One evening, a little less than six years ago, my husband and I found ourselves discussing whether or not we were going to have a third baby. We had two healthy children, a boy and a girl. We were symmetrical, balanced. Life was good. How would a third child change us? Would it throw everything off? Having a third would mean a bigger car, sharing rooms, waiting longer at restaurants because we would need a bigger tables…you know, all the important things. I think the deeper point we were deciding was that as we were, we worked really well together and we didn’t want to mess with that.
And then a few days later we learned we were pregnant with our third. Ha ha ha! We were over the moon. What can you do but laugh when life works out like that. When our sweet little guy finally arrived, and I got to hold him in my arms, I felt with all my being that our family was now complete. And all the worries and concerns we had about adding one more melted away because the way he has fit in and brought us all closer together was the best thing that could have happened.
Three is a magical number. (Isn’t there a School House Rock about that?!?). And when I learned that a dear friend of mine is expecting her third son at the end of the fall, I couldn’t be more happy for her. It will make life a little nutty, and more than a little messy, but in a beautiful, rich, complex way. To celebrate the upcoming arrival, we decided to do a family session to capture the family as it is now…the before family. Before it gets even better 😉. These are some of my favorite moments from our very fun evening together: