Feb
08
2016
Grady is a First Year Legacy Session Client! That means he’ll have 3 sessions with me in his first year and his parents will receive digital files from every session, baby announcements, my walnut memory box, and a gorgeous heirloom quality album. I can’t wait to see him grow up!
This family didn’t decide to upgrade to a Legacy session until after they had finished a Petite Newborn Session. We didn’t have time to add in the family portion of a the normal Heirloom session on that day so you’ll get to see Grady at both 2 weeks old and 1 Month old. The change in just that short amount of time just blows my mind! He’s almost a different baby.
Grady’s daddy thought I was a weird baby hypnotist. Ha! Every thing I tried to do with posing, Grady did perfectly. Really he just did so amazing because his parents followed the prep packet and made sure he got a good awake period followed by a gloriously full tummy.
Daddy helped me with this “impossible” pose; his hands never left Grady. Newborn safety is always my highest priority.
Daddy loves baseball, so we included his mitt in a few images.
Now here are the images from 1 month old. Do you see how much he’s grown?!
This cross eyed image in mama’s hands absolutely cracks me up! I included it in the gallery for laughs 🙂
I love this beautiful portrait panel wall gallery of so many of their images!
Thinking about the First Years Legacy Package? Contact me today to get some more details.
Feb
01
2016Lady-Joy wanted to do coffee before booking her newborn session. So we sat down and talked about the session for about 30 minutes.
We found out we had so many similarities: children the same age, worldviews, and fire to change the world. We kept talking for a good 2 hours!
I love it when clients become good friends before the newborn session even starts!
I like to surprise clients who meet me for coffee with a few maternity images outdoors at the Taylors Mill (because I love Due South Coffee!), but by the time we quit chatting all the sun was gone.
So I took my new friend over to the studio for just a few quick images before saying good-bye.
Jan
31
2016Ladies (and maybe a gent or two reading in my space…),
My lover and I as captured by Snap Life Photography.
I can’t tell you how important date night has been for our family. There were a couple of years between babies 1 & 2 (twins) and baby 3 where I’m pretty sure it’s a sheer miracle our marriage survived. We were constantly in survival mode and ready to sleep at the drop of a hat. We treated each other poorly and rarely had a conversation involving anything more than when a child was last changed or fed.
It was rough.
But here’s a secret I wish I had learned a little earlier: valuing your marriage over your children is actually the biggest gift you can give you children. It provides such security for our babies to know that we will lay down our lives for our spouse.
So date night… it’s important. But it doesn’t have to be expensive or even involve leaving your house. And even leaving your house doesn’t have to involve paying a babysitter: we actually swap sitting with another couple after the kids are in bed. It’s no extra work for me (besides driving) and I get to binge watch or craft without the burden of thinking about the other things I should be doing 😉
Let me help you brainstorm some good night options.
Easy Date Nights at Home
- Trampoline (or yard or front porch) Star Gazing. There’s a Google Sky App so you can know what you’re looking at.
- Play a card game. Black Jack counts. Extra credit for if you decide to play a strip version. Just saying. :-p
- Play a board game. Don’t throw Stratego at your husband. In fact, avoid strategy games. Not that I would know anything about this. No, I’m so above throwing board games.
- Make dessert together. Try this recipe for Flourless Molten Lava Cakes for Two. Besides, nothing makes a husband look sexier than seeing him load the dishwasher. Did I say that out loud?
- Popcorn and Binge Watching. You know that show you both love? Yeah, pull it up on Netflix or Amazon Prime or check out a season from the library. Cuddle up and watch it.
- Build one another up night. Pull out the Legos or Megablocks. Build stuff. But also spend time building one another up. For each piece built, say something you’re grateful for in your spouse.
Inexpensive Date Nights Out (under $25)
- Coffee Shop. Our favorite haunt is Due South because it’s close. But Tandem, or Methodical, or the Village Grind are super amazing too. We usually bring Scrabble or Othello as well.
- Bowling. Peachtree Lanes in Greer is super cheap in the evening, but I’m sure the others are too! This really gets the sillies going in our marriage. We’re both super competitive and basically evenly matched. Sometimes. As long as I put a tape a banana peal on the bottom of his shoe (shh… don’t tell him)
- Ice Cream. It doesn’t really matter where you go, as long as there is chocolate, right?
- Target or Grocery or Kohl’s Run. Sometimes we go out of necessity and sometimes just to wander. You’ll find us planning a yummy meal, or trying on clothes, or trying to convince him to buy Darth Vader zip up jammies, or laughing about that rhinoceros that I want to put on the mantle and he thinks is silly. It’s the conversation and the hand holding that makes it special.
- Panera or Atlanta Bread. Super cheap and yummy meal with a side helping of conversation.
Also, as I’m writing this my husband is planning to name a Hissing Cockroach after me in the Bronx Zoo for Valentines Day. Um, so feel free to unashamedly forward this post to your husband in case he has a hard head and needs a little direction toward romance.
And, no, hard headed husband reading this, it is never a good idea to name a cockroach after your love. Even if a cockroach can survive a nuclear blast.
Jan
25
2016And then their are the not quite 2 year old siblings. I’m pretty sure I made Everett touch his baby sister for the first time ever for this image. His sister’s face: absolutely hilarious! But we did get the sweet smiling image in the end 🙂
Eloise is Sarah and Justin’s miracle baby. Everett arrived after a long and trying season of infertility. Eloise was a completely unexpected miracle.
To celebrate, Sarah brought some special outfits to her session that she loved for sweet Eloise. Of course it took awhile for Eloise to fall asleep, but once she did, she was pure and gorgeous moldable putty.
This headband and pants are part of my newborn wardrobe. I loved these soft neutrals on this soft peach backdrop.
Sarah also brought this fun skirt and headband which prompted me to branch out and try a new yellow backdrop. I loved these colors together!
This pose is quickly becoming my favorite. Wrapped and on their back where I can see all of their beautiful features, fingers, and toes. And sneak some lovely detail images as well.
Looking to hire a newborn photographer to help you remember all of your baby’s precious details? My calendar books up quickly, so please contact me today to secure your due date on my calendar.
Jan
17
2016Let me tell you a secret.
I struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is a seasonal depressive disorder often associated with the lack of light during the winter season. My primary symptoms are withdrawal from relationships, sleeplessness, and difficulty concentrating on tasks, but sometimes anger or crying spurts occur.
Since my yearly battle with SAD is similar to mild postpartum depression, I thought I would share some tips for coping with the blues.
- Acknowledge your Feelings. Telling a trusted friend or your husband that you’re struggling to cope is always the first step.New motherhood comes with a brand new identity along with a wailing adorable task master. This is often a recipe for moms to withdrawal from relationships or feeling totally overwhelmed. Speaking to someone about your feelings is the first step to moving toward new growth whether you’re feeling some baby blues or dealing with SAD or another mood disorder.
- Talk to your Doctor. Mental health issues are full of stigma. If I had a wound that wouldn’t heal properly, I would be quick to ask my doctor for help. Feeling mentally unwell should produce the same response.Your doctor can help you see if what you’re feeling is within the range of normal or might need the extra help of counseling or medication.
- Exercise.I know when you’re feeling down, that the last thing you feel like doing is leaving the house to exercise. But just a 5 minute walk around the block will get you some sunshine and get those feel good endorphin moving through your body. After a walk, I can concentrate on tasks that were overwhelming me (like writing a blog post!). Even doing just a few wall sits, squats, or wall push ups makes a huge difference in mood.
- Fuel your body. SAD makes me crave carbs. I have eaten entire bags of chocolate chips while editing client sessions. The worst part of this carb binge isn’t the weight gain, but the sugar crash when I’m done eating. I actually feel way worse about 20 minutes after eating all that sugar. Sugar, like alcohol, has a depressive effect on the body.Eating healthy as a new mom or a mom-entrepreneur is often a challenge. But it’s worth it!One of the easiest ways to get in good food is to make smoothies for snacks or lunch. Tossing half an avocado, spinach, bananas, unsweetened almond milk, a scoop of protein powder (or nut butter), and cocoa powder in the blender makes me think I’m having a chocolate milkshake, but fuels my body in a way that a chocolate milkshake cannot!
- Take time to do something you love.
SAD steals my energy and my ability to focus on what others are saying. Similarly new motherhood can steal your sleep, your time to yourself, and clearly the ability to maintain relationships outside of the mother/baby dyad.However, doing something you love refuels your soul. Whether that’s reading just a couple pages of a book, journaling, painting your nails, going out with friends, having coffee out with your husband, or just taking a shower alone, make sure you spend a few minutes a day doing something you love.
- Stop Expecting Perfection from Yourself (and others).
News flash: Nobody is perfect and nobody does everything the way you want it done.
You and I are not going to please everyone. Our children will cry. We will have broccoli in our teeth at an event. Our husbands will load the dishwasher wrong or forget to clean behind baby’s ears at bath time. You’ll have to ask another mom to borrow a diaper. You’ll yell at your kids and your husband (even in public). You’ll do things you swore you’d never do before your baby is born.Focus on just three things: loving your people well, offering forgiveness when others fail you, and saying “I’m sorry.” when you fail. Eventually the baby will stop crying. You’re not the first to have broccoli in your teeth at an event. Your husband loaded the dishwasher or gave the baby a bath (wooohooooo!!!) even if he didn’t do it the way you prefer. The mom you borrowed the diaper from will feel empowered to ask another mom for a diaper when she forgets her bag. And you get to model to your kids and husband the power of saying “I’m sorry” for yelling or expecting perfection.Make like Elsa and “Let it Go.” (Your welcome for getting that song stuck in your head…. again.)
Tell me in the comments what tips you have for fighting the blues!
I’d love to learn something new from you!
