Hello 2018

I kicked off 2018 with a beautiful newborn session. The session took place on-location at baby Annabeth’s nursery room. It is actually her Mommy Jen’s old room.

A lifestyle portrait with Annabeth and Mommy in the room where her Mommy grew up in and now has been converted into Annabeth’s own nursery room

We together brainstormed several themes. A main theme is books, because her Mommy Jen is a librarian at the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library System.

A 2D floor art book theme with Mommy’s favorite books around baby Annabeth

Another theme is Star Wars. Annabeth’s Daddy Marc is a huge Star Wars fan.

A 2D floor art design showing Daddy Marc’s Star Wars collectibles

Annabeth’s name is a tribute to her two wonderful grandmothers: JoAnn (Jen’s mom) + Beth (Marc’s mom). Jen and Marc wanted her to always be connected to them, especially since JoAnn passed away in 2015 from an aggressive form of leukemia and the two would never get to meet. Her middle name, Elaine, is Jen’s middle name, too. Before Jen and Marc came up with Annabeth Elaine, they considered Elaine Elizabeth, but Annabeth was the clear winner, especially as it means ‘grace of God’.

Snow theme design to reflect that Annabeth is a winter baby.

Annabeth was born on her great-uncle Karl’s birthday and 5 days before Marc’s (her dad) birthday. Her nickname is “The Pea,” since that’s about how big she was when Jen learned she was pregnant. Annabeth is 18 years younger than her sister Brianna (her only sibling).

Snugglesack and matching beanie hand knitted by a 10-year-old boy.

Jen loves music! She plays piano, keyboard, flute, and piccolo, and sings in church and in a community choir.

Marc is studying to become an ordained pastor.

Brianna goes to a high school for dance, and she intends to study Criminal Justice in college next year.

“Our concerns prior to the session were its length (were 5 themes too much? could Annabeth last that long? what if she gets fussy?) and if we had a big enough clear space. In reality, the session went smoothly, though it started out a bit rocky since Annabeth was having an uncharacteristically fussy day and needed many feeding/calming breaks. Despite that, Karen was very patient and went with the flow. We didn’t feel pressured to speed up so we could fit everything in before Karen had to go; in fact, an end time was never mentioned except to say that the average session is 3-4 hours (ours was 5+). Karen was also good about bringing adorable props, thinking up cute poses, and jumping in to help (vs. being reluctant to handle babies). She even came back to take a few more pics when she realized we’d missed some family shots. It was an overall positive experience”, says Jen.

A Unicorn Book Theme

Daddy Marc is a volunteer firefighter at Lumberton.

“Our advice to future parents is to stick with it even if the baby gets fussy!  Some of our best photos came at the end of the shoot once Annabeth had calmed down and cried herself out.”