I’m playing catchup, big time. I photographed this lovely family back in February. Baby C was 18 days old so we stuck to lifestyle shots, and attempted some posed newborn shots (He wasn’t having it by the way). His big sister was full of energy, and stopped just long enough for me to snap some family and sibling shots.
Our Easter was exhausting. As in, our toddler consumed close to her weight in chocolate and we spent most of the day dealing with the consequences of that. When the kids woke up, they found the goodies left by the Bunny. And so started the indulging. My Mom made us a fantastic lunch which was followed by the annual Easter egg hunt. Then Mattea snuck more chocolate and we sat around and watched her bounce off the walls. Dash was the opposite and took a big 3 hour nap after lunch. A couple days before I found that pink t-shirt on clearance at Baby GAP. I asked the nice salesgirl if I would be a bad mom for dressing my son in pink, but we decided together that he could totally pull it off.
As crazy and exhausting as the day was, it was nice to just sit around and enjoy my my time with loved ones and my kids…chocolate high and all.
Guelph Photographer – Family, Children, Newborn, Pin-Up & Lifestyle Photographer
MATTEA – I appreciated you staying still for 0.002 seconds so I could get some photos of your super cute outfit. Sweater by Old Navy, Blouse by H&M, Pants and Boots from Joe Fresh.
DASH – 4 months old – You still like the jumperoo, even after it’s been here for many weeks. This is wonderful because it means my arms get a break for 20 minutes several times throughout the day.
Bodh Photography – Guelph family, newborn & lifestyle portraits
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY from my favourite little lovies!
Guelph Family, Newborn & Lifestyle Portrait Photographer
You will need:
red and pink paint (I had acrylic)
2 toilet paper tubes
cardstock paper
a toddler who loves anything that involves paint…
Step #1: Crease the toilet paper tubes to create a heart shape. Voila, you have your heart stamper!
Step #2: Dip newly-made heart stampers into paint. We chose to use Red & Pink to keep inline with traditional Valentine’s Day colours.
Step #3: Hand them over to your toddler and the art will basically create itself 
* I cheated a little bit and did the occasional stamp in order to fill in the gaps. But the smears are all Mattea, I swear!
Let the paper dry and later fold in half to create your own handmade Valentine’s Day cards. A true work of art by your very own toddler!
Last year when I saw Emitt, he looked like THIS. The difference between newborns and their one year old selves is crazy!
Emitt’s mom is my dream client: she has an idea and we work together to make it happen. She is so talented and ridiculously amazing at multitasking. I called her the night before his session, and she was telling me about her desire to get the texture in the icing perfect, and also nonchalantly mentioned her plans to make his custom diaper cover later that night….from scratch…by finding a sewing pattern online.
We had planned to do much of his session outdoors, but mother nature had different ideas. It was pouring rain so the studio came in handy. He was a happy guy, and the session was easy. Thanks to his mom and Oma for playing “catch the running baby”. I know you were both sweating but I appreciate the help! I think we got some awesome photos that really illustrate just who Emitt is at one year: happy, usually smiling and very fashion forward.
Miss Mattea turns 2 years old tonight at 9:47pm.
Jake and I are handling it rather well, but he turned to me today and said “I’m a little emotional”. Me too.
Parents say it all the time but it really is true that it feels like just yesterday I was holding her in the hospital, getting her first smile on camera, spooning her pureed vegetables, watching her take her first steps and hearing her say ‘mommy’ for the first time. Two years to me makes her so much older than a baby. She’s headed into big girl territory.
What’s Mattea like?
She’s fiercely independent, and stubborn. If she doesn’t get what she wants or isn’t able to do something on her own, watch out world!
She’s tough. I’ve seen that girl cry twice in her life from needles: once when she was 2 months old, and last month when she got an IV in the hospital.
She’s very maternal and affectionate, and has been from an unusually young age. I think this is one of my favourite of her qualities. She loves her dogs, cat and now her brother like none other and isn’t afraid to show them. If Jake and I share a hug or kiss in the kitchen she comes running with a big smile and asks to be included.
She’s a great big sister. From the moment she wakes up in the morning, she’s asking about “Baby Dashie”. She often demands to see him, or have him placed in her lap so she can hold him and kiss his head. I hope she’ll always love him as much as she does now.
She’s incredibly animated and expressive. There’s been a couple times where I’ve left her with Jake in a store to go off on my own, and can immediately recognize that oh so familiar voice, tantrum or laugh….all the way across the store.
She’s starting to pick up words much more quickly. Newest words added to her list: Dashie, Sue, Laura, Mary, Shoes, Pee, Beast (as in the Disney movie), Go, Nose, Meow, Juice, Ho Ho Ho (as in Santa) and Night Night. There are probably more but those are the current favs. A new developmental milestone is putting words together into her very first sentences. “Bye bye Dashie baby” or “No Go” are the most popular.
She’s still a fantastic sleeper – 8pm to 8am. Now that Dash is here we don’t get to enjoy uninterrupted sleep anymore but we really appreciate not having to get up with her at least.
At last measurement, she’s 33 inches tall and 23 pounds. That basically puts her in like the bottom 5% or less of other toddlers her age. She still fits in her brown Old Navy fall jacket that’s sized 6-12 months. She’s so petite! What’s most funny for us is that she’s such a big personality in a tiny body.
Since no birthday blog post is anything without photos, here are the official 2 year photos. I wasn’t too sure the lighting was going to work, but it ended up being beautiful. These are my favourite photos ever, and really capture her personality perfectly. You might recognize a familiar face: Teddy. He’s our secret weapon, and her absolute favourite guy. He keeps the photo tantrums at bay
Every time I look at the image below I hear this (cue Beyonce music): Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
And since no photo experience with Mattea is complete without a meltdown, here’s one of the last frames I shot. CLASSIC.
We did some fall photos a couple weeks ago with Mattea. It was honestly kind of a disaster. Things started off well and I got a couple great shots but it was cold, and she wasn’t happy. Tantrums ensued and we called it quits.
The photo below happened before the meltdown, obviously 
This was when she was loving the fallen leaves at the arboretum.
Check out the I Heart Faces website for this week’s entries.
When Dash was 12 days old, we attempted a sibling shot of him and Mattea. I had realistic expectations of what my toddler would tolerate and also what would be safest for Dash so we had them on the ground and I shot from above. White rug? Check. Wrapped up baby? Check. Happy Toddler? Check! I took about 150 frames, and ended up with 4 shots that I love.
And the winner which will be enlarged to a huge print or canvas in our house:
Love my babies!
Sandra is one of Jake’s oldest and most favourite clients. I met her and her family for the first time the evening of their session, and I immediately understood why Jake has spoken so highly of them for all these years. They are friendly, warm and inviting people, not to mention super good looking as you can see below. Their session was more unique in that it was shot entirely on their own property. Sandra and her husband Robert run Botany Bay Estate Perennials which made for a colourful and lush backdrop. The lighting was perfect, and we absolutely love how their session turned out!
