That first Christmas before we had Hudson was one of my most favourite holidays ever.  I was seven months pregnant with him and while I knew that celebrating Christmas with our own children would be more magical than I ever imagined…I also knew that our final Christmas with just the two of us was something special as well.  There was a certain anticipation…a certain nervousness…a certain “knowing” that things would never quite be the same again.  And it was a beautiful moment to experience.

I will always remember looking across the room at our stockings that year, hanging off the mantle with our names stitched across the top, and being struck with the odd realization that we would never just be “Gen and Steve” again.   We would never just be a boy and a girl who fell in love again. We would never just be husband and wife again.  Every Christmas that followed, we would now be “Mom and Dad”.

I have many friends who have just experienced that Christmas.  Many friends who are looking at those stockings a little bit differently right now.  And one of those friends is my lovely Marie-Josée and her husband, Mat!!!  

I remember when Marie-Josée first hired me – five years ago – to photograph her family.  I remember when we first met over coffee when she began having an interest in photography herself.  I remember the countless long chats we’ve had over the years.  I remember texting with her during our half-marathon…that we were both running!!!  I remember her emailing me a few short weeks later to let me know about her big news.  I remember the conspiracy we came up with to share the news with her family.  And I remember snow. 

So.Much.Snow.

And that’s what I will forever remember from her maternity session.  The snow!  The snow that was up to my thighs.  The snow that took us forty minutes to walk through.  The snow that threatened to bury us alive!

But, we embraced it anyways, because in six short weeks…the world is going to look very different for these two.  The next time they see their stockings hung on the mantel…they will be parents.  The next time we see snow like this…it may be with their baby girl in tow.  The next time they will be in front of my camera…it will be as a family of three.

And so, for now, we take a look at Marie-Josée and Mathew before it all changed.

We take a look at who they are before who they will become.

We take a look at all the snow…