I pretty much say it before every shoot. "Sunil, why am I doing this again? I'm nervous that it will go terrible and they'll hate me and the photos won't turn out! I'll just stay here and never leave the house and be a hermit forever" 

He usually smiles and patiently reminds me that I do this because I love working with people, I love creating images that will last families forever, and I'm good at what I do. 

He's right. And he knows it. I always come home with a big smile on my face because I get to meet such amazing people with this job and really pour love into their family in the midst of our sessions. 

I took a few months off when I had Mary (if you haven't visited my blog in a while, SURPRISE! We had a kid!). And part of me loved maternity leave and staying home and not having work. 

But every spring when the grass gets green and the shadows get longer and the sun stays golden during those gorgeous sunsets... I just can't help myself. Photography is something I love - even if my pre-session jitters tell me otherwise! 

So when Becky reached out about doing a spring session (LOVED their fall shoot so much!) before they move away from the Kansas City area, I couldn't wait to get out there. 

Also, meeting up with previous clients again is like hanging out with old friends you haven't seen in ages. There's an amazing bond that happens when a family opens up and let's you photograph who they really are... and even though we only spend an hour together, I always walk away feeling like I've known them for years! 

(For the record, this photo below was a blooper and yet it makes me smile a LOT. Henry was so eager to be seen and noticed and I LOVE the expression in his forehead here! Bloopers often make my favorite photos.) 

Trevor and Becky, it really was a pleasure. I could've stayed in that random parking lot for hours with your kids as we sang, "THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOOOOW" and blew bubbles and found random thumb tacks on posts and pizza crusts in the grass. Promise me you'll come back often so we can do it again sometime. :) 

Well... guess what?? We have a daughter! We welcomed Mary Jean Mohinani on Sunday, December 31st at 11:11 am after a quick and easy labor.

It's still so crazy that she's finally here! 

Because we delivered at the amazing birth center by our house and had such an easy and natural labor/delivery, we were able to bring her home that very evening (just in time to ring in the New Year)!  

Sunil and I chose not to find out the gender of our baby during our pregnancy and it was such a fun surprise when she was born! We decorated with and purchased all gender-neutral items, so I didn't have any girly bows or headbands to put her in for pictures... but thanks to a few wonderful friends she now has a lovely supply of things to wear! (As soon as her head is big enough to fit in them! Good thing the one that fit her happened to be my favorite color - thanks, Christy!) 

Sunil is hopelessly in love with Mary. He sings her songs, calls her Princess, and is just so excited to be a dad to such a cute baby. He cried more than I did when we first saw her! :)

He's been an amazing support through this entire pregnancy, delivery, healing process, and parenthood in general! I'm so so grateful to have such an actively involved husband. 

Pixel (our sweet little Beagle) is adjusting really well! She gets super concerned when Mary cries (which isn't very often - how'd we get so lucky??) and is extremely interested in all the smells. Spit up, milk, poop - you name it, she'll lick it! Yuck! :P 

My journey into motherhood has been a slow one from the very beginning of my entire pregnancy, and I'm thankful that I have given myself plenty of time and room to grow into this new identity of mine. I'm thoroughly enjoying taking it one day at a time and savoring each new step. 

I don't think the weight and meaning of everything have fully sunk in yet. And it may take a while before I really feel like she's actually my daughter. (But I've heard that's normal!) ;) 

We're so thankful that she's here, that she's healthy, and that she's ours. Here's to the new adventure in front of us! :) 

PS - For those of you that love all the nitty gritty details and birth stories of any kind... I wrote out my entire birth story and it turned out to be 4 pages long! Whoa! I must be long winded. :) BUT if you want to read it in all of its gory detail, just comment below and I'll send it to you!