Snapshots – Page 3 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal February 11, 2020

‘Finding Joy in Chaos’ Workshop with BreAnne Weston

This past weekend, I attended my first photography workshop, and it will be a tough one to ever beat. I’ve followed BreAnne Weston on Instagram since 2016, and I’ve oohed and ahhed over all of her posts ever since. She has this incredible talent at capturing people’s connections and emotions, and I was dying to learn from the best of the best. Sydney and I wanted to attend one of her Finding Joy in Chaos workshops last year, but she was 9 months pregnant, so obviously it didn’t work out. When BreAnne announced her Arizona workshop, we set 10 alarms to make sure we didn’t miss a spot. I learned so, so much during the workshop – from posing queues to client readiness tips. I have three sessions next week and can’t wait to put what I’ve learned into practice. Also, BreAnne is coming to Houston at the end of this month to take family photos! So if you are in the area (or willing to travel), email her!

In between deep dive lessons, we did three photo sessions: one was in-home and the other two in the desert. The families were all so sweet and insanely cooperative – I can’t imagine what my kids would do with 16 photographers paparazzi-ing them! We got to watch BreAnne work her magic, then we all snapped away. The biggest challenge of the day was definitely getting the ‘right’ angle, given the large crowd, but I enjoying watching and learning more than actually photographing on Friday, and we were given opportunities to be at the front of the crowd to individually snap away.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention BreAnne’s assistant, Becca (whom I loved), and the other attendees at the workshop. These ladies came from all over – Mississippi, Utah, Arizona, California, Nebraska – and I had the best time sharing stories with them, laughing all the way. They are so incredibly talented and sweet. You can see some of their photos on the workshop hashtag here. My favorite of them all was my bestie, Sydney – very glad we got to experience this together! Below are some photos that were snapped during our three days in Arizona. I am itching to go back already!

Personal February 5, 2020

Happy First Birthday, Georgie Margot!

Today, our sweet baby girl is one year old. I try not to be overly emotional on birthdays, but when I got her from her crib this morning and sang her happy birthday, I definitely shed a few tears. I now understand why ‘babies’ of the family are babied forever. I remember the day she was born so vividly – re-reading her birth story post brought back every emotion we felt on that special day last year.

Sasha and I just re-read Emilia’s first birthday post and Isla’s first birthday post – a fun reminder of what the other two were up to at Georgie’s age. Below are some updates on ‘Georgie at one’!

It’s up for debate exactly how many teeth Georgie currently has. She has three almost fully grown-in teeth on the bottom, one top tooth that is clearly through the gums and three others that are so difficult to check the status on given her wiggly ways. Georgie says, “Mama,” “Dada,” and we are pretty sure it’s Isla she is referring to when she says, “Iya.” She makes this consistent, “Ooooh!” noise when she is excited by things, and it melts me. Just a few days ago, she took her first step – multiple times, but just one step, then drop to a crawl. I can tell her confidence is building though – she stands on her own without support for longer and longer each day. As much as I’m on team “let them be little” and against wishing for the next thing to come, I do love walking! Georgie loves picking things up that she sees when she crawls and putting them in her mouth – hopefully that lessens/stops once she walks.

Personal September 5, 2019

Georgie at 7 Months

My last ‘Georgie monthly update’ was at three months, and a lot has happened since May 5! Thankfully, I’ve taken notes each month of milestones as she’s hit them (i.e. inconsistent sleep, eating but not ingesting, sitting but also toppling over – ha!). My Granny Jill wrote me a letter a few weeks ago reminding me the importance of tracking the events of each child, so I was motivated to share what she’s been up to for the past four months.

Four Months: Georgie’s big ‘firsts’ included traveling on an airplane, rolling front-to-back + back-to-front (considered putting ankle weights on to prevent this – ha!), sleeping 12 consecutive hours (but not consistently!), three outfit changes in one day (blowout queen!) + going for a ‘swim’ in a pool. Her smiles were out in full force this month, and she started laughing very frequently!

Personal March 3, 2019

Georgie’s Newborn Photos by Courtney Leigh Photography

Last Sunday afternoon, my incredibly sweet and talented friend, Courtney, came over to photograph our newly expanded family. These are my favorite photos ever. Courtney perfectly captured all of the love Sasha and I feel towards our girls, and the doting obsession Isla and Emilia have towards their baby sister, Georgie. The sunshine was streaking in through the windows, and it was just a really happy, stress-free photo session. Courtney photographed us in our element, and I love that her work does that. I have never been more filled with joy in my whole life, and I am so grateful to have a friend there documenting these early days of Georgie’s life. She sent us over 150 images, and I had the hardest time narrowing it down to the 96 you see below. It’s totally photo overload, but I just loved them all so much. Without further ado, here are the first photos of the Petrovic family of five.

Personal February 7, 2019

Introducing Georgie Margot Petrovic

At 6:13pm on Tuesday, February 5th (my Granny Jill’s birthday!), Georgie Margot Petrovic was born at Memorial Hermann hospital, weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches long. We are so, so in love with her, as are her two big sisters, who are completely smitten (and smothering her in ‘big love’). We got home from the hospital last night around 8:30pm and have been soaking up the day at home.

I checked into the hospital around 7am on Tuesday morning at 2cm dilated with contractions about 2-3 minutes apart. They started me on pitocin after an hour, then the waiting game began. After a few hours, I was checked again and at 4cm dilated – then I spent the next probably 6 hours at a 4. I got an epidural after about 6 hours of being at the hospital, then finally was able to nap (which was really nice, given that I hadn’t slept well the night before). Around 5pm, things began to get tricky, as Georgie’s heart rate began dropping drastically when I had contractions. Cue multiple nurses and my doctor all coming in and talking in code while staring at the stats. I was checked again to see if they could tell which direction she was facing (nose down or up – known as ‘sunny side up’ which isn’t ideal for delivery). They used an ultrasound machine, but still weren’t sure – although the verdict was that she was likely on her side (my doctor could feel her ears). I began being turned from side-to-side to get her to a) get in the right position and b) have her heart rate stop dropping. It wasn’t working, but I did progress to 6cm, which is when things start moving quickly. The nurses suggested I get on all fours (legit planking with an epidural = my arms were getting quite a workout!), and when I would have a contraction, they would try to turn her into the right position. After about ten minutes of that, I was told to “Stop pushing! She’s coming!” And I was flipped around, the team of nurses entered the room, and after two pushes, Georgie came into this world, blue as can be with the cord wrapped around her neck. After the longest 45 seconds of my life, she finally made a sweet ‘ehh’ sound while laying on my chest. It was the best sound I’ve ever heard. Sasha was an emotional puddle (it’s a tear jerker for him!), and I was so happy to meet her (safe and sound!) and relieved that labor was over. She’s a perfect combination of her two sisters – with jet black hair like they had and blue, blue eyes.

We spent the next 26 hours at the hospital, seeing guests and soaking up quiet time with this angel babe. It took a whole day for her to cry (of course, happened during Sasha’s first diaper change – typical!), and she’s been so easy going thus far (only 40-ish hours in, so won’t jinx myself – there’s a long road ahead, ha!). She’s been most difficult the past two nights from 1-3am, but seems to find her sleepiness around that time and loves to nap during the day.

Sasha and I are so incredibly grateful for the love and prayers she’s received so far. Our little family is complete and I’ve truly never been happier in my life. The quote “If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart” truly brings me to tears because it’s the most accurate statement right now.

Below are some photos that my very talented friend Sydney took of us four girls this morning (Sasha was working during this!), as well as some captured in the hospital yesterday and on Tuesday. Feeling very emotional looking over all of them! I will cherish these photos for the rest of my life. What a whirlwind two days it has been. Now, time to go back to snuggling with my tiny babe.