When I think of Maria I always think of lattes. Her home was the first place I had ever had one. Warm coffee, the sound of grinding beans, the yellow lemon mat on her kitchen floor, and the big green grapefruit plant in her living room, all these things are what encompasses this beautiful little family and makes them so memorable. There is a certain pureness and simplicity that you feel when you walk into their home. From the white walls, handmade wooden coffee table, and swirl coffee cups, each and every design and decoration is so uniquely their own.

The very first time Maria spoke to me was when I was 4 months pregnant with Poppy. A huge snowstorm had just hit our neighborhood and we both found ourselves outside in our snow gear, shoveling the driveway for our husbands. She yelled out to me, introducing herself and offering to help. It took me a while to gain the courage to talk to her again. Then Christmas of 2016 rolled around and we found ourselves exchanging plates of our favorite holiday treats, growing closer with each kind thing we passed one another.

A few weeks after that I felt the little push, the gentle nudge to go over and talk to her again. I remember being so nervous. I grabbed a bag of freshly made double chocolate biscotti, put on my black TOMS flats, and made my way across the street (and slipped on some ice) to make the first step in gaining a new friend. Her beautiful family was kind and inviting and before I knew it, hours had gone by with us sitting in their living room, talking and connecting over so many things while enjoying lattes together.

Over the past year, we’ve gotten to know their family better, celebrating Easter and having a game night together. But most of our opportunities to be together were surrounded by the play dates that Maria and I would in her home, during the day. When my kids would be in school, both our little ones would be napping, and the two of us could take just a moment for ourselves to catch up over a cup of coffee. Despite the fact that we live right across the street from one another, we don’t get to hang out very often, both of us leading busy lives taking care of our families. But the times when our schedules align and we get to enjoy each others company, they are always a treat.

Back in Mid-February, when Maria was a week late for the due date of her fourth little one, I went over to visit her and bring her a freezer meal for when she got home from the hospital. We talked about how she was feeling and as she made me a latte, I offered to come in and take some pictures of her family a week or two after she gave birth. I remember how fast it went by with Poppy and those images at the hospital and during our first few days back home are still some of my absolute favorites and I wanted Maria and her family to have those same tender moments documented.

My whole goal with this shoot was to capture Maria and her family in their everyday life. There were three specific locations I knew I wanted her to be in, sitting on the couch, in front of her grapefruit tree, and by the big window in her dining room. These are the areas where we always are whenever I visit. It’s where we talk about our daily goings on and vent about the struggles of mom life. It’s the place where her kids run around and giggle with each other and tell me their version of family stories. It’s the place where I see so much of their lives unfold and where their hearts reside.

When I arrived on a sunny Thursday afternoon, I arrived with coffee, Nutella turnovers, and cameras in hand. Maria and her little ones welcomed me inside with smiles and I set everything on their kitchen counter, giving her the details on how to prepare her meal. We soon made our way to her living room and I proceeded to set my gear on her coffee table while getting busy in loading film into my camera backs. Genevieve, Jack, and Gianna all gathered around the coffee table, interested gazes on all my equipment and I explained to them what everything was used for and the awesomeness of a Polaroid picture. Their innocence and curiosity while looking at a freshly developed Polaroid picture was precious. To their child-like eyes, it was just as good as magic.

We scurried the older kiddos downstairs to play for a bit while Maria and I took our time in beginning the photographic process. I sat on the floor in front of the couch, resting my head on the armrest while I watch Maria feed her newest daughter, Angelina. It was exactly how I had longed for it to be, like every other wonderful visit that I’ve had in her home. We took it slow, talked and updated one another on our current goings on while I occasionally snapped a few images. It was a gradual and tranquil process as I watched her day unfold and quietly documented it from the sidelines. During the images by her kitchen window, I made sure to incorporate the bright begonias that she received as a gift from her husband Tom, a tradition that was done for all of their children. Maria had expressed her excitement on Facebook in planting them in the spring so that their life will be carried on and I hope that, just like these images, they’ll carry a cheerful reminder of this delicate and tender time during their lives.

Once we had gotten a few images of Maria and Angelina together we invited the older three to join us while we savored the Nutella turnovers that I had brought over. I stepped back with my camera and once again, silently document the La Fave’s day. The small moments of the kids having their snack, Maria preparing me a coffee, and little Angelina resting on the floor while Jack played quietly next to her. Sometimes it’s hard to see the beauty in these moments when you’re living in them and I knew these images would be essential for Maria, because like every mom, we all have our bad days and sometimes it helps to see these simple checkpoints during the day and remember why we do the things we do as parents. Life and the normal every day has a tremendous amount of these lovely tiny moments and I’m always honored to be welcomed into peoples homes and into their lives so that I can document it for exactly as it is: real, honest, and raw beauty.

Photography Details

Lab: PhotoVision
Film: Fuji 400H @ 200 iso & Ilford HP5 @ 400 iso
Camera: Pentax 645N
Lens: 75mm f/2.8