Welcoming Gabriela

Surrogate Birth of Gabriela

Brownsville, Texas Home Water Birth

When I first learned about Jen’s journey with surrogacy, I was excited and anxiously awaiting for this baby to “stick” and make their journey home… to their parent’s arms.

I can’t imagine how much emotion, time, and patience these lovely folks had to navigate to get to this day. I’m deeply humbled to have had a glimpse of this joyous day with them.

If you’ve never met Jen, she’s an incredible human and one of Brownsville’s newest midwives. Her birth center is Heart of Gaia and she helps families achieve their goals of having a physiological birth either at home or at her beautiful birth center.

Jen has the only clear birth tub in South Texas and my gosh, I’ve been patiently waiting to document someone’s birth in that gorgeous tub. I’m holding on to hope. #CrossingAllFingersAndToes

Come on a little trip down memory lane with me and take a peek at Gabriela’s birth. She was surrounded by people who have loved her long before conception. Welcome to the world, Gabriela!

If you or someone you know are looking to document your birth. Reach out. I have limited space for birth work and I would be honored to be a part of your team.

xo, Norma

Monolo's Baptism

Edcouch, TX, Baptism Photos

Baby’s Baptism is such a special time for the whole family. Thank you to the A family for inviting me to document Manolo’s celebration.

Baptism is a sacrament in the Catholic Church (and many Christian churches) which is most often celebrated by family and friends. This photography session was so very special to me as I’m sure it was for this entire family.

Manolo’s family is like my own. I’ve been by their side for the birth of two of their babies. We’ve laughed and cried together. We’ve experienced the gift of life and joyous celebration and the heart break of saying goodbye to Monolo’s twin brother, Max.

With every stage of life, we experience big highs, and sometimes big lows… but through it all, I’ve watching this beautiful resilient family band together in love and faith. I’m so happy I got to be by their side as they celebrated this milestone with Manolo.

I’m incredibly honored to be a part of their lives.

If you are interested in documenting your family’s milestones. Contact us to book your session.

Love & Light,

Norma

Hiking adventure at Estero Llano State Park in Weslaco, Texas

Estero Llano State Park, Weslaco, Texas

In all the years I’ve lived in the Rio Grande Valley, I had never taken the time to visit Estero Llano in Weslaco, Texas. I’m not sure I can be proud of that statement. I’ve missed out.

Hiking hasn’t been my thing, ever. If you know me, you know that snakes scare the bejeezus out of me and bugs induce soprano tones from my throat. It’s no lie. Ask my kids. They’ll chuckle and tell you all about it.

Since life has us all turned around and masked up, the family has gotten creative about how we can safely see friends and loved ones. Frankly, we rarely go anywhere these days but over the holiday break, we wanted to see familiar faces and embrace the holiday spirit.

The solution, outdoor gatherings in large open spaces while masked. That’s what worked for us and honestly, it was a beautiful opportunity to do things I don’t generally do. I have to admit. This holiday break taught me to be a little more open minded about hiking and exploring the outdoors. Aside from being mildly scared of the wildlife, I found that I was mostly astounded by the beauty.

The cool breezes took me back to all the days I played outside as child and the outings kept nudging me to try some more. So over the holiday break, we not only explored this beautiful state park… we kept on exploring and I can’t wait to tell you about those.

Estero Llano has clearly marked trails that lead you to various bodies of water which are perfect to catch a glimpse of the many birds that travel through South Texas on their migration journeys. I hear there’s also an alligator which I did not get to see (thank goodness) and the kids were kind of bummed about missing “Alli the Alligator” as they called it.

There is an area with a small incline that leads you to a water reservoir… if you make it out there, the view is worth the extra steps. We saw plenty more beautiful birds and looked down to catch a glimpse of the park while we were up there. (I make it sound like a steeper mountain but it’s really just like getting to the top of a canal..)

If you plan to head out, take me with you next time. I’d love to document your family hike. :) (I promise not to hit the soprano notes on your outing…)

~Norma H

2020 Birthdays look different...

Drive-Thru Birthday Celebration in McAllen, Texas

2020 has been such an interesting year. We’ve all had to adapt to some twilight-zone type of life and our traditional birthday celebrations kind of went out the window.

Alas, the human race is adapting and drive-thru birthday celebrations became all the rage. We have hosted a few of these ourselves (it comes with the whole 5 kids package I signed up for… lol.)

I wasn’t sure what to expect but we’ve had a ton of fun adapting to this new way of celebrating.

Our first attempt at this birthday party style was our 8 year old’s birthday in June.

We invited Kairo’s Coffee to serve up some yummy hot & cold coffee beverages (because without coffee, what is life? Am I right?)

They did a phenomenal job and we have reached out to them again for another birthday, because, #yum.

We rented some exaggerated birthday yard signs that the kids absolutely loved. RGV Yard Cards was punctual and so accommodating to our last-minute request.

And finally, we threw together some treat baggies for the kids. We donned our masks and got ready for the honking and the yelling.

Let me tell you, our kiddos had an absolute blast (I’m not sure the neighbors felt the same way…) and everyone was so happy to be able to see familiar faces as we celebrated in this new way.

Here are some photos of the big day! Enjoy.

If you need to contact the vendors we used, let me know, I’d be happy to pass along their deets. :)

If you are planning a social distancing special event, I’d be happy to help you document the big day. Let’s chat and make it happen. (Special pricing if you are in McAllen or within a 5-mile radius.)

`Norma H