So back to the real world.  And time to share photos of the ADORABLE and handsome baby E. from this past weekend.  Mom found my ad in the Baby Guide that she received from the hospital and fortunately I had time to get there when E. was 12 days old.  He was about as perfect as perfect can be and I loved the fauxhawk hair.    He slept like a dream and was just so so cute (and had an amazing nursery to boot!).  And mom and dad were so kind and so sweet and accommodating.  As a bonus, dad is a huge sports fan so we got to talk sports for a little while during a feeding break and even managed to work his very cool John Elway photographed football helmet into a photo.  I love being able to use something special and unique in photos!  We had a great few hours together, got a bunch of different variety and I continued on my quest to break away from all beanbag shots  and back to what I started with.  So enjoy little baby E, I know I had a great time with him!

Time passed and we all grew up.  My sister ended up going to Pitt and both of my cousins moved there at various points, as did my aunt and uncle.  My older cousin, Melissa got married to a great guy (lovingly referred to as the Dutchman) and just about a year ago I found out that they were expecting their first child, a boy. Calvin James was born just over six months ago and from what I saw thanks to Facebook, was absolutely adorable.  When Melissa asked me a month or two ago who I would recommend for photos, I suggested that she fly me out instead and I would be glad to do them.  And to my absolute delight, she DID!  I arrived in Pittsburgh last Friday – the first time I had been there in over five years.  And thus began three awesome days with Mr. Calvin.  He was beyond adorable, the happiest baby I have ever seen and one of the cutest, too!  Since I had three days to shoot we did a morning shoot, an evening shoot, indoors, outdoors, clothed, nakey.  Lots of fun!!!  We also discovered this awesome rooftop garden at Carnegie Mellon with this fascinating sculpture of a French Curve that has numbers all over it.  TOO cool.  There are lots of photos in this bunch (a mere, tiny fraction of all of them!), so sit back and enjoy meeting Mr. Calvin.  I sure did

You’d think with those ages and newborn twins that the house would be a wild crazy place but I got to their house and was immediately SO impressed with how smoothly and wonderfully it was “run.”  Run isn’t the right word but you know what I mean.  The big sisters were adorable, mom and dad were so relaxed and everyone was just so happy and so sweet.  And on top of it all, there was just SO much love in that house.  You could just see it in the way everyone interacted with each other, talked to each other and played together.  It was incredible!  (I also want to mention they have the best toy room.  Possibly EVER.)  In fact, I came home and told Matt that as a mom of five with two newborns K. had it much more pulled together than I do with just two!!   I had a really delightful time with all of them.  We sang lots of songs (Rudolph was a favorite) and the girls even offered to share their snack with me.  A great way to start my Friday morning!!  So without further ado, meet babies I. and J. and big sisters M., S., and A. in just a few of my favorites that I’ve edited so far!

Shhhh…she didn’t know I was taking the picture.  My favorite kind of shot.  True and honest moments of emotion.

Love love love love every single thing about this picture.  Love.

Now this is a tough time of year for sneak peaks — I have to pick and choose carefully what I am showing since I know they are planning on some shots for holiday cards.  So you are not going to see any of the fabulous family shots or the shots I got of J. smiling because I don’t want to ruin their surprise for friends and family.  But I did throw in a few extras for this sneak peek to make up for it. 

L.O.V.E.D. loved his nursery.  It was a complete baseball theme done by the family as a present for K. and L.  You’ll have to trust me, but it looks like something out of a Pottery Barn Kids catalog.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I am having visions of J. standing in his crib with his name plaque behind him, or sitting where he is laying on this shelf or under the gorgeous baseball quote that is on his wall.  Yes, I always plan future client shoots when I am at their session. Totally normal…right?

Gorgeous big sisters.  I told them I am going to come back and shoot them separately for my portfolio.  Not kidding.

Dad is totally enamored of his little boy.  And being a wrestling coach he is quite solid himself so it’s really cute to see him holding this (okay, not too teeny) baby.

And I end with gorgeous mom and one of my favorite momma – baby moments that I have ever caught.  You guys know I am all about getting the emotion of the moment.  I adore posed shots.  But the looks like in the last shot, I really live for that.  Anyone who has had a child remembers these moments, where it is just you and your child and you look into their eyes and it’s almost like the rest of the world just fades away for a moment.  And you ARE each other’s world.

Thanks for having me, K. and family, I had a blast!!  I’ll be in touch soon!

Anyways, back to the point.  I brought both of them out for some photos the other late afternoon.  My idea was to get Christmas card shots and gift shots.  My children apparently had other intentions for our time together, though I did get a few good ones.  This was my last shot of our 15 minute session.  Yes, you read that right – they gave me 15 whole minutes.  Really, Nolan gave me two, but she couldn’t move too well in the grass so she had to deal with me.  If you’ve been here before, you’ve seen her hair.  Her wild, crazy, untamed hair.  I discovered, however, that in the setting sun it takes on a whole new life.   I love this little chunkamunk cutie SO much.   Crazy hair and all.

You may think this is an odd way to begin a newborn post, but I like to believe that things happen for a reason.   As you’ve seen over the past few days, I got to photograph the most precious little four day old boy on Saturday. You may remember mom’s GORGEOUS maternity session from the beach in August.  Little J. made his mom and dad wait, arriving on the very last morning of 42 weeks and a very long and drawn out labor!  But clearly the extra time was worth it because he was just perfect – chubby cheeks, little legs and arms, plenty of hair, all ten fingers and toes, everything just adorably, wonderfully perfect.   I’d also like to believe that he arrived on that day because he was waiting for a very special guardian angel to arrive in heaven to watch over him.

So.   Meet little J.  This is my youngest baby ever – my previous was five days old.  There is something truly special about working with them when they are this new.  As I have said before, my job is possibly the coolest job ever.  I get to spend time with brand new human beings!!   We have no idea what he’ll be like when he grows up or what he’ll like to do.  Right now we just have this perfect, tiny being.  A mix of a wonderful mother and father, the completion of a loving family and the union of two families who have known each other for generations.

Treasure your loved ones and the moments with them.  Take pictures all the time.  Enjoy the little and big things.  A baby is a reminder of all of these things anyways, but sometimes, it’s just a little bit more meaningful.  Thank you, thank you, thank you A. and J. for inviting me into your lives and choosing me to capture these first days for you.  I so look forward to watching him grow!  (But not too quickly )

Mom and Dad’s families both owned pineapple farms back in Portugal and someone made this onesie as part of a baby gift for them.  Isn’t that sweet??