Do I love entering a clean home and I can get right to work? Yes, however, I am also a mom and I’m realistic. I completely understand when there are messes. So please, take care of yourself and your baby first. I am happy to help with the rest.

When I arrive I will take a tour and find spots that have good lighting and make a plan. That plan also includes moving items and cleaning up the background to make sure that the photos don’t look cluttered.

I will bring a Moses basket and a range of earth tone, solid color swaddles. You’re welcome to weigh in on whether you would like me to use my items, however, I am more than happy to work with what you have if that makes you feel more comfortable.

White or solid color onesie

Solid color swaddle (supplied if you don’t have one)

A nice looking pacifier is helpful if baby needs one to settle.

Allow yourself time to get ready and leave time to feed your baby a decent meal prior to your scheduled start time. That we will be ready to go when your session starts.

Do a check to make sure your phone, wallet and any other items are out of your pockets. Decide if you want your Apple Watch or a watch tan in your photos. Happy to edit out the tan lines for an additional fee. Remove hair ties as well.

Please ensure that siblings are prepped and fed prior to shoot as much as possible. Don’t forget a little special treat that doesn’t stain (hint: mini marshmallows) can often turn a sad face around.

However, only give the treat during the session if that is the last straw for help. Sometimes, when the treat is introduced too early, the kids can become hyper focused on the treat and nothing else.

Generally, during newborn sessions, I will do photos with the siblings first for around 15-20 minutes, then give them a break and finish with 5 minutes at the end.

If you can manage it, try to give your child some positive on-on-one attention prior to the session to help fill their bucket. Kids who are given positive attention when a new sibling enters the home, generally act out less.

Toddlers when going through a big family dynamic change and not having the attention they used to have, may act out in order to get attention, even if negative attention.

Don’t request, ask or tell your kids to do anything unless absolutely necessary. Saying things like “be still” “smile” or “look at the camera” doesn’t work for every kid. When kids have 3 adults all asking and telling them to do things, they get overwhelmed and most of the time rebel against all of it.

Allow me to give direction to the kiddos. If they are running around and being silly, that’s okay. It would be better for me to get their attention, then for the mood to shift with a stern voice. Let’s keep it light and fun.

Our session will be active. If you have yourself or children in fussy clothing that needs to be fixed and fussed with, that tends to take up unnecessary time during the session.

For example, toddlers that you need to hold, best not to have a jumper. Shirts for toddlers that need to be tucked are best if long so it stays tucked well. In general, no fuss clothing is best for both parents and kids so we can focus on what’s more important- smiles and fun!

If your child is very set on wearing something special to them, consider a compromise and have it underneath what you wish for them to wear— it can be their little secret. Another way to navigate that is to have them be apart of the selection process. Lay out a few shirts next to your outfit and ask them for their help because you can’t decide.

Tag? Raspberries? Tickling? What is the most natural way you play with your kids? I’ll follow your leads on this front. Find your inner child and play!

I want to capture y’all having a great time together in an authentic way. If that means hand holding and a peck on the cheek, awesome. If that means getting jiggy with it and having a good ol makeout sesh, I’m game. Snuggle, whisper sweet nothings(or dirty flirty things) in each other’s ears. Trace their lines, admire their freckles, squeeze, touch and just LOVE on each other.

Space and gaps seem humungous in pictures. Layer and close any gaps. Squeeze together and if you think you’re too close, get CLOSER. Touch, cuddle, hand hold, hug, snuggle, kiss, ANYTHING! Have fun with it all.

Allow yourselves to just be. Set the tone for your kids to be silly. My favorite shots are those little in between moments when you forget the camera and just love on your people in an authentic way.

I loath ironing, however, I loath editing out fabric wrinkles more. It takes considerable editing time to edit them out of photos and also never truly looks natural, no matter how experienced the photoshopper. So if that is something that is going to bother you in photos, I recommend using a steamer. Steaming is easy and quick but an iron is also sufficient.

If there is something that your child is attached to that you DON’T want in photos, don’t bring it with you and pull it away the last minute. Fight that fight sooner so you can give your child time to recover. The best method I have found is to hide the item the night before so that they have time during to the day to be distracted from focusing on it and so they don’t associate photos with getting their special item taken away.