A few weeks back I blogged an in-home newborn session I did with Ripley and his family. Ripley is a heart warrior, meaning he has a congenital heart defect (read more about CHDs here). He had surgery one day shy of turning 4 weeks old, and spent the next six weeks recovering. His mama Shannon wanted to document his wee body before and after surgery, and to have these images as a reminder of his story and the story of their family as they went through this.

I headed back over to their home a week or so before Halloween and found Ripley and his sister Madison dressed as Totoro and Mei from the movie Totoro (a fave in our household as well as theirs).  We hung out in their front yard for some Halloween-inspired pictures, then headed inside for a few photos to document Riley’s scars. I love that these scars will be seen as a badge of honor, something to be celebrated and not shamed. These scars tell the story of baby Ripley and what he and his family went through the first few months of his life.