first birthday
Good lord this blog was drafted in September of last year, even worse, I think it was shot months before that!Any who, here’s a super handsome little man with the prettiest blue eyes!
Baby G & his parents came to me for his Wild Ones themed First birthday Cake Smash and he was just the sweetest baby with such a big personality! He laughed at all my jokes, tolerated all his outfit changes, and loveddddd his cake! His parents were okay too I guess :)
Two Cake Smashes in a row? You’re welcome!
One of my last sessions of last year was one I was actually really sad to do! The, hopefully for their sake, last of the DW children just turned one and she’s just as wonderful as the rest of the family. Baby T has all the spunk and energy of all the DW children combined and it’s probably lucky she was the last one, otherwise I don’t know how they’d keep up! (Actually, her Big Sister R is probably the spunkiest, but she wasn’t here for this session so I can’t compare) Her Mama came up with the creative idea of doing a Milk and Cookies themed Cake Smash and we still tried to keep it as natural and dainty as possible to keep the attention on little lady. Her Mama made all the adorable glass jars and while we considered only doing a big plate of cookies I couldn’t help but still throw a cake into the mix for her. Spoiler alert, her and all of her siblings were only interested in the store bought cookies.
Don’t be fooled by her drinking really cute out of her glass jar too, we had a lot of faith in her for not spilling it and the very first thing she did after those first few photos was knock the glass jar over and get it everywhere.
I feel like I say this about every session but Cake Smashes are definitely one of my favorites! Sadly, last year I only did about 3 to 4 a month, which sounds like a lot, but it’s not!!! Out of all the Cake Smashes I’ve ever done though I’ve literally only had a request for Mickey Mouse about 3 times, which is again, another big shocker. Especially with Mickey Mouse Club House being so big I was half expecting to do at least two a month (but last year was all about Mermaids and Neutrals) so I was really excited when Mama C requested this!!!
My very first CS session was Mickey Mouse and that was over 5 years ago and the set looked much different from nowadays but, still classic in my book! I was fortunate enough I had lots of decorations from a friends Babies Birthday party and was able to alter most of them to fit this theme. This little man was so incredibly sweet and if I had let him he would have sat there and picked at his cake all day, it was very obvious he loved the icing and was very talkative about it!
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Today is Mama J’s, otherwise known as Baby S, first Birthday and we’re all over here crying! I remember Mama M and I discussing her first birthday before she was born and sharing all the ideas we had for her first birthday photoshoot and Cake smash! One year later we definitely didn’t do any of them, however we’ve basically done everything else under the sun. I think she’s been on my blog, published and unpublished posts, more than anyone this year and next year we’ll be adding her baby sister B into the fix so you can expect to be heavily spammed by this family for many years to come!!!
After weeks of being torn between doing a fruit bath or a milk bath we compromised and are going to do both. Seeing as it’s August and basically Fall we decided to try and keep the florals away from the pastel realm and does it really matter what I type? Is anyone still reading? I care though, gotta hit those google keywords! Sunflowers! We decided on sunflowers and thankfully I have an abundance of fake ones and Mama M had some dollar store sunflowers she’s had for over 4 years to add to the mix! We went out to the same park we did her sisters gender reveal/pregnancy announcement and set up near the creek! J hates headbands so we were really worried about her keeping it on throughout her session but thankfully all the sunflowers and splashing around in the milk was enough to keep her distracted for about 5 minutes! Still haven’t gotten the smiling down, even after a year of modeling, but we have the smoldering down to a T! We’ll work on it next year, and hopefully next week we’ll be sharing her Cake Smash!
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I used to pride myself on being able to write super descriptive blogs where I spilled every detail of my shoot and how they came to be but I think with age I’ve lost that ability (6 months makes a big difference guys!!!!) So I’m going to attempt to bring blogs back, and bring them back with a vengeance! Don’t go back and READ prior blogs, you can look… that way I won’t be judged off previous work
ANYWAYS!!! This session was seriously one to write home about and as much as I would like to take credit I literally have to thank this beautiful little ladies Mama for making it all happen! Mama B and I became friends about the time she found out the gender of this sweet little lady. We did her gender reveal together, she dropped off some nude cupcakes for a stylized shoot I was doing, and the rest is history! I’ve had the privilege of getting to experience so many special moments in their lives with them and the chance to watch her two children grow!!! She’s a wonderful friend and a very very talented artist and baker (Two Peas and Sweets Bakery)
Okay, back to the blog, I’m getting ahead of myself. This little ladies first birthday session was planned before she was born. Mama is basically a gypsy and has lived everywhere but her roots are in Arizona (don’t kill me if I get your families history wrong B, I’m not a stalker) and her Grand….mother used to have an alpaca farm (that sounds right). Her uncle even makes cactus art!!! Definitely a desert rat. When E was born she even had an extra special Aplaca/cactus swaddle!
When it came time to planning her First Birthday photoshoot Mama B somehow found an Alpaca farm, which was only about twenty minutes from Blakes house, go figure, and the women that owned it was kind enough to let us shoot there! We ended up getting lost along the way and managed to do this shoot in a record twenty minutes, which was probably for the best otherwise we would have stayed there all day. Baby E literally had zero interest in the Alpacas though and was more concerned with what they were eating and picking up as much mud as she could between her toes. The Alpacas literally had zero interest in her either and were more concerned about why this small creature was trying to shove their pellets into her mouth.
Again, this shoot was definitely like a fairytale and over the years we’re somehow going to have to one up this session. We’re already trying to figure out how we’re going to get an elephant for her 16th birthday
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I’ve spoken before about all the beautiful mothers you see on Instagram that are just big faker dakers and make you feel terrible about yourself… I hate to break it to you but… they exist. Mama C is one of those well dressed, fit, and pretty Moms that make you question your choices in life and if she truly did give birth just seven or eight months ago (don’t hate me if that’s wrong C). Besides just being drop dead gorgeous, she’s also such a pleasure to be around! It’s a shame I didn’t know her when she lived in Nashville!
The beautiful Ms. F is such a ham and is ALWAYS so happy, even when we ran into nap time, and always manages to break out in a toothy grin (even though she’s only got two teeth)! She is a true Southern Baby with her huge bows and vivid floral patterns and gave me soooo many great images that have already made their way into my online galleries!
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It always brings me such great joy when my newborns make their way back to me and I was SO happy to see Mama K and the handsome Baby O! O is now about half the size of his Mama, which isn’t a hard feat to accomplish, sorry K, wears a mans size 9 shoe, and despite what some photos might show, has lots of wisps of red in his hair! He was so well behaved for our session and even let me spend a little time solely photographing his beautiful mother while he stomped around and tried to find whatever mud puddle he could.
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Baby O was my first cake smash of 2019 and I was able to bring back an oldie Goldie set for him! Even though I put extra special love and care into making his cake he was more interested in the cut out One on the top than anything else. All the other damage was done by Mama and me!
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My handsome little Nephew turned one last month and spent the week getting lots of ouches in preparation for his birthday photos!
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Today this little booger turns 18!!! Wait, no he's one, don't be deceived by his very adult face, Baby V is just one!!!!
Following in the footsteps of his cousin L Baby V wouldn't break past the icing of his cake so we had to give him a little extra 'nudge' into 'smashing' his cake. Lets just say he was not so please at the fact that he got so messy!
I feel super bad for Papa M, not only because he wasn't able to come to our super fun girls only photo shoot BUT he has three beautiful girls he's always going to have to be on the lookout for. Not only are his girls going to be knockouts but Mama B is... well, we'll just say Papa M is super lucky to have her! S & H are also going to have to worry about bringing their future boyfriends over because it could easily end up like a Stacey's Mom situation... and also their girlfriends because Papa M is also going to be 'The Hot Dad' and their friends will be looking for excuses to come over!
These ladies are always so amazingly fun to work with. Mama B & I talk like we've been best friends for our whole lives, never an awkward moment, H is too terribly smart for her own good, like seriously... she's scary smart, and S is soooo tender and sweet she actually makes me consider wanting a girl! I've been dying to share their images and what better day to do it than S's First Birthday!!!
Anyone that follows me on ANY of my social media accounts, if you don't I'll be posting that at the bottom of this blog, has seen THIS MOST HANDSOME LITTLE GUYS FACE!!! When I first started my photography journey my lovely friend Lindsey Huff and I knew we were both going to become famous from our shoots together. We kind of did, we've got posts on Tumblr with 100k notes but NOBODY knows it's us so... Today, I think If I'm ever going to get found online it's going to be from this.guy.here.
It's been a good minute since I've had the privilege to do a Cake Smash (what's up with all you people being health freaks huh!?!?!) and when Mama T brought her handsome little booger to our wedding pre consultation I jumped at the idea! Thankfully Mama T is just as dedicated to her session as I am, she had custom made M an outfit to go with the theme of his session and it absolutely made the session! She is ridiculously talented and creative, her abilities put me to shame!!! Baby M definitely was a 'Wild One', exploring everything around him, crawling through the mud and leaves, climbing whatever he could! Once he starts walking both his parents are going to have a hard time keeping up with him, I did and he was just crawling!!!
Both Mama T & Papa A need to continue to have babies, even if they just have another one and give it to me, because they made the most adorable and well behaved child! Mama T & Papa A were so incredibly amazing too, M is not only lucky enough to have some knockouts as parents but both of them were so incredibly kind and patient throughout our session! I can't wait for their wedding to truly focus on both of them in all their glory!
This little lady has graduated from the baby plan and oh my goodness she grew about 2 feet from the time we did her family session to the time we did her cake smash!!! She's so long and beautiful just like her sisters, I hate it for Mama J & Papa R! They're going to have it rough with three beautiful little girls... I feel like these little ladies are now my nieces I've gotten so close to all them! They're always so kind, well behaved, and engaging and I look for any excuse to go see them! Anyways, just a few weeks back Baby P had her cake smash and oh my goodness I can not tell you how many images are in their gallery that are just of the cake smash!!! (It's somewhere around 50!) Because there were so many photos I am so in love with just from the CS I'm doing a blog exclusively on this portion of the session and another one for the family! Her Mama & I share a love for all things Shabby & Frilly, which I guess you have to when you have 3 girls, and I loveeee outdoor sessions so this made for a perfect combination! Little Ms. P has so much self control too, we learned from her birthday that she is not a huge fan of icing so I made a nude cake covered in lots of yummy fruit for her! It was still surprising though when she didn't even break into the cake, she spent her session munching on the strawberries and dodging the blueberries. You can tell in some of the photos too where she hit a bitter one an was not pleased but overall she loved it just as much as we did!
As T & A make a quick stop in Nashville after a 20 hour car ride from RI (eclipse traffic!) and we were able to do a really quick session before the rain really started coming down! Literally, as we were leaving it started to pour, we were able to make it to the cars and I was able to make it home, which was about 3 minutes away! I'm happy we didn't do the 25 minute drive to the location we were originally wanting to shoot at because we would have never made it!
Working on such a short time frame wasn't a problem with these two as interacting with one another came so incredibly easily and the jokes flowed like honey. I would start a pose and they would completely make it there own, which is what every photographer wants in a couple! These two were celebrating 15 years of marriage and I was informed at their wedding they actually ran in jumped in the ocean after the ceremony so this was a bit of a cake walk for them! The session is short and for now the blog is short as we are in the process of helping my brother move!!!
The wonderful woman in the photos is also the owner of SweetSouthernBabies and makes the cutest outfits!!! https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetSouthernBabies?ref=l2-shopheader-name
You don't realize just how long two years has been until you see a family you haven't seen in ages and they have one child running around and another who is just starting to sit up (that you had no clue they even had)! Two years ago I had amazing photo session with Baby C, who is now Big Brother C, and his amazing Mama & Papa! Nashville weather, as much as I love it, I hate it all the same. We had to reschedule twice to do rain and sickness caused by allergies, so the third time was definitely the charm! We did however end up finishing right before it started to storm, the storm that brought all this awful Nashville humidity, & I'm so thankful we had such a beautiful and cool morning to shoot! It's definitely not going to be like that again till fall!
Baby C had such a big personality, she was well beyond her years and such an incredibly happy baby!!! She was nothing but smiles (& tongue) her whole session and was reaching for her brother every time he was close enough to grab him. Big Brother C was a little ball of fire & despite what the photos might show he wouldn't sit still! There were so many exciting things going on around us, he was such an adventurer and was so incredibly fearless! (Hence why Baby C was reaching for him, she was trying to get him to hold still so she could get home & take a nap!) I don't know how Mama C & Papa R keep up with them!
To see just how much this family has changed check out BB C's 6 month session with me! Still the cutest pumpkin I think I've ever seen!!! http://www.chelseameadowsphotography.com/blog/2015/11/13/fe2dqbzud2e3tsnywfwfd1jvpu7fya
Another Baby R graduated from the Baby Plan this month! This pouty lip baby just gets more handsome & is probably the #1 reason I'm so dead set on having a boy when the time comes! (Come on now Blake) I can't think of a better way to start fall than with a session with the most handsome little one year old boy, the most stylish mama, & the most handsome papa! We've had this location planned for more than 6 months & thankfully they had a lovely display out that made an amazing backdrop for our session.
Cake Smashes are probably my most favorite part of the Baby Plan, but they're also the worst because it means I won't get to see my little ones as frequently! Baby R's Beautiful Mama (who I always gloat about how I want to be like whenever I have children) had R's theme picked out early & made the set planning so easy! She knew exactly what she wanted & also made the two blue banners you see in the set, which really made it 10 times better! Looking back now it would have been so boring without them! I normally only share a few photos from the cake smashes but R was just too precious & I couldn't help but showing a ton of them! Baby R was a little grumpy at the last part of the family session & we were thinking for a moment that we were going to have to postpone his cake smash, however, as soon as we brought it out he had a complete attitude change & was willing to tolerate me for the rest of his session! As Papa N cheered him on (in the best 'Dad voice') Baby R kept saying 'Mhhhm' so it must have been a pretty decent cake!
Last weeks family came all the way from Ohio!
Ms. A contacted me late last week & we were able to manage a quick and precious 'family reunion' session! Her sister, little doe-eyed brother, parents, & fiance accompanied me on one of the warmest mornings of August & I couldn't be happier with the images! I had only originally had the pleasure of knowing A through in passing & through the grape vine so it was such a pleasure actually getting to spend a little time with her (& who I'm going to now have to recruit to model for me whenever she's available!) & I am so grateful her family gave me the opportunity to work with them during their very short stay in Nashville!
Who remembers the maternity session I did last winter with the beautiful woman that made my camera/travel bag (Nikolette Bags) WELL! One year later I was finally reunited with this adorable family and was allowed to do the photos for Baby A's birthday! I sadly wasn't able to do his newborn photos, I mean... how dare they live halfway across the continent... so I've been anxiously waiting this day for some time.
Mama Courtney & Papa Dan were in Nashville for a very short time visiting family & they graced me with the presence one cold & windy morning! Apparently every photo session they've ever had was when the weather was awful, our maternity session it was so incredibly cold, it was raining when they had their engagement photos done, and on this day in particular it started sleeting! The cold weather meant I couldn't cuddle on Baby A nearly as much as I wanted to. This handsome little dude was such a happy baby and was so incredibly animated it was hard not to get a good photo of him. He loved interacting with his mama & papa and you could tell he was accustom to having his photos taken all the time.
Though we were all incredibly excited for A's Cake Smash he didn't share our enthusiasm! He got just messy enough to give the illusion that he enjoyed the process! I wish I had as much self control as A!
Even though he was unhappy being covered in icing he loved splashing his feet in the sink, which was probably the cutest thing I've seen in forever, and exploring the sun room where I have my studio set up. He was so happy when he didn't have to look at the cake (I tried to explain to him that it wasn't a real volcano!). Check out Baby A rockin his Dino hat & 'considering' his cake!
I've waited four months to share this blog... FOUR MONTHS TOO LONG!!!
My last Cake Smash of the year was with one of the sweetest & most well behaved children that I've ever worked with! I spent months talking with this little ladies mother not knowing that Elizabeth was someone I had known for AGES! (The last name was different and threw me off, don't judge) so it was extra exciting seeing this family after months of talking & years of not seeing one another! Thankfully this chilly weather stayed away for a few weeks & the beginning of December stayed in the 60s for weeks! After blowing up about a hundred (ten) balloons (& somehow not passing out) I met with these beautiful Mama's & this beautiful little lady who arrived in her adorable jammies! None of the photos I had seen of her prior to our session did this adorable little girl justice!!! Supposedly Baby T never smiled for her daycare photos but was nothing but smiles from the moment she arrived at out session! I tried multiple times to make farting noises with a balloon but couldn't do it to save my life but thankfully it wasn't necessary! Check out this little girl rockin her tutu & giant bow!
Again, most well behaved child! When it was time to walk away from the balloons she dropped everything and went over to her mama's for a quick change & was instantly ready to play again! This sweet girl was so easy to amuse and wanted nothing more than to just play with all the tall grass and her mama's (didn't want anything to do with her parents phone!)
I loved the unique theme Elizabeth picked for Baby T's cake smash and all the vivid colors that came as a result! Baby T loves Balloons (if you couldn't tell) but not as much as she loved her cake!
One member of my 'cleanup crew' somehow snuck out of the back part of the house and started the process before we could even finish washing Baby T in the sink!
