I about fell out of my chair when I read the email from my niece, Jasmine, that she was going to have a baby. It was one of those moments that I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. She was young and not married…she wasn’t following the path that we, as a family, had wanted her to follow. Then, I sat back in my chair and thought, “wait, I was super young…younger that she was…when I had Elia and I certainly didn’t follow the path that everyone had wanted me to follow.” After going back and forth with the news in my head, I realized that this was a good thing and that she’d make it work….because, really, if anyone can make it work, it was my Jamis. She never follows anyone’s path; she plots her own and has always made it work, smiling and happy with the way that she had made things turn out for the better.
Time for her baby shower rolled around and I met Josh. He is quite possibly the most amazing match that Jasmine could have found for herself. He’s beyond sweet and compassionate and the best feature of all is that he is undyingly devoted to his children and to Jasmine. Jasmine had lucked out and I was happy.
News of Kiki’s arrival hit the internet seconds after she was born. I think that within 7 minutes of her birth, I had already posted a cell phone picture on my blog that I had recieved from Titi Fefe, who had recieved it from proud papi Josh, a whopping 3 minutes after her arrival. There hadn’t been a more highly anticipated birth in our family in quite some time. I wished that I could have flown down immediately to share in the happiness, but due to my schedule and own obligations, I just had to share from way up here and wait, with baited breath, for pictures from the family members that were near Jasmine and Josh of the new baby.
Fast forward to the beginning of the month when we had scheduled our vacation to Florida. I packed extra CF cards, extra batteries, my sexy lens and my heartthrob of a camera. It was my mission to capture Kiki in her element, with her cutie smile and her big eye balls…to capture the ball of sweets that had captured everyone else’s heart. And let me tell you…it was love at first sight. She greeted me with a smile that contained 2 itty bitty teeth and drool. At nearly 8 months old, she was a happy baby with so much chunk on her that you could eat her with a spoon…just like a big spoonful of Ben and Jerry’s!
I spent the entire day with her, her vivacious big brother and her amazing momma. Watching Jasmine with her children was nothing short of amazing. Any doubts I had on how she would handle the throws of motherhood were completely washed away and in return what I watched unfold in front of me was a mature, adoring, amazing mom. And then Josh came home and I was happy. His interaction with his family was unfaltering…nothing short of loving and sweet. All was good and I am over-the-moon with excitement for what the future hold for this new little family.
Below are a few of my favorites…but really, you have to check out the SLIDESHOW to watch the cuteness unfold to a perfectly fitting song.
Jamis and Josh…words cannot express how insanely proud I am of the two of you. You both are nothing short of amazing parents raising the most insanely cute pack of kids. They are beyond lucky to have you. You can tell in their smiles and giggles that they are happy and I tell you, next time, I’m sooo bringing my cake eating bib and eatin’ me some cuteness with a big spoon.
Tons and tons of love.
