Tag: Grayslake IL Newborn Photographer

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Styling Session: 5 favorite boy newborn “props”

After becoming a mommy to a little boy I have to slightly confess that I fell in love with photographing little boys. Don’t get me wrong I love all the little bows and frills that come with girls but boys can have some special photo props as well! I want to share with you 5 of my current favorite boy props that I use during each photo session. Which of these do you like? One, Two, or all of them?

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  1. Packer Outfit

I got this outfit for my little boy when I found out I was pregnant. We are a big Packer family and I couldn’t just resist getting it as a surprise for my husband. Once it came I fell in love with how sweet it looked on my little man. What Daddy doesn’t want to imagine their little boy as an NFL player? I must also confess that I recently got a little Bears Outfit…it’s only fitting since I technically live in Bear Country.

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2. Gray wrap

Gray is one of my favorite colors for little boys. It’s a nice neutral color that goes with any nursery pallet and is a timeless color that will always be “in fashion”. This wrap is also one of my favorites because it has such a sweet tiny detail texture. So combined together this wrap is one of my go-to’s for little boy sessions.

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3. White background

This one is a given because I love to photograph all my sweet fresh babies on white. For me, the color white represents freshness, newness, purity…all things that I associate with newborns. White is such a nice base pallet to have because it allows you to add any little pop of color or keeps things very clean and simple. My favorite white blanket for boys has the tiniest of textures to add a little extra pop of softness to the images. I do actually have a girl version of the white blanket that is a little different.

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4. Teddy Bear

I love tiny stuffed animals and this teddy bear is such a perfect little thing to tuck under a little boy’s arm.  It’s the right size, not too big and not too small. When you think of your childhood it was very likely that you had some stuffed animal or blankie that you took everywhere with you…right? This little teddy bear brings me back to remembering my own blankie and stuffed kittie. I can’t help but wonder what item(s) each little baby of mine will have as they get older.

Jessica - Newborn 36 BW

5. Mommy’s Arms

OK…so maybe I’m cheating here but what baby doesn’t look good in their mommy’s arms? I love putting a baby in mommy’s arms because the look on a mommy’s face is pure love and joy. It also works in reverse and when a little boy is in his mommy’s arms a wave of peace and comfort comes over their faces. There is a special bond between little boys and their moms.

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Dear Little Man {8 Months Old}

Andrew - January 2017 03

Dear Little Man,

You are now 8 months old. I can’t believe how fast time is flying by and how much you are growing and becoming your own individual.

You are starting to eat solid-ish foods and enjoying every bite of it. You are struggling a bit to get those pincher fingers working and grasping the food pieces…but we’ll keep working on it and you’ll soon master it! I laugh at the fact that you end up wearing more than half of the food than what makes it in your mouth and Daddy is realizing how much having a dog would make clean-up easier after meal time.

You are still working on sitting up fully unassisted. We think that you get too excited to sit still and you end up toppling over as you go for toys. But we are getting there and every day you get a little more balance. I don’t mind you taking your time because I don’t want you to grow up too fast.

We started swim lessons this month and you weren’t a huge fan at the beginning but now you are loving it. You splash away and enjoy floating on your back. Your Daddy and I are so happy that you love the water and we hope your love continues.

Your quiet personality is showing more and more. We found that you do best when introducing you to a new environment to just sit back and allow you to take it all in before we dive in. At swimming lessons we found that you did the best when we sat and watched the class before of us before we got in the pool. That is definitely a trait you get from me.

Lastly, you are learning to enjoy drumming. You love to bang your toys together, on the floor, on each other, on anything you can get your hands on. Daddy loves this trait of yours because I think he secretly wishes you will become a drummer like him. I find it entertaining because we’ll make up songs to your drum beats and it gets you giggling.

I can’t wait to see you master the art of sitting this next month and everything else you will encounter.

Love,

Mommy

Andrew - January 2017 08

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Mommy Chat: The “fear” of being a new mommy

Ok, I’m going to be open and honest with you since we are all mommies or soon-to-be mommies. Who has felt the mommy fear? The fear that you have no idea what you are doing! I’m not talking about postpartum depression or anxiety, or the mommy guilt, I’m talking about the natural fear you have when you are now responsible for molding and teaching this little person everything there is in life and you have no idea what you are doing or how to accomplish such a large task.

This fear has hit me big time lately as my little guy is getting bigger and experiencing new things in life. We started swim lessons a few weeks ago and that was a huge fear moment for me. I had a million questions run through my brain…“Is he old enough for this…Is he ready for this…What if he hates it…What if he poops in the pool…” all reasonable and normal questions. My husband and I decided to give it a try, figuring the worst thing is we stop and try again later when he is a little older. The first class comes along and my fear starts to come true…my little man was not happy to be in the pool. There were tears and lots of clasped hands.  We left the class doubting our decision and wondering if we should just stop the lessons.

Next week comes along and my husband and I are faced to answer the question of “do we go again”? Making my baby cry is like pure torture to me and I knew tears could be in our future. We decided though, to go again and give it one more chance. This time, little man loved the water! He smiled, splashed and even went into the instructors arms for underwater time without looking back for mommy. My fear was crushed, we are going to be just fine and putting him in swim lessons was perfectly ok to do.

What I’m learning, as a mom, is that you will doubt yourself, your choices, and the actions you take raising your child; but, in the end, everything will be alright. Having fear is normal, we have a big responsibility on our plates to create kind, smart, loving adults and I would think not having fear about your choices would make you crazy!

What is something you have feared with raising your little one?
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Session Styling: My favorite newborn photos {Lake County IL, Newborn Photographer}

During a newborn photo session I aim to capture 20-30 images of your little one and provide you with a beautiful gallery showcasing your newest addition. When it comes down to the truth though…I have my favorite photos / poses that I always capture with every little baby. These “poses” are the ones I envision hanging on the walls in your house or being used on your birth announcements. These are the images that I personally loved the most from my own son’s newborn gallery.

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The Simple Head Shot

This photo is my absolute favorite one to capture! It’s a simple photo that focuses on your little one’s face. This photo gives you the chance to see which features came from mommy and which ones came from daddy.  Does he have mommy’s lips? Does she have daddy’s nose? It’s also a great photo to be used as a birth announcement and the one we ended up using on my son’s.

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The Tiny Toes

Baby feet are my weakness…their softness, chubbiness, general adorableness get me every time. Even now, as my son gets older, I love to tickle his little feet. We all have some part of our little one that we become obsessed with…maybe it’s their kissable lips or their chubby fingers. Capturing the little details gives you the chance to remember all the little pieces of your baby that you fell in love with.

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All The Squishy Goodness

Every baby is squishy…even the tiniest 5lb baby has little baby rolls. I love this pose because it brings me back to those times when my little guy would tuck his legs up under his butt and fall asleep curled up against my shoulder. This squishy phase doesn’t last forever and I love having this memory captured.

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Side Sleeper

When I think of newborn babies I always think of a peaceful sleeping baby. (I will admit, my little man isn’t a big crier so I never experienced any colic episodes so maybe my vision is slightly skewed…) This pose though makes you fall in love with your sweet sleeping newborn. This was the pose my grandma loved of my little guy because of how sweet and simple it is. You don’t see any risky naked pieces and instead you see a peaceful little baby.

 

Which pose do you love the most? Share below in the comment section!

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3 things I learned from my first christmas as a mom {Lake County IL, Newborn Photographer}

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This was our first Christmas as a family of three! It was a time for my husband and I to figure out what Christmas traditions we wanted to start in our family…do we visit Santa? Do we make Christmas cookies? Do we make any special project off of my Pinterest board that I pinned years ago just waiting for this day to arrive!?!?

While I wish I could say we did all of those things and more, the truth is, we didn’t do anything.

Nothing…nada…zero…we didn’t even set up our Christmas tree or bring out one item of Christmas decorations.

The reasons we didn’t do anything are numerous…ranging from illnesses to new furniture delivery the day before Christmas (great timing on our part for that one). I had my moments of sadness thinking how could I not give my baby a first Christmas with decorations and a tree! What kind of mom was I!?!? But then Christmas came and went and as I look back I realize how silly I was…

  1. I realized that my son currently has no interest in Christmas decorations. We saw trees at other homes and my little guy could care less that the tree existed. He was more interested in his toys or where mommy was than a decorated tree.
  2. I realized that Christmas traditions are all about spending time together and making memories which is what we did, even if nothing we did was Christmas themed. I will have the memory of watching the excitement in my son’s eyes as he proudly takes the toys out of his toy bucket one by one and tosses them to the ground or the memory of the huge smile that washes over my son’s face when he hear’s the theme son to Daniel Tiger or the best memory of all and watching him learn how to say “mama”.
  3. I realized that life moves too fast and I need to cherish the fact that my son is only 7 months. He can’t sit up completely yet without falling over so how did I expect him to help make Christmas cookies! My son falls asleep in the car instantly so how did I expect him to drive around looking at Christmas lights that he couldn’t even see! There will come a time when we can do all of those things and more but right now I need to sit back and enjoy the simple fact that my little guy is 7 months old and his current joy is just laying on the ground chewing on his toys.

Being a new mom comes with so much pressure to be the picture perfect mom that I’m a little glad for my son’s First Christmas we focused on spending time together as a family instead of starting any holiday traditions.

There will be plenty of time to start those traditions, but right now, my little man would prefer to just spend time with his mommy and daddy and that is what we did!

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How did you spend your Baby’s First Christmas?

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