Melissa’s Materinty Leave

Personal, Uncategorized

It’s almost time! If you’re one of my amazing clients or have been following MHP online, you’re probably well aware that the Hayes Twins are coming soon! It sort of feels like forever ago that we found out this crazy, surprising, exciting news in October, but it also feels like just yesterday. I mean, how in the world are we about to add TWO babies to our family?! We’ve been a bit busy around here with preparing for these new additions… all while in the midst of selling our home and moving into a new one that we’re really looking forward to raising our family in.

In anticipation of their arrival, I began my maternity leave on March 1 and plan to be off through May 31, 2019 as of now. I wanted to share a few details of what that means for MHP clients and what you can expect over the next few months as we take a break to grow our little family.

  • Email communication will still be available, however my response time will be longer than usual.
  • If you need to place print orders, you may do so any time via your active online gallery. Otherwise, if you need to order prints directly through me, please contact me prior to April to ensure a timely turnaround on orders.
  • I’m currently booking sessions for June and beyond, so please reach out if you want to book a maternity, newborn, or family session to take place once I’m back from maternity leave.
  • Fall Sessions will be announced in July, so stay tuned! The number of sessions I’ll have available will be smaller this year due to having two small babies at home, but there will be a handful of mini session dates as well as full session options. Clients will receive first dibs on mini sessions via email, so be sure you’re subscribed to the MHP newsletter!

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of my clients and supporters of MHP who have been so gracious and encouraging during this time for our family! I look forward to sharing our life with twins (and a toddler) once “Cake & Ice Cream” are here!

photos by Jenny Perry Photography

Yellow, Yellow Everywhere | Atlanta Family Photographer

Uncategorized

I first got to photograph Chrissy and her daddies last December when she turned one, so I was excited to see them again this fall for another session right before she turned two.  We met at a favorite in-town park and ended up getting the most beautiful shots before we even walked down into the actual park… these yellow leaves were covering every inch of the ground near the street, and I couldn’t resist them. Neither could Chrissy!
She is such a darling girl, and I just loved her little braids and hair bows. Felipe’s mom was in town visiting, so we made sure to include her in their session as well. Enjoy some highlights with all of this beautiful fall foliage!

NW Atlanta Session Highlights | Atlanta Family Photographer

Uncategorized

I photographed these two families earlier in the fall… back when the weather was still quite warm and the trees at my favorite in-town park were green. 🙂 I love the sun flare sneaking into the side of the first photo of Jackie and her family, and I also absolutely adored the way she styled them for their photos… classic with a fun little pop of red here and there for the holidays. And that Esther’s cutie pie smile is just too much!

Speaking of cutie pies, Miss Evie (in our second set of photos below) was nothing but smiles for me the entire session, and I couldn’t have loved it more. I hadn’t seen her since her newborn session a couple years prior, so it was really fun to see her parents again and get to know her a bit as a toddler. What a smart, joyous little girl she is! I so enjoyed these two sessions, and it was a great way to kick off the busy season.

———-

Baby Evelyn | Atlanta Newborn Photographer

Uncategorized

Baby sister Evie joined her family back in the summer, but it’s been so crazy around here that I’m just catching up on all the newborn sessions we had over the past couple months. She was such an angel during their in-home session, and I can’t get over how sweet big sis Leona was with her. And their puppy sisters — just look at that family photo below! This sweet family deserves all the happiness in the world, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to document their growth over the past few years. Enjoy this peek into their newborn session.

Leighton’s 3 Year Milestone Session – Smyrna | Atlanta Childrens Photographer

Uncategorized

My baby is THREE. In so many ways, this third year of her life has flown by infinitely faster than the first two did. Big surprise, right? We’re on the go most days, and she has just started preschool two days a week… which she absolutely loves! She’s big into pretend play right now, so we spend a lot of our time having pretend birthday parties and eating play food that she cooks for us. With each passing month and year, I am more and more grateful for the blessing of staying home with her during this sweet, exhausting phase of life — all while running a business I truly love. I say it with every phase, but this is truly the most fun age so far. It’s bittersweet to watch her getting so big… but it’s even more amazing to watch her grow into her own person.  Leighton Lane, we wish you the happiest of birthdays! We love you “the whole world and the fishies in the sea,” as you say. Thank you for making us parents three years ago, and thank you for making every day my favorite day.