The first time I met the Ghandours was at their eldest’s newborn portraits in their condominium home in Hastings. A few years later, we reconnected for family photos when their middle man came into the world. We met up last fall to take some fun family mini portraits. Now, they have welcomed baby Layla, and it was fun to be welcomed into their new home here in Cottage Grove.

Ah, the smell of newborn babies. You can’t help but love them, and this little lady is no exception! I think she might get the award for the easiest baby ever in a newborn session – I heard a cry once, and otherwise she slept through the entire thing! We met in the family’s home as they expressed that their heart was to cover the everyday life and real relationships more than the posed, studio style newborn photos. I could not agree more! It is so fun to capture all of the little one’s little features and how quickly they will grow, but it is, in my opinion, so much more fun to capture them in these lifestyle sessions.

You can’t help, but love couples in love. This is totally how we feel about Ethan and Kirstin! We first met these two when they were looking for wedding photographers. We felt like we were good fits for each other and scheduled their engagement portraits – in fact, it’s the only session we’ve ever brought a kid on! Our sweet little Chloe was only a few weeks old, and we weren’t up to leaving the sitter with her and her two older brothers, so Mark wore her during the engagement shoot, and she slept like a little trooper. Before we knew it, their wedding day had come and gone and, now, here we are taking on their in-home lifestyle portraits with their precious baby girl.

Precious. Life is just so precious. One moment, you’re taking engagement photos with the pup, the next moment you’re walking down the aisle towards the one that you love, moments later you’re waiting with anticipation to welcome the precious baby you’re carrying into the world, and before you know it, your firstborn is now blossoming into a big sister. How did it all go so quickly? I finally understand how parents of older kids describe their child's life passing by in the blink of an eye -- a quick moment where we’re transported from one to the next. This is how I feel about my sweet kiddos and how I feel about getting to document the latest Rush family addition, little Miss Bailey.

Welcoming a new little one to the family is always such a precious thing. Getting to be welcomed into a family’s home to document their everyday life in the addition of a little one? Even better! Especially when it's the second time getting to! (See Evelyn's newborn session here.) We love the chance to get to be more on the behind the scenes side of photography, to see everyday life, and get to capture photos within a space that you will forever remember as the place you brought your little ones home. So precious! The new little guy on the block here is named Wyatt, and he absolutely rocked his newborn portrait session! Even though he was a week past what we’d call the newborn stage due to rescheduling since big sissie wasn’t feeling 100%, he stayed awake peacefully almost the entire time and only made one sound -- and it was that adorable little newborn squished sound (one of my favs).