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!

Baby Starr's Nursery

After months of planning, painting, and decorating, Baby Starr's nursery is finally finished!  It's a calm and serene space with blues and grays, and a hint of a "twinkle twinkle little star" theme -- because honestly, with our last name that was just a given!

This is officially my new favorite room in the house, and it was definitely a labor of love pulling it all together in the months leading up to Grayson's arrival.  The morning that we were sent to the hospital to be induced (which was a surprise 3 weeks early!), I spent an hour photographing the nursery and editing the images.  It was the calmest part of a very chaotic week, and I loved it!  For some reason, that little bit of nesting was something that ***just had to be done*** and hanging up the wooden G on the wall even made it onto Jeff's to-do list in those final hours before heading off to the hospital.

Most of the items in the nursery were either handmade (the curtains), refinished vintage (the bureau was originally green!), scored during a Black Friday sale (the crib and glider chair), found during date night trips to HomeGoods (the rug, baskets, and footstool), or some of my Ikea favorites that have found their way into many rooms of our home for the past 5 years (those shelves!).

Plus there are a handful of personal touches like a watercolor painting of a photograph from a beach during the vacation where we got engaged, a Buffalo Bills hat to match daddy's for this future fan, a stuffed animal we picked out during our babymoon, and one of his first ultrasound pictures to remind us how tiny he started out!   A gallery wall will be coming soon with some of Grayson's newborn and baby photos, too!

Baby Starr | Grayson's Newborn Portraits

Grayson Alexander
April 3, 2018
 

It's hard to believe that our sweet little boy has already been with us for nearly 3 weeks!  It's been a whirlwind of one day blurring into the next, the nights coming again much too soon, and so many sweet hugs and smiles with our adorable little Grayson.

Even though I've been a newborn photographer since 2012 and I have cuddled and posed dozens and dozens and dozens of fresh little babies, it's true what they say about photographing your own newborn....  IT'S HARD.  REALLY, REALLY HARD.  

It has taken me multiple attempts in the studio to settle this little boy into a deep enough sleep that he forgets that I'm nearby, and a slumber so sound that the click of the shutter won't startle him.  Seriously, there was one afternoon where I was only able to take 28 frames because every time I pressed the shutter, he startled with the "click" and shook himself awake and right out of his pose!  

But we finally did it, and I'm excited to share some of his studio newborn portraits here on the blog!  World, meet Grayson Alexander, our newest studio assistant and the cutest little baby that has stolen our hearts and has us completely obsessed with marveling over how perfect and adorable he is.  

Every time he opens his eyes, our hearts just melt into a puddle.  He has the most soulful gaze, and he's pretty calm & mellow.  When he's awake he's happy and alert, just taking the world in!

Of course I planned a special set-up for this photographer's baby, and when I found this tiny camera prop last November I saved it just for his newborn session.  

Grayson is a VERY smiley little baby, and his little milk drunk smiles pop up all the time and just light up his face.  I can't even believe how many smiles we captured during his time in the studio!

I had so much fun choosing a few new outfits for the studio collection, like this little striped one that is classic with a hint of nautical accents.  I have the feeling I'm going to be adding lots of baby boy items to our studio closet this year as our little boy starts modeling them as he grows!

You'll be seeing a lot more of this sweet little boy on the blog!