Miles is now 9 months old. He sits up and has started clapping and scooting around. He giggles and plays with toys. He responds to his name (and nicknames) and babbles ma-ma and da-da. He is a special, very interactive part of our family and we can’t remember the days he wasn’t part of our crew. It’s incredible to me how much babies learn to do in the first year of life. I say it all the time, but time really flies by and each stage feels like it passes by in the blink of an eye.
The very first stage, the newborn stage is truly here and gone too quickly. For 9 months of pregnancy, we anticipate the arrival of our babies. We can’t wait for them to arrive. Then once that tiny squishy newborn arrives they become a chubby smiling baby in an instant. With my first baby, I never thought about how quickly she’s grow and change. The thought of newborn photos never crossed my mind. I was engulfed in ready parenting books and baby registries. Those were the things I thought I’d need. Now that she’s months away from her 7th birthday, I’ve realized the parenting books taught be nothing about what I needed to know and I could have done without so many registry items (like 20 glass bottles). What I wish I did when I was pregnant was research a newborn photographer and spent money on newborn photos.
You live and learn right? It took me a few pregnancies to learn, but when I was pregnant with Miles, my 4th, I made sure to plan for newborn photos. I knew that they had to be done in the first 10 days and that those first 10 days would be nothing but a blur, so planning far before he was born was key.
Deciding on a newborn photographer was quite easy for me. Over the past few years I’ve collected treasures from Classic Kids Photography. The photos that they’ve taken have captured my children at such special, fleeting moments in their lives. Also, they haven’t just captured these moments, but in a beautiful, artistic way. At the bottom of the post I linked to past posts about Classic Kids so you could see some more of their work.
Now, while deciding on a newborn photographer was easy for me, I didn’t know how I was going to make it work. Miles was due the end of January and Classic Kids is not close to our house. The thought of trekking into New York City with a newborn baby and his 3 siblings was daunting. I talked to Lindsay at Classic Kids about wanting to do newborn photos but being nervous about bringing a new baby on a trip in the middle of the winter. She said “well then we’ll come to you!” I never even knew that was an option, but was beyond excited. We talked about what I wanted in newborn photos, how we’d do it in our house and then made a plan to get in touch once the baby arrived.
So while I was in the hospital, I emailed Lindsay the good news and we set up our newborn session. It was so nice having Lindsay and Darya come to our home. The girls remembered them from our last trip to Classic Kids and were thrilled “their friends” were coming over to visit. Lindsay and Darya got to work transforming my living room into their studio. They scooped up teeny Miles and got to work. I was in awe watching them. They rocked him to sleep, kept him warm and cozy with the heater they brought and worked as a team posing him and taking photos. Then, once they were done, they got some photos with his siblings. Last, but not least, Tom and I got in photos for a family shot and some of us with the baby.
Having the newborn session in our home was perfect. The kids could play in the other room and just come in when Lindsay and Darya were ready for them to hop in a photo. Miles could stay in the comfort of his own home and everyone was happy and settled.
I am always shocked then I see the photos they get. Often I think my kids are being difficult and not listening to Lindsay and Darya and then see the photos and say to them “how on earth did you get that shot?!” This time was the most shocked I have been. Tommy wanted nothing to do with having his pictures taken. As toddlers often do, Tommy wanted to only do the opposite of what we asked. He went from defiant to crying quickly. At one point Darya had him in what looked like he was doing a wheelbarrow race while Lindsay snapped photos. This is the result:
Another treasure from Classic Kids.
Classic Kids really puts together a newborn photo session of everything you could image and wish for. There were classic newborn poses, sweet little props, photos with siblings, photos with each parent and even (miraculously!!!!) a photo of all 6 of us that we loved. Lindsay and Darya were patient, kind and pleasure to work with as usual.
I couldn’t wait to go and see the proofs. By the time I got the call that they were ready and made time to go into the city (alone) to see them, Miles was no longer a newborn. Like I mentioned above, the newborn stage is so fast and gone before you know it. Seeing the proofs from my newborn session quickly reminded me of that. I wanted to print each and every one. Classic Kids had me in awe at what they were able to create in my living room. They got the exact, beautiful newborn photos I was hoping for, the photos I would treasure forever. I am so thankful that Lindsay and Darya traveled to New Jersey and took the time to get photos of Miles and also of our family with our “new member”. These photos are something our family will hold dear for a lifetime.
We use the Classic Kids location on the Upper East Side in New York City, but there are locations around the country. For more information on having Classic Kids travel to take photos, please visit their website and give them a call. They are wonderful to work with!
Other posts about Classic Kids:
- Classic Kids Photography: Maggie & Alex
- Baby Photography
- Soulful Sessions
- Classic Kids + Minted Birth Announcements
Disclosure: We were not compensated for this post, I just truly love the art created by Classic Kids. We did however receive a discount in exchange for some of the promotion we have done. As always, all opinions are my own.
These photos are SO good. Wow! And yes it totally goes by too fast, momma!