This little guy came with mom & dad to the studio a few weeks back for his newborn session.  He was perfection for his session and he’s just about as sweet and cute as they come!  I love the little sleepy smiles we captured.  That’s one of my favorite things about newborns, when they’re in that REM sleep stage and they have those sporadic little smiles…they’re perfection.

L & N, I had a wonderful time meeting your new family of three and I was honored to be able to capture these images of little O.

When I was asked to photograph this family, I couldn’t wait!  Now, I’ve never actually shot a family this large before, but with an absolutely breathtaking location at one of their homes, and a bunch of great personalities, I knew it had potential!  It was a lot of work to get everyone looking in the same direction, with their eyes open, and with relatively happy expressions on their faces, but we managed to get some great large group shots and some fabulous individual and smaller family shots (with the help of a head swap or two!)

S Family, thank you for allowing me to capture this special time while you were ALL together!  It was truly a pleasure meeting every single one of you and I had a great time photographing you all!

This beautiful baby girl was such a joy to photograph!  She was one of the most sleepy newborns I have EVER had.  She was practically putty in my hands and she gave us some gorgeous images as a result.  I loved her sweet blonde wisps of hair and her beautiful lips.  We also had fun incorporating Mom & Dad’s autographed Justin Morneau baseball into a few shots as well, who says girls can’t play baseball?!  Surely this little girl is going to be an All Star!  She sure was when it came to her newborn session.

Thank you H family for the privilege of capturing your daughter, she was truly a joy to shoot!  I had a wonderful time meeting you and hope you love your images!

This gorgeous mama is one of our great new baby planners.  I first met her and her husband at the Baby Expo back in April.  I was so excited when they called me to do their maternity and baby’s first year portraits!  We met up on one of the hotter days of the summer (oh wait, that’s been nearly ALL of them!) and it was hard to get a bad shot of this gorgeous mama!

We just had her beautiful little girl’s newborn session on Saturday and wow, I cannot WAIT to share those images!

Thank you S family for allowing me to capture these miracle moments!

We had originally hoped to have a newborn session with this little guy, but he had his own plans and arrived a bit earlier than everyone expected.  Nevertheless, he was just as cute when we got together for his 4 month session.  Mom found the greatest little spot for our session and while it was a bit on the hot side, we still had a fun time capturing him at this sweet age.

M family, I had a great time meeting you guys and your little man is just too cute for words!  Can’t wait for you to see the rest of your images!

It just doesn’t get any more sweet or adorable than this adorable little 18 month old.  I’m lucky enough to work with his mom and I have been anxious to meet him for some time now.  When they day finally came for our session, I couldn’t have asked for a more well behaved cutie!  The light was gorgeous and so were the smiles.  Sometimes this age can be quite challenging to capture since they are ALL over the place and you can’t really bribe or negotiate with them yet, but little J came through for us and provided some great candid moments as well as sweet smiles.

K Family, I enjoyed photographing you and your little guy SO much.  I can’t thank you enough for the opportunity!

Now…onto the best part!  This first one is definitely my favorite of the day!

I’m SO very excited to share with you today’s Feature Friday!  Baby Banou is a fabulous new baby and children’s boutique that just opened up on St. Paul’s historic Grand Avenue!

Baby Banou offers stylish and adorable children’s clothing, shoes, toys, and accessories for newborns to 4T.  They have an organic selection of items, and a wide array of gifts for little ones.

I often get asked by parents about ideas for outfits and accessories for their portrait session.  Baby Banou’s clothing, shoes, and accessories are the perfect “wow-pieces” for your children to wear during their session.  They carry a range of styles that are sure to compliment your child’s look in photos (and every day as well), and help capture that perfect memory of your baby!

One of the best things about Baby Banou is that much of what they carry in their store isn’t carried anywhere else in Minnesota!  They are always on the lookout for new and fresh designs for your babies and toddlers.  Although Baby Banou is a specialty boutique, their pricing is competitive with other children’s clothing stores in the Twin Cities.  You’re sure to find looks that are unique and different than the latest line at the popular children’s shops and not have to worry about seeing photos of your BFF’s adorable kiddo in the same outfit as yours!

Having some of the best customer service in town is also key at Baby Banou.  As a new boutique, they care about their relationships with their customers.  They provide exceptional customer service and are always dedicated to creating a welcoming and friendly shopping environment.  They are proud to be a locally-owned children’s clothing boutique in the heart of St. Paul on Grand Avenue.  They not only carry items from major fashion markets, but local designers as well!

Baby Banou has been kind enough to offer our blog readers a 20% discount off any one item in their store!  All you have to do is print out the below coupon and bring it into their shop between August 6th (today) and August 20th!

How to get there: Baby Banou is located in the heart of the adorable Grand Avenue area.  They are located just one block east of Victoria Crossing and are on the southeast corner of Grand Avenue and Avon Street at 792 Grand Avenue (click for map).

When to shop: Baby Banou is open:
Tuesday – Saturday  10 am – 6 pm
Sunday 11 am – 4 pm
Closed on Mondays, but available by appointment or for private functions

Ways to connect:
Visit the Baby Banou Website and while you’re there Sing up for the Baby Banou Mailing List !
Visit the Baby Banou Blog (say that three times fast!)
Like Baby Banou on Facebook
Follow Baby Banou on Twitter

Here’s our coupon!

I have a few maternity sessions around the corner (one is a soon to be mama of TWINS, yay!!) and I thought it would be fun to do a maternity version of what to wear!  Maternity sessions are all about showing off the beauty of that beautiful, round belly, carrying the new life that is about the enter the world.

I recommend having maternity portraits done between 32 and 38 weeks.  Around this time the baby bump is just about perfectly round, and mom hasnt started to get too incredibly uncomfortable yet!

Styling your maternity session is one of the most important aspects of it.  Since this is the one type of session that is actually focusing on a body part, rather than the usual face, it’s important to wear things that are flattering and show off this beautiful shape.

Long flowing, but well fitted dresses are great for maternity sessions.  These maxi dresses from Gap.com and A Pea in the Pod are some great examples.

Another look I often recommend is to wear a pair of your pre-pregnancy jeans (if you can fit into them still, I never could!)  They are cute when paired with a well fitting tank top.  This is a great casual look for some more fun, relaxed maternity shots.  It’s also easy to pull up the tank as well for some bare belly shots!

Here are some other cute pieces that would be very flattering for a maternity session.  Makes me want to be pregnant again just to wear these cute clothtes!

The most important thing when choosing your maternity photo wardrobe though is to be comfortable!  Find items that express your own personal style.  The more comfortable and relaxed you are, the more you will glow in your portraits and enjoy them for many years to come!

This handsome fellow suffers from photographer’s child syndrome. He turned five in APRIL and we just now got around to taking his five year photos, but I love them and so happy we held out and did them where I had planned. Here’s just one of my favorites for now, more to come!

We had over 37 entries into our Facebook Page giveaway, thank you to everyone that entered!  Congratulations to our winner, Amy Seefeld!  Amy is the winner of a mini session and a disc of 10 images of her choice from her session!

For those that entered, we don’t want you to walk away empty handed, so we will be including a free gift with your next session!