I really shouldn’t do photos for friends.  I am a sucky friend photographer.  Jamie here is over a month old now.  And I am FINALLY blogging his newborn session!! Eeeeks!  My only saving grace in all of this is that I *was* there photographing when he was born.  So really this is just a bonus newborn session, right???  ;)  We split this into two times – once at my house for the newborn part and once at Dani’s house for the family photos.  And I am going to share a bunch here because, well, I’m a sucky friend photographer and made her wait this long.  :)

I met up with beautiful little Sophia and her parents earlier this week for her newborn shoot.  Although she came three weeks early and was three weeks and one day old at our session, she was still an absolutely perfect little model!!  She was just over six pounds and had the most beautiful head of dark hair and rosebud lips to just die for.  :)  And she is obviously very, very loved.  I adore the shot of mom in her nursery and have some others I’m keeping as a surprise for their gallery  :)

Congratulations P family, she is just precious!!

Baby Ben decided to come a few weeks early into his family – six to be exact!  And after five weeks in the amazing NICU at Women and Infants he is now a handsome eight week old little guy that I had the delightful pleasure to photograph on Sunday.   After spending some time with mom and dad I can’t really blame him for coming early – they’re pretty cool people!  Mom wanted much more family interaction and not traditional beanbag-style shots and I was more than happy to oblige her.  Not-so-secretly, this is the type of newborn shoot I love and kind of prefer.   We spent about and hour and a half together getting lots of shots of Ben with mom, with dad, with both and, yes, just a few on his own.

I don’t know what it is – perhaps NICU families have an extra special bond between them.  Maybe they appreciate something the rest of us don’t yet.  But being around this little family, you could just feel and see a kind of love above and beyond what you normally see in newborn sessions.  Even Charlie the dog was in love with the little guy!  I left this session with such a full and happy heart.  :)  J&J it was so great to meet you; enjoy your little guy, he’s absolutely precious.

When I met little miss Isla for her session last week, she was only five days old.  One of the youngest newborns that I have ever done.  But even at that early age, I could already tell the amazing family that these guys had become.  Mom and dad were high school sweethearts so their new baby girl?? Like completing the circle.  Although she wanted to be awake and hang out with us for a while, she did grace us with some cute sleepy shots as well as some gorgeous calm awake shots.  And the family shots?  LOVE. I want to share them all!   This is why I go to clients’ houses.  There is just something so special about being in the place you brought your baby home to.  :)  Congratulations K&D, she is just perfect!!

Hoyts Cinemas.  That is where it all started.  Hoyts Cinemas in Carousel Mall back in Syracuse.  I was a 16 year old high school senior working the concession stand and box office when I first met Jaimie.  At 18, she was a little bit older than me and a student at Syracuse University.  We immediately hit it off and became good friends.  We stayed in touch while I went away to school and she was a big part of convincing me I *needed* to come back to Syracuse for school and a better partying academic atmosphere.  She was instrumental in helping me (forcing me to) join the marching band with her as well as the sorority that went along with it.  She was one of my best friends and we even lived together for a year as well.  As we got older we went our separate ways geographically but always stayed very much in touch visiting for any and all reasons.  When I started planning my wedding, she was one of the first people I wanted as my bridesmaid and she was one of the first I told when I was pregnant.  Basically, she has been there through it all.  :)  There is this rule I have in my business that I stole from friends.  If you have seen me pee, puke or cry, your session is free.  Needless to say she had that allllll very well covered hahaha!   No matter how much time passes, it never feels like we have been apart.  :)  I mentioned in a post last year “The true friends.  Someone that I know calls them “rocking chair friends” – the ones we’ll sit with on our porches when we’re 85 and drinking lemonade on a hot day.  That person.  That friend.”  That is my Jaimie.  :)

When she and Chris got engaged I was so, SO happy for her.  Their wedding was absolutely amazing and beautiful and perfect.  And then about seven months ago I got a message on my phone asking if I had any availability in December.  :)  They were pregnant!! I immediately put them on my calendar.  No way would I miss those photos.  Though Kyleigh made her entrance about a week and a half early, I did a quick drive down to NJ for the photos.  Being the wonderful baby that she is she did not make a peep the entire session.   And she is just as gorgeous as her mommy.  :)

Although I have gotten to do some pretty amazing things with my job, I had never gotten to photograph a birth.  It was one of those things in the back of my mind as a “bucket list” item.  Something I’d love to do if I got the chance but it would be pretty difficult to make it all work.  It’s next to impossible to be on call 24/7 for a laboring client when you have kids and a working spouse!  Thankfully when Dani went into labor two days before Christmas, the stars aligned and I got to photograph my first birth.  Amazing doesn’t begin to describe it.  First, to be allowed to witness a birth at all is mind-blowing.  To have it be your friend, even more so.  And to be the photographer for it???  WOW.  I got home and was just so so excited.  I looked at my husband and said “You get to do this every day?!?!  (he’s an OB-Gyn for those new to me)  How does it ever not get to be the coolest thing EVER???”  And he said that that never happens.  :)  And looking at the doctor’s face in the one photo after James was born shows just how happy and beautiful and miraculous every birth is.  And Dani??  She made it look easy.  Just a few sets of pushes and she became a mommy for the second time.  She did GREAT throughout the entire process.  It was pretty much a dream birth.  For them and for me.  :)

The slideshow can be seen below, or scroll down for the individual photos used.  :)

I met up with this little guy and his momma for some pictures last Thursday.  At 12 days old he was absolutely precious with perfect skin and big big blue eyes.  Although for a while he wanted to hang out with us and not miss a thing, he did settle down several times and sleep for me.  Even when he was awake though, he was full of big eyes and adorable expressions.  :)   

I met up with this sweet little girl and her mom and dad on Sunday, when she was just ten days old.  Although she wanted to be awake and hang out with us and not miss a minute for most of the time I was there, she did give us a few sleepy shots that mom and dad are sure to treasure.    I know they are excited to see the pictures so I will just get right to it!

It was great meeting you guys – enjoy these days!!!  :)

Just about a year ago, J&J contacted me to setup a maternity and newborn session for them.  Little did I know their session would become possibly my favorite newborn session EVER.   The image below is hanging as a 20×30 canvas in my office and is probably one of my best known newborn images.  LOVE.

So earlier this fall, they contacted me to do a session with them again, this time a family session for their eight month old.  No more teeny newborn but still absolutely a gorgeous baby and family.  We met up on a Sunday evening and sweet baby girl did not disappoint.  Lots of smiles and SO many wonderful expressions.  It was so wonderful to see how she had grown…I hear mom has quite the plans for her first birthday and knowing her, I don’t doubt it.  :)  It was SO great to see you guys again; she is still as absolutely perfect as she was when we first met!!!

This image started a an outtake but I love it so much, especially the more I look at it.  :)  Totally going in their gallery.

When I first moved to Rhode Island a little over two years ago, I started holding my Get Manual class.  One of the first times I held the class, this gorgeous blond showed up with her camera and her notebook.  And she had a baby in the house!!   And I made sure that Matt didn’t see how gorgeous and put together she was with a little baby in the house. (Just kidding.  Kind of.)  But she was a total sweetheart and since the class was really small that time, all of us really hit it off.  She and another mom and I all kept in touch mainly through Twitter and then just being moms all involved in various forms of digital media in Rhode Island.  While I am still trying to figure all of that digital media stuff out, Joanna has it down with her blogsite BabyGatorsDen.com and being super active on Twitter.  She is amazing – two kids and a husband, a new house, a dog and still doing it all!  When she told me she wanted me to do her newborn session I was thrilled!!   So over I went when baby S was all of six days old.  A full head of hair, chubby cheeks, she was just adorable.  And big brother was also as cute as could be and did such a good job with his new baby sister!  I had so much fun at their session.  I am still not sure how I got out without any University of Florida gear being involved but maybe she’s saving it for the next shoot.  ;)

This blog post is bigger than normal.  Mainly because I just kept saying “Oh but I love that one!  Oh and that one!”  I don’t think anyone really minds though…

Joanna and family she is absolutely precious and you guys make such a perfect, adorable family!!  Congratulations again!!!