A Growing Family of Four | Lifestyle Newborn Session

It’s no secret — this winter has been full of cozy, sweet newborn sessions! Lifestyle newborn sessions are meant to be relaxed and go with the flow, and today’s session with this growing family of four was no different.

The average age gap between siblings that I see is between 2–3 years. I’m pretty sure once your firstborn hits that one-year mark, you start feeling nostalgic for those sweet baby snuggles and gummy smiles — so it just makes sense. What this means for your second-born newborn session is that they usually have a 2 or 3 year old sibling… and that sibling has opinions of their own!

While a lot of the focus is on the newest member of the family, we absolutely let the older sibling lead the way a bit — possibly with a few incentives mixed in. Today’s big brother was such a cutie! He stayed close by for most of the session but definitely wanted to do things on his own terms (don’t we all?). That’s never a problem. We took time to capture other moments, and in the sweetest turn of events, big brother surprised us by asking to hop into certain photos. A total win-win… especially with a few M&M’s sprinkled into the deal!

Once we had a rhythm with big brother, it was time to focus on the star of the show. This was the second little one in a row for me who wanted to be part of all the action! And again — that is always okay. We paused for a bottle break, a diaper change, and even a swaddle (which helped for a bit), but this baby girl simply didn’t want to miss a thing. And honestly? It didn’t matter one bit. We still captured absolutely stunning images for this sweet family.

I know it can feel stressful when your newborn won’t sleep or your toddler is fully embracing their toddler era. But I truly love sharing sessions like this because they reflect real life. This is 100% normal and part of my everyday when working with families.

Please know — even if it’s a tricky sleep day or things aren’t unfolding exactly how you pictured — you will still walk away with some of the most meaningful, beautiful memories to hold onto forever.