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.

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. 

Wow, oh wow, oh wow. As I sit here and have a chance to look back at every wedding day, engagement session, family portraits, anniversary photos, mini sessions, maternity portraits, lifestyle sessions, newborn portraits, senior portraits, and more, all I can say is wow. 2018 was such a blessing. You blessed us! So many special announcements, new steps and chapters in life, and stopping to document life are seen below. You trusted us and invited us to walk alongside of you in these precious moments -- allowing us to live vicariously through you and celebrate the best parts of life with you. So below, you'll find some of our favorite photos as wedding and portrait photographers that highlight many more photos and moments not shown, each freezing memories to be looked back on for a lifetime.

Okay how cute is little Miss Evelyn? I told her mom and dad that I would be expecting a PDF from her explaining to other future newborns how she prepped for her session because she was the perfect little peanut! It was such an honor to meet her and her amazing parents, Heidi and Bilal, for their lifestyle newborn portrait session at their home in Hastings, MN.

We love this dear family! We met the Wongs a little over two years ago when we just had Ethan and they had little Abigail. Ethan and Abigail immediately hit it off when we met them at our church, Hope Community Church, and then Ethan and I bumped into Lori and Abigail at the Cottage Grove library's storytime in the next few weeks. Since then we've added more kiddos to the families and stopping right now to look back at how we've all grown since we first met is definitely something to be grateful for.