Newborn Poses With Late Father's Military Gear In Touching Photo

Christian Michelle Harris was born on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. The toddler is named after her late father, Spc. Christopher Michael Harris, 25, who died in August of last year when an IED detonated near his convoy in Afghanistan.

Harris' widow, Brittany Harris, 26, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was just six-weeks pregnant with their first child when her husband died. In October, Brittany Harris asked her husband's platoon to fire a confetti gun that was filled with pink confetti, revealing her baby's sex. Harris told The Washington Post in an interview that she wanted the soldiers to be the first to know the child's sex so that they know they're a part of her family and a part of her journey.

Harris said she immediately became concerned about everything related to her pregnancy when her husband died.

"I was so scared of the idea that I could lose the one last bit of Chris I had," Harris wrote in an email to Patch. "I tried to do everything perfect my entire pregnancy. I couldn't help but think of her as the most precious thing I would ever have."

When Harris welcomed her daughter into the world, she marked the occasion with a photo shoot. Her newborn daughter posed with her late father's military outfit because Harris wanted the photos to be patriotic in a way.

"I wanted to capture as much of Chris’s spirit as I could," Harris said. "He was extremely devoted to the Army and his country. I thought nothing could be more fitting for her photos and something she can look back on with pride."

Christian was also born on St. Patrick's Day.

"I think that means both she and her mom are extra lucky," the photographer that captured the portraits wrote on Facebook.

In naming her daughter, Harris said she wanted to name her after her father as best as she could so she decided on Christian Michelle Harris as a way to honor him.

Harris wants her daughter to know how ecstatic her father was to learn of the pregnancy and how excited the two of them were to start a family. She said no one wanted to be a father more than her husband did.

"He would have done anything for her," Harris said.

Photo by NPS Photography