Meet baby Cayden and his sweet parents, Tayler and Dan. Tayler had contacted me a few months ago to book her son's newborn session so when Cayden finally arrived - I was so excited to finally meet him and his parents! Tayler and I discussed the various styles and colors she wanted to incorporate in her session to coordinate with his nursery. They decorated his nursery in different shades of blue, gray white so she wanted to include those colors in his posed newborn photos. But after Cayden was born, she let me know that he had a full head of beautiful brown hair and wanted me to bring props and colors that would show off his gorgeous hair. 

We started with the family photos - with mom and dad snuggling on a bed with their new son. I love how cuddling and comfortable they both were with their baby boy! And Cayden was so warm and cozy, snuggled up in a soft, white wrap. We also captured a few images of the family together in Cayden's nursery, which had little Disney themed accessories. I found out that Tayler and Dan were big Disney fans and as a fellow huge Disney fan - I loved the sweet and simple Disney designs! 

We then moved on to set up for Cayden's posed newborn photos. This is the point in the newborn session where I take over handling baby for wrapping and posing. During this time, I always encourage the parents to take a break - get something to eat, lie down on the couch or even watch TV for a bit. It's a great time for mom and dad to just relax for a few hours! I set up for Cayden's photos and incorporated various shades of blue into each set. He was such a great little sleeper that I was able to work through several poses, while also focusing on the adorable little details that I love about newborns. Tiny fingernails, the little fuzzy hair covering their body, the wrinkles in their feet and of course Cayden's full head of beautiful hair!

Nothing makes me happier then to capture sweet celebrations for my friends...and I was lucky enough to photograph my friend's family photos and her daughter's 1st birthday photos! We met at Avonworth Community Park, which was a new shooting location for me so I made sure to get there a bit early to scout some spots within the park that would work for their session. The park had an adorable little creek, bridge and flowers and trees which all made a great backdrop for a variety of their photos!

Along with finding a great spot to set up for their photos: a spot with color, texture and great lighting, I also wanted to find a location that would allow me to focus on the interactions among the family. I love capturing those silly moments between siblings, snuggles and hugs with each parent, even the looks that mom and dad share between each other. It's the interactions, feelings and emotions, at this point in time, that I really want to capture in a family session. I also want to photograph those special details and quirks about the child at this moment in their life. Olivia gives tons of serious, curious looks along with a smile that shows off her fresh baby teeth and I was able to grab a few photos of her and all of those little details. With big brother, Evan, he's super silly and gives the biggest, best smile. So, I was able to be silly with him and photograph that big beautiful smile!

After photographing the family and some individual photos of both Evan and Olivia, I moved on to the birthday photos for Olivia. It always surprises me just how quickly the first year goes by - I feel like it was just yesterday that Olivia was born and my daughter was able to hold her for the first time. Now she's a fun, silly girl who chases after her big brother and loves to read books! Mom brought an adorable little cupcake for Olivia, but she was not as interested in eating or playing in the cake. So after grabbing a few quick shots of her with her cupcake, in her first birthday outfit, Jenna changed her and we went to play in the creek and on the playground! What a fun way to end our photo session together!

Introducing baby Aiden James!! The first baby for the Smith family

Please meet sweet baby Evangeline!! First of all, I am absolutely obsessed with her name and as equally obsessed with this sweet girl! She was absolutely precious, snuggling and so very cuddly during our session - it was so hard to stop taking photographs of this gorgeous baby! In planning out the details for their session, Mom, Krista, knew she wanted to incorporate purples and lavender as this is the color they chose for her nursery. So while I was making the choices of what to bring for her set ups, I selected several options that worked well with lavender, neutrals and feminine details. With a name like Evangeline, I had to go with beautifully feminine details! 

When I arrived, Mom and Dad were still getting ready and settled into the morning, so I went ahead and started with Evie's posed newborn photos. She was such a great little sleeper that we were able to get through several poses, both wrapped and unwrapped. Mom requested a rainbow set up so I found a local vendor with a gorgeous mohair rainbow headband I was able to purchase as well as another local photographer who had the matching rainbow basket stuffer that I could borrow. It was the perfect set for baby Evie's rainbow photos! 

After Evie's posed newborn photos, we moved on to the family portraits. They have an adorable pup that they wanted to include, if possible. I absolutely love including family pets in the portraits and he was such a little ham and so easy to photograph! He was naturally curious about his new baby sister so it was easy to capture some images of him up close next to Evie. What sweet images for the family to look back on, with their fur baby and brand new baby girl snuggle together in their now expanded family!

I look forward to these spring Mama and Me mini sessions every year and really enjoy capturing such sweet cuddly moments between mamas and their babies! It is so easy to grab your phone or camera and take a quick photo of your child and then you realize you do not have any photos of yourself with your kids! We all do it and I'm definitely guilty of this! So, this is why I look forward to these motherhood sessions every year so I can focus on that beautiful relationship between mom and child. It is such a great way to celebrate Moms! 

This year, I had five amazing families for the Mama & Me mini sessions. One new client, a few newborn clients and some previous family session clients. There was also a great mix of ages of children - from babies up to pre-teen....you're never too old to get photos taken with your Mama!! In true Pittsburgh spring fashion, the weather was unpredictable and slightly uncooperative. The first few families had to deal with some rain  and soggy grass but then it stopped raining and got pretty humid. But overall, we had a beautiful morning at Beechwood Farms! There was some beautiful wildflowers starting to bloom which made a gorgeous accent of color in the background of the photos! There were lots of snuggles, kisses, 'Ugga Mugga's,' and hugs from all of the gorgeous moms and their babies.