Baby Ben

Watching a baby learn to crawl is an amazing thing.  We don't think about how hard it is to balance and what a miracle of coordination it takes to move forward until we see a little person trying to learn.  With these photos, Ben's parents will be able to remember this moment - the one just before Ben was able to run around the house and get into everything in sight.

At this age, Ben's world still revolves around Mommy and Daddy...

...and, of course, himself.

Ben's such a cutie!  We can't wait to watch him grow up, but not too fast.

St. Louis Family Photos - Owen Turns 1 1/2

Our son is about to turn one. So, we understand now more than ever before how quickly kids grow up and how important the memories captured in family photos are.  We loved getting a peek at what age one and a half looks likes when we took these photos of Owen and his family.  Owen had a blast playing in Forest Park with Mom and Dad and we simply caught the fun on camera.  We can't help but smile when we look at these shots.  Have a look:

St. Louis Family Photography: Reis and Family

Sara and Andrew (see their Lafayette Square maternity photo session if you don't remember them) had their baby on June 23. They decided to not name him "Angus" after all; instead, they chose Reis.

As a gift to Reis's grandmother, they asked me to shoot a family session at Tower Grove Park earlier this month when she and Reis's cousins were all in St. Louis visiting. We had a blast!

St. Louis Newborn Photography: Baby Charlie

Megan and Rob contacted me about a newborn photography session of their baby, Charlie. He's brand new! Take a look:

While in utero, Megan and Rob called Charlie "Glo Worm". Appropriately, he has a Glo Worm stuffed animal to play with:

There were some dicey moments during our session...

...but Charlie quickly recovered with help from Mom and Dad:

Megan and Rob requested some shots of Charlie with his furry siblings:

Thanks again to Megan and Rob for having us out, and I hope I get to come back and take more pictures as Charlie grows up!

Nurse-Family Partnership, Building Blocks Program

The Nurse-Family Partnership is a national organization providing support, education, and counseling on health, behavioral, self-sufficiency, and parenting issues for first-time, low-income parents. It accomplishes its mission through home visitation by highly educated registered nurses. In the state of Missouri, this fantastic program is called Building Blocks, and it is available to residents of both St. Louis County and St. Louis City who meet their enrollment criteria.

One of my friends, who is a nurse in the Building Blocks program, recommended me to the national office (thanks!) to photograph one of her home visits. I aimed to candidly capture their visit - including the overall scene, some details, and pictures of the nurse, client, and her daughter.

Here are some of my favorites:

St. Louis Newborn Photography of Baby Marchesa

Megan and Ryan contacted me looking for a newborn photographer in St. Louis to take pictures of their baby, Marchesa. They wanted organic shots rather than staged ones. I pictured that when I arrived (I tend to envision the scene, setting, or circumstances ahead of time - that's my mental preparation for the job), the baby would be sleepy and really cooperative.

I'd capture that cute sleeping baby look that everyone loves, right?

I got to capture the cute, wide awake look instead!

Even though she was squirming all over, I got some adorable shots of her little baby toes, expressions, and interactions with Mom and Dad.

Here are some of the funnier shots from the newborn session:

Congrats to Megan and Ryan on their new arrival!