Sweet Baby Jack | Blessing

Johannah and Luke are probably two of the most down-to-earth people I have ever met. We were introduced to them when my cousins Ellen and Jeff stopped by our condo to visit the last time they were in Birmingham (where they lived before moving out to California for Jeff to go to dental school). As soon as Ellen came to the door, she said, “You’re not going to believe this. Two of our very good friends live in this same complex!” It turns out that Johannah and Luke were out of town the day they came, but Ellen passed along our info to Johannah, and next thing you know, she was at our doorstep bearing freshly baked cookies to welcome us to Birmingham. As we got to chatting, we discovered that we had all gone to UT (I even had an English class with one of Johannah’s sisters!), shared a mutual love for books, and knew a lot of the same people. To top it off, they are just so likable. Johannah has that (totally unpretentious!) Southern hospitality and charm thing down PAT. Jamie and I were so excited when we first met their baby, Jack, back in January. (They had to drive to the hospital during that horrible ice/snow storm that basically shut down the city. Luckily Luke is a cop and had a whole team of people to help them navigate there.) Sadly, shortly after that, we found out they would be moving to Nashville. But happy for them, because Luke got an awesome job and they have a lot of family there. Before they left, though, I had the privilege of documenting Jack’s blessing at their church and the lunch in his honor.

This is Luke naming the baby. His full name is John Thomas “Jack” Paiva… in honor of his two grandfathers. So sweet.

They had a spread of food from Jim ‘n Nicks. Oh my goodness… so delicious. I can’t believe I hadn’t eaten there yet. Those muffins? To die for!

There were some SUPER cute kids there. Oh my goodness.

Have you ever seen a newborn with such a full head of BLONDE hair?! How adorable is that!

Grandfather’s hands. Baby’s feet.

Jack and his two namesakes. I love this.

Happy little family!

Luke and Johannah, we’re going to miss having you as neighbors, but you’ll always be friends! Thank you for all the kindness you showed us as we were getting to know this city. Best of luck in your new adventures in Nashville!