued to photograph her sister, Sheridan.  All I could think was, “future photographer” as she oohed and ahhed at the preview of each shot taken;-)  And when Sheridan held my hand as we walked to the next spot, I knew her heart.  It was the same sweetness that our son shares with others.  A special bond ties these girls together and will enrich their lives together through the years to come.  Here are a few photographs of this beautiful dynamic family.

such a sweet moment. I love Andre’s angle on the left and mine on the right.

Nate helped me with the selects of these images. On the image below he said “Oh Mom, you have to use this one. I love how her eyes are in focus.” I just had to share my proud Mom-photographer moment with my little man. Not to mention how gorgeous Sheridan looks.

This past Saturday the Garbe’s braved the dreadfully humid Texas heat for their lifestyle family photoshoot. Here’s a little peek from our active time together.

Leah and Roddy waited patiently for their baby to be a part of their lives. Although their lives were changed the moment she came into it, they embraced their new life with acceptance and optimism. They took on Laiken’s first year with strength, compassion, pride, and a whole lot of LOVE.

It’s always a blessing to see people with a real desire to be parents be given the opportunity to raise and nurture a child, especially a child as precious as Laiken.  Both the parents and child will only benefit from the beautiful relationship that they share. Together they make one special family.  

Here is our first family showography that we created to share the Neff’s united love.  Enjoy!!!

I was incredibly excited when Leah contacted me shortly after we photographed our Down syndrome portrait event. She told me all about her sweet little girl, Laiken, who also (as I like to say) happens to be gently enhanced. After hearing and reading all about her (I love family blogs!!!) I couldn’t wait to photograph her and her families love for each other.

When we met, I sort of fell in love. I think that is everyone’s natural reaction after immediately meeting her. She was even more precious than I imagined she would be. Andre and I ate up every one of her smiles. every content little expression. every pure feeling she had towards her Mama and Dada… and herself when looking back through her mirror. Laiken’s energy is truly contagious. She was a pure delight to be around.

We loved getting to know the Neff family. After only a few minutes, there were no doubts to the depth of their love. Love as it should be…Unconditional, Intense and FUN. Laiken is going to do great things with the love and support that she has from her parents.

check out this adorable smile.

a little peek-a-boo play. Love it!

I enjoy capturing moments like this. A love force that is to be reckoned with.

I’m so proud of you Laiken! I look forward to watching you continue to grow and flourish.

Yes, that’s right, this is only part 1 of this families session. Check back Thursday for a nice surprise, Andre style.

I’m actually on maternity leave.  I’m sorry for not blogging sooner… but I’ve been enjoying my my time by recovering, spending time with our newly shaped family and getting to know my precious baby boy.

On November 20th my husband and I welcomed our third child Dezmond Dominik into our family…. literally.  Andre and I delivered him at our house.  Yes, we had a semi-unassisted home-birth.  I say “semi” home-birth, because thankfully our wonderful birthing team (Mid-wife Christy Martin, her assistant Abby, and our Doula / Hypnoduola Kathy O’brien) arrived just minutes after Dez was born (they were caught in Friday night rush hour traffic).  Immediately upon arrival they took incredible care of Dez and I and we couldn’t have done it without them.

Having Dez naturally at home was such an amazing experience that has bonded us all together in such a loving and intense way.  Being at home for his birth was so soothing, comfortable, and most of all it was just right for us.  At birth Dez weighed 9.6lbs and was 20.5in long.  My biggest baby yet.

Proud Dada Andre taking in all of Dez’s sweetness.

Me, proud and shocked Mama, taking in the moment, shaking a bit, and high from the experience.

Nate and Lana… simply in AWE of their baby brother.

Andre and I had planned for a home-birth, not so much the unassisted part, but when it happened, we worked together perfectly and encouraged each other throughout the two pushes… then Dez was there and in my arms.  I always say that Andre is great, but really you must know after this he truly is AMAZING.  I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful partner and best-friend to experience life with.

Photo taken by Kathy O’brien.

It’s great reconnecting with past clients.  I photographed Kayla for her senior portraits and with her came Justin.  We had a great time getting to know each other then, but this time was even more fun with Andre.  We enjoyed capturing their love and eagerly anticipate their wedding in October!

We had so many favorites that it’s hard to narrow them down to a post, but I must, so here are some of our top picks from their e-session.

To see more of their engagement session, CLICK HERE for their slideshow!  or play below.