Day 6

Her big brother loves her so much. Right from the start he protested having her so far out of his reach.

Day 5: Newborn photoshoot

Five days after my c-section I found myself crouching, kneeling, and bending in ways my body did not appreciate, because I wanted to take her newborn pictures before she lost the newborn sweetness. I love these shots and I don't regret how badly my back and incision hurt after taking them at all.

Day 4: Coming home

Riley's first picture at home. The morning we brought her home we had my parents wait a couple of hours before bringing Cam home so that we could try to get settled a bit. I'm in denial that she is no longer this small. Now when I rock her in the glider I have to squish her in funny ways to make sure her feet curl around me because she is far too long to lay horizontally like this anymore.

Day 3

Possibly one of my favorite pictures ever. She is so perfectly squished up in my hospital bed, cozy and serene. I'd love to spend days in the picture just so I could scoop up her weightless little form again and cuddle her.

Day 2

Everyone had gone home. Gary was at work. My mom was watching Cam. Riley and I had hours to just lounge around in the luxury of being waited on hand and foot. Mostly I tried not to move, except for the occasional need to pull the laptop towards me or snap a picture of my sweet, sleeping girl.

Day 1: My daughter is born

Even though I have more flattering and better taken pictures of Riley, I like this one to start it off. This was taken while we were still in recovery so it's during her first few hours. And it seems like every baby has the squishy, gross, unattractive shots, so this is Riley's.