Tag: Grayslake IL Newborn Photographer

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Mommy Chat: Surviving Our First Winter

If I were to write a mommy manual one of the first chapters I would write about would be how to survive your first winter and it would simply say: “Stock up on boogie wipes and stay away from other people until Spring.” I might even give advice on how to hibernate for the winter months or how to live in a bubble, keeping every germ possible away from your family.

While I understand that our little ones have to build up their immunity to all the germs we encounter in our lives, why does this have to happen all at once? Can’t it be a gradual rising?

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This winter we fell victim to a combination of flu bug, ear infections, pink eye, and the most stubborn colds we have ever experienced in our lives. I never realized how horrible it is to see your baby sick and for you to be sick at the same time. Being a new mommy in this area has been quite the learning curve for me. I will confess we did the panicked call to the doctor on Christmas Eve. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the first nor will I be the last mommy to do that…

But the one piece of advice I have heard that gets me through each day is that “Your first winter is the worst.” It will get better, you will get healthy again, you won’t be carrying around rolls of toilet paper because you ran out of kleenex and are too sick to go to the store to get more anymore, your nose will stop producing massive amount of snot, your voice will come back to sound like your voice and eventually, you will feel human again. While I know we aren’t out of winter, yet, we have turned a corner and have been healthy-ish for the past month. This is our longest stretch of no illnesses and it has given me the hope that we can make it through our first winter! Don’t get me wrong, we still have boogie wipes all over the house for any sign of a nose issue and we have restocked our supply of kleenex…but, we are hopeful that we will make it through these last few weeks of winter.

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How did you survive your first winter with your little one?

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Valentine’s Day 2017

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Regardless of if you have a significant other in your life or not, I hope you feel love by someone in your life, family or friends!

I believe, now, post being married, that Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday. And while my husband and I don’t exchange any form of gifts on this holiday, I do believe, that we should celebrate LOVE.

I want Andrew to grow up knowing how much love he has around him at home and to learn how to love others. So since this is Andrew’s first Valentine’s Day we are starting a few Valentine’s Day traditions!

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  1. Making Valentines – This one I am super excited about because I’ve been dying to bring up my Pinterest board full of cute DIY Valentines. Unfortunately, I quickly realized, after a few Pinterest fails and white paint all over the two of us that resulted with one of us in tears (and no it wasn’t the 8-month-old), that Andrew is too young for any DIY Valentines. Instead of a typical DIY valentine, we did a photographer’s version of DIY and had a themed photo session to make cute little cards with the photo instead.

2. Wear appropriate themed Valentine’s Day clothes – I admit it…I dress my child for the holidays and actually plan his outfit for that occasion.  We have turkey pants for Thanksgiving, monster pants for Halloween, Santa on our butts for Christmas…he needed something special for Valentine’s Day. I found the absolute perfect little Valentine’s Day shirt from Etsy (I think I need to join an Etsy anonymous group ASAP) Since for Halloween Andrew was Darth Vader I decided to carry that theme through to Valentine’s Day with an adorable little Yoda shirt that says “Yoda one for me.”

 

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3. Read a Valentine’s Day book – I am a huge proponent of building a library for your little one and the power of books to a child’s learning and development so it’s a no-brainer that we celebrate this holiday with a book or two! I got Andrew two little books about Valentine’s Day.  The first is LOVE from the Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s a sweet tiny book sharing cute little love sayings…our favorite is “You make my heart flutter”. The second book we got was Huggy Kissy. This book teaches us all the different types of hugs and kisses we can get from all the different people in our lives. I personally enjoy acting out all the different ways to hug and kiss Andrew and so far he’s not complaining.

4. Valentine’s Day Treats – Again, this one I will confess that I have a huge Pinterest board just full of yummy treats to make with Andrew when he gets older. But…this year, trying to avoid the same issues we had with making Valentine’s and since we only have the inkling of teeth to enjoy any of these treats we are enjoying some mushed up strawberries as our treat this year. Time will come when we will be decorating cookies or bars for his friends and I will be ready; Pinterest board in hand, for those moments.

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What fun things do you do with your little ones for Valentine’s Day?

 

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Ask A Photographer: What do you bring with to a newborn photo session?

A question I get asked a lot is: What do you bring with for a newborn session?

Since I do all of my newborn sessions at your house I tend to bring quite a bit with me. Isn’t there a motto about “always being prepared”? Maybe that is a boy scout motto…but, with newborn babies you can never be too prepared! I’ll walk through what items you’ll see me show up with to your newborn photo session.

  1. Giant Bean Bag – I use this to pose your little baby on…the bag is large to ensure the safety of your little one
  2. Backdrop Stand & Clamps – I attach the backdrop (blankets) to the stand in order to create the look you see in the images of my portfolio, clean solid color backgrounds
  3. Multiple Backdrop blankets – I bring extra blankets just incase an accident happens, which they typically do, so no worries
  4. Puppy Pads – These are great for catching any accidents when your little one is naked on the bean bag
  5. A Variety of Color Wraps, Hats & bows, Fur Blanket – I will bring a nice assortment of wraps / hats / bows to use for your newborn photos
  6. Wooden Box – This is another item to pose your little one in for a nice added variety of photos
  7. Heater and Extension cords – I use this to keep your baby warm when they are naked…a warm naked baby means a nice sleepy baby
  8. Baby Wipes – Accidents happen and I want your little one to look their best at every angle
  9. Hand Sanitizer – Your precious new baby deserves special care
  10. Receiving blankets – These are used as little pillows under the background blankets to help pose your little one safely and comfortably
  11. Step stool – I’m short so I need some help in the height department for family photos and a place to sometimes sit when I’m working with your little one to get a perfect pose
  12. White noise app – A sleepy baby is important to have during your session so I have some extra help if you baby needs it to fall asleep
  13. Camera – The most important item in my luggage

I know it may seem like I bring a lot of items with me but I use everything and I’ve managed to downsize quite a bit! So please don’t look at me too weird when I show up with my two suitcases and have to take multiple trips to unload my car I promise I’m not moving in, just taking photographs of your little newborn.

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Session Styling: Things that inspire my photography

Everyone sees the world differently, just like the old saying of the glass being half full versus being half empty. The reason we all see things so differently is because of who we are…our experiences, our personalities, our passions. A big part of the journey to becoming a photographer is understanding how you see the world and capturing that in a photo. For some photographers it can happen quickly, for others they will make multiple twists and turns to find their view…and in truth, a photographer’s view can be ever changing. For me, I’ve figured out a few things that have really helped me with how I view my world and how it has shaped my photography.

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  1. My baby

Becoming a mom has greatly changed my world and photography. I have a new found understanding of all the little details and nuances specific to a baby. I want to capture photos of my little man regarding who he is, his personality, his little details so I when I see them years later I am brought back to those moments and memories. Our children are only little once and they seem to grow at lightning speed. When I photograph your baby I want to capture images that you will be able to look back at and recall just who they were at that moment in life.

2. My personality

I am a quiet, calm, simple person. I’m not a large crowd type of person and would much rather stay home with my husband and son to going out to a bar or club. This calm, quiet, simple side of me is carried through my photography with soft colors, simple set-ups, and classic poses. I love working with newborns because they too do best in calm quiet situations. Newborns and I are a match made in heaven.

3. My guest bedroom

I am a natural light photographer…what does that mean? It means I love to use the sun as my light source instead of flash or any other external light. When we moved into our new house I found that our guest bedroom had the most amazing light coming through the windows and it’s where I spend a majority of my photography time capturing memories of my son. It’s the type of light that adds a soft glow to my images and an almost dreamy feel. I search for this same light in your home and my new studio. Clean white light is how I want my photos to look.

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When you think of your life, what inspires you? Is it your kids…your job…your hobbies?

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Ross Newborn {Libertyville IL, Newborn Photographer}

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I was so excited for this little family when they told me they were adding to their family. I had gotten the privilege to photograph their first little boy when he was a brand new baby and now I got the privilege to photograph his little sister. Little Lady Z was just amazing during the photo session and didn’t make even the tiniest of noises the entire time. She curled right up in every pose and took a nice long nap during the photo session.

This little lady has the softest of details; lips, toes, fingers and even eyelashes. She is just petite and perfect in every way!

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We had to do a little football pose for Daddy since he is pretty big Bear’s fan and since every little girl has a special bond with their Daddy it was only natural. How many of your daughters have a special little bond with their Dad’s? I know my son is a big Mommy’s boy and I just love the special relationship we have.

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I love how mommy had already started to spoil this little lady with all the cute bows and lace that come with being a little girl. The ruffly tush just makes me melt…but then again I love dressing my little man with appliqués on his tush since putting little ruffle bloomers on a little boy won’t necessarily be the best clothing choice. I can just see little lady taking ballet lessons with a cute little pink tutu on.

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Welcome to the family baby sister!

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