Fabulous photogs and new products!

In this business, I have been fortunate to work with some fabulously talented photographers. As most of you already know, we have long worked with Amanda Elkins of AmandaElkinsPhotography.com. She continues to blow me away with her talents behind the camera, but just as importantly, we have grown together as moms, business owners, and friends. She is my go-to for our big photo shoots, although sadly she is all the way across the country. So, on occasion, and here recently, I have also had the pleasure of working with a few other photogs a little closer by. I am so excited to not only share their incredible work, but also the fun new products they captured for us.

First up...swimwear!! We couldn't be more excited to share our new 2011 RuffleButt Swimwear Collection. Since we sold out in less than 3 weeks last year and had to re-produce everything, we are bigger and better than ever this year. We have tons of new prints, multiple new styles and we are keeping if fresh all Spring long! The first two to arrive are after many requests for a RuffleButt one-piece style and the ruffled two piece style was so much fun to design, I just couldn't help myself. Hope you enjoy!!

Bela (the adorable model shown in this picture) was a total trooper shooting on the beach in less than ideal weather. Isn't she just too cute in those superstar sunglasses!

So, after many requests, not only have we added the one-piece to our Spring 2011 Collection, but we also now offer all the way up to 4T.

This is one of my favorites so far to design. I went a little crazy with the ruffles, but it is just so fun and frilly, I couldn't help myself! Again offered from 3-6m all the way up to 4T, this suit is just a fun summer wardrobe addition for every little princess.

Next up...Ruffled Dresses galore! As we are receiving in new merchandise everyday, when these fun and ruffled creations arrived to our offices, I thought it would be a fun chance to work with a local SC photographer (Erin Dietrich of ErinDietrichPhotography.com) that had reached out to me a while back. The dresses first arrived in the satin version for the holidays, but is also soon to arrive in the cotton version for a Spring sunny day. She also has a cutie patootie of her own and was just perfect for some fun shots. She also was able to capture our brand new RuffleButt undies with some creative help from her husband in posing the precious tots, along with our fun new RuffleButts wave Bloomers. Erin did a great job, especially considering that she shot these pics about a week after we experienced some major winter weather here in the Carolinas, so was limited to working indoors.

In our bold black, this is the new satin Ruffle Dress. The body is made of a machine washable (on

delicate preferably) satin, while the ruffles are made of the same organza as you have come to know and love on the RuffleButts Organza Collection. The dress is super fun and actually quite comfy...Aubrey loves to run around in her ruffle dress, pink being her favorite of course!

So, the back story to this pic...let's just say there is a cat being held in the air by hubby to distract two toddlers, which turned into some super cute poses! Good thinking Erin (and hubby)!

These fun new RuffleButt Wave Bloomers were supposed to be a fresh limited edition style for Spring, but with the incredible response, they will likely have a long-term home here at RB!

Triple the blessings

Last week, a picture was passed around our office due to the pure joy that it evoked. One of our super sweet customers posted the picture on our facebook page to share her precious little angels. When I laid eyes on this picture, I couldn't contain the huge smile that immediately came to my face! Not only was it truly to so fun to see our creations contributing to this most precious picture, but it was also a reminder of God's most incredible creations, babies.

It was not until today, that I realized the much deeper story behind this picture. You know, we all get so caught up in our own lives, and especially on facebook, things can be so removed. It was a reminder to me that everyone has a journey, and most often others are so unaware. Okay, so back to the story...after seeing the picture, I just knew I had to share this joy with others. I contacted Tami, the mom, and she put me in touch with Jamie, the photographer. Today, Jamie and I got the chance to chat, and wow, what a fabulous photographer - not just in talent, but also in heart. Jamie went on to tell me how this picture truly came about...and I warn you, get out the tissues!

So, Jamie was running a contest for a free session at Jamie Burnett Photography. Not only was she touched by the incredible contest entry sent to her by Tami, but also the multiple entries from Tami's friends and family willing to give away their winning session to Tami. After reading her story, this mom is beyond well deserving, not only of a free photography session, but also of this INCREDIBLE blessing that God has given her and her family, times THREE!!

Take a minute to read Tami's story below, and then give your children a very big hug!

We had twins in June of 2008, a boy and a girl Audrey and Avery. A couple of hours later, the nurse rushed in and said, “we need to get Momma in the NICU right away.” I was nervous and felt like I couldn’t get there fast enough.When they rolled me into the NICU the doctor proceeded to tell me that their hearts both stopped at the same time. She went on to say things, but I just didn’t understand what she was saying. I looked at Adam and he said, “Our baby girl is gone.” I was in complete shock. After much persuasion, the nurse convinced me to hold her, I didn’t want to hold her out of fear, I didn’t want to face reality. I still wanted her hooked up to those machines, because that meant she was still alive. But they unhooked her and wrapped her up in a blanket and put her in my arms. It was so hard. My body was going into physical shock (septic shock) due to the massive amount of blood lost during surgery, and my heart, and mind were in shock and not able to comprehend the magnitude of loss I just experienced. We sat there, crying, and staring at her. She was so beautiful and perfect, I couldn’t understand how she couldn’t be alive. My wheelchair was parked in the middle of my twins, and to my right was our sweet boy, Avery. As we looked into Audrey’s face, heartbroken, we would look up and see Avery’s tiny body, fighting for life. They worked on him for another hour and half. The doctor explained that there wasn’t anything left for them to do and asked what we wanted them to do. I looked at her and said that I know what she was saying, but I couldn’t tell her to stop trying. How can you tell someone to stop trying to do everything they can to save your child? Just minutes later, he was gone. We never thought about taking pictures of them, we weren’t ready or had planned to have them on that day and so we didn’t have a camera with us.

I never knew leaving would be so difficult. There were no babies in my arms and no carseats to fill. We had their funeral the day after our 8th anniversary and then we were faced with a new life and learned how strong we were and how good God is. God has been our rock. Adam is such a strong man of God and really helped me get through it. We never gave up hope. In fact, we didn’t have a middle name for Audrey and during the time I was in my room after they were born, I starting thinking about her middle name. Immediately, I felt like I heard the name Hope being spoken. It was so clear that this was to be her middle name, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that before! But little did we know that “Hope” would be what would bring us through the most difficult time of our lives, and keep us living. If it weren’t for hope we wouldn’t have had the strength to keep trying. We tried IVF again in Jan 09 and June 09 with no success. We tried again in October and are finally pleased to be pregnant…with triplets and we are due on our 10th anniversary!!

Because we didn’t have the opportunity to take professional pictures with Audrey and Avery, it is even more important and on the forefront of our minds with the delivery of our triplets. We want to make sure that we capture their first few weeks here with us with special portraits and capture their smallest of features. We can’t go back and get close up shots of our twins tiny feet or hands, but we can with our triplets and don’t want to miss this opportunity to celebrate their lives through photographs.

Not only was I inspired by Tami's strength, but I was also blown away by Jamie's generosity. Not only did Jamie give Tami this free photography session, but she hauled her kids and all, more than 11 hours to photograph these precious little baby girls. My philosophy in life is when you put good out there, and have faith, it comes back ten fold. This is evidenced time and again, but Tami and Jamie, you are both an inspiration to us all, and I am truly grateful for that.

I hope you all enjoy this photograph as much as I do!