When I first met mama Holly, I remember her giant smile, her bubbly personality, her quiet and curious toddler, and her happy baby boy. I had placed an online model call request for in home mama sessions, and she was one of the first to respond.

My favorite part of this job is getting to know the families and people I have the honor of photographing. Learning their stories, who they are, what they enjoy, what they believe in, what they love. I also enjoy the deeper connections, because as we all know, parenthood is like ying and yang. There is happiness and smiles and laughter and joy, but on the other spectrum there is deep struggle and emotions.

This beautiful mama told me something that stays with me now even after her session. She told me how much she has evolved as a person. That she is proud of herself, especially of her body, for growing, nurturing, nourishing, loving her two boys. She is prouder now of her body than she ever was at 16, or 18, or 20 years old, and to me, that is absolutely beautiful.

So we celebrated this mama, within this new season of her life. Celebrating all her body has done to grow and feed and love her sweet babies. We celebrated love. We celebrated happiness. We celebrated motherhood.