I sat down to write last night, and the house had the quiet hum of a home retired — the kids were playing in a separate room, and my husband had left for band practice. My fingers hovered lightly above the keyboard, ready to begin a blog about the beautiful journey of motherhood — the smells of milk breath and freshly shampooed scalps, the sight of them sleeping sweetly, the sound of their soft, gentle breath against our chests, and the joys of watching them crawl for the first time.

But no more than 30 seconds in, my daughter runs to me sobbing (her brother punched her in the nose), my son gets loud and in my face (trying to make excuses), and the dog is going berserk (because it’s past his dinner time).

Motherhood is all-encompassing journey without preparation. Most days are filled with a chaotic din, and life is smeared with jelly stains and unexplained muddy footprints. Children are steamrollers. Yet every day, mothers get back up to make breakfasts and kiss boo boos.

I love to celebrate that sacrifice through my photography. There is an exhausted — yet fulfilled — beauty to motherhood, and it deserves to be captured and memorialized.

Simone Anderson is a three-year veteran of the commercial modeling industry. While she typically works for boutiques, she’s modeled for a wide-range of clients. If you’re interested in booking her, she can be reached by email at Simone.Cavitt@gmail.com or on Instagram (@simonepatrice_).