Kristen and I met over a year ago after I reached out to her and asked her to join my small network of local female photographers. For a few months we knew each other only virtually, but when we got the chance to meet in person in the fall, everything between us just totally clicked. Kristen is a photographer and, like me, she teaches English. At the time we were both pregnant with our boys, first pregnancies for both of us, and we were both planned for a natural childbirth. But we found out that day that we had a whole host of other things, big and little, in common: we drive the same make and model SUV, Kristen attended and I teach at The College of Saint Rose, Kristen grew up in the town I now live in, we’re both total dog lovers… the list goes on and on. What was scheduled to be a short 30 minute meeting in a coffee shop ended up being a 3 hour chat session that felt like it passed in a flash. Together we sat and talked about our mutual interests, our journeys toward motherhood, our intense love for our fur-babies, and a wide array of other topics. The conversation just flowed so naturally and we both had so much to say. When Kristen and I parted ways that afternoon, I walked away knowing that we’d made real connection; the kind of connection that doesn’t come around too often in life.
As the next few months unfolded, we shared information on mutual interests – hypnobirthing, natural birth, parenting, and photography, photography, photography. We were both due right around the start of the New Year and so we continually reached out to see how the other was doing. I’ll never forget the day Kristen texted me to say that she was in labor, nor will I forget the moment I heard from her, hours later, telling me that little Quentin Denver had been born. Just three days later, our guy Covyn Christopher joined the world and it was decided then and there that these littles were destined to be friends just like their mamas. And friends they are, even if they don’t know it yet.
A few weeks ago, Kristen and I got our boys together for a family photo shoot swap – we took turns photographing the other’s family while our husbands jumped around behind us, making silly faces and shaking toys in the air to get the boys to laugh. What a time! So here she is with her two main guys – baby Quentin and her husband Ryan. I am so grateful that our lives crossed paths and I am so grateful that I got to document this stage in the Juchem family’s journey. I hope we can create a tradition out of this that lasts for decades!
Click here to view our family photos and the sister post to this blog.
