Perhaps this session was even a bit sweeter because this is the daughter of one of my closest friends, Jen.  You saw her maternity session here… for many reasons we are all SO glad to welcome baby Paige into this world and it was an honor for me to photograph her at only one week old.

I was joined at this session by my wonderful friend, Melissa, and now I think I’m hooked on having an assistant!  What a dream this session was!

{And a huge THANK YOU to my friend, Stacey, for this adorable hat!!}

AND, a HUGE THANK YOU, to Melissa for knitting this amazing wrap … more info on where you can purchase one, yet to come!

The toes!

The lips and wrinkles … *sigh* …

Another shout out to my mom, for crocheting me my hats!  Thank YOU!

These photos make me see that mother/baby photos should be a top priority at my sessions … how AMAZING does Jen look??

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In my home I have a room that has two walls of South-west facing windows.  These are dangerous to use later in the day because of harsh lighting, but in the morning, we get a beautiful soft glow.  The walls are light-colored, creating a nice space to work in.

Before my clients arrive, I take the time to set out props, noise makers, my equipment – all within arms reach of where I’ll be shooting.

The set-up of seamless paper, back-drop stand, flooring, baseboard (cut by the foot at Home Depot), and clips (also from Home Depot) round out the studio.

I had set everything up the day before to check for lighting, and Cooper was my cooperative model:

To make sure the colors are precise in my photos, I take a shot of my grey card to set my White Balance from.  I do set it in camera, but also have this shot to use in post processing, just in case.  You have to set the card in the exact location of where your subject will be … the idea being to capture the SAME light on the card, as will be on your subject.

However… my first shot of Ellie immediately told me the ‘best’ light was no longer coming from the direction I’d anticipated.  You can see how dark the left side of her face is… I like shadows, but here, there was NO light even in her eyes.   No good.

But when she turned, I could see the beautiful light hitting her face…

… so, I moved to take this test shot… (SOOC)

…MUCH better! So, there was then a window directly behind me and to camera right.  An open foyer is to camera left, giving her illumination from that side as well.

These are some pull-back shots of this set-up…

See the heater vent?  That is exactly where I was sitting for the majority of the shots… I was ROASTING in order to keep Miss Ellie warm in her bare skin.  Totally worth it!

You’ll also notice some vinyl flooring under the paper so that it didn’t wrinkle.  I now know, that I need to attach it better to the vinyl to REALLY avoid this.

Oh, and you’ll also notice in the photo below, that there is a deer in the top of the frame, through the window.  That was not staged… and I JUST noticed it as I’m typing!  Hah!

Using my own space in my home was such a delight!  Plus, I booted my boys out and had the place all for myself and my clients.  Perfect!

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And without photographs it is nearly impossible to recall how this transformation looked and changed our precious children.   Take for, example, Little Miss Ellie.  Here she is the post I did of her at six months.   How fun is it to see how she’s changed in just a matter of months!

That is why I’ve decided to offer and encourage my clients to take advantage of my special rates for Baby Plans.  I haven’t nailed down all of the details, but The Plan will stretch from Maternity to Baby’s First Birthday.  If you are interested, please contact me!

And on to Ellie…

… she REALLY liked keeping her eyes on her Mama, can you tell???

… In an ADORABLE hat crocheted by my mom!

She was such a cooperative model, but when she was done, she let us know.

Well, until we pulled out some chocolate chips as incentive’s to take just a few more…

… and we got possibly my favorite shot of the day…

Thank you, Melissa for letting me be a part of Ellie’s first year!

And I’ll be sharing pull-backs and information on my studio set up, tomorrow

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Refreshed.  And excited and cozy all at the same time. 

Meet Lorelei… she was a week and a half over-due but I’m sure her mama and daddy would agree that she was worth the wait!   

Her Mama generously made me this pod to use and keep!  I’m starting to think that I have a thing for newborn toes…And some of Lorelei’s big sister, Sadie…

… and big brother, Maddox… I was cleaning up my stuff from the session and they wanted to play on my bean bag.  What a great chance to get some captures of them!  And as a mama of three, I know how rare it is to have a photo of all of them together, so it was a priority at this session!

Thank you, Mike and Emilee for sharing Lorelei with me for the afternoon!  She was a joy!

By the way… do you like the hats??  Learning to crochet came in mighty handy!  And a big “thanks” to my mom for the bear one and the rose one…

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He doesn’t look very happy about it here, but trust me, he thinks his new skill is pretty neat.  Especially because we all cheer like he’s scored a winning touch-down or something.

When Gage and Cooper started walking, it was over-night.  But this little guy has been working on it for some time now.  He started out with the “falling forward while quickly moving his feet-walk”. Then he gained a bit more control and would go two tentative steps forward and three or four steps side-ways before crashing down to his rear.

Thank goodness for padded diapers.

But now, he’s finally to the point where, unless he’s really angry, he’ll opt to walk rather than crawl.

At least for 10 feet or so.

He still has the tendency to resemble a drunkard, wobbling down the lane, but he’s getting better with each step.   He’s doing balance checks and can even change directions.

And if you are his destination, he gives the BEST celebratory hug when you catch him in your arms.  YUM.

I have no doubt that before long, this kid will be running.

And that his boosted confidence will get him into all sorts of trouble.  So, stay tuned.

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“A penny saved is a penny earned…”

And it reminded me that I had these photos of Kaden to share…

At the time I was quite focused on his newly acquired ability of climbing onto the chairs… … and then, onto the table…

But, after hearing the words about saving your pennies, I can’t help but appreciate how sweet it was to watch him pick up each penny and put them back into the electrical box.  Where his daddy had been saving them. 

And then I cleaned them all up, most of them off of the floor, and put them safely into his piggy bank.

Because for every 5 he’d put in, he’d dump them back out.

(And, yes, as I mentioned on Friday, nothing is safe now that he’s climbing…)

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As I’ve mentioned before, just about everything is at least a 45 minute drive from my house and the hair salon is no different.  That, plus my hair looking atrocious, made me pray that Sheryl could still fit me into her already booked schedule.   As a side note:  whoever tells you that shorter hair is easier is lying to you.  Unless, maybe it is REALLY short.  But chin-length?  I feel like I’m due for a trim after about 2 weeks.

Anyway, because she’s amazing, Sheryl DID work me in, in between 3 clients. And during that time I was blessed with a chance to catch up with one of my dearest friends (who just happened to have her appointment scheduled for when I THOUGHT my appointment was), I was able to relax and crochet yet another hat, and I was able to visit with a complete stranger who proceeded to encourage and support and motivate me regarding motherhood and homeschooling!

My mistake turned out to be a pretty darn good outing!  (And I LOVE my hair!).

And you can see one of Sheryl’s darling daughters here… and here…

2.  The boys and I are headed back up to Seattle this weekend for another newborn session.  I can’t believe how giddy I get about these!  I’m praying that my time spent with this little one can be a relaxing gift to her parents. 

3.  We had a wonderful day with some wonderful friends yesterday… 

These two crack me up…

4.  A shot of Kaden’s newest trouble-making ability…

… nothing is safe!

5.  What do you think of the changes I’ve made to my blog??  I’m trying to make information easily accessible… especially older posts.  I’d love to hear what you think!  (Maybe if you totally hate it, you can email me.  )

Have a great weekend!

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He showers with me… jammies and all.  (And, yes, that is my razor, but the blades are removed.  )

He has to be right by me while I dry my hair… so I stick him in the drawer next to me and he stays put, playing with whatever I hand him.  Here?  The nasal rinse bottle.

Vacuuming is a always a chore, but when Kaden is involved it becomes a very long process.  Combining his love for the vacuum and his need to be RIGHT by me at all times, makes for a stop and go activity.

Which is totally why I barely ever vacuum.  

And it really slows down the process when he decides it is okay to leave my side and steals the vacuum cleaner away from me.  

He is in my arms 75% of the day.  He would be most happy if I just stood and held him, all day (I can’t even think about sitting down without making him mad.)

It is amazing what a Mama can figure out how to do one-handed when she’s blessed with a child who has attachment issues.  Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly-one-handed anyone?

I don’t know if this is separation anxiety or if he just wants to be up where the action is.

Either way, it forces our day to slow down a bit… me to slow down a bit.

And it is giving me a mighty strong left arm.

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His birthday went by in a flash and I suppose that’s what happens when it collides with a major holiday.  We toyed with the idea of celebrating his birthday on the day he came home from OHSU on January 10, but thanks to the BCS National Championship Game (sad, sad Ducks) that seemed to slip by us as well!

Good thing he has no clue and I can start getting ready for his second birthday, like, now.

This boy had his year-check-up yesterday, much to my dread.  Don’t get me wrong – I really like their pediatrician (and especially his nurse), but it seems that every time I take the boys to the doctor’s office, they pick up some bug.  And trying to avoid getting sick again after finally climbing out of the cesspool of the flu, we waited our turn in the car.

And during the appointment, I made all of the boys sit on the exam table.  Sorry, Dr. Clarke.  Hope you don’t have personal space issues.

Anyway, Kaden did great.  He weighs 22 pounds, is 30.5 inches long and his head is 49cm around.  What does that mean?  He’s has a big head. He’s in the 30th percentile for weight, 60th for height and 100th! for his noggin! No wonder he’s not walking yet.  My bebe is top heavy!

He got checked out from his soft-spot to his goofy-inherited-from-his-daddy-toenails.  I asked questions and received answers in between  the boys asking Dr. Clarke questions and receiving answers.  I questioned him about the ‘Flu Shot’ and why my boys still got so sick.  I TOTALLY knew the answer, but wanted to hear it anyway (they had the stomach flu not influenza. Which, by the way, hasn’t even hit yet.)

Then, Kaden got some immunizations and I’m pretty sure Cooper was more concerned about it than Kaden was.  In fact, Cooper was more concerned most of the time.  He hovered and watched all of Dr. Clarke’s actions very closely.

Happy One-Year Appointment, Kaden!   Praise the Lord that you are flourishing!

Now, off the topic of the appointment and onto the topic of these photos… I set up a studio in our basement!  Three cheers for left-over hardwood, seamless paper, and great window light!  This is where I hope to someday hold my newborn sessions because it is adjacent to a large play/family area where my clients can hang out and I can be in a very warm, quiet room, with the baby.  I can change around this set-up but it is a good start.    Someday!

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