On a crazy morning like this one, I have no time to write but I have been wanting to post these two pictures!  From the beginning, Vera shared so many features with Chloe…I still sometimes look at her and catch an expression that makes it seem like we just cloned Chloe. haha. Same size, same hair, same nose…but when I put these two simple portraits side by side (both taken during their second week of life) I am just amazed at how different they actually look!  I cannot wait to see what Vera looks like as she gets older!  In the mean time, I am enjoying snuggling as much as possible while she can’t  wiggle out of my arms:) Sweet girls, I love you with every fiber of my being.

On February 24th, four hrs before her due date, our hearts grew as we welcomed into our arms and into our little family a second precious daughter, Vera Elise (Vair-ah E-leece).

After weeks of on-again-off-again early labor and loads of painful back labor in the days leading up to her birth, God showed a little mercy on me and gave me an incredibly easy delivery.  For that I am still incredibly grateful!  To be honest, it all happened so quickly that I was left feeling a little stunned. Just a push a half and all of a sudden there was a baby in my arms.  It felt like it took time for my mind and heart to catch up with what was happening around me.  When they handed her to me she looked so much like Chloe it was unreal…

During the pregnancy I think the thing that we were looking forward to the most was seeing what Vera would look like.  After you have one child it is hard to picture having a second child that looks any different from your first!  As Vera lost the initial water weight that she was born with, her unique little features began to emerge.  Mommy’s nose, just like her sister, the same dark straight hair as her sister, her daddy’s forehead (hehe) again just like her sister, but her eyes and mouth are uniquely Vera. I love her goofy little face in this picture.

Chloe’s response to her new baby sister has blessed us so much.  You never know how an almost three year old is going to respond to her very first sibling but Chloe has been enamored with her since the moment they met.  She tenderly refers to her as “sweet sister” or “sweet Vera” and jumps up and down when she gets to have what she calls “sister time.”  She is also very protective of her. When she first saw me burping her she told me to be careful and not “hit” Vera. haha.  She wants Vera to play with her toys and always asks for me to “lay her out” so that she can sit next to her and give her kisses…which according to Chloe must be smack on the lips. haha.  With every little noise that comes out of Vera’s mouth Chloe wants to know “what she’s saying?”.  My constant prayer is that as they grow, they would truly become “forever friends” as we say in our house.  I know that they will not always get along but the hope of my heart is that as they grow into young women they would be a sweet blessing in each other’s life.

For us, those two days in the hospital were a very special and important time.  Initially, I had wanted to be released early so that we could get settled into life in the comfort of our own home.  In retrospect, with Chloe happily staying with friends, those two days relatively alone in our quiet little hospital room proved to be the most priceless and beautiful time of smothering sweet Vera with cuddles and kisses while relishing in the miracle of this second sweet little girl entrusted to our care.  These next two images are some of my favorites and I will cherish them for the rest of my life. Graham sitting in a dark hospital room singing Vera to sleep for the first time. A precious little girl in the arms of her daddy. Her hero. Her superman.

I have so much that I want to write about.  These past four weeks have been the most surprising blessing.  My heart has been overflowing.  It has been so different than I expected it to be.  It has been so much more full of joy and peace and love than I expected in those anxious months leading up to becoming a “mom of two” (something that I was terrified of becoming to be honest).  I promise to write more but right now there is a little one who needs me and I want to soak up every moment that I get with her in my arms.

So, Vera almost had us convinced that she was going to come on Friday night but after contractions all night she eventually decided to make herself comfortable for a little longer and gave us this blessing of a Saturday to finished up a few last minute pre-Vera things like packing for the hospital (I have put off packing for too long now!).  Anyway, one of those last things on my list for the past few weeks has been to photograph the girls new nursery before it becomes a mess of diapers, dirty clothes and new baby necessities!

You might remember when I did a little poll asking for help deciding on nursery colors.  I was so happy to finally pick a gray ,peach and pink palette but had NO idea that it would be virtually IMPOSSIBLE to find anything in peach for a baby room!  Who would have thought!  Anyway with some creativity, the help of crafty friends and just plain stubborn determination to have a peach and pink room, I was finally able to pull it off and…at the moment it is definitely my favorite room of the house:)

Possibly the most painstaking labor of love was this DIY chandelier for over the dresser/changing table.  I may or may not have cleared both Home Depot and Walmart out of peach and pink paint swatches (shhhhh…).  The walls are painted in Behr Silver Drop and I could not be happier with the color!  It is so peaceful!

Previously raspberry pink lanterns were repainted in a ballet slipper pink.  Peach sheets were painstakingly procured from an obscure online retailer…seriously, I bet this year peach baby bedding will be all the rage…I am just too ahead of the trend I guess.haha

With the help of a friend, we came up with a fun design for some custom canvas art for over Vera’s crib.  TIP: If you are looking for a small amount of paint in a very specific color, just pick out the exact shade in a paint swatch at Home Depot and pay $2.95 for them to mix you a paint sample canister in that color!  We had plenty of paint for the large canvas and I was able to pick the exact color I wanted for cheap!  Way easier than trying to find or mix an acrylic paint for the job!

Almost all of the furniture is from Ikea with the exception of Chloe’s toddler bed (Craig’s list baby!) The trick was that I wanted to sell her old dark cherry nursery set and buy all new white furniture without spending any money. (Clearly that was the only way that I could convince my husband to let me re-do the entire nursery including getting rid of our still new cherry nursery set).  Success!  Not only was I able to make the swap for no extra money but the less bulky Ikea furniture opened up the room which now has to be shared by two little princesses!

It is hard to tell from this picture but this little collection of canvases was salvaged from the old room.  My mom and I had painstakingly freehand painted three designs in Chloe’s old room’s colors so instead of totally ditching or painting over them, I traced the old designs  with puff paint and then when it dried, I painted over it in the new peach shade making them new texturized versions of the old work!

Sweet little pink birdies from Target’s Valentine’s day collection and a hand made polka-dot garland that was created as a decoration for Vera’s baby shower recently!

I remember how special I felt when my mom bought me a mesh “princess” drape for over my bed as a girl and I could not resist Chloe having one as well.  There is just nothing sweeter…except maybe for Chloe’s “friends” that she sleeps with every night…”bunny” (a gift from my mom), “donkey” and “piggy” (gifts from her great uncle Steve) and “puppy” (a gift from her great grand-nanna).  Don’t you love the creativity of the names!? haha

And I could not help but share the adorable and perfectly matching baby shower invitations that Ashlee Proffitt designed for Vera’s shower…I have the best friends ever!

I recently did a two part shoot for my sweet friend and fabulous graphic designer Ashlee Proffitt that I have been itching to share!  As a part of some rebranding and new projects that she has on the horizon she wanted a few images that capture the half of her that her clients don’t get to see but is the driving passion behind everything that she does, and thats being a mom to her two boys (and little girl on the way!).  Ashlee is an incredible example of what it means to be a businessowner-entrepreneur-mom…the mom-ing is her first priority and everything else that she is able to accomplish flows out of that passion without disrupting her priorities.  I love her.  And I love these little boys as if they were my own:)  Here are just a few of my favs from her shoot! Enjoy!

Meet the Winn family! We met up on Saturday evening for this family’s first (gasp!) professional portrait session! hehe.  Sweet little Meredith was instantly smiles and Riggs (who is almost my daughter’s age) did not disappoint with his dashing good looks and all-boy energy level.  We had a nice long session with time to get a little  bit of everything before the sun went down…we even had time to snap a few of just mom and dad – what a concept!  A self-described “classy but fun” family, I think these images capture both in addition to heaping piles of love:) Here is a little peak at some of my favorite images from their family session!

Last Saturday fourteen photographers got together in Charlottesville for the first ever Virginia installment of the SCP half day photography workshop that I hosted for beginner professionals!  (If you missed the fun images from that workshop you can check them out here!) The following day I hosted the very first ever SCP workshop for beginner hobbyists! It was basically an incredibly fun and laid back introductory course to photography that covered everything from understanding aperture, shutter speed and ISO to basic composition techniques.  The best part of the workshop was seeing the attendees get to put into practice what they had just learned during our mock children’s session! In between teaching I was able to snap a few pics of our ADORABLE models who were incredibly sweet, patient and well behaved during their shoot…did I already mention adorable? I may have pulled out a few fool proof kid portrait tricks like the gigantic lollipop to make sure that things went smoothly (…sorry moms)!  I am already in the planning stages to host this same workshop here in Tampa on Nov  4th and am looking for little “models” for that shoot as well.  Just e-mail me for specific details at info@shaycochrane.com if you know of any moms interested in volunteering there little princesses and super heros for the role! Thank you so much to our fabulously cooperative moms and their precious little models for your help during the VA workshops!

For more information on the upcoming Tampa, FL photography workshops check out the workshop website!  If you dislike boring cookie cutter back-to-school portraits as much as I do and want information on fabulously fun children’s portraits in the Tampa, FL area just shoot me an e-mail at info@shaycochrane.com!

I introduced you to my sweet little nephew Noah a few weeks ago but wanted to share a few images from our little 2 month photo shoot in the front yard.  The sweltering Kentucky summer heat made for a very content and sleepy little guy who was oh so patient as Auntie Shay got a few shots.  He fought us on the naked tummy time but I am not kidding when I say that he perked right up once he saw the camera in his face.  As if to say, “Ohhhhh, well why didn’t you tell me you wanted to take my picture!” haha.  I hate the thought of how much he has growth and changed even in the weeks since our little shoot – those first few months they seem to change daily.  I just want to kiss his little cheeks…yep, I am going to be THAT aunt with with the squeezing and the kissing of the cheeks and the embarrassing songs sung in public.  We love you little Noah and we can’t wait to see all the new tricks you have learned when we see you again in a few months!

I am literally months behind in posting about the incredible pink and gray dessert table that Natalie of Chic Sweets made for little Chloe’s 2nd birthday party.  It didn’t matter that all of Chloe’s friends attending the party were boys haha we just had to go with the pink and gray theme and Natalie blew me away with her attention to detail and the sweet touches that she added!  I met and worked with Natalie a few months ago on a commercial shoot that I did with Lauren of Every Last Detail Blog.  For that colorful ribbon inspired editorial shoot Natalie had designed an unbelievably yummy dessert table to be photographed for our mock wedding reception. She was sweet enough to do a little trade with me for Chloe’s party and all I can say is that it was way beyond what I was expecting.  She is amazing! The pink, red and gray horizontal backdrop was custom made and provided by her in addition to the custom treat name cards, ribbons and pink gerber daisies pulling the whole look together!  All of the candy and desserts were, of course, various shades of pink!  The assortment of chocolate and red velvet cake pops, also custom made by Natalie, were the hit of the party for sure.  They literally melted in your mouth! I could go for one right now actually. haha.  But I am always a sucker for chocolate covered pretzels and strawberry shortcake jelly beans which were also in abundance at the party. Needless to say, I think it was the best day of Chloe life. haha.  You should have seen her little face when she woke up from her nap to find the colorful dessert table set up in our kitchen.  Most importantly it was just so fun to treat our friends to such a yummy assortment of goodies to enjoy and take home as favors.  Natalie, both you and your work are amazing and it really was a blessing to our family and friends to get to enjoy your yummy artistry!  You MUST call Natalie at Chic Sweets if you are looking to add a beautiful, fun and delicious element to your party, event or wedding reception!

Dear Noah,  it’s your Auntie Shay, remember?  The one with the big black thing stuck to my face.  Well, I am just writing to tell you that I miss you…and…spending those few precious days with you made me think that maybe it wouldn’t be SO bad if Chloe ends up with a little brother this time around.  It must have been your handsomeness that won your uncle and I over.  Or maybe the sweet songs that you would sing to us when we would cuddle on the couch. Whatever it was, I seem to have left a little part of my heart there with you and your mommy and daddy in Kentucky.  If you don’t mind, just take care of it and we promise to come back for it very soon.  Your uncle and I have been talking a lot about you.  We have lots of big hopes and dreams that you and your cousins will grow up being the very best of friends like your daddy and uncle Graham.  We can’t wait to make memories with you. Memories full of late picnic dinners outside on warm summer nights and days spent playing at the beach until we all collapse on piles of blankets and pillows for family movie night. Family is such a special gift little one and you have lots of family that love you dearly…

Now, I know that you already know how to cause some ruckus pulling your cousin Chloe’s hair and maybe right now she is a little more interested in Ray Ray the dog than a little baby cousin and she doesn’t always know how to be gentle with you…

But I have a feeling that someday you guys will have all kinds of fun things to teach each other like how to build forts and sing silly songs and climb trees.  We are working on cooking up another little friend for you so that you guys can be the 3 Musketeers and get into all sorts of trouble together!  We love you little Noah.  Keep growing big and strong!  P.S Your Auntie Shay promises to get around to finishing all of those fun pictures from your very first photo shoot. I promise to show off all of your best features:)  Chloe sends a hug and a squeeze and your uncle and I send along with that some big sloppy kisses.

With love to the moon and back,