This photo session was a bittersweet celebration of a beautiful little girl’s first birthday. You see, Catherine has been one of my Little Sprouts babies. For the past year I have had the pleasure of working with this family to document some of the important milestones in the first year of her life. We met just days after she was born to capture the oh-so-fleeting newborn stage; then again when she was a smiley four-month-old, and was just starting to sit up; and then when she was eight-months-old and crawling and just brimming with curiosity. And so while I am so happy for her and her family, I will miss seeing them quite so frequently!

I love that our sessions become a blend of lifestyle photography that is a bit more photojournalistic and catches the moments where the family is interacting naturally with some studio-style images included to just feature our little star.

Catherine’s mom made the beautiful banner in the background to use at her first birthday party the week before, and it made a gorgeous accent for our photos!

I have Maddy’s Fatty’s bakery from Cornelius make all of the cakes used for my first birthday cake smash photos. I love that their cakes are all natural, beautiful, and they taste delicious! Catherine was a little tentative with the idea of smashing the cake, though. She did not like getting her fingers messy, and was much more interested in inspecting the cake and frosting than she was in actually eating it!

Happy Birthday, Catherine! And thank you to your family for trusting me to be your photographer throughout this year. I look forward to seeing you again once you are two!

One of my favorite spots to take photos on Lake Norman is at Stutts Marina. Not only is it close to home, it offers a lot of variety in locations for the pictures. And the sun sets in just the right place to give me some gorgeous light in the evenings! We decided to take advantage of this location for Brayden’s Little Sprouts 10 month session.

When we arrived, we were a little surprised to find some large construction vehicles there as the marina was doing some upgrades. I asked Amanda if she wanted to go to another nearby lake spot, but we decided that the big dump trucks actually would be an appropriate background for some of his pictures since he absolutely loves trucks!

His mom brought two outfits so that his pictures would show a little more of his personality. We started with his classic overalls, then stripped down to his diaper with the hat and socks, took a quick diaper change and snack break, and then put on his play clothes. He has grown so much since I saw him last! He is a crawling machine and he is on the verge of walking. It is so fun getting to see these babies grow!

His smile was absolutely contagious! But trying to keep the hat from his first outfit on his head was quite a challenge… taking it off was just too much fun. Playing with the classic Tonka dump truck that I brought to our session was fun too, but the best part was when we sat him in the soft dirt by the real dump truck. He could not stop picking it up by the handful, and squeezing it, and there was nothing that any of us could do to catch his attention to look up towards me–he was simply not going to be distracted!

I love getting to watch my Little Sprouts babies grow during their first year–it is amazing how quickly they change! I got together with the O family for our 3rd session just before Christmas. Catherine has become a little ham! She is curious, and smiley, and mobile.

I so love photographing this family because while they like some posed-type pictures, their preference, like mine, is for what is described by some people as “lifestyle” photos, and by others as “camera unaware.” These are the types of photographs to which I refer when I say that “real life happens between the poses.” These are the pictures that capture your family interacting with each other in an authentic way. In my personal experience, these are the types of photos that when we look at them in the future bring back a true wealth of memories. And isn’t that why we take photographs?

Four of the photographs I cherish the most are the four-generation pictures I have for my children while their great-grandparents were still living. It is so important to take those pictures when you have the chance! I know that these pictures showing the links of our family will be treasured by my kids some day too.One of my baby plan families scheduled time for a four generation photo session before their daughter’s 4-month-old session. We got together at Allison’s mom’s gorgeous home on Lake Norman to take the photos.

First, the girls. It is so cool how you can see the family resemblance in these beauties!

Then we let some of the guys join the fun…

I think that Catherine has the same color of eyes as her great-grandma!

Kim (Catherine’s grandma), saved this dress from her childhood. You just don’t see this dotted swiss fabric used anymore, which is such a shame! Catherine was way more interested in checking out her toes than looking at me though…

Allison’s dad had been painting when I arrived, so had to get cleaned up to be in the pictures. This is my favorite picture of all of the direct members of the four generations. I hope that they will cherish this picture some day as much as I do mine.

My friend, Allyson, wanted a special gift to give to her brother and his wife for their new baby. She wanted something that would be memorable, and more enduring than just a new outfit, or a piece of baby equipment. So she purchased a newborn photo session!

I was so honored that she chose me to be the photographer (she has several other talented photographers as friends). But even more, I was struck by what a meaningful gift she chose. Many new parents don’t realize how quickly their newborn changes, and scheduling a newborn photo session is the last thing they are thinking of while trying to navigate the challenges of bringing home a new baby. I know that I didn’t think of doing photos of my babies until they were closer to a month old because I was nervous about taking them out to a portrait studio when they were so young. The photos that are captured during a newborn session will be something that parents will be able to treasure for the rest of their lives.

I got to meet Reese for his photo session when he was 12 days new. He was still such a sleepy little guy, but was already starting to want to stretch out a bit more!

He did NOT want to keep his legs curled up in the little nest.

He was starting his 2-week-old growth spurt, so we had to take a little snack break, but it hardly took any time at all for him to slip back into that newborn milk coma!

I am forever amazed at what a newborn will sleep through! I can remember tiptoeing around with my son for fear of waking him up. But once they are in that deep sleep, you can move them all over the place!

When I was visiting my parents the week before this session, I raided some of my mom’s antiques. With a house like theirs, there is no need to go to antique stores! I couldn’t wait to try putting a baby in this old wooden bucket. It was a looking a little rough when I first brought it home, but after three applications of orange oil, the rich wood is just gorgeous! And when you curl a bitty baby inside, it’s just too cute.

His momma says that he almost always had his one little arm up by his head when he was still in her belly. I love how he put it up there for her to remember that forever in this picture.

There is something about a tiny baby in his daddy’s arms that always melts my heart. I don’t know if it’s because the dad’s just seem so tender with them, or if it’s because the baby just looks that much teensier…

Thank you for allowing me into your home, Candice and Eric! I can’t wait to see the pictures you ordered once you have them hanging in your gorgeous home!

I am naturally shy (some people may not believe this, but it’s true!). It is hard for me to step out of my comfort zone and promote myself. So I was stunned, shocked, floored when I heard the words

“Do you have a newborn photographer lined up yet?”

come out of my mouth while talking with a pregnant teacher’s assistant at the book fair! I wanted to do a double-take and find out who had just said what I was thinking! I then proceeded to hand her my business card and a copy of my newborn session brochure and told her I’d love to take her pictures if she didn’t have anyone already booked.

About 6 weeks later I got the e-mail that she was going to be induced in a few days and she wanted to get the session scheduled! (Insert visual of me doing a happy dance here.)

Sweet Lilly arrived with a beautiful head of hair! She was nice and sleepy when I arrived for her session and settled right in.

She didn’t mind having a little hat put on…

and even seemed fairly content for a few nekkid baby pictures… Look at those eyelashes! And I absolutely love those kissy little baby lips…

However she would have nothing to do with being on her tummy. Every time I’d try, she’d either start to fuss or somehow get back onto her side.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned with newborns, it’s the need to be flexible and let their comfort guide the session.

She even woke up for a bit towards the end so we got to see her gorgeous blue eyes. And how can a baby be anything other than content while lying on a cozy, warm sheepskin?

I can’t wait to come back to visit in a few months and take pictures of her with her big sisters!

I love offering a Baby’s First Year Plan to my clients! Not only is it a great value, it allows me to get to know these families a little better over the course of the plan. By the first birthday celebration session, we will have been together four times to document this special time of their lives.

I could not believe how much Brayden had grown since our last session. He went from being a hungry, sleepy newborn to a deliciously plump, smiley baby!

Amanda had bought some really cute outfits for his pictures, complete with accessories! He was not fond of the baby flip flops, but was happy to keep the shades on.

One of my favorite parts of photographing this family is that they come to our sessions with ideas for pictures that they’d like to have. So, no, Brayden’s not really walking yet, but he liked feeling the grass on his teeny, little toes!

He is just starting to sit up, but still needs a little help to stay that way. I love his little furrowed brow in this picture–please, can someone tell me what this baby is worrying about?! ‘Hmmmm, when’s my next meal?’

Now, even though we still had another little outfit, what is a baby session without a little “nekkid baby” time?

Can someone please help me??!! These stripes are making me a little woozy!

He did great lifting (and holding!) himself up for these tummy-time pics, but Amanda had to be just a few inches out of the frame (like, less than 2 inches!) because this boy likes to roll…

After a quick wardrobe change into his little Easter outfit, we tried to get a picture with his new bunny, but little man was not really interested… He had other things on his mind…….

He flopped himself back on the beanbag and sacked. out. He was seriously down for the count! Went from a tiny little fuss, to sound asleep in about 10 seconds! Amanda asked if I was available to come over and take pictures before nap and bed times….

So we took the opportunity to recreate a picture from his first session.

We’re planning to get together again in August, and I can’t wait to see what this little guy has up his sleeves! Somehow I doubt I’ll need my beanbag… I’m planning to bring my track shoes!

My girls’ teacher at AcroFitness was expecting her second baby and I had the privilege of doing her professional newborn session! Typically I recommend scheduling newborn sessions during the first 5-10 days after the baby is born, but we didn’t get together until Zola was nearly 1-month old.

One-month-old? Well, surely that is still a newborn, right? Of course! She was still teeny tiny, and capable of curling up in a ball. However, in those few extra weeks, she also has learned how to s-t-r-e-t-c-h her little legs and arms, and just did not want to be curled up. Or sleeping, for that matter! She was wide awake the whole time I was there. And she had found her hand, so when she wasn’t moving around, she was sucking on her fingers.

I still got some adorable, newborn-looking pictures of her, though!

Her mom absolutely LOVES hair accessories: headbands, big flowers, big bows? Bring ‘em on!

Just like her big sister, this baby was “Born for Big Bows!”

So, welcome to the world, Zola! I can’t wait to see you following in your family’s footsteps and flipping down the streets of Mooresville in the annual Christmas parade.

I was both thrilled and honored when my daughter’s teacher contacted me about doing a newborn photo session for her new grand baby! As a shower gift, she gave her daughter a gift certificate for my Baby’s First Year package. Each Tuesday when I would come in to volunteer in the classroom during March I’d get the “not yet” head shake, while her teacher waited excitedly to become a grandma.

Katy came home with the news on the 21st that Allison was being induced the next day! We scheduled her newborn session for the 26th, and I had the pleasure of meeting this beautiful family…

When I arrived, Catherine was sound asleep, and she stayed that way for nearly all 2 hours that I was there.

It was such a laidback newborn session. I was able to move her around and pose her without even a flicker of her eyes.

And with a mommy as beautiful as Allison, is it any wonder that Catherine is so gorgeous?

This is why it is so important to schedule a newborn session during those first 5 – 10 days! The baby is wonderfully sleepy and happy to curl up in little nests.

Jimmy was positively bursting with pride over his new little daughter, and was so attentive to both of the girls in his life.

Their two dogs were in crates right next to where I was taking pictures, but Catherine slept right on through their occasional whines and yips. And even when Jimmy let them out for a family photo, she kept on snoozing…

Dublin and Oakley were so happy to be a part of all the activity they’d been patiently observing.

Finally, after nearly two hours of pictures, she began to stir just a bit. This is one of my favorite photos from the entire session. It’s not posed, it doesn’t really show their faces, but it absolutely shows how a new baby is utterly absorbing… and how parents’ focus changes completely with a new baby’s arrival…

Hey! There are those little eyeballs that we haven’t see all morning! I am so looking forward to watching Catherine grow and change over the next year. Thank you so much for trusting me to document this time.