Baby Update · Daily living · Photography

Berend’s One Year Photos

We had family photos plus Berend’s cake smash the weekend before his birthday. He really wasn’t really in the mood to smile, but we still got some cute photos!

I seriously can’t get over how cute these boys can be.

No smiles from this one, but he’s still as cute as can be!

Berend really didn’t want to sit alone on that picnic blanket, so Mama snuggles were in order.

Pretty proud to dump the whole cake that I made for him!

It took him forever to actually taste the cake!

All photos by Elizabeth McDowell Photography — she did an amazing job with my crazy boys who can be uncooperative! I’m always impressed by what she can capture in a short amount of time, and she’s so easy to work with.

I still can’t believe our Berend is a year old. It was a tough year, but it was also full of smiles and giggles. I’m so glad we have these photos to celebrate his first year with us!

Photography

Berend’s Newborn Photos

I’ve been meaning to share these for a few days now, but being on my own with two kids has taken up all of my time. I try to get myself to bed as soon as I can since Berend is up multiple times in the night yet.

These were also taken by my sister, Becki, of Vander Warf Photography. Just a few weeks after she drove down to take my maternity photos, she drove back for newborn photos! Berend arrived on a Tuesday, and Becki let us know she’d be coming down that weekend to take photos of our little guy, so all the photos are of Berend at only 4 days old.

We started with some family photos, since I figured Gerrit would have a very short attention span for posed photos. Plus there was a fun event at the children’s museum that day that he and Andrew were going to, so both of them were anxious to leave the house!

This next one seriously cracks me up… Becki captured the moment when Berend started crying at the perfect moment:

Once the guys left, we switched gears. We took over Gerrit’s bedroom, since it had good lighting and was probably the warmest. Becki brought lots of props to use, and we did our best to try them all out. Berend was not the most cooperative subject, haha, but Becki still got some really cute shots of him.

I had gotten photos of Gerrit with Andrew’s uniform when he was a newborn, and at that time Andrew was still enlisted. But now that he’s a pilot, I really wanted photos of Berend with Andrew’s flight suit.

And last, but not least, Berend’s birth stats photo:

All the photos turned out so nice, and I’m so glad we were able to get them done while Berend was so tiny! Babies grow so quickly, and I’m so happy to have these to remember those early days.

 

Baby Update · Photography

Maternity Photos (Part 2)

After a full afternoon of lifestyle maternity photos, we went back to our house for dinner and relaxing. The next day we were headed out for some more traditional outdoor maternity photos. I was looking forward to some posed family photos, but I also was going to be doing some more glamorous ones, which I never did when I was pregnant with Gerrit.

Being unfamiliar with Little Rock’s parks, I had to do a bit of research to find a nice spot for outdoor photos. I started by looking at some state parks in the area, but with my mobility and comfort level going downhill as I got further into my pregnancy, I ruled out anything that was going to involve hiking. That’s when I stumbled upon The Old Mill. It looked so pretty in photos, and I thought it would be perfect for a springtime look. Here are some of my favorites:

This next one is my favorite of just Andrew and me. We’re not known for being great at posing for photos, but this one turned out really sweet.

This next one is probably my favorite family photo of us. That bridge is so cool, and Gerrit definitely shows off his personality, haha!

After the family photos, Andrew and Gerrit walked around the park while I changed into some long dresses for solo pictures. I absolutely love how they turned out!
Since we didn’t know the gender of our baby, I didn’t really want to wear pink or blue. But I do love purple, and this dress was so pretty for our spring photos.

A huge thank you again to my talented sister Becki for taking these beautiful photos! I love having these to look back on from my second pregnancy, and I can’t wait to display some in our new home.