Wednesday afternoon I headed over to Suamico to photograph baby Brock’s newborn session.  This little boy is such a doll.  So squishy and soft and sweet…and he has the best lips I have ever seen on a newborn.  eeee!  Just a lovebug.  We also snuck in a few family photos and some 2 year photos of big brother Conlin too!

Jordan and Brooke, I hope you love the images we captured of your gorgeous boys!

look at those lips!!!  and those cheeks!  so squishable!Big brother Conlin just turned two!and a few family shots…

Wednesday afternoon I headed over to Ashwaubenon to photograph nine day old baby Mayci.  I photographed her parents, Mike and Val’s, maternity photos at Lambeau field a couple of months ago(check them out here!) and I was so excited to find out what they were having as they didn’t find out the sex until delivery.  Val emailed me the day after their girl arrived and from her email, I could tell how excited she was to have a daughter…it made me excited for her!  And when I saw Mayci’s sweet little face?  I was smitten.  just gorgeous.

Now, baby Mayci put up quite the fight for her photos.  She did not want to sleep so most of the shots we got were with her eyes open until the last 20 minutes of so of her session.  Then she finally fell into a deep enough sleep that we could move her a bit without her waking. 

Mike and Val, your girl is gorgeous!  Enjoy every precious second of the next few weeks because they go by in the blink of an eye!

I love sleepy baby smiles

Tuesday afternoon I headed over to meet Melissa and her brand new baby girl, little Lauren.  Melissa received a gift certificate for her newborn session at her baby shower (they do make great gifts!) and I was excited to get my camera on another itty bitty baby girl.  Unfortunately baby Lauren was not as thrilled as I was and was quite the little sleep fighter for her photos.  However, in the end, I prevailed and we got some adorable awake AND sleeping shots.  And her dad BJ left work a bit early to get home in time to do some family photos as well!  It was a lovely little afternoon!

BJ and Melissa, thanks so much for asking me to photograph your sweet girl!  I hope you love the sneak peek!

Thursday morning I headed up to Abrams to photograph Jason and Betsy’s month old twins Henry (Hank) and Hope.  These two turned a month old the day before our session, but they are still smaller than most 10 day old newborns I photograph.  (both under 6 lbs yet)  And GORGEOUS.  Seriously, just two beautiful, beautiful babies.  Now baby Hank loved having his photos taken and slept through the entire session.  Even slept through his bottle.  His sister however decided very early on that she did not like having her photos taken and wasn’t going to sleep no matter what we did.    Didn’t matter though, we still got some adorable images of them both alone and together (Hope did fall asleep a bit for these).  Hope and Hank were the fourth set of multiples I have photographed this year and I must say, I LOVE doing them because no matter what, there is always a baby for me to hold.  I got to change and feed and cuddle both of them and when I got home, baby fever was in high gear!

Jason and Betsy, congratulations and welcome to parenthood.  It is by far, the most amazing and rewarding thing you will do in your lifetime.  Enjoy every second. 

HankHopeJason and Betsy are crazy Brewer fans, so these little outfits are quite appropriate.  Here is Hank…And little miss HopeTaking a snooze in mom and dad’s baseball glovesHank’s middle name is Donald, after Jason’s Grandpa.  Here he is photographed on one of Great Grandpa’s old flannel coats and with one of his old duck decoysBetsy picked up this antique cradle a few weeks ago and we just had to get her baby girl in it for a shot!Hope’s middle name is Dorothy after Betsy’s great grandma.  Here is Hope with one of her Great Grandma’s necklaces and hanging in the background is the blanket she made when Betsy was a little girl!Betsy loves to bake but I think she loves her new little cupcakes more:)And finally a few shots of them together.  Hope never got into a good, deep sleep so we had to do all of the photos with them laying next to each other, but I still love the images we gotThey look SO similar here!My favorite image.  Hope is holding Henry’s hand!

Earlier today I headed over to my cousin Josh and his wife Heather’s house to photograph their brand new baby boy, little Jacob.  Now, the Krause family is really close knit and Josh and I grew up next door to one another so I think of him more as a brother than a cousin.  And his wife Heather has been part of our family for a very long time, so I treat her just like I treat one of my own sisters.  Now, I know that little Jacob is technically my cousin, but I think of the latest member of the Krause family as my nephew and will refer to myself as Auntie Gugs from here on out.  

Little Jacob made his arrival into this world a few weeks early and when he was finally here, word spread quickly through our family.  I received 3 phone calls within about 6 minutes announcing his arrival!  Besides being a new and precious baby for our family to love on, there is another reason I look at him and smile.  You see, back in January, our grandmother became very sick.  One week she was fine and the next, well, she wasn’t.  Our family gathered in the hospital that week and stayed there until Grandma passed.  Well a day or two after Grandma was admitted Josh and Heather found out they were expecting.  They told all of us, including Grandma, the good news.  Now Grandma couldn’t communicate with us at that point, but she understood what Josh had told her and her eyes lit up.  Another great grandchild!  Their news brought a little bit of sunshine to our family during a very dark week.  It was just as it should be…one life was leaving this world and another was coming in.  And now little Jacob James is here and he is perfection…and I am sure Grandma Merle is smiling down at him saying “that is the most beautiful baby that ever lived”…because all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the most beautiful children that ever lived.    And in Jacob’s case, it is the truth.  He is beautiful.  and perfect.  a perfect little someone to carry on the Krause name.

 Congratulations Heather and Josh and welcome to parenthood.  I can’t put into words what this experience will do to you.  It is hand down, the best and more rewarding thing you will ever do in your life. xoxo Gugs

Thursday morning I headed over to Ben and Jenny’s house to photograph their second child, Valetta Lynn’s, newborn portraits. I photographed her big brother Brodie’s newborn portraits two summers ago and the first thing I noticed when I arrived and got my first glimpse of little Valletta was that she looked EXACTLY like her older brother. It’s crazy! And I am in love with her name(she is named after an Italian city that Ben and Jen visited on their first wedding anniversary). She is a beautiful baby and while she put up quite the fight for her newborn photos (little sleep fighter she is), in the end I prevailed and we got some fabulous shots!

Ben and Jenny, your family is just gorgeous! Valleta is perfect! I hope her baptism goes well today and that you love the sneak peek!

This is her baptismal outfit, made by Grandma Sandy

The blanket hanging in the background was made by Grandma as well!

Wednesday afternoon I headed over to the west side of Green Bay to photograph sweet baby Harper.  Harper was 3.5 weeks old at the time of our session and was over 9 lbs at birth, so she wasn’t as itty bitty as most of the newborns I photograph, but she was an absolute angel for her photos.  Typically babies older than 2 weeks are more alert/restless and it is harder to get the adorable sleeping baby photos everyone wants.  Well, baby Harper must not have gotten that ‘over 14 day’ memo because she slept for the entire session.  It was amazing.  And I am not gonna lie, she has the most hair on any newborn I have ever photographed.  A head of gorgeous, thick, black hair.  Just beautiful.

Rikki, it was so fabulous to meet you!  Your girl is just precious and I hope you love these images!

look at that hair!  EEE!  Love it!Harper’s Grandma knitted her this little pom pom hat.  Isn’t is adoarble?!!and just in time for Packer season, another hat from Grandma!  Go Packers!!!