At 10 days old, little Breyker is already famous! After his amazingly beautiful birth story, he definitely won over the hearts of many, many people! I’m certain that loads of people are waiting to see images from this sweetie’s newborn session. And as I predicted after his mommy’s maternity sessions – he is extremely handsome, cute, adorable, super snuggly and just plain gorgeous :) He’s got the creamiest, soft, rosy complexion (he had little to no peeling or redness on session day)….a perfect little nose, a full pout, and big, beautiful eyes — I’m not sure what color they will be in a few weeks, as eye color tends to change…but for now they seem to be a gorgeous shade of dark blue (but I could be wrong). I guess it doesn’t really matter because he is just so stinkin’ cute anyhow! And hello – does mom look like she just gave birth? No way! So lovely…a beautiful family as a whole! The session was just awesome…there was so much love in the air — and that definitely shows through in these images.

…is sleep. Wow! Typically, my newborn sessions are within the first two weeks of birth…mostly because babies are really sleepy during the first few weeks which means lots of snuggly, sleepy, squishy baby photos. Then at around 3 weeks, they become more alert, which means they like to stay awake during sessions to see what’s going on. But this time, our little baby boy was just as sleepy as can be. He was such a great little model. We tried to wake him up for some photos to capture his big eyes – but he wasn’t having it! In fact, he got very annoyed at us for even trying…I think he tried to keep his eyes open for a little, but each time, those lids would quickly get heavy and he’d be ready for more snoozing. The photos towards the bottom were when we tried to keep him awake…he wasn’t very excited about this – but cute nonetheless. I can’t complain though, I always love sleepy babies – so here he is…just as snuggly and sleepy as can be.

Every time I photograph a birth (especially a birth as intense & beautiful as their baby’s birth) I have a renewed sense of amazement of how phenomenal and miraculous childbirth really is. People often ask me why I photograph births…and how I can stand to be in the room when something (in some people’s eyes) not so pretty is going on. My response always includes an explanation of how I feel that childbirth is one of the most natural, beautiful things one can ever experience. I personally think it’s a beautiful thing, and that a mother’s beauty is unmatched when she is bringing a new life into the world – with strength, passion, love….The moments in time you are able to freeze frame and isolate are those you never want to forget – and I want my families to have these to look back on forever. You can explain what it’s like to become a parent for the first time, or explain what it was like the first time you laid eyes on your child…but sometimes, words aren’t enough. When my son was born, I found it to be very difficult to explain all that I felt when I first saw him – and I think it’s the same for many other parents.
Here’s a perfect example (press play below to view Breyker’s Birth Day)…

….sure, it’s super cute when babies are giggling and laughing the entire time during photo sessions, but I also really love that serious look. Especially, especially with a baby as cute as this one. Quite pensive – taking in the world around him (and probably wondering who I am & why I’m dancing around in front of him). I know I say this often, but really, I just adore sessions between 7-9 months! Because babies are sitting up unassisted at this time, we can get totally creative! And yes, they may also be crawling (which means I’ll also be on the floor crawling right along with them), but the bruised knees are totally worth it…crawling pictures are super cute – and I’m not afraid to get down there on the floor and play! Now here are some sneak peaks for mommy and daddy of little Mr. You-should-be-a-Gerber-baby-model…how amazingly cute is he?

…this adorable busy little bee was the quintessential toddler. Running around, jumping around, walking, laughing…and (in true toddler style) pretty much doing the opposite of what was asked :) This comes as no surprise though! And I love it…it’s absolutely hilarious and awesomely cute! No doubt, she is a fire cracker…and…just gorgeous. Beautiful curls, big brown eyes…and a sweet, sweet smile. She is going to be a heartbreaker!

Our goal for this shoot was to get some awesome sunflare…so we scheduled a sunset maternity session….I really love sunset sessions for pregnancy photos. There’s just something so magical about the golden light just before sunset..as it casts a warm glow over the pregnant belly. It’s really fantastic. I was very much looking forward to photographing this pretty mama! So after two weeks of waiting…and over an hour of driving for mommy and daddy to be, we meet up at our spot and guess what? It’s so, so, so cloudy. The clouds were completely blocking ALL of the sun’s beautiful rays :( I was so bummed, so bummed. BUT, because it was cloudy, I was able to capture the blueness of the sky and got the first shot below. Which has got to be one of my favorite maternity photo ever. I love it so so much :) As if it’s not enough to get to photograph her twice…I also get to photograph her baby’s birth…and then have a newborn shoot!  I <3 my job.