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!

Maybe it’s just me, but after all the excitement of the holiday season, I can feel rather down in the dumps. We spend November working on being thankful, we go right into December counting down each moment and jam-packing a ton of activities in as we celebrate baby Jesus’ birth at Christmas, and then within a week we are sent into a new year. Wow, just thinking about it leaves my head spinning. And yet, we do this every year… and I’m starting to notice a pattern for myself of where I feel a bit overwhelmed with the daunting tasks and unknown future of the new year as I step into early January.

Every time I look at JD & Johnelle’s maternity photos taken at an adorable tree farm in Woodbury, MN, I can’t help but hum to myself a new Christmas jingle. The adorable little trees were covered in snow, and we walked along, only hearing the sound of snow crunching under our feet and the laughter as we chatted about life, while fresh snowflakes floated down from the sky above. It might sound cheesy, but magical is the only thing I can say when I think back to walking up to the Christmas tree farm for their maternity portraits.