Beyond the Newborn Session: Capturing the First Year of Milestones

I don’t know what it is about parenthood that makes time fly by, but I know that ever since my son was born, I’ve blinked and another year has gone by. As a mom and a professional photographer, I understand the value of portraits of my child from the newborn stage and beyond. Newborn portraits are one of the things most parents put on their “parenting to-do list”. That first year is fleeting and I think it’s so important that everyone has a chance to document their precious baby. But the documentation shouldn’t end there.

When I was a new mom, I constantly had my camera out to capture every little moment and changes in our son after our newborn portraits. Looking back, I’m so happy that I have truly beautiful and classic baby portraits of my son, in (and out) of the studio to document those stages, too. Every time he started on a new milestone or learned a new skill, I wanted to capture it forever.

Our babies change SO much in the first year of life - more than any other year as they grow. They grow their first teeth, laugh for the first time, and learn to sit up, crawl, and walk. Capturing all of those milestones truly matters. We all say we never want to forget those stages and changes - and with studio portraits, you never will. You’ll have those dimpled cheeks and baby giggles documented forever to enjoy.

As babies grow, they enter into my favorite stage, the “Gerber Baby stage”, when they’re 6-10 months old. This is one of the most popular milestone sessions in my studio. Babies are sitting up solidly, they're happy and expressive, they interact with you and play into all of the games (peekaboo, tickles) to let us capture their amazing smiles. They're not that mobile yet so they're not running away from the camera - so it works out for us. These are often some of the best portraits to capture your little one’s personality as they start to figure out who they are.

After the “Gerber Baby stage”, our babies inch even closer to turning one… and then comes the super popular cake smash session! These cake smash portraits are always a lot of fun. They’re a celebration of your baby - and of your family’s journey over the last year. I love watching babies and their families interact during their one year milestone and cake smash portraits in the studio. It’s also the perfect time to document something your baby is interested in, when you choose your cake smash theme.

Capturing your baby’s first year is so important. These studio sessions are the perfect way to document each of your baby’s milestones along the way - and a great way to ensure you’ll always have stunning portraits to remember each sweet baby smile by. Our baby’s first year always flies by… make sure you don’t miss teh chance to document it all!

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What Does the Baby Plan Really Look Like? Two Different Babies, One Year, Lots of Photos

We introduced the Baby Plan a little more than two years ago, and it has been such a joy to watch so many little babies grow and celebrate all of their milestones with beautiful portrait sessions.

I love seeing our Baby Planners every few months and getting to know their families over the course of 12+ months. From the eager expectant parents that come in with stories about baby showers and building cribs, to the tired mamas rocking their brand new babies and looking for tips on nursing and swaddles during their newborn sessions, to the (slightly more well-rested!) parents who are playing peek-a-boo with their babies and cheering their birthday baby on to taking their first steps and tasting their birthday cake! It’s always such an honor to be invited into a family’s life for all of these events, and I truly enjoy capturing all of these memories for every single family.

So, if you’ve been wondering what the Baby Plan actually looks like, here is a peek at the Baby Plan for two different families. Maternity session, newborn session, milestone session, and a cake smash.

Here you’ll see a baby girl with her lifestyle maternity & newborn sessions at home, followed by studio portraits for her milestone session, and outdoor family portraits for her first birthday with the cake smash in the studio. At the end of the year we have a gorgeous collection of images that go together beautifully. I love that the colors they chose for each of their portrait sessions complement each other so well, and will look amazing paired together on the walls of their home!

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Next up is a year of portraits for one of our coastal families in Massachusetts. I absolutely adored photographing their maternity session AND cake smash session on the same beach. Partway through the year I said to this sweet mama, “Wouldn’t it be amazing to do his cake smash on the same boardwalk where we did your maternity portraits?!” And we immediately fell in love with the idea, and made it happen almost exactly one year later! Depending on the season we can do some of the sessions outdoors between May through October, but the newborn sessions are always indoors.

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Pin this image or any from the post above to learn more about the NSP Baby Plans!

Merry Christmas from Baby Starr | Grayson's Gingerbread House Smash

A few things I’ve learned as a photographer and now first-time mom this year…

Before having a baby I said that I would have a million photoshoots of Grayson this year. My husband joked throughout the pregnancy that he was putting a limit on how many photos I could take of the baby. One thousand photos… PER DAY. ;o) I remember saving a few ideas last Christmas and thinking I would love to do so many of them next December when our little guy was here.

And then I had a baby. Once I went back to work and started juggling work & a baby, I realized that if I didn’t carve out time for documenting my son’s first year it wouldn’t happen. So I started putting it on the calendar and I am so glad I did! Grayson’s first holiday photo shoot is one of my favorites that I have done with him this year, and I am so excited to share it here on the blog!

Of course it was going to be clean & simple with a very minimalistic look. I adore stripes, and the majority of my closet AND Grayson’s closet is stripes. So Jeff and I picked out this cute red and white striped pajama set for our little guy’s portraits, and I chose a few bottle brush trees for the decor. The gingerbread house was enough to add some color and make it all come together!

Confession: I had never made a gingerbread house before this one! I scoured Pinterest for ideas and found out that they can really get quite intricate. I stayed up late decorating this little house and listening to holiday music with a Christmas candle burning on the counter. It was one of my favorite nights so far this holiday season! Now I think that gingerbread houses are going to have to become a holiday tradition as our son grows and can start adding his own creative confections to the houses!

Grayson loved his little gingerbread house smash — even though there wasn’t much smashing that happened because that icing held everything together like cement! He also loved practicing his new favorite skill — blowing raspberries and making us laugh!

He’s my favorite little elf.

Baby Starr | Grayson's First Month

Sweet little Grayson is one month old!

How did that happen so quickly?!?!  If you missed his newborn portraits, check them out here.  And you can enjoy a peek into his nursery here on the blog, too!

This adorable little guy has truly brought so much joy to our lives over the past month, and I can't even begin to imagine how amazing the next year (and all of those after that!) are going to be.  Jeff and I keep saying over and over again how lucky we are to have such a perfect, happy, healthy, and mellow little baby. 

He  truly has a very chill personality, and we adore his alert time because it really showcases his relaxed mood.  It happens 2-3 times a day right now, and he spends it looking around, taking everything in with those great big eyes of his.  He's very quiet when he's studying everything around him, and he lights up with the sweetest smiles and these really cute "o" faces when he purses his lips.  

Of course, like all babies, Grayson can get a little fussy at times.  We've discovered that he calms right down with music, and we're always saying, "Alexa, play Top Pop radio."  (Which, by the way, we bought an Alexa right before he was born and it's been so amazing to have something hands-free when our hands are filled with a baby!)  Ten seconds in to a song with a good beat, he is as happy as can be!  I'm attributing that to the countless hours I spent in the car with the radio on driving back and forth between Boston & Saratoga during the pregnancy -- we have a music lover on our hands!

These photos below were taken at 10 days old, and Grayson looked so tiny in his "coming home outfit" on our bed.  It's hard to believe that just a few weeks later, he's now outgrown that adorable sweater and I'll be packing it up in a box along with his hospital bracelet and footprints!  

This month was filled with firsts for Grayson! 

His first photoshoot was a Fresh 48 session in the hospital with Lauren Kirkham Photography.  He rocked it, and we've already shown his album off to all of our family members and found a special place for it on the shelf with our other albums.  I can't stop looking at it though!

With the weather warming up, he enjoyed his first visit to an ice cream shop.  We took him to Martha's Dandee Creme in Queensbury, our favorite! 

He finally discovered that he LOVES bathtime.  We put on some lullabies and he just zones out while laying in the water.

His first trip to Target was for more diapers.  Of course. 

He slept through his first walk through Spa State Park with a new baby friend. 

To celebrate Daddy going back to work at the end of the month, G-man slept 6 hours at night for the very first time!  We're hoping that continues and becomes a nightly tradition... eventually!

And he spent lots of time with the grandparents, and his aunt and little cousin who also came over to visit! 
 

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Because our phones are now filled with baby photos, and because the very best camera you can have is whichever one is in your hand right this moment, here are a few favorite cell phone shots from Grayson's first month!  We're pretty much obsessed with his smiles, his cuddles, and all of his funny little expressions that melt our hearts when he's awake!