Meet darling little Samuel.
Bek contacted me to arrange an in-hospital 'First Days' session, but due to a couple of colds and flus, as well asfew other missed opportunities, we wound up photographing their First Days at home. Which is an excellent alternative ;-)
Bek and her family warmly welcomed me into their home, all a-buzz with life as a family plus nanna who'd arrived that morning to meet her newest grandchild. This family oozes kindness and joy. After a few serious bumps in the road on the way to creating their family, they are nothing but proud, thrilled and gracious for their life with their three boys.
On the day I visited, Samuel was interested in everything going on around him and was so alert. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed for our whole session, but was happiest snuggled up on mama's chest, as you'll soon see.
How's this for a great family photo?
Eldest son Clay wasn't interested in having his photo taken at all (my usual tricks of the trade didn't sway him either) and second son Jake was due for his nap - the only one playing a long was little Samuel. It may not be a traditionally perfect photograph of everyone looking at the camera with great big smiles on their faces, but this is the sort of photo I hang on our walls. This, to me at least, sums up life with a young family - chaos of course, but a heck of a lot of love and joy holding it all together.
These are the sort of photographs I wish I had of my own children in those first weeks after we brought them home. Easy, natural and cuddling them up because, well, that's how we spend most of our days (and nights!), right? Samuel didn't sleep through any of his photos, usually newborns fall asleep at some point, but he didn't. His slow, exaggerated and typical newborn mannerisms make these photographs even sweeter. How quickly they grow out of that once they gain more control over their body.
And love. Can you see how much he is loved and adored...
And in between all of those lovely snuggles above, was the 'real life' of days with a new baby. The endless nappy changes, stopping to feed, meeting nanna, choosing clothes (how adorable is his little ant covered suit?!) and getting on with it all in a happily busy home with three gorgeous boys.
Thank you, Bek and Mat, for welcoming me so kindly into your home. It was such a pleasure to document your life as a family of five xx