"It's funny what a year can do"

A year. That sounds so long but this last year has whizzed by. In one sense I can't remember a time without Iz around but in another it seems like yesterday we were racing to the hospital to avoid a hefty cleaning bill for Mr MFDS's car...

Since Iz was born I have taken a photo every week and another every month. Benefit of hindsight having not done it with D and wished I had.

So here they are, Iz's first year. We've loved watching her grow :)

The start

Halfway there...

Nearly there...

BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

I love how these photos are a record of: her chubby phase (started in week 9), her always-sticking-tongue-out phase (on/off from 21 weeks but even more from 27 weeks!) and her won't-pose-demurely-by-the-blocks-anymore-without-a-distraction phase (from 31 weeks on - taking the photos was a *lot* trickier after that!)

I think my favourite pic is the 19 week one (dressed up all festive for her first Christmas). And the last one - I love how she whipped the cloth off from the blocks and looked so proud of herself!

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Have you regularly recorded your baby's first year, or other firsts? How have you done it? You never know - I might need new ideas for baby number 3... ;)

The fastest six months...

Time flies when you're having fun?
Blink and you'll miss it?

We've all heard sayings like this, but I've found its never been truer than the last 6 months.

Time with any baby whizzes past but when you have a toddler whirlwinding around the place, it seems to pass even quicker with baby number 2.

Iz, I don't want to miss a moment of you growing up, and I have loved watching you every day over these last 186 days xxx

At the start...

 

 

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Where has my baby gone?!?

Second birthday cake smash

So if you thought cake smashes were just for first birthdays you were wrong. And if you have no idea what a cake smash is then read here. And if you're planning your own DIY one at home then you can read more tips here.

But back to D's second birthday one.

We had so much fun planning and doing his first birthday one that I always knew I wanted to repeat it the next year. He was also super dainty last year, having never really seen cake or icing before, so I thought this year he might get more stuck in. 

So here is a quick run down of what we did/used, with some pictures at the end :)

The day

Similar to last time we didn't do this on his birthday (we were actually in the States then) but did it the weekend after we got back. He loved the excuse for another day of cake!

The setting

I used exactly the same setup and location as last year. We don't have many choices in our house so thought I'd stick with what I knew worked. Again the lighting wasn't perfect but we have to work with what we've got and that was the best possible.

The cake

I made another multi-coloured cake but left out the purple as I thought I might after last year. This time it was lovely as D even helped bake the cake :) 

I chose orange frosting so it would stand out a bit from the surrounding colours and topped it with 100s&1000s and different coloured stars. I meant to put some whipped cream and blueberries (D's favourite) around the edge but completely forgot :(

The outfit

D wore a cute onesie with a "2" candle and flame above it. The design was from "Oh the places you'll go" by Dr Seuss which I absolutely love and it came from Jams and Bells on Etsy. I've got a discount code for their shop which lasts for the next 3 months - use MFDS15 to get you 15% off any of the items in the shop :)

Props

We used a couple of different things. Firstly in the cake - we had a sparkler fountain to start with which D was fascinated by. Then we got a "2" candle and lit it a few times so he could blow it out. Amazing how much changes in a year - at his first cake smash there was no way he could even attempt to blow out a candle. Nor could he shout "more cake!" either but that's another story ;)

We also gave D a big spoon at one point when the cake wasn't breaking up as easily as he wanted. He then had great fun sticking it in the cake and being fed from it!

 

And lastly (but definitely not least!) we bought an illuminated "J" (you may have guessed D's real name is not Doof!) from The White Bulb. It's battery powered and really light - perfect for so many photo opportunities, including birthday parties and cake smashes!! I love D's one (as did he) and am getting Iz one too. And if you use the code TWB2015 you can get 10% off all orders through their website during January :)

The end result

D definitely got more stuck in this time and enjoyed exploring the cake textures and colours. He didn't eat very much of it, which was surprising as if you offer him cake any other time he'll bite your hand off, but it must be quite a surreal situation to be suddenly given a whole cake when normally you're not even allowed sweet puddings at nursery!!

 

 

 

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I'm really looking forward to Iz's first smash in August and have already got a decoration for the top of her cake:

And one year I might get them to do a joint smash - I think that would be super cute :)

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Have you ever done a cake smash or are you planning one? I'd love to hear about it - especially as I'm now planning Iz's first birthday one so am always looking out for new ideas :)

What Iz loved - August 2014

Here is what Iz loved this month…

1 - Getting *out* of her first bath

2 - Sleeping

3 - Her first car ride

4 - Being born

5 - Doing a naked and not-so-naked photoshoot

6 - Meeting her big brother

7 - Post boob cuddles

You can see what her brother liked doing here :)

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If you want to do your own "What baby/toddler loved" then link up with Rachel @dinkythinks - you can see her latest post here :)

DIY newborn photoshoot - part 2

So since my last post (DIY newborn photoshoot) I found our portable heater and so thought I may as well try the whole naked-baby-photoshoot while Iz was still little.

So here are some shots. What do you think? Is a naked baby a lot more cute than a dressed one or not? I do like the way that she is awake in some of these pics. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments section :)

 

And yes, for those of you who are wondering... there was wee and poop everywhere :(

DIY newborn photo shoot

I'll start off saying I am not a professional photographer at all, I'm just an amateur who enjoys taking pictures, especially of my babies :)

When Doof was born I spent the first few weeks in a hazy fog of endless feeds, no sleep and general first-time-mum-trying-to-make-sense-of-it-all. Sure I took lots of pictures but 99% were on my iPhone - nice but nothing special.

Photos from Doof's first week - lovely memories but not exactly technically great!

Since then we got a DSLR and so this time round I decided to try and take some better quality photos...

There is loads of information available online - I read this blog which had some really useful tips (but was a bit more serious/involved than I was planning to be):

HERE is the first in a 5 part series 

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Equipment and timings:

-         selection of 'backdrops' (dark blue towels, white embroidered bedspread, patterned giant muslins)

-         blankets & muslins

-         hats and cuddly animals that Is had been given as presents

-         beanbag

-         chairs (to hang backdrops off)

Not exactly high tech equipment!

I used a DSLR camera with a 50mm lens (so I mainly played around with the depth of focus). Most of the pictures I took in the evening - definitely not the best time if day light-wise but definitely the best if you have an active toddler running around the rest of the time!! So because of this I used a flash but with a diffuser so the light wasn't too bleaching.

The advantage of taking the pictures myself was (cost aside obviously!) I took the photos over several days - just doing 10-15 minutes of prep and shooting a day, dependent on when she was at her most sleepy.

Shots:

So below are some examples of shots I took, with various props, backdrops and coverings. 

Positions

The main poses Is did were on her tummy and side-lying. She didn't really want to do any others and I wanted natural looking pictures and definitely didn't want to force her into any positions she didn't want to be in. 

Prone and side-lying positions on a variety of backgrounds/drops

Angles

Think about shooting from different angles. I just experimented and tried lots of different views. Some looked good, others not so much. That's the joy of a digital camera - you can just delete the shots you don't like!

She was in the same position but I just moved around her

The top and bottom pics were taken without moving her position, whereas the middle one was taken after I repositioned post-feed

Props

You don't need to go crazy buying props etc. I just had a rummage around and used things we already had at home. two of the hats were knitted by a friend (one for Doof and one for Is) and the other came from Baby Gap. The two cuddly animals had been given to Is as presents so I thought it would be nice to include them in some pictures. 

Modelling Baby Gap hat

Her new monkey is about the same size as her!

Cuddling her rabbit - a bit more classy than Doof's collection of muslins!

Focus

Play around with different areas of focus. It's really easy on a DSLR to change the focus depth so just have fun seeing what looks good.

In the top pic the focus is on her hands, whereas in the bottom one it is on her face

Details

Make sure to get some detail shots too. Their hands and feet don't stay this tiny for long! And these shots can look beautiful in black and white so try converting some.

Clothing vs nakedness

Even though all the professionals like babies to be naked I didn't strip Is off for several reasons:

- our house isn't warm enough and I couldn't find the portable heater

- it took away the spontaneity of taking the photos as if she fell asleep after a feed, she would definitely have woken up if I faffed around trying to undress her

- poop and wee would have been guaranteed to end up everywhere

But the bottom line is I don't think babies need to be naked to get cute photos. Sure, put them in an outfit you like, but I think naked pictures can look a bit forced whereas clothed ones look a bit more natural.

Extra special things

Think about anything very precious you have which you might want to include. Is' granny died a few weeks before she was born and so sadly never got to meet her. So I included one of her bracelets in some shots and was really pleased with the result.

"Different" shots

 

And lastly, not every photo needs to be of a peaceful sleeping baby. I took this one just as she woke up (just before I stopped shooting and fed her!). I think it is quite sweet :)

She only cried for a second but I managed to capture it!

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So there it is - Is' first photo shoot :) although the pics definitely aren't professional-standard I'm really pleased with how they turned out. The only shame is it's impossible to have yourself in the pictures too.

I'd love to hear any other tips people have or if you try doing this at home yourself :)

EDIT:
We did do a naked photoshoot in the end too - you can see the photos here :)