Craft's Birth Announcement

Where has this week gone?  I was just thinking today that it has flown by.  Just stopping back in to once again rave about Olive Paper and show off our STUNNING birth announcements now that I've finally mailed them out (she just had her website re-done, isn't it fabulous?!).  

I was SO. overwhelmed. about choosing a birth announcement.  I honestly had no idea what I wanted and every time I searched the internet for ideas I closed the browser pretty quickly because there were too many options and it made me even more overwhelmed.  It didn't help that I am in love with every single one of Craft's newborn photos and knew I was going to have a terrible time narrowing down which photos to use.  Enter Deb, who was her usual fabulous self.  She talked me into narrowing the photos down to two and using one for the front and one for the back, and she did the rest.  It was love at first sight with the very first design she sent me and I didn't even have any changes.  Behold:

Aren't they absolutely gorgeous?!  I die a little every time I see them, I love them so much.  I wish I could send one to everyone I've ever met in my whole life, because the photos don't even do these babies justice.  Seriously, y'all.  If you have ANY paper needs, check out Olive Paper - I pinky promise times infinity that you will not be disappointed.  We have now gotten invitations, birth announcements, stationary, and note pads from Olive Paper and have loved everything Deb has done for us.  She is so easy to work with and always seems to know just what I want even when I don't have a clue.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Deb for being amazing!

Tomorrow is Friday, and that means we're beach bound for the long weekend so I'll probably be on a blog hiatus for a few days, but I'll return with lots of photos and sappy crying blog posts about going back to work and leaving my babes.  :-)

Until next time!

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

Newborn Session Sneak Peek!

Imagine my excitement during this 2 a.m. feeding to discover an e-mail from Becca with the link to Lilly's sneak peek!!!

http://beccarphotography.com/blog/2012/02/baby-l-two-weeks-old-raleigh-newborn-photographer/

In other news, I meant to post this yesterday, but how crazy is it that yesterday would have been 40 weeks for me?! It is so strange to think about the fact that Lilly may not have even been here still today. I already can't imagine life without her!

Also, my little sister turned 17 yesterday, and that makes me feel super old. Love you, Syd - hope your day was fantastic!

Hope you're all dreaming sweet dreams - I personally can't wait for the day when 6+ consecutive hours of sleep occurs. That's soon, yes? :-)

Sarah (and a very hungry Lilly)