Harper | Maine Baby & Family Photographer | Stepheney Collins Photography

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. This photo session had been in the planning stages for three months! This was supposed to be a one year milestone session, to be scheduled right after Harper turned one. But you know what, sometimes life gets in the way. The unexpected pops up, and you have to go out of town for a funeral. You reschedule. Then the little ones get sick, and you postpone. You reschedule. Then another unexpected out of town trip is required and you postpone, rescheduling yet again. Then on the morning of the photoshoot, sweet little Harper trips and gets a boo-boo on her forehead. So you postpone the session again.

After all of this, the session finally did happen and it had turned into not only a celebration of Harper turning one, but also a celebration of motherhood. I love that we stacked blocks, read books, and played peekaboo together. I love that Harper was obsessed with goggles from a family trip to Costa Rica and insisted on wearing them around. I love that the session ended because she got sleepy and finally dozed off for the nap that she refused to take before I had arrived for the photo shoot. These were some of the sweetest, most tender moments I’ve captured and it was all because these were the real life moments that happen every single day.

Sonja, thank you for letting me come to your home and spend some time capturing just you and Harper, in your element. Gretchen Rubin said it best, "The days are long, but the years are short."

Stepheney Collins