Jillian Bickle Photography |Cobourg and Northumberland Area Photographer | illustrating your life story

There is a reason that I tell people to get their baby in as soon as possible. Jack is just 8 days new (he would have been in sooner if I could have fit them in) and was my best newborn to date. I never saw his eyes fully open, and the one time he started to root a bit, he got his fill and stayed right asleep. Just one accident at the very end, so I really can’t complain at all! And the expressions he makes with his face! So cute!

He was born all 6.6 pounds of adorable! I just wanted to nibble his toes. This session reminded me how much I love newborn sessions, especially when they are still in that newborn state. So easy to work with, and so many things to be able to do!

*Sigh* here is Jack…

Austin came to the studio just over a week. Mommy was positive he would sleep for us, since he has been a pretty good sleeper. Mommy might have been a tad bit wrong! My newborns have been very feisty lately! I think he just wanted to be cuddled and eat a lot! He’s such a cute little man! Thanks Ashley and Renee for letting me capture these precious moments.

Amanda and Travis were the first to trust me with their wedding when I was first starting out, and now they are trusting me to photograph their new bundle of joy, Alice. Unfortunately, Alice has a bit of a cold so did not like to many positions, so after getting some cute hat shots and some side shots, we called it a day. And to my delight, she will be coming back next wednesday, so we can do a few more! I never mind when a newborn needs to come back, more cuddle time for me. Although she will be 4 weeks at the time, so fingers crossed she still wants to be posed!

I am doing a quick post from my session today, to show a new prop I got. These are new top hats that I thought would be a cute change. I have a few, so will be using them in this weeks sessions (I have a newborn girl coming in tomorrow and have one for her). I think Austin looks adorable in his hat…more to come from this session once I get caught up!

Kelton was my first 2011 newborn. The week earlier I had photographed his birth, and in a way, I feel a little bit connected to this little man, I was there when he took his first breath and made his first cry. He was a pretty good boy for me, and allowed his sisters to hold him and kiss him and love him up. As usual, Melissa came prepared to do something fun…they all wore pink and Kelton had a handmade pink bow tie. He reminds me a lot of his older sister, and I can’t wait to watch him grow up as well. I really feel blessed when families open their lives to me and have me document their special memories and moments in their life. I couldn’t ask for a better job.

Jackson was my second photoshoot for the day today, and my last for 2010, so I thought I would use him as my last blog for 2010. He was a pretty good boy, slept in the beginning, then had some fussy time, and pooped on daddy twice, and peed on me once. I loved how little his size was, all 6 pounds of him, I could have easily carried him around all day in my arms and not even noticed. I think he is going to keep mommy very busy, I think it started when it only took 40 minutes of labor for him to be born. Thanks Amy, Greg and Jordyn for bringing Jackson in for a visit today!

I just thought I would take a minute and just say thank you to all of my clients. I never imagined that my first year open would be this amazing. There have been a lot of lessons learned and new ideas. This year has been so busy with work, the birth of my fourth child, heart surgery, and much more, I can’t believe it’s almost over. I have one more surgery to go at the end of January (and will be off between 4-6 weeks) and then will be back in full force. There will be some changes made to the studio and how things are run to make things more smooth and easy going. There is also going to be lots of interactive things on my blog, include monthly contests. So make sure to subscribe to my blog so you can entire the contests for a chance to win. Also, most months I will be offering some kind of special, sometimes themed towards the month itself. I’m really excited for everything to come!

I hold a special spot in my heart for twins. Growing up, I didn’t want twins (my nan is an identical twin and if you ever run into her in town, you will hear the story that she has twin great-grand daughters and that she was an identical twin herself…). Actually when I was pregnant with Elijah, my nan knit two of everything, she was sure I was having twins. Even when she was there for the birth, she insisted there would be another one. Well, she got her wish the second time around. And now I realize how blessed and lucky I am to be given the opportunity to have twins. I feel part of an ‘inside club’ when I watch the bond between my girls.

Now, Wyatt and Eden came to be at 9 weeks old. Probably one of the hardest shoots I have done. Normally I don’t like to do a newborn shoot over 14 days, it just doesn’t work out well, the baby is past the newborn squishy stage and sleeping stage. But Eden was in the hospital for three weeks, then I had surgery, and since they live past Barrie, it wasn’t like they could just come whenever, so 9 weeks it was! Wyatt was very alert, we would think he was in a good deep sleep, but as soon as he was moved, he would open those eyes right up…but I did manage to get him out for awhile, and he kept smiling at me in his sleep. Then there was Eden, another one of my feisty little girls. And what made it harder, she didn’t like to touch Wyatt, she was happy to be on her own, but then if I brought her near him, she would cry. It seemed like I would get one settled, and then the other would cry, then I would settle that one, and the other would start crying! But with a lot of patience, and about 5 hours later, we got some pretty cute shots! Here are just a couple…

I used to get nervous doing newborns. But I have had so many in the past three months, that I am really enjoying it. I’ve got pretty good too at being able to tell how they’re going to be within the first five minutes of them in the studio. And honestly, at first when mom and dad came in saying, ‘she’s wide awake!’ and I saw how little she was, I thought “another feisty little girl!” But Riley made a liar out of me.  She never got into that really deep sleep – she kept her hands clenched and liked to reposition herself once I got her just how I wanted her – but she still was a good girl for me. She made a few messes, but that’s what happens when you leave a diaper off a newborn for a couple hours! Can’t wait to get her back when she’s a bit older for more photos, I have a feeling she’s going to be a ham with the camera…

Rowan was a fresh 8 days when he came to me. Mommy was so excited because I told her how great an age that is to bring them in, they usually sleep the entire time. Well, Rowan’s session was my longest one to date, and not because he was sleeping so well we just kept going. He just didn’t want to sleep. He wasn’t really fussy, just awake.  We managed 10 minutes of sleep at first, got some laying on his back, then he woke up. So he got fed, and held and hushed…..and hushed…..and hushed…..finally he got put in his car seat and went for a drive. Came back asleep. Great! Got to work with photos. Worked for awhile, but didn’t keep him out for long. He got fed again. Still didn’t want to sleep. He got topped up some more…then started to get fussy. So we decided to call it quits after about 6 hours in the studio. We didn’t get any family shots, so Rowan is coming for another visit tonight. Let’s hope he wants to sleep! I have to say though, he kept pouting out his lips, and they were SO adorable!! and at least he gave us one smile!

How do I pick a favorite from this session? I can’t. Lauchlan was such a good man for me today, unlike the feisty little girls I’ve been having! Mom would feed him and we’d wait 5 minutes, then I’d get to play for awhile. When he’d start to stir, mom would feed him, we’d wait a few minutes, and then I would start again. I could take him home with me, not problem. And those lips!! How don’t you want to kiss them. When I asked if dad would take his shirt off for some photos, I got the big sigh and “I don’t really want to”. Mom and I looked at each other, and he was told by mom it was time to take off the shirt I love how he looks like a little football in his dads arms.  Here’s a sneak peak…