Remember Jessica and Kim?  Their adorable son, Kellen, made a rather big entrance into the world at close to 10 pounds!  He was the baby that the nurses liked to wheel around the delivery ward and show off… “look at how big THIS one is!”  At two weeks old, he is a big deal indeed.

I love Kellen’s room with its bright, cheery aqua walls and handmade accents.   As a mom, I definitely think that decor that hangs from the ceiling of a nursery trumps anything you can put on a wall since babies spend so much of their infancy looking UP…  the wall stuff is more for us than for them.  So of course, I love the handmade balloons above the crib with colorful, matching stars above the changing table.  The bright green dresser and modern rocker make perfect accents:

Speaking of handmades, check out this blankie made by grandma.  Be still, my crafty heart.

The leaves on Kellen’s rocker seem pretty appropriate for a fall baby!

We tried so hard to get Kellen to sleep.  So hard.  You wouldn’t believe the tricks we pulled.  And finally, after much cradling, rocking, shushing, swinging, eating, and then more cradling and rocking and shushing, he was out.

And then he was up:

Pretty short lived.  But don’t worry, he got lots of cuddles:

The nice thing is that I got to take a crack at cuddling Kellen to sleep myself, which was by far the best part of my day.

Congratulations to Jessica and Kim on such a beautiful little boy, I loved catching up with you both.  Here’s a slideshow and the online gallery, I’m so happy I get to watch this little big guy grow!

Posted by Mel @ 7:00 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink

I’m hoping this post finds everyone safe, damage minimal, and one day closer to regaining power and getting back to life.  This past week has given me a lot to reflect on in terms of what’s actually important.  Its easy to take our family and the four walls that keep that family safe for granted.

A home, no matter whether you own or rent, is more than four walls.  First you make it your own and then you set about to the task of making memories there. Its hard to believe that Kelly and Pete just moved into this house with Kelly 37? 38? weeks pregnant during the big move!  Its remarkable on many levels, especially to those of us who have experienced the power or nesting instincts during that last trimester.  They have already made their house look like home and made some amazing memories within it.

Nurseries are an amazing way for parents-to-be to connect with a being they already love so much but only know in an abstract way.  For this reason, I love photographing nurseries and seeing all the creative and wonderful things that people do to welcome a little being.  Baby Benjamin’s room had teal walls when they moved in, a wonderful blessing, and I love happy whales and navy blue accents that conjure up dreams of sailing adventures on the great ocean blue.  My personal fav item was an old side table that the couple painted a bright shade of lime green, I love the idea of sprucing up a flea market find!

It isn’t usually too hard to coax a two week old baby to sleep but sweet Benjamin was determined to stay awake!  No amount of milk, swinging, or swaddling could deter this wee one from staring into his proud parents’ eyes.  I was all over it…

I hate it when I can’t decide between moments.  OK, maybe I could have worse problems.

Check out Marley, the family’s Golden, wanted to keep close watch over the newest member of the pack.

Its strange to call this a newborn portrait since you can’t even see the newborn but I still love how Benjamin is implied by all his family members in this shot:

Congratulations to Kelly and Pete on such a beautiful little boy, I am so excited to watch him grow!  Here’s a slideshow (love the music choice, you guys) and the online gallery to see more…

Posted by Mel @ 6:24 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

Baby Lucy was almost two weeks old when I cam to visit her and her big brother Trey.  First I got to scope out Lucy’s sweet, girly-girl nursery with Ellen.

Meanwhile, there was some serious playing going on downstairs.

Lucy, on the other hand, was napping so we took advantage of that.  Its funny how newborns teach us to notice small features like lips and just how perfect they can be.

Ellen and Tim had really hoped for a photo of the whole family together and, especially, one with Trey holding his baby sister.  So once the wiggles were out, we got everyone on the couch.

That lasted approximately 5 seconds and then it was time to go outside and get more wiggles out.  GOAL!

So then we thought we would try again.  And again.  Trey was not so sure about holding his sister, at least not in front of me, but I didn’t mind because these photos will be especially priceless in the years to come regardless!

We tried everything to get Trey to take a picture with the whole family together.  Bribes.  Popsicles.  Pleading.  But in the end, the only thing that worked was good, old fashion tomfoolery.

Congrats, Ellen and Tim, on the newest addition to your beautiful family… I’m looking forward to watching them grow together!  Here’s a slideshow from the day as well as the gallery.

Posted by Mel @ 3:40 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

I go way back with this family, back to the beginning, back to Rorie and Stuart’s wedding a few years ago.  I was honored to photograph Maddie over her first year of life and was so thrilled to be invited back to meet the newest member of the family, sweet  baby Jackson, who was just a baby hair over two weeks old when we took these photos.

Call me a sucker for awkward love but I’m smitten by these photos of Maddie holding her lil’ bro.  Maybe another photographer would have deleted them since they are less than ideal but Maddie is just so excited about her little brother, who wasn’t quite as fond of all her rocking and jostling but give him time.  Rorie was telling me how Jackson likes to stick his tongue out just like Maddie did as a baby, so I was especially pleased with the tongue shot…

Maddie wanted to show me her room and recliner and these might have been my two favs from the shoot.  It was completely unscripted as Stuart joined Rorie and Jackson on the bed and I caught a little kiss in the mirror, a quiet moment captured in the background of Maddie’s silliness.

You can see, from how well Maddie is taking care of her baby doll, that she is going to be a very good helper in the months to come.

We took a few shots of Jackson in his room and on a very special alphabet quilt that Stuart’s grandmother made for him.  J isn’t just for jelly…

Why are crying baby shots so dern cute?  The lack of sound, probably!

Sleepy baby shots make me smile every time.  We took some very similar to these when Maddie was a baby, it was nice to do it again.  Here’s Maddie’s shot in b/w, followed by Jackson in color.  They look a lot alike in sleepy shots!

There was a lot of family time on the couch, this family definitely knows how to snuggle close and ham it up!   Its deceptively simple, isn’t it?  Happiness?

Congrats to Rorie, Stuart, and Maddie on the arrival of Jackson.  I can’t wait to come back when he’s 6 months old or so to play again and see how much he has grown!  Not too fast though, Ok little guy?  Take your time.  Here’s a slideshow from the day and an online gallery to check out too.

Posted by Mel @ 5:10 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink