We are SO excited that we have the opportunity to bring Santa back this year, I am not going to lie, when COVID started in March..and then April and May it was one of my first thoughts (and many of yours!) that we wouldn’t have the magic of Santa. But our Santa is awesome and wants to have this for the children but we hd to come up with a plan to make it the safest possible way to visit with him. Together we came up with this list of things that we will do to ensure everyone’s safety— I know it’s a crazy time and I hope that the magic this year can bring will warm your heart! We know that we have the best Santa in Richmond Virginia and our private Santa sessions are something to be treasured!
Daily Habit Tracker | Free Printable
I am so excited to share this free printable with you! I thrive off of lists and when you can visually see and mark off your “daily to do list” even if it’s mundane it will help to motivate you to get it done before the day is over!
Ideas that may be on yours that are on mine:
Exercise
Water
Clean Eating
Photography Tasks
Connect (client care!)
Email
Vitamins
It could be house chores too that you want to mark off the list:
Make Bed
Clean Kitchen
Laundry
The beauty of this list is that you can make it whatever you want it to be, and it your goals can change month to month! I hope this productivity list helps you as much as it does me!
Let’s connect on instagram: instagram.com/meggarrison
Top 10 tips to stress less from a former panic attack queen
The racing heart, tightening in your chest, sweat pouring — you’ve likely been there and experienced a moment of intense stress or panic attack in your life! For many years I thought there was no end in sight, and then, things got better. I created a video to help walk through some of the things I have done to better this, but here is a quick checklist if you want to screenshot it to go through the steps when you’re feeling this way.
Homeschool Schedule | Moms with a plan
Most of the time when people decide to homeschool there is lots of hours of preparation, decisions to be made and well thought out plans. This week we learned due to the coronavirus that our children would not be returning to school until next year (and we are a district that doesn’t get out until mid June!) and I have to be honest I had a little panic set in upon hearing that— which was the first time I’ve really felt uneasy about all of this.
We’ve been told to…
Stay home? I got this. Working from home I knew this wasn’t going to be an adjustment for me.
Don’t eat out? Great, lets save some money that we always say we are going to cut back on.
Sanitize everything and wash your hands all the time? Have you SEEN my stash? We’re good there too.
Don’t go around people. This is probably the hardest thing we’ve come across— I haven’t met a stranger and my kids live for playing with someone other than us all of the time- but we are committed to this because we believe it’s the best thing we can do.
And I was fine with doing work from home for two weeks, I mean.. you can do ANYTHING for two weeks right? But quickly those two weeks turned into months and I began to doubt myself. By last night I had picked myself up and began a plan… and that plan included a schedule! My life revolves around the never ending to do list, but it helps me stay focused— so why would my children who are coming from “specific things on certain days at the same time” be able to adapt to my “we get it done when it happens throughout the day” plan I THOUGHT we would stick to?? It actually was a lot more stress for me to be “stress free” — So here we are :)
I am not going to be rigid with “20 minutes for this, or scheduling a break here” — you can tell when you’re children are going to need to move around. For “science” today- it was literally reading a book about brains and halfway through I saw them fidgeting a little bit so we let our brains show us they could quickly respond to commands, “Skip! Jump! Touch your toes!” They loved it, and quickly were able to sit back down and we finished the “lesson”. — I’m not being too hard on myself here, we are literally at Day 1. Ground Zero. But… I didn’t hate it and i’m excited for tomorrow too.
I struggle a bit with worksheets without seeing the whole plan, so I did invest in some homeschool curriculum and I’m excited for that to arrive, but the school will continue to provide help as well— It’s just hard to print out SO many sheets— my printer is already screaming low ink when I just put a new one in last week! I’d rather buy a book! So we grabbed some things from The Good + Beautiful (highly recommended by most of my homeschool friends!), I found some workbooks and textbooks on Ebay, and believe it or not we have plenty of stuff here! If you’ve ever ordered educational books from Usborne.. you got this! :)
I am excited to see where this will go, and here’s a schedule that I created to help us to mark things off the list feel free to share it, and tag me on IG if you print it off! @meggarrison
So for “TV time” section the kids will get 5 points per line a day, equaling 30 points. If they get all 30 points they automatically double those, equating to 1 hour of TV/Computer free time in the evening. I probably should have labeled the “only asked once” a little better since i’m sharing it, but it’s something we like to say to remind the kids to do something the FIRST time we ask not making us yell and go crazy for something they could have just gotten done quickly.
I LOVE seeing one week at a time because it not only saves paper but lets us gauge how the week is going. And if you are non-religious here’s one without scripture study:
Adoption Hospital Birth Plan
As you know there’s a little baby girl coming soon.. which is craaaaazy!! I am sleeping so light right now checking my phone at every noise.
A few weeks ago we started talking about the hospital and realized that there’s SO much information available out there for birth plans.. but specifically related to adoption there’s not a lot of information… but there are TONS of questions! As prospective adoptive parents we don’t want to step on any toes, and be more of a support system rather than a parent in the hospital.. and truthfully we feel like one big family. We are certainly just thankful for the opportunity to be involved, so we wanted to fully respect Savannah’s wishes with how she saw the hospital going.
Sometimes in this process there can be uncomfortable conversations — but it’s better to ask the harder questions than to have hard feelings on questions not asked when assumptions are made. Not only for those who are living the situation, but during a birth there are lots of doctors and nurses coming in and out that likely need to know this information as well and having a quick 2-page document can really help everyone be on the same page so it’s less stress for all involved.
If you find yourself needing an adoption hospital birth plan or you are a support person to someone in this situation, you can refer to this template, and I hope it helps you as much as it has helped us!
To the hospital staff:
I, _______________________________ have filled out the following adoption pan and would like it to be followed while I am in the hospital (understanding my feelings or plans could change). Please place this in my chart so that all shifts may read it and know my wishes.
I am planning this type of adoption:
Open: Both Parties share all personal information
Closed: No personal information is shared
The adoptive parents will/will not be coming to the hospital.
If yes, the adoptive parents names are: _________________________________________________
My main support person(s) names: _________________________________________________
There are people I do not want allowed to visit while in the hospital. If YES, I request myself and baby to be listed under an alias name. YES/NO.
Names of people I would like in the delivery room ______________________________________
For pain control/positioning during labor and birth I would like to:
Walk in room/hall
Use shower/tub
Use heat/cold massage
Use birth ball
Epidural
Listen to my special music
Use my own pillow
Immediately after delivery
I want this person to cut the cord if approved by doctor ___________________
In addition to the ID band I will be wearing, I would like this person to have a second baby ID band __________________________
I want to see my baby YES or NO
If yes,
Skin to skin / Rooming in
-If baby is stable place skin to skin with me
-If baby is stable, have baby placed skin to skin with adoptive present parent
-Keep the baby in my room as long as he/she is stable
-Keep baby in nursery and out to me when I call
-Keep baby with adoptive family
I want to hold my baby YES or NO
If yes, who would you like to hold the baby first? _______________
-Wrap baby in blanket before holding
-Hand baby to adoptive parent
-Bathe my baby before holding
I want to feed and/or care for my baby while in the hospital YES or NO
I would like my baby to be fed this way:
-Breastfeed my baby
-Use hospital formula
-Have adoptive mother breastfeed
-Use human breastmilk
The postpartum plan
If the adoptive parents will be at the hospital I wish to see them in my room or another location if possible:
_______ My Room _______Another location if possible. ______No Contact
The name I want you to call my baby is: ______________________
Or the name the adoptive family is giving:________________________
Postpartum I would like to:
_____Keep baby in my room
_____Have baby stay in the nursery
_____Have my baby come to my room only when I call
_____Allow adoptive parents to have alone time with the baby
_____Allow the adoptive parents to be given the opportunity to do skin-to-skin with the baby to facilitate bonding
_____Keep baby with the adoptive parents when not with me
I want my baby to receive the Hep B vaccine YES or NO
If I have a boy, I am planning on having him circumcised before discharge YES or NO
I wish to have mementos from my baby’s birth YES or NO
___Baby Bracelet
___Hospital birth certificate with footprints
___Nursery card
___Baby Hat
- Is it okay to give a copy of above documents to adoptive parents YES or NO
Additional concerns or wishes I would like the hospital staff to be aware of:
Preparing for a baby girl | Adoption
The past few months have been very interesting in the Garrison household! And the picture is a peek at the nursery, I’ll share more when it’s done!
We have three boys (now 8, 7, and 4) but have been preparing for a little girl (but when we started we didn’t know if the baby was a he or she!) to come into our family via adoption, and now we are weeks away. And it seems SO surreal to be SO CLOSE. There have been lots of hours of classes, paperwork, and I have SO many thoughts on this whole process but those will come at a later date. I have been super fortunate to be able to go to every single doctors appointment and hear her heartbeat, see the ultrasounds (even got to take the pictures home!)
I have had lots of people reach out because they see us going through this and it’s something they have also thought about and want general information so I figured i’d compile some of our questions in one post. I think it is very accurate to say the sheer emotional side to adoption, there’s just not a blog that can prepare you for that. So if you’re fortunate enough to have months of preparation like we have, know that some of those days will be longggg. There are so many things that you cannot control and you have to check that at the door and all you can do is know that everything happens for a reason and it will turn out the the way it is supposed to. I actually have this on my bathroom mirror, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him” — We felt CALLED to this, but it wasn’t exactly what we had originally thought it was going to be.
You see, we were thinking we were going to foster. And we ideally picked out the 3-5 age range so maybe we could sleep at night (ha! Jokes on us!) It’s something I’ve had on my heart for years, and knowing that that could lead to adoption seemed like the right path for us. I’ve watched friends and internet buds go through the process so I thought I had an idea of how it all worked. Literally within an hour of throwing this into the universe and speaking it to a friend we were past the point of fostering and talking adoption. And within days we were connected to Savannah having hour long chats about the future. I know a lot of families that wait years and years to be able to adopt a newborn so I struggled with the fact that some people might think that we just bypassed the line and be upset that “our story” didn’t have turmoil, infertility, lots of darkness, but that’s super silly right? Who would be mad at this? It truly is what we call a “God thing.” The moment we said YES, there was already a need, it seems as though this is the way it was meant to be all along. If we hadn’t said YES then.. I couldn’t imagine where we would be now.
We didn’t know when we started this if the baby was a boy or girl, but I think we ALL were keeping our fingers crossed for pink— and we were so excited to find out that YES! It is a girl! There’s so many little signs that we weren’t done after Brennan, most specifically that my heart never felt like it was over, that there was another piece to the puzzle. I had purchased very specific things with the belief that God would specifically give me a girl of my own — and after three boys I assumed maybe it was for a granddaughter or a friend.. or maybe I was completely crazy and I should just donate these items- but I could never bring myself to do that, so they just sat in the closet and waited.
The questions that we have gotten that I am sure you are curious about too:
What type of adoption is it? There are so many different types of adoption out there, but ours is a private placement domestic open adoption.
How did you get connected? Through my best friend!
What does open adoption mean? Open adoption is when you have communication with the first family after court. It’s the only type of adoption our agency does, and I respect that!
Do you have to do anything special to adopt? In Virginia, we did have to complete a home study through an adoption agency and cross our T’s and dot our I’s and do all of the classes required (and LOTS and LOTS of paperwork!) just as if we were going through the adoption agency to adopt. You also need a lawyer!
So… there’s a cost? There is. This is a legal process and there are costs involved. We aren’t buying a baby (even if sometimes it feels like that, truthfully) you are paying people to do a legal job and that has a cost. It will just depend on the state and what’s required.
Differences between private placement and going through an agency? I LOVE the connection and direct link that we have to Savannah, and I think God knew we both needed that - a piece of family to go through this together- rather than having someone in the middle. We’ve been able to talk through hard things and plan for the future together.
Will you stay connected? Yes! She will have lots of love from her mamas + aunt/uncle/sister/cousins.
Wait. You said mamas with an “s”? I know some people get a little squirmy when I talk about this, like I should feel threatened by the presence of the mama who gave her life, but I don’t. I cannot (also would not) change that I didn’t get to birth her so it’s not something that will be hidden. Love makes a family, and in a world where there is so many types of families I know she will be loved by lots..and yes she will have two mamas. I actually joked with David that we should have acquired our entire family this way.. I don’t have to get fat or poop on myself in order to have a baby? Sign me up! ;)
But, this isn’t a done deal is it? Of course she isn’t officially “ours” until court, but I really hate labeling in general. Just as I have many titles: wife, mom, photographer, friend, PTO President, but yet I am not defined by just one of those things, she will be fully “ours” but her story will be unique and special and will also be “ours” to someone else, and that’s totally fine!
What do the boys think? We have been very open and honest with them through the beginning and I know that was hard for our families at first “incase something happened” — but just as if I were pregnant and something happened to the pregnancy, we would talk about it and work through it together. I don’t think I would have been able to keep any of this a secret and spring it on them that they’re getting a sister when we bring her home from the hospital.
Biggest tip on private placement or adoption in general? This isn’t MY pregnancy. And it’s not even MY baby right now. Of course it’s okay to dream and plan and prepare, but this is HER pregnancy and although I have hopes, dreams, and wishes — she has decisions that no matter the outcome I have to respect because they’re hers alone to make. I want to be an added source of support not anything else. If you treat her as if you would a best friend going through a pregnancy, I think you will find it comes naturally as love and not a competition. I love this baby and I love her mama, and I think together the three of us will have something special!
Richmond Virginia Baby Photographer | Marin 1 year
Sometimes families just want a few good photos to remember a specific time in their child's life, and that is when short sessions (15 minutes, $150, digital files included!) are really great! Her final gallery included 25 images and three different settings, there is a lot we can do within the studio! Marin was so cute and had lots of great faces for me! Enjoy a few pictures from our session together!
Richmond Virginia Family Portraits | Lynden 1 Year
The one year session of a baby plan is always bittersweet. After all, I've spent the last year+ photographing a family every few months and then they "graduate" and I typically see them once or twice a year... until baby #2 comes along that is ;) Lynden's sessions were always fun and her mama is super stylish so they were always a joy to photograph. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our time together:
Richmond Virginia Maternity Photographer | Kelsey
I got to meet this family in the fall for a mini session and they announced they were expecting a baby and wanted to book the baby plan with me! The baby plan includes a maternity, newborn, 6 months and 1 year (and of course digital files!). Kelsey wanted a light and airy feel to her session, so we chose to shoot in Richmond and it was perfect! Here are a few of my favorite photos from their session:
Richmond Virginia Newborn Photographer | Baby Hudson
This family has been a part of my career as a photographer for many years! Austin was actually an amazing babysitter for us while she was going through nursing school, and now she's all grown up and has gotten married and just had a baby of her own! I was honored to be able to capture their engagement session, wedding, maternity, birth, and newborn session which included Hudson! It's amazing how much a baby can change in a week, but he was the perfect model for his studio session. You will see more of him soon because we are also doing a lifestyle session at his home in a few weeks!
Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | W Family
I love welcoming families to my portrait studio for newborn sessions because it is a one-stop shop. We have all of the props, blankets, outfits you could imagine and I cater the session to your color wishes. And because my studio is in my home (and the studio for a newborn session is a nice 80 degrees!) if older siblings (or even dad!) need to step out, we have a large couch right outside and a bucket of toys waiting.
This was the second sweet baby girl I photographed for this family, and I am in love with her! She has the longest little feet and the best head of hair. Beautiful like big sis, I cannot wait to watch her grow up!
Here are a few favorites from our session together:
Richmond VA Maternity Photographer | Z Family
It has been a few years since I photographed this family, since they had their first actually! And now, they are welcoming TWO babies and I can not wait to meet them! One boy and one girl, and it will be the sweetest session. For their maternity session, we chose to go down by the water. I love shooting by the water, it's so calm and photographs so well, and when I can convince a family to get IN the water at the end, I always leave with a smile on my face.
Here are a few favorites from our Richmond Virginia Maternity session:
Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | Baby S
This family has chosen to do the baby plan with me (which consists of a maternity, newborn, 6 months + 1 year session- where the whole family can be included each time!) and I am loving getting to see them every few months! This sweet baby came in for her newborn portraits and was a total rockstar! And then opened her eyes for family pictures at the end with a sweet little smile. (Don't tell me newborns don't REALLY smile, I know that! But I'm just over here living in my photographer dream world where babies smile at me!)
Here are a few of my favorites with her family:
Richmond VA Wedding Photographer | Kelsey and Zack
Lewis Ginter is one of my favorite wedding venues in Richmond Virginia! The grounds are absolutely gorgeous and well taken care of. The guests have plenty of room to dance without feeling crowded, and the food is always delicious. I didn't meet Kelsey and Zack before their wedding day, and sometimes that makes me nervous, but as soon as I met them I knew we were going to have the best day, and that is just what we did! The weather was sunny and gorgeous and provided some of the best light I've ever had for a wedding day. The families were welcoming and the guests were so fun, overall it couldn't have been any better!
Here are a few of my favorite images from the day:
Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | Baby Eloise
I love welcoming newborns into the studio. Moms of course will come worried but I have a few tricks up my sleeve after working with newborns for almost 10 years, and it's been a while since I had one that did not sleep. During newborn sessions we try to get a few different set ups and include parents or siblings into the pictures. If you are expecting, let's chat so I can tell you all about our different options!
Richmond VA Baby Photographer | 6 month sessions
I LOVE 6 month sessions! We typically wait until the baby is sitting unsupported, which could very well be 7.5 months like it was for my first son. The babies are smiling and generally very happy at this session, and it's one of my favorite ages to photograph! Reed was the perfect model and his mama wanted to capture some baby skin, and also some portraits showing how big he looked in regular clothes too, so we got a little bit of everything, and I was super happy with this session and smiley baby!
Richmond VA Multiples Photographer | Triplets
Okay, so I think I can now claim the title as "THE" Richmond VA Multiples Photographer ;) Oner the past two years I have photographed twins, triplets. and quadruplets! And I love every single session. They are certainly more challenging that a singleton session, but I love a good challenge. These sweet triplets recently turned ONE and we celebrated with a cake smash! It was hilarious watching mom and grandma wrangle three kids, but we finally got everyone settled and looking by singing their favorite song ;) I may not be able to carry a tune TOO well, but I don't mind being silly to get the shot!
Richmond VA Family Photographer | Field Sessions
I have been seeing this family since Nico was 6 months old, and he is quite the charmer! ;) I asked this family if they wanted to take a chance on a field that I drive by every day, but to the normal eye doesn't look so great, and they said yes! So here we are, in a field behind a CVS.. ha! But, looking at it you would never know that! Thank you for trusting me to find a beautiful spot for your family and I can't wait to see you again!
Richmond VA Family Photographer | Fall Portraits
I met this family for the first time this fall, and fell in love with how photogenic they were! They were so sweet and next time we will convince dad to join in. I was able to use Peterson Family Farm for this location and I just adore their overgrown grassy areas!
Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | Studio
This sweet family recently came to me for a newborn session and brought their pup and grandma who was visiting to help post baby! So it truly included the whole family and I loved it! :) In my studio I have everything needed for a session, but sometimes clients want to incorporate a few things that are special to them and that is great too! So we included baby girl's sweet rose blanket and one piece outfit. (Outfits can be really tough at this age so if you want to search for something special, go to etsy and type in newborn photography outfit for the best choices.. otherwise, baby may be swimming in it!)
Here are a few of my favorites from the session..
