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Most new families begin long before a human child is brought home from the hospital.

I remember growing up hearings stories about Rhea, Charlie, and Sunny. Charlie and Sunny were my parents’ first babies… “the cats.” Burmese cats to be exact. I speculate that once my mom & pops got comfortable enough with “the cats,” they moved up the ladder of responsibility to “the dog.”

Enter Rhea, the fluffy aloof afghan. Once they thought they’d mastered “the dog,” along came “the baby.” (that was me!!)

Imagine being the baby of the family, and then your parents, er, masters bring home a new smelly loud creature that gets 95% of their energy, cooing, care, and doting. Sure, there’s still time and love for you, the FIRST baby, but now it’s the NEW baby that gets to ride in the car all the time.

So, this post is dedicated to all of the “first babies” out there, and my sincere apologies go out to the long-ago-passed-on Rhea, Sunny, and Charlie for being the stinky loud attention hog! I will ALWAYS be the 4th child to you, even if my parents considered me their 1st!

If you know me personally, you know I have A LOT of favorite things. It really doesn’t take much to make THIS girl happy (Can you see me pointing to myself with my thumbs? Yep, I am!)

But I just have to share something a little sappy and personal- when I receive an email or text from one of my wedding clients (or THEIR parents!), announcing their newborn babe, sharing the first few precious images of their little miracle’s life…. it just makes me squeeze out a coupla tears of joy. I am so happy for all these new mamas and papas this year, and absolutely cherish the idea that they include me in their new found joy.

Cheers to Rebecca & Glenn, Bre & Jesse, Megan & Ian, who have each welcomed a baby boy into their lives within the last couple of months (and hours!!!!). And to all of the soon-to-be’s and parents of toddlers! Just way too many to list, but you guys know who you are. Congratulations, and THANK YOU for making me feel special, by including me in your inner circle when you have exciting, life changing news to share.

These are a couple of sweet frames from Bre & Jesse’s session just the other day. It was so great to meet wonderful little JJ!!

A sweet moment between mama and babe.

Even with baby JJ pelting it out at the top of his lungs, Jesse couldn’t be happier in this moment. Maybe he’s hard of hearing in his left hear and it was only me and their pup that heard the blood curtling screams. I think it was feeding time (yet again. as if feeding time 5 minutes prior wasn’t good enough. Babies. Can’t live with em, can’t live without em!). Congrats you guys!

I am so excited for Kelly and Chris- I’ve known this girl for what, 6 years or something? We’ve grown our businesses side by side- she’s a fabulous wedding and event planner in Texas that I met while working a corporate shoot up here in Seattle waaaay back.  And now she has a baby!

In the end of April, she and Chris welcomed Carson into their lives, and I was just itching to get a peek at the little guy (after all, he’d HAVE to be cute if Kel and Chris were his ‘rents!).

In the end of June, they made the trek up to Seattle to visit family, friends, and show off their new bundle.

Thanks for coming up, guys, and thanks Carson for christening the new couch! A baby boy photoshoot isn’t a successful one ’til the baby pees, after all! (I think this is the third time I’ve been peed on…so no worries guys, REALLY, it’s OKAY!!! That’s why god made Chlorox wipes!  We should call him “Shooter” from now on….)

Yep! You read right! We’re planning our next Cupcake Thursday AHEAD OF TIME… and this time you’re invited. Here’s the dealio:

Who: You have to be a portrait/wedding photographer.

When: July 23rd, 11am. Thursday. Obviously.

Where: Laurel McConnell Photography in Greenlake. Click here for a map & directions

What: Corrine, our uber cheery product rep from Collages.net, will be here to shoot the breeze, so I thought we may as well turn it into a into a product Q&A/Look&Touch and invite all y’all.

So if you ever wondered about which website company to use for your clients’ websites, wanted a high quality easy-to-use flushmount album solution (they can even design it too!), are searching for a snazzy proofbook supplier, or just want to come over and take a gander at some of their products, RSVP in the comment section below so I know if I should buy one cupcake mini or a dozen :)

BYOCoffee.  I’ll see to it that we don’t forget the milk!