Almost 3 years ago, at the start of my newborn career, an awesome couple (& even cooler friends) welcomed their first child into the world and you best believe I jumped at the opportunity to shoot their baby! After hours of planning, because back then it didn't take me weeks to actually plan because I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I welcomed Mitchell & Brittany into my home studio and walked myself right into a whirlwind! I spent some time dying cheesecloth (which has ZERO stretch to it guys, don't believe all those blogs!!!), buying fabrics, the works, excited to use literally every newborn prop I had at the time for her session. I've got to say I psyched myself up for so long, after seeing all these sleepy adorable baby photos online and thinking that that would be the cutest thing ever to add to my portfolio, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Newborns have definitely been one of the most complicated, yet most rewarding, models I have ever worked with. I never imaged how much newborns pee and poop, especially when naked, nor did I think that it would be so hard to get them to sleep for more then 5 minutes! Isn't that what newborns do? Eat, poop, and sleep??? The photos you see online are a dirty lie and make it look so easy!

Now Big sister H was definitely a challenging newborn. Despite being fed and kept up before our session she was literally awake for the whole thing and loved the fur I laid her on so much that she peed on it more then once! She never cried but was the biggest wiggle bug I have ever seen! It was also the first time Papa M had been pooed on and it was an amazingly funny experience. Even though I wasn't nearly as knowledgeable about posing newborns/didn't have all the fancy cute props I have now, I still love the family photos I did from H's newborn session. Mama B & Papa M look so incredibly proud of their beautiful little girl that it doesn't matter her fingers weren't flat, her wrap wasn't smooth, or her arms were literally spelling out YMCA the whole time, the photos are still so sentimental even I can look past all the fine details to see the true beauty of the family.

Fast forward almost 3 years and M & B are welcoming their second beautiful little girl into the world and it wasn't an option for the now 4 to once again visit me! Baby S was just as beautiful as I imagined her and Mama B has a hotter postpartum body than I have on a good day so I was incredibly jealous. She also had more hair then I thought a newborn could have and her mama picked out a beautiful color pallet so I was incredibly excited to piece everything together! Following in her adorable sisters footsteps Baby S was awake for a good chunk of her session and was more interested in why I was moving her around so much then sleeping. Despite being such a wiggle butt we did manage to get her to sleep for a good 15 straight minutes which was all I needed!

Baby S Newborn Session - SM - Chelsea Meadows Photography 11.jpg

Big Sister H amazed me at how well she handled her little sister! I've never seen a sibling so young walk around (or try to at least!) with 'their' baby with such ease as H did! She sat down and proper her upright, cradled her, the works! This little mama is going to be a huge help to her parents! S wasn't too terribly pleased we kept moving her around while she tried to sleep but still managed to look like a gerber model for her family photos!