it is way too late for me to be up..

but i am. and the williams household is still up, anticipating their departure to the hospital in just a few hours.

many of you know patrice, or at least have seen pictures, and have heard what a wonderful young woman she is. i feel blessed and honored to be a part of this weekend, and i am continuously reminded how photography has taken me places i would have never imagined.

like this spot at tanglewood park, last march. i was simply happy to have the opportunity to get some beautiful pregnancy pictures for a dear friend.
and then the pictures--sadly, despairingly--became a visual representation of their little boy gabe. his story and the way that matt and patrice continuously praised God thoughout this tumultuous storm they've been through has only brought glory to His name.

then, one august morning, i watched patrice take a prenatal vitamin during our quick stop-over visit with them :)

and we came back in december to take these pictures, turning their dining room into a make-shift studio and freezing our tales off on the wake forest campus.

and now... here i am. again. and this time it's different. it's 1 am and in a few short hours, gabe's little brother will enter this world. i sit in his nursery, on my super comfy aerobed, listening to the gentle "swoosh swoosh" of the heart monitor downstairs, as patrice checks the belly one more time before trying to get some sleep.


and i'm surrounded by my photographs and portraits inspired by my photographs...and i'm just imagining what i get to capture later on today.

i will soon lay down and also attempt to get some sleep, but i know that in a matter of hours, it will be time to go to the hospital and today will become a little boy's birthday.

please say a prayer for my dear friends matt and patrice, their amazing families who are here to support them, and for that little boy and his brother who will be watching down from heaven.