Taylor Grace Newborn Session ~ Okinawa Newborn Photographer

So today was Taylor's newborn session. I was so glad that my mom and sister were there to see just how much work goes into a newborn session. They are HARD and very time consuming!

Conversation with a (typical) Newborn

Me: Well hello bright eyes! I am so pleased to meet you. I am excited that you are going to share four hours of your day with me. I have been looking forward to holding you and playing with you. I have the house all nice and cozy for you at about 85 degrees, everything is quiet here, your mama is going to make sure you have a full tummy, and then I want you to just sleep sleep sleep. Sound good?

Five minutes pass.

Baby: HEY! WHERE IS MY MOM? A picture shoot is not how I had my day planned out. Your crampin my style lady.

Thirty minutes pass and we have little or nothing to show for it.

Baby: We need to have a one on one. I think you missed the memo. About a week ago, all was perfect in my world. I was warm, snuggled, it was quiet, I never got hungry, I never needed to be changed and my mom was always holding me. That all came to a rather abrupt halt on my birthday and I am still trying to adjust to the changes. While there are some advantages to being out of the womb, I am having to cope with quite a bit these days, the very least you could do to make this transition easier would be to hold me. What makes you think I can balance my own head on my hands and who says I want to? Please pass me back to my mother now. She’ll know what to do.

Me: Ahhhhh…yes….I do see the difficulties I am creating for you today. I am doing my best to make this easy for you but it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better darlin.

Baby: You say that as though I have no options here. I’ll have you know that I am firm believer in boundaries and I will enforce my lines as needed. If you continue to push me on this, I am going to have to give you a presentation of my power.

Me: I have no doubt that is true and I expect no less. I have learned to be a woman of patience though and am pretty determined myself. Unlike you, I have had years to hone my skills and you, babe, are brand new player in this grand adventure of life. That puts the odds in my favor.

Baby: Now I am getting very angry. Maybe you are unaware of the cards I hold. I can cry – very loud and very long. I can flail. I can refuse to be swaddled. I can insist on being fed every five minutes. If that doesn’t work, I can spit up on your best blanket and I can potty on everything you’ve got. But we don’t have to go there. We can stop all this right now. Pass me back to my mama.

Me: You do indeed hold all those cards. I expect you to play each and every one of them. When you fuss and flail, I will smile at you and think you a perfect little creation. When you insist on being fed, I will be your champion and ask your mommy to abandon her feeding schedule and give you all the nourishment you want. When you potty all over my stuff, I will gladly clean it right up. I am a persistent woman sweetheart. My own mama taught me that with children, you have to be willing to go farther than they are. I have learned that lesson well and I confess my strategy to you upfront. All is well baby. Just go to sleepytown now.

Hour one passes and the duel continues.

At the ninety minute mark, we still have very little to show for our efforts and mom and dad are breaking into a sweat.

Somewhere between hour two and three, after baby has insisted on being fed again for the umpteenth time, the conversation winds down.

Baby: I am feeling an odd sort of sensation now. It’s toasty warm, my tummy is more than full, and I am getting quite exhausted. Yawn…..still though….I have some fight left…..sssshhhhhhhhhh.

And then…there is a twitch…and a few sleepy smiles….and…out for the count.

And then…I lean down close and whisper this…

Me: Good night sweet thing. You put up a gallant fight today and I applaud your efforts. No one will fault you for abandoning your grand plan to unravel our photo shoot. You are sufficiently milk drunk now and can no longer resist my charms. Now I can move you into many different positions, switch hats and blankets and baskets and beds, and you will sleep in blissful oblivion and we will accomplish a lot in the final stretch of our shoot. I realize that you have given up several hours of your fine day that you can never get back but by the time you wake up this will be a distant memory. You will forget.

But know this little one…your Daddy and Mommy will never get these precious few hours of your life back either. Because of what you and I did together today…they will never forget. Sleep baby sleep.

Spending time with the grandparents.

Chase had so much fun spending time with his great grandparents Gigi and Poppy (my grandparents).

Then he spent time with his Gramie and Pop Pop (Joe's parents).

He hung out with my mom Mimi.

And also with his "adopted" grandparents Gammy and Gampy.

My brother's family photo session ~ Okinawa Photographer

While I was in New Mexico my brother and his wife asked if I would take their family photos. We drove up to Cloud Croft and had a blast. They were very easy and I feel so blessed to be able to do this for them. Here are a couple of the shots that I got today.




If you would like to see more of my work check out my website at Dawn Hudson Photography.

Meet my new niece ~ Taylor Grace

Shannon had a very long hard labor, but in the end we got a very perfect little baby girl. Chase was a trooper the whole time. We arrived at the hospital around 10am on October the 8th, we left for about 3 hours in the early morning of the 9th and then we were right back at the hospital because it was time to start pushing. After a couple of hours of pushing Shannon ended up having a c-section.

Taylor was born at 11:37am on October 9th, 2010.

Weighing in at 8lbs 2oz and she was 22 inches long.

Happy Birthday Taylor Grace

My sister is off the market.

Shannon had a big month this year. On the third she celebrated her 28th birthday and then on the 21st she got married.

I have not been very good at blogging recently I have just been so sick this past week. I wish I would have been able to travel back to New Mexico for the wedding but at 8 months pregnant the docs and airlines frown upon it.

I have heard that everyone had a great time and the weather was awesome. It was an outdoor ceremony and the news said there was a possibility of rain. No rain in sight and the weather turned out to be perfect. Yeah!

They leave to Hawaii for their honeymoon in just a few short days, boy do I wish I was going off to a tropical island. Well, not sure anyone else would want to see my pregnant belly in a swimsuit but it sure sounds nice.

Congratulations Ryan and Shannon!! May you learn to love all the good days and to work hard to get through the tough ones. There is a lot of give and take and no matter what anyone says NO marriage is ever perfect.

Have a great honeymoon. Can't wait to see all the pics when you get back.

I was trying to wait until the professional photographer had his pictures up on his website but maybe he is not feeling well either because he is taking his time. Here is a photo so that you can see a little of Shannon and my new brother-in-law Ryan.

Wouldn't you know as soon as I posted this I get the good photos. So here are a few.