Archive for August 2014

Baby Photoshoots: Taking the Pictures

August 28, 2014

When we last talked about Jacob's baby photos I told you all about how I planned out his first 52 weeks and first holidays.

Today I'm going to tell you about how I actually take his picture. I'm definitely learning as I go, and (I think) my pictures are getting better. As of today, I've taken his picture for 11 weeks now. 

First up our supplies - we use a point and shoot camera (CanonSX510 HD), his quilt, and occasionally some props.

As I mentioned in my first post, I got this idea from YHL. They take their kiddos picture on a day bed in their sunroom in the early evening. This way it's nice and bright, but there's no direct sunlight causing big shadows. 
photo from Young House Love

In the beginning I was taking Jacob's picture in his nursery. It faces the front of our house and gets the best light in the morning so that's when I was taking the pictures. I laid his quilt down on the floor, set him on top of it, and leaned over to take the picture straight on.


The pictures ended up pretty dark and needed lots of editing to be what I would call 'passable.' It was also hard to get a good picture because Jacob hated laying on the flat floor. I would take 100 pictures hoping to get just one where he didn't look miserable.


Sometime around week 4, I tried laying the quilt on top of his turtle rug because it is nice and soft and he likes laying on it. That worked better, but the lighting still wasn't great.


Finally, I waited one day during week 7 till Dan was home and had him drag our ottoman out on the front porch in the early evening. (Thus mimicking the daybed in the sunroom during early evening from YHL)


 I draped the quilt over it and plopped the baby on top. Voila! Much better (and more natural) lighting.


In the beginning, it was easy to take Jacob's pictures. He moved very little. In fact, I would sometimes have to sit and wait for him to move his arms or make a different facial expression. Around week 9 I started needing Dan's help to hold his attention. Dan would stand next to me with some kind of toy and rattle it around to get him to look up at us.When we got desperate, we brought out our little dog, Leo.




Week 11 he started to get too big for the ottoman. I would have to zoom out enough to get all of him in the screen thus showing the quilt hanging off the edges of the ottoman.


It wasn't anything that couldn't be cropped out, but it made me think about what we would do in the future when the ottoman wouldn't be big enough. So week 11 I dragged out his mattress from his crib (he isn't using it yet anyways) and that worked a lot better since it's the same width as the quilt.


So that's our current set up - mattress on the porch, covered with his quilt, and baby on top!

You'll notice in this post that all his pictures start out with just a plain white onesie. The numbers and weeks get photoshopped onto his photo after I've chosen a final shot. In my next post I'll show you how I do that and finalize each photo!

Tuesdays with Jacob: 10 Weeks Old

August 26, 2014


When we left off last week we were still at the lake. Unfortunately we had to road trip home with Uncle Jared on Tuesday. You slept all the way to McDonalds, then we fed you, changed you, fed ourselves and hit the road again. You slept the rest of the way back to grandma and papas.








We spent our last night in Michigan making some s'mores (mommy's favorite!) and getting in as many last minute cuddles as possible.








On Wednesday we had to fly home :( You were just as good on our way back to Florida as you were on our way to Michigan, sleeping almost the whole time. You woke up just a little prior to landing needing a diaper change and a feeding. Everyone on the plane commented on how quiet you were and how they didn't even know there was a baby on the plane until we were disembarking.





You were fussy when we got home, but after an 8 hour sleep you were good to go the next morning!
Back home on  Thursday daddy went back to work and we took you to your 2 month well child check up! You now weight 14 lbs, 2 oz and are 23 3/4 long!! Such a big boy!






You had to get four shots - 
1. Pertussis/Diptheria/Tetanus
2. Polio
3. Haemophilus Influenzae
4. Pneumococcal Conjugate
Plus an oral vaccine for rotavirus

You were NOT a happy camper afterwards. There was lots and lots of screaming even after mommy held you and rocked you and got you dressed again.



You did fall asleep on the way home, and after a three hour nap you were feeling a little better. Still fussy, but no more screaming. We had to give you a little tylenol for the first time. Later that night you slept through the night for 9 hours for the first time! Guess all those shots wore you out! 

On Friday Daddy went into work later in the day so it was just me and you all night. The dogs were very naughty - they chewed up parts of my breast pump and kept barking and waking you up. It was really stressful for mommy!






But on Saturday Daddy worked a short day and came home in the afternoon. We spent our morning together napping on the couch. 








We made a quick trip to Babies R Us to replace the chewed up pump parts and then we got dinner at Red Robin thanks to a gift card from Great Grammie! You were having fun staring up at the lights on the ceiling while we got our drinks and appetizers, but they you slowly started drifting off to sleep. 



Then right when our burgers came out your eyes popped right back open. You always know when we are about to eat dinner!!

You've really discovered your hands this week. You love using one hand to grab the other, or trying to hold your own hand. 






You still love staring up at your star mobile Grandma and Mommy made. 





You are officially in size 2 diapers :( 
the last too-small size 1 diaper

the first roomier size 2 diaper

10 weeks of adorable