I’ll never forget when Tracy Quintana approached me when I was about 6 months pregnant and offered to shoot a maternity portrait. I thought she was insane. Personally, I hate having my picture taken (ironic, I know), so the last thing that I thought sounded like fun was doing it when I felt huge and uncomfortable. It ended up being the most enjoyable experience and those photographs are still the only ones I have of myself that I truly love.

While I appreciate the beauty of motherhood, I wasn’t sure how to incorporate this milestone into my style. So when Naomi and Billy asked me to shoot their parents to be portraits, I had to get my creative juices flowing.

Boy did they make it easy. With their dogs, Bella and Molly, we got a nice family portrait.

We got a quick belly shot of little Brechtel Paul on the inside.

We got some shots out on the street nearby.

These two were cracking me up with their flirting. And yes, she’s grabbing his crotch. That’s how these two roll! So funny!

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was an engagement session! These two are so totally in love with one another. And excited for their new addition!

We headed over to a nearby park, where we got some fun shots.

I even got Naomi to climb a tree! Let’s just say getting her up there was much easier than getting her down without hurting her. But so glad she was game!

This one just cracks me up because it totally reminds me of those Toyota commercials from the 80′s.

This session was definitely one of my favorite sessions ever. I’ve never laughed so much! Congratulations, Naomi and Billy, on the arrival of your sweet baby boy, Brechtel! Also a special thanks to Michael Kuhns, who did the photo editing on this shoot.