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.

I truly think there is nothing dearer to a mother’s heart than seeing how much her children love each other.  Case in point, yesterday my Julia was getting in the tub to get ready for church and asked, “Is Bella going to take a bath?”  “Yep, and Emily too.”  Her response: “Emily too?!  All my friends?!  All my friends are going to take a bath?!”  I am still smiling about it.

Saturday I had a session with the darling-est (yep, I’m going to say that’s a real word) 7-month little girl and her wonderful big brother.  You could just tell she adores him by the way her eyes just tracked him around the room.  He was so, so sweet back to her–so patient and kind and interested in her.  How lucky they are and will be to have each other as they grow up!

This one just made me giggle–he was trying to get baby sister to smile (On a side note, how fabulous are their outfits together?  Mom did such a great job!).

This is a better representation of their actual relationship:

After a few abysmal attempts on my own and some coaching from Henry, I finally made it through the whole alphabet without any mistakes–who knew my sleep-deprivation had gotten so bad?  He’s one smart cookie:).

And I could not get over gorgeous Lila’s delicious rolls, beautiful eyes, or those LIPS!  Mom and Dad are in trouble for sure.  I have his same shot w/a smile, but oh, how I love the hand placement, those wide eyes, and her little mouth in this one.

A session favorite–can you see her grabbing his foot?

Thanks for such a fun morning guys, and for alphabet lessons!

Happy Holidays from Jessica Washburn Photography!

I am still not quite done for the year–I have two more newborn sessions in the next two days–but I wanted to take the time to wish all my blog readers a very happy holiday season while I have a moment to breathe:).  I hope your December is filled with love and laughter.

A few more images that make my heart happy:).

Happy Holidays!

…for just so many things.  I have a job I LOVE, am married to the love of my life, and am the mother of four children I adore.  I am blessed in more ways than I can name.

I am truly humbled.

Photo by Ashley Brown, processed by me–thanks again, Ashley!

This session was just so much fun!  When Jennifer contacted me about doing a session with her and her brother as a Christmas gift for their mom, I knew from talking to her over the phone that we’d have a great time.  We met up at Lindsey’s Orchard here in Clifton Park and just had a blast getting to know each other and capturing some great images for their mom.  It’s always wonderful to have clients who have such a great connection–they almost do my job for me:).

Jenn assured me that mom wouldn’t be peeking, so here’s a little teaser from the session:

LOVE this one:).

An added bonus: I left with some yummy Granny Smith apples that became dessert Sunday night.  Mmm!

Brad and Jenn, it was an absolute pleasure!

As it turns out I DO have a new best friend in baby Elliott, whose newborn session on Friday morning actually DID put me into labor.  After a day of mild labor, Jack eased into the world at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  I want to briefly mention the technique I chose to use to prepare for Jack’s birth because nine times out of ten when I mentioned to people that I was planning on a natural, non-medicated birth using the Hypnobabies program, the response I got was a tentative, “What?”  If you are pregnant and interested in a gentler, more natural childbirth experience, I encourage you to visit the Hypnobabies website and decide if childbirth through self-hypnosis is something that would fit with your personality and goals.  Jack’s birth was such a sweet and wonderful experience for my husband and I.

I was so fortunate to have friend and fellow-photographer Ashley Brown at the birth to document it.  Sometimes it can be difficult to choose between having a mom moment and having a photographer moment.  With the task of documenting Jack’s arrival in Ashley’s capable hands, I was free to fully enjoy just being Jack’s mommy.

I just wanted to share a few images from the past couple of days.  Okay, it’s more than a few, but really, can you blame me?

Big sister #1 is over the moon:

Big sister #2 couldn’t be sweeter to him:

Big sister #3 has claimed him for her very own:

At just 5 lbs, 12 ounces and 18″, Jack really is the Peanut he’s been referred to as for months, and is the smallest baby I have ever held.  At the rate he’s eating, though, I expect him to plump into a typical Washburn chunk in no time at all:

I believe this look is to remind me that no matter what delusions I may have, Jack wants to make sure I understand that all photo ops will be a HIS discretion and not mine.  He definitely has some feist in him:).

And a shot of the best Daddy in the whole world:

And just a couple to show the scale of our tiny Peanut–the first one is my thumb in his little hand:

I love baby hands:).

Thank you to everyone who has offered support and well-wishes in our behalf.  We are so in love with our new little Peanut and can’t wait to get to know him better.

On a business note, there are a few orders still out and galleries that need to be viewed.  I’ll be in touch with you in a week or two–thanks so much for your patience:).

It’s hard to believe I am already nearing the end of this pregnancy.  Life with my three girls has been so busy, I have hardly had time to catch my breath, let alone think about poor little peanut.  But he’s coming whether we feel ready or not, and we are so very excited to meet him.  In fact, if he were to arrive on my second daughter’s schedule he’s be over a week old right now.  That thought prompted me to push through my Sunday afternoon exhaustion to get some (probably) final belly shots with my darling girls before it’s too late.  My husband is my very favorite person for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he doesn’t bat an eye when I ask him to help set up the studio while the girls and I get all dolled up for an impromptu shoot.  I can’t thank him and my girls enough for capturing these final pregnancy moments for me!

I must confess that the Type-A in me much prefers to be on the other side of the camera, but I am so, so happy and grateful for these–thank you, Honey!

I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting these two lovely ladies yesterday evening.  Oh my goodness, they were so sweet and fun and reminded me a lot of my own girls who are just about this same age.  Besides being super sweet and beautiful girls, they were so connected as sisters and each one wanted to be doing just what the other was.  We had so much fun at the Rose Garden in Schenectady, which is still just beautiful.  If you love flowers and have never been, you have to go take a stroll through the roses some evening.

Here is just a sampling of all the girly cuteness we captured last night:

If you’re four and there’s water nearby it’s pretty much a  given that you’re gonna need to get at least a little wet:).

One of the big no-no’s at the rose garden is picking the flowers, understandably so.  We fished this one out of the pond–couldn’t let it go to waste:).

Sometimes my favorite images happen at the very end of the shoot.  These girls were so sweet and patient as I asked for just one more:

Oops, I mean one more:

Girls, I think you wore me and peanut baby out last night, but I had so much fun!  Thanks for such a great evening!

Saturday night I headed over to River Road Park in Niskayuna to photograph a wonderful family.  It was doubly special because their baby boy was my first newborn session after I moved here to New York from Washington state last year.  He’s such a doll and it’s been so much fun to watch him grow up.  Mom was a little worried, I think, about finding the right outfits.  She did awesome–the whole family looked fabulous!  I must admit that even with bug spray, I came away with a few unwanted souvenirs from the area mosquitoes, but after looking at the images… it was totally worth it:).

Gosh, this guy is so handsome!

I am so in love with her red curls and sweet, sweet face.

A year ago, I used this basket at his newborn session.  Think he’s grown much?  Now:

Then:

Had to sneak in a fun family shot too–anyone else feel like this is pretty typical of life with little kids;)?

Thanks so much for such a fun session, guys!

I remember on my first wedding anniversary thinking back over the past year with my husband and just marveling that anyone can choose to get married based only on the feelings they have for each when they are dating.  In just a short year, my relationship with my husband had grown and intensified exponentially.  There was a couple at our wedding reception who came up to us and said something along the lines of, “You think you’re in love now, but you really have no idea what love is yet.”  They had about 40 or 50 more years of experience than we did, and I have quickly come to realize that they were absolutely right.

I was so honored to be asked to photograph a similar couple on the advent of their 40th wedding anniversary.  They were in town for a few days visiting one of their eight children while preparing to relocate from Bogota, Colombia to Hong Kong.  I can only imagine the life experiences that have made them and their marriage what it is today.  We headed over to the Rose Garden in Schenectady Central Park which is just beautiful in the summer.  A bit of a different session for me, as I love my newborns, but every bit as inspiring.

Best of luck with your move–it was wonderful to spend the evening with the two of you.