Maia and Paul are a sweet Cottage Grove couple who are adding a little baby boy any day now. I love these last few moments before baby comes into the world. While it feels like a lifetime of waiting in the moment, looking back on it, it truly does go by fast! This is why it is so important to document this stage of life, so when they reached out and said they decided to do maternity photos, I was totally game to get them on the calendar.

I snuck this family in right before Christmas for a Christmas tree mini portrait session. I love the chance to see the progression of life firsthand as it goes along. I first met these two when they were engaged, and we were able to capture their wedding day at The Grands at Mulligan in St. Cloud. Then we captured their maternity photos of little Gavin and did their family photos last year. So, to add another year of family photos, capturing the exciting moments before another precious baby enters the world? Priceless!

I have been pregnant three times, and as I sit here, listening to the rain and my hubby upstairs putting our two boys to bed after I put our little girl to bed, it’s amazing to me to realize that the pregnancy years are already behind us. It’s a time where it seems like it’s so long, and yet when you look back, that precious baby did come and very soon wasn’t a baby anymore. This is why we always tell our couples to document these life changes, because if we keep living in them, they’ll pass in the blink of an eye. We’re so excited that Jamie & Kyle here wanted to do just that and chose to hike along Afton State Park for their maternity portraits.

What’s better than being a couple’s wedding photographers? Getting to be the couple’s wedding day photographers and then also capturing their maternity portraits! It was beyond fun to capture Rachael and Andy’s wedding at Settlement Hill Farms in Hudson, Wisconsin, and getting to catch up with them again at Afton State Park last week was icing on the cake. I loved walking amongst the empty trees and capturing not only their love for each other, but also their love for their soon-to-be-here baby boy! Rachael is 33 weeks pregnant and beyond glowing!