Newborn Photos

Well friends, the day has come.  Birth announcements are out the door, go me!  Well, most of them anyway.  I know, it only took me three months, SIGH.  I've actually had the announcements in my possession for over a month, but as I mentioned previously, I would NOT let myself mail them until after I finished my 200+ thank you notes!  I finally finished those last week, and was so excited to send out birth announcements because I LOVE the way they turned out:

They look great, right?!  That was one of my favorite photos from the session. 

We decided not to have maternity photos done for several reasons, one of them being that I decided I'd rather spend the money on having newborn photos done once Lilly arrived.  Whether or not you choose to have maternity photos taken, I would HIGHLY recommend the newborn photos.  Ours turned out beautifully and will be such a nice keepsake.  In fact, I wish we could have them done professionally all of the time so that someone who actually knows how to work their camera can document Lilly's growth!  I will take a photography class...some day.  Like when the day comes that I can take a shower, take care of Lilly AND cook dinner...all in the same day.  :-)

Becca Robinson took Lilly's newborn photos, and she did a fantastic job.  She was very reasonably priced (although I think her prices have since gone up) and did a great job with Lilly.  She came to our house and brought a basket full of props, although most of the props we used were things I already had, because I bought things throughout the pregnancy with newborn photos in mind (and we were also given some great props as gifts!).  Becca was also very patient when we got Layla involved.  She stayed quite a long time and did a variety of poses, and we're very pleased with how the photos turned out.  If you choose to have newborn photos done, I'm sure your photographer will give you plenty of tips, but here are the ones that Becca gave us (and they worked like a charm!):

• Have the photos taken within the first 14 days of life, or as close to it as you can.  I think ours were actually on day 15.  For the first two weeks, baby is still so tired from birth that they sleep a LOT, which is optimal for a newborn session.
• Blast the heat!  We set the thermostat to 80, and all of the adults were SWEATING.  But it was good for Lilly, because she was nice and cozy (and naked) and therefore sooooooo sleepy.
• Once the photographer arrives, take off all of baby's clothes, wrap in a blanket and feed while the photographer is setting up.  This way, baby will be full, warm and sleepy - and therefore (hopefully) more cooperative.
• Try not to let baby have a big nap prior ot the photographer's arrival.  Obviously, this isn't always possible, but it's harder to get them into a deep sleep if they've just had a huge nap.

If I remember correctly, Becca was set to arrive at 9:00 a.m. - and she did, right on time.  We were still having to wake Lilly up at this point every 3-4 hours to feed her, per doctor's orders, so I think she woke up at 5:30 or 6:00 on her own and then went back to sleep.  We woke her up around 8:30 because I was still trying to breast feed and knew it took a LONG time (lazy girl!), so we woke her up, changed her, got her good and awake and then let her feed until around 9:15 at which point she was good and asleep.  She slept like a champ for the rest of the session.

Here are six thousand just a few of my favorites:

If you're dying to see the rest, you can do so here.

Hope everyone had a fantastic hump day!  And don't forget to click on our banner at the top and vote for us.  :-)

Love!

Sarah