FIRST YEAR MILESTONE SESSIONS

Babies change so much in the first year. From being completely dependent on you as a newborn to feeding themselves, playing independently, and walking within just a short window. Isn’t it nice to just freeze time sometimes? With milestone session memories, we can!

These were all very special indoor sessions for my clients, The Wilson Family. We celebrated each milestone with Family Portraits in my Torrance, California studio.

Today we’ll have a look at some different milestone moments for the Wilson Family, including newborn photos, 8-month milestone photos, and a very special Happy Bee Day first birthday for little Lilly bee!

Big sister Vivian and her little sister Lilly were so well behaved, and perfect little models for Mom and Dad during their family photoshoots.

BIG SISTER PHOTOS

I photographed Vivian's first year, and it was so fun to see her at this session as a big sister to Lilly! After the Family Portraits with everyone all together, we took some fun Little Mermaid-themed photos of big sister Vivi before we got into the fun for Lilly’s first birthday cake smash!

Happy Bee Day THEMED First Birthday CAKE SMASH

Lilly's nickname is Lilly Bee so we incorporated bees into her first-year milestone session. Her party theme was also Bee-Day so we incorporated the theme into her one-year session. Happy Bee day is a pretty popular and adorable theme, especially if it’s your nickname! How perfect is that? 🐝

Lilly had a great time testing the icing on her cake solo — but the real fun began when big sister Vivian jumped in to help celebrate, and then the rest of the Wilson Family!

Birthday Milestone sessions like this one are such a fun way for the whole family to celebrate and remember these moments for a lifetime!

Looking back on these memories, I think Mom’s always remember how your first year with this tiny human has just flown by in the blink of an eye. Can you believe the next years will fly by even faster than the ones before? Your little one is walking or about to start at this stage. Baby is going to show you their newfound independence and explore everything! The perfect age for a cake smash party!

6 MONTHS - 9 Months Milestone SEssionS

Around six months is where personality really starts to show and stranger danger hasn’t set in yet! I love this time for a milestone session. While I always recommend Family Portraits to take place at least once a year — a mid-year session is great when your kiddos are young like this, since their personality changes soooo much over such a short little time!

At the 8 months Milestone Session, babe probably sits independently, is maybe starting to stand and hold on or pull themselves up onto a chair or sofa. Crawling also comes with a big personality and new confidence! Check out Lilly at her 8-month milestone session, then scroll down to see flashbacks from her newborn photos!

Capturing babies’ first year is such a blessing to me as a photographer. I love being able to provide these memories for my clients to hold onto for a lifetime! Plus it’s a lot of fun for me to witness how much has changed between sessions! Even after a decade of photographing families, I’m amazed every time a 6 month session rolls around for a newborn (that I swear was just a squishy little baby, like, yesterday!!) is now moving and interacting with me in such new ways than the last time they visited my studio.

The NewBORN SESSION

The Newborn Session is when we capture the earliest moments — when the baby is fresh, squishy, and sleeping all day!

Here is a flashback to Lilly’s newborn session in my studio! Vivian was just getting used to her “big-sister” duties, but filled the role perfectly, as you can see!

Planning the session

Lots of layers and colors went into the session. I am able to reuse several of my main props and create something new and different than the previous session that had the same theme! Check out my Pinterest page for more cake smash inspiration and to see some other past themes that we’ve done for milestone sessions!

For Lilly’s Bee Day cake smash, Mom brought a ton of fun items and outfits to incorporate into the session from her birthday to make it extra personalized!

The amazing cake was designed and created by the always incredible Couture Cupcakery