Welcome Sweet Newborn "G"!

Just look at those juicy, pouty newborn lips! So pretty...I had the pleasure of photographing little "G" here at 7 days old. What a beauty!... Like a little porcelain doll.  She did a wonderful job of staying sleepy for me and what a blessing to have 4 generations of women in the family at the home during G's shoot. Thank you & congratulations, J & V, on your first child!

Liam's Nautical 1st Birthday! (August 7th Family Party)

Happy 1st birthday, to my little Liam! His nautical birthday party was held aboard the Volsunga II. We cruised along the water of the Thimble Islands with the company of our family, lobster rolls and a baby photo match game. Our Capt. Liam loved the company and sure did enjoy a second whirl at his birthday cake! 

Cousins

(A special thanks to D for being my second camera woman so I could be in some shots for my son's party. Love you!)

My Birthday Boy. He is just so sweeeet.

I purchased the ship wheel at Home Goods and then painted wooden letters to create Liam's Captain's wheel. All Aboard!

Happy birthday to you...Happy birthday to you...

A perfect squish.

 Delicious.

 This cake was a labor of love. It's a strawberry buttercream chiffon recipe from scratch. I baked 3 of these before getting it to where I wanted it. Normally you'd add a bit of Grand Marnier to the layers between the strawberry puree and buttercream, but since there were kids at the party, I opted out on it. Still tasted light and fresh!

 Flag napkin sails for the lobster rolls....never made it out of the box to decorate. Oh well!

 Cookies made by Aunt Laura. I love the personalized "L" for Liam. Laura, you think of everything - thank you for sending these goodies all the way from California.

So excited!

Thanks everyone for making this party so special for Liam! xoxo

Liam's Nautical 1st Birthday (Playdate Party)

I created a nautical theme for my son's first birthday (August 7th)this summer.I just love the nautical theme, especially during these dog days of summer. We hosted one family party on a boat (on his actual birthday) and one baby playdate party a couple days prior. 

Here are some of many shots I took during his playdate party. We celebrated with Liam's baby friends whom he had shared his first year playing with.(Stella, we missed you!) It was really sweet. Thank you S and J for coming out to celebrate this special milestone with us. We have enjoyed spending time with you and look forward to more playdates as our babies grow up together.

Some details:

Crisp, translucent sheets and a nautical fabric banner designed by Liam's Aunt Laura draped from the playroom chandelier, creating pseudo sails for Liam's "party boat" atmosphere.

 Oh, he never became tired of playing with the balloons!

Party favor bags included personalized sailor caps. I used stamps, fabric paint and hand-stitched the name plates with crochet yarn.

Our neighbor, M, built this fantastic boat by hand! -Rough water sailing: hold on to your hats, sailors!

Jonah: "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Liam: "Hang in there, Jonah, we're almost there."

 Madi: "Land Ho!"

These are seriously cute kiddies...

It was my first time trying red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Thumbs up! I will make these again. Added: crab, anchor and starfish fondant as toppers (right).

 Friends enjoyed celebrating.

             Liam devoured his entire cupcake.

The end result= the classic cake-smash face! 

(Thank you S, for taking this nice shot of our family.)

A happy birthday boy. Still playing with his balloons after the party.