Though it has been wedding season in my professional life, there is no doubt that my personal life has hit baby season! So many of my friends are growing their families right now and I am just so blessed to witness all these wonderful women transition into motherhood. All three of my college bridesmaids had babies within a month of each other, and Rachel’s baby, Charlie, is the newest addition to the group! (See Shannon’s here!)

Rachel and Ben and I all met at the BCM at UGA and Rachel is one of those rare friends that I’ve managed to stay in touch with, even though she moved to Alabama after graduation. For those first few post-grad years our friendship looked a lot like sporadic phone conversations that lasted hours on end. I’m so happy that Rachel and Ben have moved back to Athens where we can (hopefully) see them more often!

Rachel is one of those refreshing people who tells it like it is, and invites you to do the same. I’ve never felt the need to have pretenses around her and it’s one of my favorite things about her. Rachel and Ben made the bold move of buying and moving into a brand new house just weeks after Charlie was born! But Rachel, being Rachel, invited me over anyway – to take newborn photos right in the thick of the mess. Life with a newborn is chaos anyway, so why pretend otherwise, right?

Charlie was about three weeks old when we took these photos, and he handled it like a champ! I just loved seeing Rachel laugh and embrace the craziness. She is already an incredible mother and her and Ben make such a good team.

Congratulations, Rachel and Ben – I’m so happy for you guys!