Cortney+James+Georgia // Family Session

We have a special place in our heart for Cortney and James! We photographed their wedding nearly 8 years ago, shortly after our own wedding, and during a time of my life when I was quite sick with a mystery illness. Both Cortney and James are chiropractors, as well as Cortney’s dad, and their family was aware of my various medical problems because I was in the emergency room several days before their wedding, but released without a diagnosis (something that had happened multiple times that year, despite every test being run under the sun from both Duke and UNC). Cortney’s mom Paula convinced me to go see Cortney, and since then she diagnosed and solved not only that illness, but many, many more random illnesses to come. I am the queen of having completely oddball stuff go physically wrong and not having any conventional doctor be able to solve it, and Cortney has fixed me every single time. Gluten intolerance? Cortney! Random things that went wrong throughout my whole system as a result of gluten intolerance? Cortney! Shoulder problem that was repeatedly misdiagnosed by several orthopedic doctors? Cortney! Random stabbing pain in my brain after receiving a cortisone shot from another ortho? Cortney! She has diagnosed and fixed so many things, and I truly would be a hot mess of medication without her, instead of not being on any meds at all. So basically, Cortney is my lifeline, and I love her and owe my physical wellness to her badass wealth of knowledge.

In addition to being our chiropractic heroes, Cortney and James are also dear friends and neighbors. They have a dog named Buddy who is very fluffy and smiley and who I desperately have tried to befriend so I can pet. But alas, Buddy is quite shy, and despite meeting us repeatedly, usually hides behind James or Cortney when he sees us. However! We had a true breakthrough during this session by simply giving him dog treats. Turns out, Buddy is won over with food, and suddenly became our best friend and dog model. I was able to pet him a lot, and I was happy (we’ll see what happens next time we see Buddy out and about, but we’re hoping he remembers). We also attempted to win over their adorable human child Georgia (18mo), who was never quite as convinced about us as Buddy was despite a wide variety of coaxing tricks. But this was probably because she just woke up from a nap (to be fair, I am exactly the same way). However, she came out of her shell when walking buddy and being tossed in the air. Next time we’ll try giving treats to her too and see if it works. Georgia is an excellent, A+ dog walker who also enjoys dandelion puffs, baby dolls, the Lion King, spotting bunnies across the street, trolls, Buddy, and her mom and dad. Cortney and James woke up the next day to Georgia running around saying, “Carolyn! Geoff! Carolyn! Geoff!” so we must’ve made quite the impression on that sweet little lady. We love this entire family to bits.