It wasn’t all that long ago that Lindsay and Martha came to the studio to book their wedding package, but it was just a couple of weeks ago when I got to visit them one evening at home to hang out with them and the kids for this at-home newborn session.
When I approach these sessions, I’m always drawn to the sibling interactions, but I’ve started really watching parents – particularly Moms – because they’ve got their work cut out for them. Being at home with kids is a tough gig, and I can’t help but appreciate the work that parents put into to keeping their kids not just intact but healthy and well-loved every single day.
Managing two under 2 is no joke. It takes an awful lot of patience and a great deal of humour to survive the ensuing chaos and sleep deprivation, but Martha is managing it all perfectly. Even the toddler meltdowns. And the bed-flopping antics. And the diapers. And the feeding. It’s really something to see – mostly because I know that, if I were in that situation, I’d be bald from pulling my hair out.
But there are the sweetest glimpses of empathy and interest that happen between siblings at this age. Even though he’s too young to really take much interest in slowing down long enough to register his baby sister, Beck did occasionally just want to touch her cheek or give the sweetest look when he saw his dad and his sister hanging on the floor together. Those little moments of recognition that there’s a family connection between “his people” are something pretty special to see in someone so young.
Blake, I hope that one day you’ll see this and understand how hard your mom and dad worked when you were little. How hard they worked to make you know you’re loved, how hard they worked to help your brother understand from an early age how to be an empathetic human being, and how hard they worked to manage life and marriage around the two of you.
Most of all, I hope you’ll see the joy you’ve brought to their lives, right from the very beginning.
At-home sessions take an awful lot of the stress out of getting newborn photos done. No one has to wear anything special – hell, you don’t even have to put the kids in clean clothes! There’s no worrying about who has napped or who has been fed. There’s no stress about getting kids to all pay attention at the same time – or freaking out about whether today might be the day they decide they no longer have any interest in being an older sibling and reject the new baby altogether. These documentary family sessions are as honest as they come and can be booked as a one-off session or as part of a maternity package. If you’d like to see more examples of at-home newborn sessions from this Cornwall family photographer, start here.
