Jones Family | Oklahoma City Lifestyle and Family Photographer

Had some fun in the sun {FINALLY}! The Jones family and I headed out into the late afternoon sun to grab some family shots.

I am so relieved that things are starting to warm up around here. It makes it much easier to get kiddos to smile!

 

Daddies help with that too

 

 

 

 

Yep. I could definitely go for more sessions- and weather- like this!

 



 

God bless,

Chelsea

One. Year. Old.

Oh darling boy... I'm not sure I can even find the words to describe how it has felt to be your momma for the past twelve months. You made your way into this world kicking and screaming and you haven't slowed down since. You are 100% boy and the complete opposite of your sister in nearly every way. Louder. Faster. Harder. Rougher. Stronger. But to your very core, you are a momma's boy- sweet and cuddly as can be. The way you reach out for me or crawl to me or wrap your pudgy little arms around my neck makes my momma heart melt into a big mushy puddle. Your open-mouth kisses are the sweetest thing in my world. I watch you from across the room sometimes and I see you learning- knocking over towers, opening and closing doors, chasing the dog, crashing cars together. You pay close attention to the world around you and soak it all in. I only hope that I can keep up with the world from which you're learning. I hope that you would learn from me too. I pray each and every day that God will give me the means to raise you to love Him. I ask for strength and patience as I raise this sweet baby into a *man*. I don't know where this first year has gone, but you've surpassed many milestones. My prayer is that I was able to teach you the most important thing: Love. How to give it and how to receive it. It's the foundation for all things, and now we can start building on it.

You, my sweet Bear, are an absolute blessing that I never knew I was missing. How could my life have ever felt complete before you? I am so humbled that God would entrust such an amazing gift to me. I have very little to offer you, but there are a few promises I can make:

I promise to always nurture your heart and passions
I promise to say "no" as often as I say "yes"
I promise to teach you about grace.
I promise to LIVE out grace in my parenting.
I promise to let you climb high.
I promise to let you fall sometimes.
I promise to help you pick up the pieces until you learn to do it alone.
I promise to show you how a godly woman should act- including being honest about my own failures, and asking for forgiveness when necessary.
I promise to love and honor your father with all of my heart.
I promise to show you how to have fun.
I promise there will be kisses and hugs and cuddles as often as you want.
I promise there will be trials.
I promise there will be disagreements.
But I promise to always do my best to move past these things through prayer and patience.

I love you. I love you. I love you always,
Mom

{p.s. see Vesper's One Year letter here!}

Extra session spots for March!

I've opened up some extra spots for sessions in March! You can email me at Chelsea.ahlgrim@gmail.com or message me on the Chelsea Ahlgrim Photography fanpage on Facebook if you'd like to book a session!

xo,
Chelsea

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of hearts and hands...

Sometimes in the afternoon when I lay you down, and brush the hair from your forehead, I am flooded with emotions. I take your tiny hands into mine and you usually say to me, "I nee somefing?" so I ask you, "What do you need?" and your soft, sweet little voice answers back, "Momma pray?" and my heart swells big and soft inside my chest. And I do. I pray earnestly each and every time for God to reveal his love for you. That you would know that He loves you more than... well, there aren't even enough words for that kind of love. I pray that you would know that nothing you could ever do could make Him love you less. And I pray that you would learn this truth from a young age.

Your heart is so very big in your little body, Birdy. When I yawn, you ask, "Momma, you sweepy?" and the answer is always yes, darling. So you pat me gently and say "Iss okay, Momma. Close your eyes..." You tell me "I wike you hair," as you stroke it softly. You run across the room just to give your little brother a kiss on his blonde baby head. You grab my hands and swing around with complete trust that I will not let you fall. And I won't. And I never will, if I can help it. But the truth is, despite your lovely heart and my good intentions, I can only protect you from so much in this world.

And that is what overwhelms me when I have you there in my arms just before you drift off to sleep. That as beautiful and innocent as you are, my momma hands can only hold you for so long. They can keep you from so few things in this ugly world that we have ruined. My heart aches when I think of the day when someone will hurt you or make you feel less than the joyful spirit that you are. And my momma heart knows that I have to let go and allow it to happen. And I picture myself always chasing after you- your blonde locks bouncing several feet ahead of me- and  reaching out for those same small hands that I hold each time I lay you down to sleep. I get the feeling that you will want to let go far before I am ready.  It would be a disservice to you to keep you from such lessons, but it still pains me to think of it...

So I cling to the promises of our Father: that you are His. That His are the hands that truly hold you.  And I cling to your small, sticky, perfect little toddler hands just a little too long... and I pray for sweet dreams for us both...

Valentine Vignettes

Although it's not my favorite holiday, Valentine's Day is one of  my favorite to decorate for! Maybe it's the idea of bright pops of red against our usual pale and neutral décor. I just love to have little hearts sprinkled throughout our home to contrast the dreary weather outside. Here are a few vignettes from our little built-in bookshelves to brighten up the sunroom.

I also had to snap a shot of what our sunroom looks like on a day when there are no children around to turn it upside down!

I'll be adding some special little touches to our entry way and dining room for the kids to wake up to on Valentine's day as well! I can't wait to bake cookies and eat heart-shaped waffles and just celebrate the love I have for those around me.

xo,
Chelsea

The Wake

I'm going to call this series "The Wake" as in "this is the kind of destruction Grey leaves in his wake."

He starts bright and early at breakfast by climbing out of his high chair- straps be damned- and onto the dining room table to finish his oatmeal.

 

 

Then he moves the party to the play room where he proceeds to wreak havoc on any and all toys.

 

 

and maybe pauses to snack on some delicious wipes.

 

 

 

or maybe a microphone....

{I should mention that he somehow opened the closet doors in order to get inside to eat said microphone}

 



Before unleashing his fury on the floor vents...

 

...and his socks... always the socks...

 

And then he searches out his final victim... "MAAAMAAAMAAA!!"

 

 

BOOM. I just died from cuteness. You did too, didn't you?

 

xo,

Chelsea









Valentine's Day Giveaway with Chelsea Ahlgrim Photography

Love is in the air, and I'm giving away a FREE session to one lucky couple! The giveaway starts today and ends at midnight on Thursday, February 13th. The winner will be announced on Valentine's Day! To enter, please do each of the following:
1. Like the Chelsea Ahlgrim Photography page on Facebook
2. Share the giveaway post on Facebook
3. Comment and tag your Valentine on the giveaway post on Facebook

Also, please read the stipulations below before entering to ensure that you are eligible. Thanks so much for your participation! I can't wait to see pick a winner and announce on Valentine's Day!

**This giveaway is for a full Couple's Session (including digital images) to be scheduled in March-August of 2014. It is open to Oklahoma City and Tulsa area residents only. This session cannot be transferred to another individual and it cannot be exchanged for a different type of session**

Mother's Day Out.

It didn't go so well that morning. For all my worry and over-preparedness, and stomach knots it still didn't go the way I had hoped. It snowed and I had too many babies and things to carry and not enough arms and we were too early and the girl child had to potty and they both screamed when they left my arms. There was also the matter of peanut products, which apparently aren't allowed but because we were unaware, my child had a lovely PB&J in her backpack- crust neatly removed. (Although they assured me that it would be okay this time). And I must admit, I rushed. I had somewhere to be and I knew that the best way to make it easy for my kiddos would be for me to make a hasty retreat. So after their tears began to fall, but before mine could flood my face, I told them to have fun, and quickly made my way to the car.

Then there I sit, in a train-themed dentist's waiting room with a train buzzing around my head. I clutch my phone because I just know that any minute the teachers will be calling to inform me that my child has been screaming for twenty minutes or I forgot to leave enough diapers or the peanut butter has in fact caused another child to go into aniphalactic shock and they would like for us to leave and never return. 

Nearly an hour since I left them screaming in their classrooms I think, surely by now their little hearts have quieted and they have found a way to have fun. I keep reminding myself that I want to raise intelligent, well-socialized, kind, patient, loving children. And the best way for them to learn these qualities is to have opportunities to apply them. 

I return home to a silent house and realize that this... this moment where I am disheveled and worried... this is the first time that I have ever been alone in this house. But I glance at the clock and realize that any minute, my babies will be going down for their first nap in a strange place and who will sing to them? Who will hand him his bear? Who will brush the hair from her forehead and pray over her before she sweetly sings herself to sleep? Standing there in my sundrenched living room, I finally release what I held together in the hallways of the school and the waiting room and the dental chair and I... cry. It's ridiculous, the tears that spill from my face. I pray. For myself and their teachers, but also for their little hearts. That they would be quieted and calmed and soothed and find rest. It lasts only a minute or two, but the release is cathartic and as I find my feet again, I feel entirely embarrassed. Only three hours have passed since I left my children in the care of well-qualified teachers.

Simultaneously, I realize I have a mere two hours left before I am to return to retrieve them and my heart begins to pound. How can something feel like a race and an eternity all at the same time? I force myself to rest. I leave the mess. I tell myself that just this once, I need to just listen to what my body is telling me to do. Rest... but I am awakened by the pounding of my own heart every few minutes and all too soon, my alarm is telling me hurry hurry hurry... they need you. So I pull my weary, aching head from the couch and reach for my keys. Rush... they're waiting!

I make the quick drive to their small school and as I pull into the parking lot, I brace myself to wipe hot tears off of red cheeks and soothe tiny heaving bodies as they cling to my chest. I breathe deeply and walk into the hallway, bustling with other moms and dads picking up their children.

Many steps before I reach his classroom, I hear him. Loud shouts and squeals. Babbles and coos. He's always had quite a volume. But he isn't unhappy. In fact, as I approach the door to his classroom, I see him excitedly chatting up a bouncy seat and swatting at the toys. No tears. Not even a frown. He sees my face and his eyes light up. He smiles his entirely too large, drooly, toothy grin, and quickly crawls toward me. As his teacher places him in my arms, he bounces and laughs and babbles as if telling me all about his first day. She tells me he had a wonderful time, and that he loves his teddy bear. I also learn that he has used a fork for the first time!

We make our way to the girl child's classroom and despite my worry that I'd find her in a corner being comforted by her teacher, she is engrossed in play with another little girl. So engrossed, in fact, that she doesn't see me even after I call her name a few times. So instead, I watch her. She is so naturally social. She loves people so much. And in this place she seems truly... happy. I call her name again Birdy... and she looks toward me. I found Momma! she squeals, running to me with her arms stretched upward. She colored a picture. She had a snack. She took a nap. She tells me all in one breath and as I crouch to hug her, still balancing her baby brother on my hip, she says, I cry at school but now I so essited! I not scared anymore! And again I choke back the tears. Happy ones this time. It seems so silly now to have ever been worried.

We celebrate with cookies. She eats two. And as she tells me over and over how she's not scared anymore, I decide I need to follow her lead. I start by having a second cookie. And then I resolve that next week I will not be scared.

xo,
Chelsea

 

 

 

Tunnel Vision

Just stopping in to share some gratuitous photos of my Baby Bear playing in our tunnel.

You're welcome.
Xo,
Chelsea