I love the emotion and how real this image is. Trying to get both a 3-year-old and 1-year-old to cooperate simultaneously does not typically make for an "easy" session. This isn't a "perfect" image, but then again, life with a toddler and preschooler isn't perfect either.

Hadleigh's sitting on mom's lap chewing on the end of a silk flower, but the joy on Payton's face and the way Amber's looking at her...I can't help but smile looking at this image.

The super quick milk bath was a lot of fun! We did it last, and it was the first time throughout the entire shoot that Hadleigh sat still.

She was just SO happy to splash the milky water everywhere! I mean, her little toes propped on the side of the tub - love it!

This was quite an atypical 1st birthday session because Amber also wanted portraits of the girls together, and photos of her with the girls. Something worth noting about my baby & child packages is that they include up to 3 children so it doesn't cost extra to add 1 or 2 siblings to a cake smash session!

Also...I will never charge extra for a mama who wants portraits with her babies. (Sorry to the dads!) But one of my business' core principles is that mamas need to #existinphotos. They are primarily the ones taking the photos, so if a mama asks to be included in a 1st birthday session, my answer is yes, absolutely!

The photo of Hadleigh trying to get out of the box makes me laugh so hard! This was one of our ploys to keep her still, but it obviously didn't work too well!

Thinking more cake smash and less milk bath for your little one’s first birthday? Check out Claire’s cake smash session HERE.