Category Archives: People

Jensey Loves Oliver’s First Thanksgiving <3

3rd January 2018

I can’t believe this was our *7th*!!! annual Thanksgiving with the Stoners! <3

I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend Oliver’s first Thanksgiving than in a cabin with these dear friends. I was insistent on going somewhere COLD this year!! Oliver is always hot natured, but with his DOC Band helmet, he overheats really easily! I wanted to kick off the holiday somewhere cool where he could, you know, wear a jacket! <3

I love this little series of Titi Lisa giving Ollie his first cooking class. :)

We introduced him to Helen, Georgia, one of our favorite places to spend Thanksgiving! :)

And then we haaaaad to introduce him to the place where Cabbage Patch Kids are born! If you haven’t ever been here before, it’s… Interesting. ;)

Ollie in overalls is the best kind of Ollie! :)

You know Titi Lisa is around when this is the high chair setting we wake up to! ;)

She really outdid herself with this year’s tablescape. Inspired by Oliver, she had this table runner handmade with family and friends quotes from Disney movies written on it. The calligraphy was by Andi Mejia! It was such a work of art. :)

The annual bacon-weaving of the turkey!

I had to, ok?? You only get *one* first Thanksgiving, and rumor has it, sons reach a certain age where they’re *not* ok with their moms dressing them up in turkey costumes. I don’t believe Oliver will EVER let that happen, but juuuuust in case! ;)

Gobble gobble gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! <3

And just as quickly as the holiday began, it was over! Nate and I extended our trip one night to see Dahlonega’s lighting of their Christmas tree and downtown! They apparently film a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies here and I fell. in. love! Also, look at our little!!!!!!!!!!

Our Oliver tradition for roadtrips home- Stopping off in the Florida welcome center to say hi to their astronaut, get some orange juice, and take a photo with the Florida sign! :)

Ollie does Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!

29th December 2017

Nate, Oliver, and I went to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party with our bests, Uncle Timmy and Uncle John David! We went the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and it kicked off our holiday season in the most over-the-top magical way. We left the park saying that if nothing else happened between then and Christmas, our holiday magic cup would already be full!

We happen to have friends with extraordinarily magical roles in the company and they gave us maybe a top 3 moment of 2017 : Santa not only giving a special message to Ollie DURING the Christmas parade (video below!!), but also a private Santa meet-and-greet after it was over.

While we still did the Santa mall photos later in December (I felt like it was a childhood rite of passage, like bad school photos!), I’m so, so happy that *this* was his first meeting with the real Santa. It was just us and him in a room and he held Oliver and talked to us forever and every one of us cried. Nate and I lost it a couple times in the park that night- We have wished to be parents for so, so long, and we spent more Christmases than not broken hearted, wondering if we’d ever get the chance. It was absolutely surreal holding him watching the parade, showing him the snow on Main Street, all of it. I can only imagine the magic to come when he knows what’s going on! :)

This night was truly the highlight of our entire holiday season, and I had to share some photos (and video!) before the month ended. My heart is so full. <3 I mean.. How are we supposed to top this life moment for Oliver?!

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Sid and Janie Doll : Halloween 2015

8th October 2016

Just because I’m not dressing up this year doesn’t mean I don’t love looking back at our past get ups. And last year was my favorite yet. <3

We knew we’d be going to spend Halloween trick-or-treating with our nephews in Jax, and we knew they were going as Buzz and Woody. So Jessie and I thought it’d be cute if we all went as Toy Story characters! We didn’t tell them who we’d decided on until the day of when I realized, oh crap! I may scare the bejeezus out of these boys! (I totally didn’t by the way. Henry was indifferent and Hall kept wanting to try on my mask himself or have me put it on and kiss my cheeks!)

When watching Toy Story as a kid, the “Janie Doll” scene stuck with me the most. (Can’t you just hear the “Mama! Mama!”) And who doesn’t love Sid?!

(I put affiliate links to all of our costume pieces at the bottom of this post if you wanna make a similar costume for yourself this year!)

This family portrait though. I. Mean. <3

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This felt a *tad* sacrilegious, but in true spirit of Sid, Nate cackled his way through! We bought poor Woody on eBay. <3

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Swooooooooooooooooooon! This Sid shirt is one of my favorites, and I love that he wears it at home now. You can go getcha’ one here! :)

 

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So, my blue dress ended up being the hardest piece to find, but Modcloth to the rescue!

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The biggest trooper of them ALL, my little green alien!! <3

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And now the costume details :

SID PHILLIPS COSTUME 
Skull Shirt from Amazon
Fake Braces from Amazon

JANIE DOLL COSTUME
Navy “Work to Play Dress” from Modcloth
Red and White Shirt from Amazon
Crocodile Mask from Amazon

LITTLE GREEN ALIEN
Green Polo Shirt from Amazon
Stick-on Wiggly Eyes from our kitchen drawer! :)

And our group shot before heading out for the evening. How’d we do?!

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Jensey Loves Baby Root!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

19th June 2016

I know God exists because in a world of 7 billion people, I was lucky enough to meet and marry Nate. He has never failed to open the door for a woman or give his seat up on a monorail. Nate believes trees should be climbed and shopping carts should be ridden. Put a nephew in a laundry basket, and it becomes a space rover exploring the moon, and he’s frequently the guest of honor at our niece’s tea parties. Basically, I married my favorite Disney character, Peter Pan… But only if Peter cleaned toilets and did all of the laundry, too. <3

It is with great, great joy that I share on today of all days that this great man of mine is finally going to be a father…

WE’RE ADOPTING! <3

Disney Adoption Announcement Photo

I’ve started this blog post a million times and the only common thread between my million drafts has been the huge smile on my face as I write them!! :)

We have roots in adoption on both sides of our families and always knew that regardless of our ability to conceive, we wanted to bring a baby home through adoption. Our journey to parenthood kept getting delayed for one reason or another (I’m looking at you, Tennessee and gallbladder surgery!) All it took was Nate asking, “What do you think about adopting?” over lunch one day to change our lives forever.

It’s hard to believe that last August we were deciding whether we’d adopt domestically or internationally and learning the intricacies involved in open vs. closed adoptions. In September, I would have told you with complete confidence we’d be adopting from Africa or China. Imagine our surprise when after a month of exhausting research, we were signing with a domestic agency for an open adoption!

I’m excited to share the more beautiful details of our adventure so far… And let me tell you, it has been an ADVENTURE. God has been showing off left and right. It’s with tears in my eyes that I write that we already have a promising match and I really, truly feel in my heart that I’ve sat in the same room as our to-be-born baby. <3

But with all the joys and excitement of adoption comes the scarier and unknown parts too. It’s for that reason that we’ll keep most details between us and our families until we bring our baby home. But just know an amazing story is unfolding and I’m already documenting it for future blog posts I hope to share once we’re parents!

Nate and Jensey

Want to help?

As soon as we started sharing our exciting news with friends and family, we were floored and humbled by how many people’s first reactions were “How can we help?!” Our baby isn’t here yet and we already feel blessed by the amazing village who already loves him or her so much.

If you’re interested, we put together a small list of ways you can help us between now and baby-time!

  • Prayers, pixie dust, happy thoughts, best wishes. We need all the love and good ju-ju we can muster! <3
  • If you know someone who is engaged, let them know about our photography! We’re already so thankful for any referrals, but this will increase 10 fold once we’re parents. Yay for being self employed! <3
  • This also goes for anyone who needs family photos or anniversary photos! ;)
  • We’ve never, ever made prints of our Disney art photos available for purchase. To help with our adoption fees, we’ll be offering them for sale for a *very* limited time. You can view our Disney store front here, and also check out prints from some of our other favorite trips.
  • We’ll be running wedding and portrait print sales between now and baby. I’ve been dragging my feet on starting a newsletter but it’s been on my mind this year. Until we start emailing promotions to you directly, keep checking back at the Root Photography blog and Facebook page for any announcements on specials.
  • Share this page! (Or even the link below.) :)
  • If none of the above applies to you, a family member set up a Go Fund Me page for us. We wouldn’t be starting this adventure if we couldn’t afford it, but that doesn’t mean we’re too proud to accept a little help. It turns out adopting babies is expensive! ;) If you’d like to skip your Starbucks for a day and donate $5, we’d be honored. We were strongly opposed to fundraising when we began, but my heart has been reminded over and over again that these things take a village. That’s nothing to be ashamed of if it makes life a little easier as we transition to our new roles of Mom and Dad.
“Mom and Dad.” Oh my goodness. <3