She's here.  And positively adored.

Welcome to the world,

~ Charlotte Marin ~ 

Our baby girl arrived into this world at 2:35am on Monday, August 22, 2011.  She weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces, and is 19 inches long.  She surprised us by being almost two weeks early (my guess date was September 3, which has been a running joke throughout this pregnancy... since that's "Labor Day" weekend.)  ;)

big sister Lila, three years old //  baby Charlotte, one day old

Her name is very special because, to us, it represents where Chris and I began, and where we are now.  He and I met in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1998.  We fell in love and began our life together there.  Marin (pronounced "Mare uhn") literally means "from the sea", which represents our life here now.  One of our favorite things about living in Florida is how close we are to the Gulf, and how much our kids love the beach (especially Parker right now).  Chris and I also were married on the beach a little over twelve years ago, and it's just weaved itself into our lives.

I promise to post Charlotte's wonderful birth story soon (and lots more photos).  Her birth was absolutely amazing for us.  And true to her name, she was actually born in water.  For now, let me just say that the amazing ladies at Breath of Life Birth Center in Largo are the most caring, attentive and supportive midwives and birthing team I've ever seen and known.  They have been so sweet to our family, so welcoming of our other children, and so prayerful and supportive of our entire journey toward Charlotte's arrival.  I can't recommend them highly enough, Mamas.  And a less-than-five-hour labor?  What a blessing.

Thank you so much to everyone for the well wishes, emails, Facebook greetings and sweet phone calls we've received.  We are really enjoying our first week at home together with Charlotte, finding our routine and getting to know each other.  We're all completely smitten with this sweet darling girl, so everything else has been put on hold for a short while.  I know a few clients are waiting on a print here and there, and those will go out soon (thanks to my fabulous husband and his help with matting and packaging!).  I go back to shooting in late October, so if you'd like us to put you down for a fall/winter session, please just send an email to stacey {at} staceywoodsphoto {dot} com, and we'll contact you back at our earliest convenience.  We greatly appreciate your love and patience during this precious time for our family, and I promise to keep you updated during my maternity leave with lots of photographs of this little one and her big brother and big sister!

xxoo,

Stacey