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In-home family photos with The Leo Loves – July 2018

These photos are almost exactly a year old, taken July 2018…3 months after we met our girl in Chi...

We Are Free 005: Shay Cochrane – More Work-Life Boundaries, Less Mom Guilt

Episode 005: Shay Cochrane – More Work-Life Boundaries, Less Mom Guilt After eight years as a suc...

We Are Free OO4: Marie Osborne – Finding Rest in the Midst of Chaos

Episode 004: Marie Osborne – Finding Rest in the Midst of Chaos Marie is a Bible-loving, coffee-c...

We Are Free 001: Katelyn James – Life During and After a Fatal Fetal Diagnosis

Episode #001: Life During and After a Fatal Fetal Diagnosis with Katelyn James Katelyn and her hu...

We Are Free 002: Diana Kerr – Crafting a Less Anxious Life with a Christian Life Coach

Episode #002: Crafting a Less Anxious Life with Christian Life Coach Diana Kerr Diana Kerr is a C...

We Are Free Intro – My Heart Behind It All and What I Hope We Are Free Becomes For You

We Are Free Intro: My Heart Behind It All and What I Hope We Are Free Becomes For You It’s here...

We Are Free 003: Abby Grace Springmann – Infertility, Seasons of Waiting & How Friends Can Help

Episode #003: Infertility, Seasons of Waiting and How Friends Can Help Abby Grace is an internati...

China adoption homecoming – Vera is home.

After 2 weeks in China and 5 years of waiting for our girl, we finally got to bring her home. So ...

Family photos with The Leo Loves

I’ve taken a lot of family photos in my time as a wedding and family photographer. And it felt ...

Vera’s Rare Metabolic Disorder – PKU Awareness Day.

Somewhere along the line, in the months and months of adoption paperwork, you have to fill out a ...

That one time we went to China.

It’s been six months since the day we met Vera. Sometimes, I look at her and wonder to myself or ...

The day we met Vera // China adoption.

We had just checked into our hotel room in Jinan, the capital of Shandong, the province where Ver...

We have a daughter.

Your Glory // All Sons & Daughters We were at the second to last light before turning into LA Fit...

“What’s the hardest part about infertility?”

“What has been the hardest part?” I cut to the chase. We don’t have time to pretend we’re...

And so, we wait.

“Any news?” “Have you heard anything?” I don’t mind the questions at all. I feel a sense of...

Why it’s okay if I never get pregnant.

“Oh, you’re adopting! How exciting! I bet you’ll get pregnant now.” Maybe. Buuuut, maybe no...

Beneath the surface.

Bougainvilleas are my absolute favorite. There are oranges, purples and pinks but my favorite is ...

A dream come true.

We were living in La Jolla at the time. Jesse and I were bike riding fiends. Beach cruising is on...

A basket of tangerines.

The sky is gray and the palms outside my window swing + sway, waiting for the rain. The house is ...

Christmas Eve + big, fat drops of all I need.

The ground beneath our feet was soft and slippery, from yesterday’s rain. The muddy swirls of t...

A couple of things about China.

For years and years and a bunch more years after that, my mom has been talking about China. She w...

Ms. Moonbeam was right.

I was feeling sort of raw. Like my skin wasn’t working quite right, forgetting to protect my in...

What this is all about anyway.

Yesterday. I couldn’t even handle it. God’s grace + gifts bouncing around like a magical ligh...

The end of an era.

It’s the end of an era. A bittersweet, I may have cried just a little, end of an era. The only ...

If you’re feeling left out.

It was a pity-party type of evening. A couple more baby announcements were coming in hot. I knew ...

Her first shirt from Target.

We will have a lot of trips to Target. Duh. But this was her first (sort of). July 13, 2016. It w...

Oh fine, refine me.

“Adoption is so hard,” they said. Such a long process. So many ups and downs. That’s what s...

Alpaca laughs + pit stops.

We were driving south, windows down, as usual. A stop here, a stop there, for us to stretch our l...

The day my heart caught up.

October 1st, 2015. One year ago today. We were cruising north in our rental car, jamming to T-Swi...

We are all worthy of love.

It was the middle of the day, sunny but chilly. Winter was well on its way. A couple more hours ...

Sister, sister.

In early 2010 I met Kelly. Her freckly face and bursting laugh made me like her right away. We st...

Captain (Long)Underpants.

In preparation for our 5th anniversary trip to the Grand Canyon, we took an equally exciting trip...

Playing the victim.

All my life I’ve been a go-getter. Opportunity comes a knocking and I practically tackle that bad...