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It has been a tough two years for this little guy’s family. They have been through so much, and his entrance into the world has been huge. He is so tiny, but he is giving so many people so much happiness. I was absolutely honored to be able to capture this precious time for his family yesterday morning. More to come!

Newborns are one of my favorite types of sessions. For obvious reasons, look at those sweet little cuties! And now that we’re almost 5 months away from welcoming our own little newborn into our home, I love them even more. But my favorite newborn sessions are first time parent newborn sessions. Nothing is better than seeing the absolute joy and wonder in new parents’ faces. It’s so cool.

This little mister gave me a run for my money. Everyone (myself included) loves the sleepy newborn pictures. But newborns will do what they want to do, when they want to do it. There is no bribing in newborn sessions. And sometimes when they stay awake and make me work a little harder, it makes for a better shoot. This was definitely the case in this situation.

Addy is a very special little girl. For starters, she was born just a few days before my birthday, so she’s getting started off on the right foot. Second, her mommy is one of my very best friends. We met our freshman year in college, she lived in the room next to me. To be honest, I seriously didn’t like her at first . She had an ‘attitude’ I said. But that was more than 11 years ago and we have been best friends ever since. Love her. Unfortunately, life has taken us far apart. But when her sweet little angel was born I didn’t mind making the 3 hour drive up to see her. Actually, I’ve driven up there quite a few times for sessions. So if you happen to live in the Chicagoland area, keep that in mind!

I am at that age where all of my friends are having kiddos and I absolutely love watching them become mothers and fathers and watching their entire lives change for good. Welcome to the mommy club Jen!

Addy’s grandma and grandpa happened to be visiting from California when we got there, and I am so glad we got to capture this precious time for them! Also…see that puppers there in the last shot? That’s Tank!! We ‘fostered’ him for about a year before he went to go live with his new family. We had to let him go because our new house has zero yard and he is a biiiig dog. He is so good with babies and was just checking things out at the end of the session. We miss him so much!

Tammy and I both grew up in the Chicago area, and when I walked into this nursery and saw the vintage Shedd Aquarium prints on the walls, I about died. How beautiful are those?! She did an amazing job putting this nursery together. I definitely took a few notes in case we have a baby boy.

I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like we have been watching baseball every night in my house for at least 3 months. And being a Cubs fan (don’t hate) it’s a little hard to swallow. However, being married to a Cardinals fan, I must endure game after game.

And this little munchkin is already well on his way to being a lifetime Cards fan. Pretty perfect timing on that whole being born thing huh? .

Oh just looking back at this session makes me break out into a sweat. I am going to go ahead and say that we did this session on the HOTTEST day of the year here in central IL. I don’t know exactly how hot it was, but it must have been at least 120 degrees with 300% humidity. I kid you not. These adorable littles held it together much better than I did. I was a soaking wet mess by 10 minutes into the shoot. In my defense, I was running around playing Star Wars with them, but still! Ugh.

However…I am so glad I got to meet this beautiful family that Saturday morning in July. Grandma set up the session while her kids were in town with all her grandkids…including a so sweet 5 week old baby girl. It was so great to see these kids just let loose and have fun at grandma and grandpa’s.

This is baby Dino. He is 5 weeks old and was an absolute angel this morning at his newborn session. While a bit older than most newborns, he pulled it off like a champ. Nice work little guy.

And this is Dino’s ‘big sister’ Lucy. She is very protective of her new little brother and she wasn’t so sure about  me at first. But once she got over her fear of my camera’s shutter we were fast friends.

I got to meet the sweetest little girl over the weekend. This session also let me head back to my home sweet home CHICAGO for the weekend which made me happier than you can even imagine. I got to check out the home I grew up in, and show it to Hailey ~ who couldn’t have been less interested, by the way ~ and see how much the streets of my home town have changed. I got to see my best friends and nothing could be better. Man I miss that town!

The following shot caught my eye immediately. Addyson is the first grandchild for these new grandparents. And they are absolutely head over heels, over the top, madly in love with her. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I look at this shot and the utterly content smile on grandpa’s face. Adore.

Ashley is one of my very best friends. We lived together in college and have now seen each other become mothers for the first time. Our lives have definitely changed but I think we both agree spending time with our beautiful families on a Friday night beats any college party. Right Ash? .

Words cannot express how happy I am for Adam and Ashley as they welcome Austin into their lives. He has got two amazing parents who are full of life and can’t wait to show him everything this world offers.

I love you all like crazy!

Welcome to the world baby Austin. It was fabulous to meet you today.

In other news, I held my first newborn workshop today! Best students ever

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