Holy moly can you imagine going from a family of three to a family of five just like that!? I have known Safia since high school. She is such a sweet person and her fiancé Charles, is a perfect match to her personality. He is one of the nicest, most good-natured guys we’ve met. Matt and I had the pleasure of photographing Safia’s first pregnancy with her little boy, Elijah, as well as Elijah’s newborn session and his 1st birthday session! We are now completely overjoyed to be photographing her second maternity session and this time it’s twin girls!
Safia and Charles met through two of our mutual friends, Sabrina and Stephanie. When Sabrina and Stephanie went to Tallahassee for college, they met Charles. After college, everyone moved back down to South Florida and Sabrina invited both Charles and Safia to her birthday celebration at the Hard Rock Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Safia and Charles met that night and haven’t spent a day apart since! I love hearing love stories like that because it’s amazing how God will put the love of your life in your path at EXACTLY the right time for you!
Safia and Charles are engaged to be married. He proposed shortly after they welcomed Elijah but then they went to their sonogram appointment for their second pregnancy and needless to say that planning a wedding is literally the last thing on their minds! Multiple births run in Safia’s family but of course, Safia NEVER thought it would happen to them! Her cousin had just welcomed triplets (wow!) a few months prior and Safia’s family kept teasing her that she would be next to have multiples. When Safia and Charles went to their appointment, the tech put the baby on the screen and of course, they were overjoyed to see their baby! Charles then joked, “Wouldn’t it be funny if there were two in there?” The very next second, the tech moved the scanner and now everyone was staring at two very distinct sacks. The room was instantly silent and according to Safia, Charles looked like he wanted to eat his words! The tech asked them how they knew (they didn’t!) and after a few minutes of what I’m sure was some pretty legitimate FREAKING OUT, Safia and Charles were thrilled to be leaving the doctor’s as a new family of five!
Safia glows when she’s expecting and even though I know she was tired and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be walking around all of Hugh Taylor State Park carrying two little girls in your belly, she still rocked her session! Charles is a blast to work with as well because he loves photography so he’s always eager to help get the perfect shot. He even helped hold the reflector for some shots which was great for me because that thing is HEAVY! However, I really have to say that the real star of the session was Elijah! He ROCKED this session! Every single time that we said smile, that little boy SMILED. He was ready to go, didn’t get tired, didn’t fuss, posed exactly the way mommy told him to, did everything that was asked of him, I mean Matt and I couldn’t believe it! There is not a two and a half year old that we have ever met that does not at some point during the session basically say “I QUIT” and literally refuses to take even one more picture! I wish we could take Elijah home and just use him as a stand in when our future clients’ kids get fussy! He definitely has a future in modeling! By the way, I asked Safia what her secret was to raising such a natural in front of the camera and she said that he was just a ham! So if she has a secret, she didn’t share it with me! Sorry guys!
We cannot wait to meet these twincesses (as their parents call them) and we won’t have to wait long! Leah Noëlle and Avah Saëlle are due to make their grand debut in just a few short weeks and then Matt and I will have a challenge that we are very excited about: our FIRST twin newborn session! Wish us luck!
Safia, Charles, and Elijah: We are so happy for you. You are already amazing parents and Elijah was such a sweet heart with Chloe that I am sure he will be an amazing big brother! We wish you nothing but happiness and we pray for a safe delivery! See you guys soon!