girly studio newborn | Eden | Paige Walker Photography

Where to begin?? YEARS ago, Zach and I bought a historic home in Mistletoe Heights. When our realtor knocked on the door we were greeted by some drowsy college kids. 4 TCU girls lived in that house at the time and there had been a big 21st birthday party there the night before. Liquor bottles and streamers were strewn about and a boy had spent the night and was sitting on the couch with a look of shame on his face (lol). The front living room contained nothing but a shiny purple Christmas tree (it was spring by the way) and there was a sign going down to the basement that said “Bat Cave.” We knew the house needed major updating and quite the facelift to get it looking like the Pinterest page I had in mind, but we took a risk and went for it.

With the purchase of that home came three months of landlord responsibilities so that the girls could finish up the semester. When it was time for them to move out, Zach and I went by there and I saw something in Rene that I loved. She is beautiful, has the best most bubbly personality and I just knew she was a gem of a soul. I asked her if she knew anyone that babysat, she replied enthusiastically with “I do!!” That is where our love story took off! Rene became my daily babysitter and my lifeline in a time when my oldest daughter was struggling intensely with anxiety and sensory problems. Blake needed someone who understood her and Rene was a complete God send. Kylie was a baby and was very timid and took to Rene right away. After Rene was done babysitting most days, she would stay, sometimes for hours, while we talked about anything and everything. She was like a sister/best friend/babysitter all rolled into one. When she graduated from TCU and went back to Houston to start her career, I BAWLED when we said goodbye. If you know me well, you know I cry once or twice a year and hysterically cry once or twice a decade. I couldn’t even imagine life without her there and it was such a hard goodbye for me.

We stayed in touch and she would come visit every couple of months. That boy that shacked up and was shamefully sitting on the couch, That’s Anthony, her now husband! When they were planning their wedding, Rene asked Blake, Kylie and Aven to be her flower girls and that was such a special thing for us! They adore her! When Rene got pregnant with her son, Forrest, she was really wanting to get more into photography and possibly start her own business. I was able to mentor her through the process and help her get started.

She got pregnant again when Forrest was around a year old. She was stressing. Forrest had just gotten easy and she wasn’t sure she was ready to start over again. Anthony is one of three boys and has all boy cousins, it’s one of those situations where there hasn’t been a girl in a million years. Anthony’s brothers have only had boys so when Rene found out she was having a girl I was in legit shock. Even though my business is in Fort Worth and she lives in Houston, she really wanted to bring Eden to me for some girly newborn portraits! So Rene and her sister loaded up 2 week old Eden and made the trek to Fort Worth. I thought Rene was going to croak when Eden WOULD NOT SLEEP during her session haha! At one point Rene said, “Paige, I’m sorry, you are in newborn hell right now.” Rene, being a newborn photographer also, knows how difficult it can be to get amazing images with a wide awake wiggly babe! We all love some eye open shots, but after a while it’s like ok, sleep already! Thankfully she was able to sleep long enough to get the poses Rene really wanted the most, the froggy and the tushy up. It was such a cool moment for me to be photographing Rene’s baby! It was such a full circle moment, she had cared for my kids and we have been there for each other through so many huge life moments, and now she has two kids of her own. Rene is still one of my best friends, we talk on the phone a few times a week, text and snapchat daily and recently just went on vacation together.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Eden’s newborn pics where Dayme the interior decorator and I went to Houston to finalize Eden’s nursery and do her family portion of the shoot! Her nursery is to die for!