I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful baby boy a couple of weeks ago. His mom has been so patient with me, since we’ve had to schedule and reschedule the session several times due to my constant illnesses during my pregnancy. Thankfully she stuck with me through the long haul, and we were able to get these gorgeous shots of her son!
Rub-a-dub-dub! Baby boy in a tub!
Those are some seriously beautiful eyes!
My good friends are pregnant with their first child! I’m so excited that more and more of my friends are starting families! Soon, Grayson and Oliver (my boys) will have more friends to play with, and I couldn’t be happier about that! I was so honored that they chose me to take their pregnancy announcement photos, and I love the way they turned out — especially the ones with the baby shoes!
Isn’t that just the cutest?
I could tell they are so in love! They are seriously so sweet together!
I just love new babies! And what comes before new babies? Baby bumps, of course! I had the pleasure of capturing this beautiful mama’s bump and her lovely family a few weeks ago, and I can’t wait to photograph her newborn baby boy when he arrives!
Since I was feeling pretty good after Oliver’s delivery, I decided to take his newborn photos myself, with the help of my mom for safety. I definitely need to make some boy hats, and get some more props, but overall, I think they turned out great!
This is a composite photo (two photos in one). I’m so excited that I was able to pull it off! I had my mom hold the top of his head for the first photo, and his arms for the second. Then I put the two photos together, and this was the result!
Wearing his daddy’s tie.
Smile!!!
His nursery is elephant themed with gray, light blue, and white as the colors, so I wanted to incorporate that into the photo shoot. Once I finish his nursery, I’ll post pictures!
One of my favorites! I bought this Tonka truck for Grayson for Christmas knowing that I could also use it as a newborn prop.
It has been so great having my very own newborn baby to practice my photography on! I know, eventually, he’ll get tired of having a camera in his face, just like his brother, but for now I’m going to enjoy it while I can!
Here’s a bonus picture of my big boy, Grayson, with my mom (his Nana) taken just a couple days before he became a big brother.
This pregnancy was quite a bit tougher than my pregnancy with Grayson. I was plagued with extreme morning sickness for at least the first 20 weeks, and even had to go to the emergency room at 11 weeks for IV fluids, because I was so dehydrated from not being able to even keep water down. Towards the middle of my second trimester, I finally started to feel like myself again. It was around this time that we decided to send Grayson to Mommy’s Day Out (a daycare at our church) for one day a week (5 hours) to give me a bigger chunk of time to get some things done around the house. We also wanted to get him around other kids his age to work on his social skills, since he is pretty shy.
Well, just as I knew he would, he brought home a lovely cold after that first day and kindly shared it with his mommy. This was right around Halloween, and I ended up developing a severe case of chronic bronchitis that lasted 2 whole months! I even had to go to the ER (again) to be monitored and to be given some antibiotics. During those two months I was coughing nonstop around the clock. I couldn’t go more than about 10 seconds without coughing, sometimes so hard that it made me throw up. Every time I thought I was starting to get better, Grayson would come home with another cold and I would start my sickness all over again. Life was not fun.
Then, at about 35 weeks pregnant, I developed a kidney and bladder infection that required me to stay overnight in the hospital to be put on an IV drip with antibiotics. On our way to the hospital, I was having such painful contractions that were so close together that I thought I was in labor. Luckily, Oliver decided to bake for a few more weeks! The infection, however, was stubborn and didn’t go away even after 3 rounds of antibiotics. Because of this, my doctor called me on January 16th around 6pm to tell me that I would need to come back to the hospital for more antibiotics via IV, since the infection was resistant to all other types of antibiotics. She then asked if I was open to being induced since I was only 5 days away from my due date and I would be at the hospital anyway. I, of course, said yes, and my induction was scheduled for 6am the next morning! Thank goodness my mom had flown in to help with Grayson 2 days prior! She has been a God send!
We arrived at the hospital at 5am, but weren’t put into a room until 6am. We got settled in and took some last pictures of my baby bump before I changed into my hospital gown.
They started me on IV fluids and my antibiotic right away, and about an hour later started the pitocin to get my contractions going. Right after the nurse started the pitocin, the anesthesiologist came in to talk about my epidural and get set up. While he was talking I started feeling what I thought were severe gas pains, so I just kinda grinned and beared it. Then I looked at the monitor and realized that I had been having contractions every couple minutes, and they were starting to get more and more painful. Steve and I had a laugh (in between contractions) because of my mistake, and soon the anesthesiologist came back and gave me the epidural. That numbing shot is killer!!!! But I’m sure I’d rather feel that than feel the actual epidural going in.
Steve was a trouper while we waited for me to dilate. We both attempted to take a nap, but with nurses coming in and out every few minutes, it was hard to get any sleep.
I was only labor in for 5 hours before I was completely dilated and ready to push!
And after only 6 pushes, Oliver Steven McVey was born!
Immediately after he was born, they put him on my chest and Steve cut his umbilical chord.
I was amazed at how different he looked from his brother. I don’t know why I was expecting Oliver to be Grayson’s identical twin, but I didn’t have anything else to go by.
Within just a few minutes of being born, Oliver began to suck his thumb.
We were able to cuddle with skin to skin for about an hour before they took him to be weighed and measured. The first thing I said after he was born was, “He’s so little!” Then they weighed him, and he was 8lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches long, and I realized that he wasn’t so little after all!
Later that afternoon, my mom came to the hospital with Grayson, and she got to hold her new grandson for the first time.
Grayson wasn’t sure what to think and just stared at his little brother. We attempted a family photo, and this is the result. I’m sure we’ll get a better one in a few weeks. 🙂
From the time he was born, Oliver has been an excellent sleeper! He certainly takes after his parents in that way.
Steve likes to pretend he’s tough, but when it comes to his boys, he melts like butter.
We were able to go home two days after delivery (Oliver wore the same “going home” outfit that Grayson wore when he came home from the hospital), and Oliver continues to be an excellent sleeper and eater. He is such an easy baby, and a wonderful addition to our family. We are totally smitten!
As a photographer, I’m used to always being behind the camera. Most of the photos of Grayson and me are selfies taken with my iPhone. So I was extremely happy that one of my friends was willing to take some maternity pictures for me to document my pregnancy with our second son, Oliver. We used my camera so I could easily take the memory card home and edit the pictures myself. Grayson cooperated for some of the photos, but he was more interested in walking through the crunchy leaves. Still, I’m glad I have a few photos of him and me together while I’m pregnant with his little brother. He still has no clue what’s going on, and the only interest he has in my large belly is poking my belly button. Haha!
Unfortunately, Steve was not able to be in these photos because he has been working incredibly long hours getting our second retail store ready to open, but I’m hoping he’ll be able to take an hour or so off soon, so we can take a family photo for our Christmas cards.
The sun was just perfect, and the water on Old Hickory Lake was so calm it looked like glass. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful setting.
With Christmas coming up, sometimes it can be hard to think of the perfect gift to give the dad in your life. Whether it be the father of your children, or your own father, this gift would work for either. I took these pictures and framed them for Steve last Father’s Day and he loved them! I also did a version that said “Papa” for my dad, and I only had to swap out 2 letters! Super easy and super sentimental! Dad is sure to love it!
Last night I was going through my pictures, seeing which ones still needed editing, and I realized that I never finished editing Grayson’s 1st birthday cake smash photos! Which means that no one got to see them! Well, I just finished editing them, and it was so fun to go back and reminisce about my little boy’s first birthday.
He wasn’t really into eating the cake (I think he took maybe two bites max), but he sure had fun digging in and making a mess!
I made his cake and decided to use the same colors and flags that we were going to use at his birthday party. That flag banner was actually the same one (of many) used at my baby shower for him! I was so glad for a reason to be able to use them again!
I ended up having to put a little frosting on his lips so he would realize the cake was for eating, and not just for squishing between his fingers.
“Oh! I can actually eat this big, blue thing!”
Haha! I’m not sure what he made this face for, but it was too hilarious not to include in this post.
Finally starting to really dig in!
They don’t call it a cake SMASH for nothing!
I just finished making this beautiful gray, blue, and white chevron blanket for our future little bundle of joy, and I love it so much that I thought I’d give you all the pattern so that you can make one as well!
The size of this blanket is very easy to adjust, so whether you want a baby blanket or a full size adult afghan, the possibilities are endless!
I used three different colors, but you can use just one solid color if you want, or several different colors!
So without further ado, here is the pattern for this chevron blanket.
Use a 5mm hook with worsted weight (medium) yarn.
Abbreviations:
Ch – chain
dc – double crochet
dc3tog – double crochet 3 together
st – stitch
**NOTE: At the end of each row you will dc 3 times in the turning chain (last chain on the first row) instead of doing the 3 dcs twice.**
Chain a multiple of 14 stitches + 2 stitches (I did 142 stitches to make it baby sized).
Row 1: (I started with blue) 2 dcs in 3rd ch from hook, *dc in each of the next 3 stitches, dc3tog 2 times, dc in each of the next 3 stitches, (3 dcs in next st) 2 times*; repeat from * to * across, ending with 3 dcs in last ch.
Row 2: Turn. Ch 2. 2 dcs in first dc, *dc in each of the next 3 stitches, dc3tog 2 times, dc in each of the next 3 stitches, (3 dcs in next st) 2 times*; repeat from * to * across, ending with 3 dcs in turning ch.
Repeat row 2 until blanket is to desired length.
I added a white border around my blanket using the same pattern from row 2 along the top and bottom, and a row of dcs along each side (in the end of the rows).
To get the color pattern, I crocheted 3 rows of blue, one row of white, 3 rows of gray, one row of white, and so on.
Update: Some people were having problems with the pattern, so here’s a picture of the pattern. This should answer a lot of questions.
I realized that I never posted pictures of the blanket in it’s natural habitat once we moved to our new house and Oliver was born. So, here you go!
Hope you enjoy this free pattern! Please let me know if you have any questions!
And here are some cute pictures of my little guy to get you through your day. Can’t believe he’s already 18 months old!
There’s not many things I love more than brand new babies, and shooting this maternity session means that a little precious bundle of joy will be arriving soon! Sarah and Garrett chose to shoot their session at her parents’ ranch in Gallatin, TN, which made for a beautiful backdrop with the barn, trees, and beautiful flowers it had to offer. Sarah is due with her first child only 7 weeks before me, which also made this session a bit more special. I hope our boys will grow up to be great friends!
McVeycations