A lifestyle portrait session at a Woodbury family’s home during a beautiful summer night? Yes, please! It was so good to catch up with the Hobbs family on their newest adventure and addition to the family by meeting little Giana! We met the Hobbs family back when our families were only us married couples and one boy – now we each have two boys and a girl running – err, I mean roaming – the house! We have had the pleasure of capturing this family for a few years, and the first session involved a blue balloon revealing little Keelan’s gender. We’ve since documented Keelan's entrance into the world, gone on an adventure at the ice castles, photographed them at one of their favorite spots (Lake Elmo), and explored one of my favorite spots at LeDuc Historic Estates.

One of the things we challenge our couples to do when it comes to their engagement portraits is to stay true to themselves as a couple; so, for Gabby & Donny that meant taking their engagement photos at Gabby's family home and spending some time hanging in their favorite spot: the at-home theater. Delicious snacks, buttery popcorn, comfortable chairs, and "The Office" on the big screen -- need I say more? Their family said it's where you find these two together most, and we loved the unique setup!

As I sit here on the carpet next to Chloe's crib while she sleeps, there is a wave of emotions that are rushing through me. Part of it is probably still from pregnancy hormones regulating out,and the other part is because I can't believe it's already been a month since this little lady entered our world! As I work to pick the photos and upload the ones to share, I smile at the different memories and feel sad that these first few days are already gone. Then,there's the feeling of fear and guilt. Fear that people will look at these photos and think, "they didn't do this or that" and guilt that I didn't do "more" photos during her first few weeks. Silly? Absolutely! Will people actually think this? I highly doubt it, but isn't it interesting how instead of just joy there is a regret to do more? If you're a fellow mama, I bet you totally get this,and if I can say anything to you it's to be present over perfect. So move aside guilt and fear because we chose not to take so many photos.

​I’ll never forget the moment we decided to have another child. We were on a family vacation, sitting on the couch in a friend’s beautiful family cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We were talking about our future as we listened to the rain ting off the tin roof above our heads. I had brought up the subject and Mark was as gracious as ever about timing for the third child as he knew my hesitation of wanting to have my “own body” for a while.

Whenever I get the opportunity to drive to a client’s home and be invited into their everyday life by doing a lifestyle portrait session, I can’t wait to soon be heading back to my home and importing the photos, so I can relive the specialness of relationships and moments of daily life. This was definitely the case in getting to capture little Eliza’s newborn portraits in her family’s Cottage Grove, MN home.