I finally know how my clients feel when they tell me they have been thinking about their cakesmash ever since their newborn session.  There is something so special about a first birthday.  It is a time when the end of babyhood is palpable.  You feel proud of the little person your child has become while longing for the baby they used to be.

I wanted Grace’s cakesmash to be extra special for her to look back upon.  Let’s be honest, her cakesmash was for me as much as it was for her.  It was a way for my photography to pause and celebrate a time that was so full of emotion for me!

I started brainstorming ideas after the rush of the Holidays.  First, I got busy on Pinterest!  You can see my inspiration board below.

I kept thinking “how can I do a set that no one has ever seen anything like?!”  So, I decided I would paint her a backdrop.  I had been picking up the brushes here and there for custom sets for my clients.  The only way to create a complete original… was to do just that!  I painted her drop more quickly than I thought.  In about two hours, acrylics mixed with charcoal to create spring time in Paris.  I felt really good about it.  I almost cried.  Mariah did cry!  It felt amazing to create something for my daughter from my heart.  A teeny tiny little reflection of my love for her.

We spent hours here and there in the weeks before the shoot preparing the branches and stars that filled our background with touches of spring sparkle.  Next came the outfit.  I ordered this adorable onesie from Tutu DuMonde.  I waited until two days before the shoot to try it on Grace.  It had been sitting in the box for over a month.  It was too big for my tiny girl AND it was the same color as her fair skin.  It was not going to work.  I panicked a little.  “Why do I always do this to myself?!”  Always last minute!  Of course my schedule for the next 6 weeks was insanely busy.  I was fully booked at the studio, planning a commercial clothing shoot, banging out 3 written interviews for blog features, flying to Seattle to teach at the Chic Retreat (another blog post coming soon!), and had a first birthday party to throw, all before heading to Maine for a family vacation.  Definitely no time to reschedule and wait for a new outfit to come in.

I called my friend Ashley at Framboozled Accessories and she saved the day.  She went to the craft store that night to buy supplies and had 2 beautiful tutus for me to choose from in the morning!  Add to that a gorgeous custom headband from my friend Bethany at Blossom Bands and the stunning cake by the always AMAZING Sweet Indulgence and my friend Kerri, and we had a cakesmash that made me smile inside!  I have some pretty fabulous friends!  Grace loved every moment of it.  The whole studio team and Kerri Cupcake watched, and Mariah quietly captured some behind the scenes video that has me crying every time I watch it.  Thank you so much to everyone who made Grace’s first birthday cakesmash so memorable.  It meant so much to me.  I never wanted it to end.

So here it is, Grace’s Cakesmash, Behind the Scene’s Video, and in the tradition of this blog being my only baby books for the girls, my birthday letter to Grace.

Grace’s First Birthday Cake Smash! from Heidi Hope Photography on Vimeo.

Grace Isabel. Our joy. You make every day a little lighter. You wear a smile when you wake up in the morning, pointing at the photos of our family on your nursery wall. You always attempt to say everyone’s names as if you’re saying good morning to each of us. When I lay you in the crib at night, you give me one more smile as you pull your blankie up over your eyes. You are our happy, go-with-the-flow baby girl. Easygoing is an understatement! Where did we get you? You are a social butterfly who loves commotion and a good party. You’ll gladly crawl into anyone’s arms and giggle at the attention. Singing, dancing and music make you so happy. We adore your silliness, the sweet way you scrunch up your button nose just to get a smile from of us. We call you our little peanut, Graciebelle. That’s because you’re so tiny, which makes me feel like you’ll still be our baby a little longer. I’m happy about that, because in my head, you’re somehow still the sweet newborn we brought home from the hospital. When I’m working in the kitchen, I can usually find you right under my feet. You’re so quiet and quick in the way that you explore your world. The best part of my day is walking through the door after work. You get so excited, you can’t catch your breath. You scoot towards me as fast as you can for your hug. A laugh escapes me every time. There is no better feeling. You love dada (gaga) and your sister (who you call jeej for GiGi). You think they are pretty hysterical and they certainly love to make you giggle. If there were just one thing I would want you to know about your first year, it is that from the day you were placed into our arms, you have brought so much happiness and laughter to our family. We love you Grace, Happy Birthday!

I loved this little birthday girl and her gorgeous family!  S was so full of personality.  She loved crawling around the studio and was so proud of her new standing skills.  Mom and dad were up for anything and chatting with them made our shoot fly by.  We started our session with some sweet family portraits that I know they will love having with baby S while she’s still their little baby.  Then S stole the show!  From our simple classics in all white to our colorful cakesmash, this is going to be one huge gallery.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Gorgeous baby A came to visit the studio this week and her session was one of my favorite 3 month old sessions to date!  She was A: Gorgeous, B: So happy, and C: Incredibly adored by her parents.  We focused the session on capturing their family bond and of course had to snap a few of just A herself.  As you can see, she’s the steals the show!

I had such a good time photographing this family last week.  Baby K’s session was perfect from beginning to end.  She was such a gorgeous, joyful little girl.  She was the perfect cake smasher as well.  She didn’t really eat the cake.  She just played with it and smiled away for the camera!  Enjoy your preview!

Do I have the most adorable clients or what?!  I knew the second H showed up to our studio and gave me a giant smile through those big blue eyes that we were in for some fun.  H was so easy going that we were able to try out lots of fun sets.  Usually the larger flower bands aren’t my favorite to use, but I think in sets like these they look so stinkin cute and the two mom picked were some of my favorite!  No matter what we put H in, those big blue eyes always stole the show anyways.  I can’t wait to show mom and dad the rest of these!

Baby R is just breathtaking!  Those eyes can slice right through you.  At only days old, R stared right into my camera with those eyes.  So alert.  So beautiful!

My favorite part of this job is watching babies grow.  I love when parents visit us again for 6 month and first birthday sessions!  R’s 6 month session was a blast.  She was full of smiles and personality!  6 months is also a great baby age to capture family portraits.  Often parents of newborns are so tired, the last thing they feel like doing is jumping in front of the camera.  I just love what we captured during this session.  Can’t wait to show you them all!

Remember this fun couple?

Well, their gorgeous baby girl is already turning one year old!  She was so much fun to photograph last week.  Her aunt and grandmother came too and helped me get some great big smiles!  Can’t wait to show you the full gallery ladies.  Keep an eye on your email mom!

Do I have the best clients or what?  I just loved C and her family.  They had the best style, were so fun to work with, and completely gorgeous!  C was full of smiles our entire session.  While she loved her cake, she didn’t appreciate having to get messy.  Already a lady!  As long as we were singing and clapping however, she was smiling all the same.  Enjoy your sneak peek and keep an eye on your email mom and dad for your full gallery today!

How gorgeous are these two sisters?!  3 and 1 can be a pretty tough combo to photograph but I must say, this session flew by.  We breezed through each set so that we could squeeze in family portraits, sibling portraits AND a cake smash – all in one session!  The girls were so good throughout!  They loved playing with all of the different props and my antique typewriter was definitely a favorite.  Here is just a peek mom and dad… your full gallery will be going up today!

6 month olds make me so happy!  How could you not smile looking at this gorgeous face?  Baby J was so sweet and happy.  I have something else that will make mom and dad smile…. your gallery is going up today!  Yup, we’re running about a week EARLY with galleries for the first time ever thanks to my fabulous editors!  Enjoy :0)