Beautiful Life with Ivan the Great ... Orange County Newborn Photography

This is the story of Baby Ivan the Great.  And Big Sister Katie.  And Mom and Dad.  And what a Saturday morning looks like when 2-week-old Ivan decides to wake early, VERY EARLY, and cat-nap eversobriefly all the morning long.  Through feedings, and rockings, and holdings and swayings, and soothing walks around the block, and cuddlings, and diaper-changings … Ivan the Great sleeps momentarily and wakes sporadically and keeps all of us on our toes.



Awake... Still awake.

Big Sister Katie is descended from artists.  Grandpa (see his Katie poster and card below & in slideshow) is an artist. Dad is pretty artsy.  And Katie clearly follows in their footsteps.  I love her bold bright sense of color and shape.  When baby brother Ivan arrived home from the hospital, he delivered to her a fabulous set of Prismacolor pencils….

… which Katie is putting to good use. Still awake. But sleepy.  Very sleepy. And awake!Time to stroll him to sleep.  Good job, Katie! Asleep. Awake.  And adorable.

And Katie, putting on the finishing touches on this beautiful work of art …


which came home with me :-) (oodles of thank yous, Katie!) and kept me company as I edited their pictures.  And such was a morning in the new life of Ivan the Great, a very sweet little guy who is currently completely unpredictable - and may be stonewalling Dad's attempts to make coffee in a timely manner - but who will, in the blink of an eye, be asking for the car keys ...




postscript:  I’m so grateful that photography is much like the art industry at large:  there’s a different flavor for everyone.  I know amazing newborn photographers who have a whole routine established with rules of engagement re: feeding schedule + toasty-heated-house + naked-baby-wrapped-in-blanket + baby-whisperer-techniques that create stunning, peaceful sleeping baby portraits.  My “niche” is at the opposite end of this art spectrum, I think.  My heart’s desire is to capture authentic story.  And this is the story-snapshot of Ivan’s beginning days – beginning days where he sometimes sleeps deeply and oftentimes doesn’t.  And life and art and Christmas preparation and celebrating and sports-tv-viewing and attempts to find time to eat a meal happen in the midst of all the unpredictableness.  And that’s the story we captured.  Authentically, and I humbly submit, beautifully.  I’m ever so grateful for families who trust me to photographically tell their this-is-what-now-looks-like story.