And I’m back! After a couple of days off for Easter, we’re returning with another post in my sister’s maternity journey series.

If you missed any of those so far, you can see her announcement post here and her baby shower post here.

For this session I asked Alexis to humor me with two requests that were out of her comfort zone, 1. to wear a fitted dress 2. for that dress to be a solid color.

If you noticed from the last two posts patterns and fit and flare or maxi are more her speed, but I had a vision for this shoot which is why I wanted a solid color, and I personally believe fitted looks best during a maternity shoot.

My sister is also only an, Earth-shattering, five foot even tall, if that. She makes my 5’2 ness look tall, so I knew in order for her baby bump to not completely disappear during ground poses she was going to need to be in a fitted dress.

While Alexis and I would have more similar hair color if you saw her natural color, our skin tones are totally different — I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion she would be gorgeous in Red, but historically that always been more my go-to color, while Lexi would lean more towards pastels.

So, when she picked red, my suspicious were made true, SHE IS STUNNING IN RED. And red worked perfect for out shoot location.

We shot her maternity session a couple days after Christmas in our hometown.

To be completely honest, where we’re from is the kind of town that would make you hasten to hit the door locks inside your car. It took me leaving and being away for a few years to see Ottawa Co. with and without rose colored glasses.

Despite the bars on windows and plethora of quick cash businesses and pawn shops, Miami, Oklahoma is a town of rich history and diverse cultures. No matter anyone from outside the county’s perspective, I’ve always been proud to tell people where I’m from.

Last year I decided I wanted to be more proactive in showing the rest of the world my home through my eyes—those rose colored glasses, if you will—and when I accepted that mission opportunities started popping up left and right. Even one non-photography related when I presented during Native American History Month (November) in Kentucky’s Be The Bridge group about home and the nine tribes that make up Ottawa County, Oklahoma.

I have another session from last year coming soon that shows off home again, but obviously my sister needed to be first. 😉

After I moved away, Miami (pronounced my-am-uh after the tribe) started hosting an annual Mural Fest to bring new life to the town. I LOVE seeing each new one when I return home, so naturally we had to incorporate a few into Lexi’s session.

Isn’t she beautiful?!?!

After leaving Miami, we headed eight miles down the road to my parent’s house in Fairland, Oklahoma. 😂

We finished up her session in the same pasture I used for her baby shower a couple of months earlier and on the gravel road by their house.

One of their neighbors has a race horse ranch, which means they have one of the few non-barbwire, non-pipe fences in the county.

Where that clump of trees are in the background is an unmarked Indian Cemetery.

There was a time one summer when we were in high school where random tourists from California would knock on our front door looking for it.

That’s all I have for today’s slightly morbid fact in the midst of beautiful images post.

Seeeee why fitted is important?! She’s tiny. Baby Smith would’ve completely disappeared.

The next few photos make my eyes misty. We weren’t planning on Gunner being in these photos, he just joined on his own accord.

But there is something extra special about the old gray horse of your childhood joining as you are about to enter your next season of life.

Gertie and Cletus, Alexis and Levi’s furchildren joined in right before I lost all light.

They are a wild duo to herd, but I got ONE and I laughed a lot while getting it.

I leave you with the behind the scenes wranglers — Dan and Dad.

See you tomorrow for my niece’s fresh 48 session. ♥️