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This is the last post (for now?) in my "Monday Morning" series, which documented five mothers in the NY area (chosen at random from Mommy Shorts commenters) to prove there is beauty in every mother's morning. To find that beauty, I enlisted the amazing lifestyle photographer Raquel Bianca.

First there was Annie from New Jersey, followed by Ilona from QueensTeresa from Manhattan's Upper West Side and Jennifer from Brooklyn. Now we are going to get a glimpse of Borami from Hoboken.

Borami's story is a little different than the other Monday Mornings posts. Namely because, we photographed her morning twice. 

You see, when Raquel sent me the photos from Bormai's first shoot, it all felt a little too perfect to me. Everyone was dressed nicely, there wasn't a toy out of place and both parents seemed to share all responsibilities equally. 

But in subsequent emails, Borami described her mornings very differently. The most major difference being that her husband, Anthony leaves for work at 6:30am, often before their ten-month-old daughter Natalia wakes up, and Borami does the morning routine by herself.

"Why did you ask your husband to be there?"

"I was afraid my actual morning would appear like my husband is not an engaged dad, which is far from the truth. His engagement is just in the evenings."

That made sense. But at the same time, I couldn't figure out how to write about the details of Borami's morning while posting pictures of her husband helping change the baby's diaper.

Photo from first shoot:

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Also, so many readers had commented throughout this series about how surprised they were that all the families we photographed had both parents at home in the morning. They thought it was more common for moms to get the kids ready alone.

After discussing with Raquel, we decided that we would like to offer Borami a reshoot, but we weren't sure how Borami was going to react.

Honestly, I was afraid she would be offended and turn us down, but Borami responded graciously and agreed to do it. She said she was inspired to do the reshoot by her sister who said, "Most moms shy away from the camera because we’re never put together. Not wanting to be caught without makeup, our hair brushed and a cute outfit, we take a million photos of our kids instead. However, in the eyes of our children we are the most beautiful women."

So here is Borami's real morning. She's by herself and in her pajamas. Forgive me if I think that makes the photos even more beautiful.

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Most days, Borami's husband leaves for work at 6:30am and she has to leave for her job by 8am. On those days, she usually breastfeeds Natalia, then gets dressed and takes her to daycare. On other days, Borami works from home and spends more time playing with Natalia on the floor in her PJs.

Borami showers and blow dries her hair at night after Natalia goes to bed. This way "the mornings are never rushed."

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To put on her make-up, Bormai uses a trick I know well. She sets Natalia up in the hallway on the floor with a bunch of toys right outside the bathroom, so she can continue to engage with her while getting herself ready.

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I'm curious what happens once Natalia goes mobile. That's when my morning routine got way more difficult.

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When Borami gets dressed, she takes Natalia with her. (I can relate to this too.)

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"I had to laugh at the photo of Natalia playing with the dry cleaning bag because EVERY plastic bag says keep away from kids, but lets be honest thats all they ever want to play with." (Yep.)

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 Then Borami packs herself a lunch and packs a bag for Natalia's daycare.

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Borami always uses her last moments to squeeze in some quality play time with Natalia. 

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It's interesting to compare both of Borami's shoots. Obviously, her husband isn't there so that's a big difference. But to be fair, both mornings look pretty perfect. Borami looks just as calm, just as put together and just as under control. There's a serene quality to a mother with her only child in the morning.

Or maybe that's just what photos do. For instance, would you ever know there was a yapping Chihuahua in the next room?

"I had to keep my ridiculously yappy Chihuahua in the bedroom, which is why she didn't make it in any of the photos. She is nutty and wanted to attack Raquel. She thinks she's a killer attack dog even though she only weighs 5lbs." 

At 7:45am, Bormai puts Natalia in the stroller and walks her to daycare. Here she is deploying my least favorite piece of baby gear on earth— the rain cover.

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Thank you Borami, for letting us photograph your beautiful morning twice.

And just because it's a really sweet picture, I'll post one from Borami's first shoot. A photo with that super involved husband of hers.

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A big thanks to Anthony for trusting me to portray his family without him. We know you are not a deadbeat. Just a dad who has to get to work early and makes up for it later in the day.

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This post is part of a series called "Monday Mornings", documenting five different mothers throughout the NY area, in order to help us see the beauty in our mornings through an outsider's eye. It is done in collaboration with the amazing photographer, Raquel Bianca. You can read her take Bormai's morning here.

If you want to be part of my next project (whatever that might be), follow Mommy Shorts on facebook.