I have a confession to make.  I have hair envy.  Bad.

But wait, Jessica, you have more hair than any sane person would even know what to do with.

This is true.  But my babies don’t.  Despite Mommy’s over-abundance of thick, curly locks, my own dear children enter this world very nearly bald.  And stay that way for a loooong time.  And have first haircuts a week before Kindergarten starts.

So when my Wednesday client leaned over to me as I was gushing over her truly beautiful son, said, “Wait ’til you see his hair,” and pulled off his hat, I squealed like a little girl.  Seriously, I did.  It’s a little embarrassing, actually.

7-day old Grayson was just absolutely darling with his long limbs and all that gorgeous, cannot-be-tamed hair.  He kept me on my toes with the sweet little baby smiles he’d flash nearly every time I brought the camera away from my face–by the time I raised it up again the smile would be gone.  After a while, though, I caught on and managed to grab a couple lightning-quick little grins.

Grayson on day 7:

Here’s a little smile:

And just the tail end of another one–look at that hair!

One more, up close:

It was almost a shame to cover up that darling head of his, but we did it anyway:).

And, oh, he made Mommy, Daddy, and I work for this shot, but we got it!

Grayson, thanks for making me smile.  I’m glad I got to see you do the same:).

I have been anticipating this session for months.  Almost nine months to be exact.  Since before I knew there would even be a session.  When I found out that one of my dearest friends here in New York was pregnant, I was so excited for her.  Truly, our move here would have been a completely different experience without the friendship of this family–they just took us under their wing and helped us to find a little sense of belonging after a cross-country move.  I have felt blessed every day to know them.

Most of the newborns I have the privilege to photograph are first or second babies.  Darling Mary Katherine is baby #5 for this family.  She is absolutely adored by her big brother and big sisters.  Getting a photograph of 4 children with their new baby sister is always a challenge, but these guys did just great.  And their parents knew just what to do, as we planned the sibling shots for the beginning of the session and then Dad took them home to play.  Three hours can be a long time when you are 2, or 4, or 7, or pretty much any age.  And I’d just like to point out, I am capable of shooting clothed subjects, even at a newborn session;).

Aren’t mom and dad so blessed?

This one, I just fell in love with before I even pushed the shutter.  Love it with all my heart!

One with her gorgeous mom, and my dear friend:

And since the session started out backwards (with family images first), we decided to keep the trend going and use my new antique buggy (yep, that’s an oxymoron right there) rather than go to the bean bag poses.  Why not?  I had the perfect model.

Finally, on to the bean bag.  As we were shooting mom was telling me how excited she was for her portraits so she could really see what Mary Kate looks like.  At first I was surprised, and then I realized she made perfect sense.  You spend so much of your time as a new mother with a kind of up-close tunnel-vision.  You see the side of her face as she nurses or his cute little belly while you’re changing him, but you’re always right there.  It’s nice to take a step back and really see a baby.  Moms are so smart.

Oh, and did I mention mom made this beautiful blessing gown?  Yeah, she is pretty much amazing.

Here she is, Mom.  A knock-out, I’d say.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for a beautiful day.  Baby girl, I can’t wait to come snuggle you again sometime very soon.

It’s always a pleasant surprise to have a client show up who pretty much makes my job a piece of cake.  When I opened the door for this absolutely stunning couple, I just knew my job was going to be so easy.  Dad was so obviously in love with Mom, and Mom was so comfortable in front of the camera (even if she did feel a little silly at times) and simply glowing with happiness.  Baby Nadia is so lucky to be coming to these wonderful parents, and I cannot wait to meet her.

A little taste of a wonderful session.

Thanks so much, guys!  It was wonderful getting to know you.  Can’t wait to see you again soon–with Nadia!

February has been a crazy month for me.  Rescheduling and some late-arriving babies has led to a fuller than usual month of sessions.  On top of that, my entire family decided to take turns becoming ill over this past week off of school (yeah, we know how to party in this house).  Jack got the brunt of it though and was diagnosed this weekend with bronchiolitis and an ear infection.  It’s not serious, but he does need to be on a nebulizer every four hours.  At the risk of getting too personal, his breathing issues (and lack of sleep on my part) have created some eating issues and nursing has not been going well the past few days.

In light of everything that’s going on with him, I would just ask for some patience as I work on getting everything back on track.  If you are waiting for a gallery, a sneak peek, or to receive an email response, please know I will get to everything just as soon as I can.  In the meantime, I appreciate your patience as I focus on my family’s health for a few days.

Speaking of patience, no post is complete without a picture.  So here’s a recent snappy of my impatient boy, who at 5 months decided sitting up and crawling were on the agenda.  He can now crawl the length of the house.  Someone please stop my baby boy from growing up too fast!

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I had such a fun time taking pictures of my own valentines that I couldn’t resist sharing a few.  Or considerably more than a few.  Forgive this photographer as she slips into adoring mother-mode:).

The baby valentine (On a side-note, is it weird that my barely 5-month old thinks he can crawl and sit up?  He can’t quite manage it completely, but he sure thinks he can.):

The little valentine (She is beyond excited to hand out her valentine cards at church today and roams around the house randomly bursting out in exclamations of, “I love you more than chocolate!“):

Okay, the one on the right just kills me:).

The middle valentine (Super sweet, and so hard to get a real expression out of now.  We caught a couple, though.):

The big valentine (So beautiful, but so, so crazy for candy.  We managed to tame a little valentine sweetness out of her for a second.):

And a little more like reality:

Yep, that’s my girl!

If you made it this far, I commend and thank you!  Hope your Valentine’s Day is full of sweetness, hugs, and, kisses–candy or otherwise.