Print Image Inspiration – Image Boxes

Talk to any photographer and they will tell you to print your images and don’t just have them on your computer. I can’t help but agree. But you don’t have to print your images and put them in a boring photo album there are tons of other fun ways to print, display, and store your images. One of my current favorite ways to store the images of my little guy is in personalized photo boxes. I am 100% guilty of taking a million photos of my little guy and I created personalized image boxes to store all my photos. I broke my boxes down to 3-month increments because I had so much to put inside each box.

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I customized these boxes to match with my little guy’s room decor and each box has personalized photos from that time period on the cover. It’s so amazing to sit down and look at the photos from when my little man was a newborn. I know it’s only been 8 1/2 months but I still feel like he’s grown so much already.

These boxes can also double as little keepsake boxes. I have a mixture of ultrasound images, hospital bracelets, and images in my son’s Newborn box.

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I can just imagine sitting down with my son when he is older and looking through all the images of him as a baby. Sharing with him, stories from when he was as a baby and how much his mom and dad love him.

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Do you have a form of a keepsake box for your little one?

 

Mommy Chat – 10 Baby Favorites Under 6 Months

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I love hearing and reading about recommendations for baby items and really any items in general. I spent hours online researching the best bottles, pacifiers, mattresses, cribs, breast pump, etc to use before my little man arrived. But the funny thing is that as soon as he arrived a lot of what I had purchased didn’t fit for us and my little man hated it so I’m sharing my top 10 items that worked great for my family during the first 6 months of my little man’s life. These aren’t in any order and span from paci’s to toys to clothes. These items are all Andrew tested and approved!

  1. Boogie Wipes – These were a reco from one of my great friends and they work perfectly for those pesky runny noses. They are damp so they don’t dry out your little one’s nose when you are constantly wiping away the snot faucet that they seem to have from the age of 3 months to 1 year.
  2. Munchkin Bath Toys – Here is my secret, these toys are perfect for the diaper bag and the bath. They are tiny and fit perfectly in little hands. They are also easy to wipe off when the land on the floor.
  3. Angelcare Baby Bath – We went through numerous bathtubs to find this one. With my little guy being a little bigger he was too squirmy for the all in one bath-tubs and this allowed him to freely kick away without me worrying about losing my grip on him.
  4. Zutano Booties – These booties are the best. When my little guy turned 4 months he found his toes and any pair of sock that was placed on his feet were quickly taken off. It was a game that he was the only one who enjoyed. These booties allow you to snap them on so they stay put and as they get older they offer grippies on the bottom…perfect for beginner walkers.
  5. Fisher-Price Rock ‘N Play – This sleeper / rocker was a life saver in our house. My little guy just loved lying in this and it soothed him instantly. He took numerous naps in this and we were very sad when he outgrew it.
  6. Skip Hop Owl Soother & White Noise Machine – I will admit this was an item I found online and it had great reviews…and this is a hit in our house. It has white noise and songs that you can pick from along with a timer to allow it to turn off without having to play all night long. It also gives off the cutest little star pattern on the ceiling…something that my little guy just loves to look at before he falls asleep.
  7. Medela Sterilizing Bags – These are a perfect way to help easy first-time mommy fear of haveing things clean enough. I use the bags for all the bottle, pacifiers, utensils…if it can be sterilized I will put it in these bags. A little 2 oz of water and 3 1/2 minutes later and my mommy fear is gone. Plus you can use these bags a good 20 times before you toss them.
  8. HALO Sleepsack – This was actually something we started using in the hospital and have continued since birth. Our hospital uses sleepsacks for all their newborns and it’s the perfect way to keep your baby warm at night without using blankets. These sleepsacks also have the option to swaddle your baby’s arms in or not.
  9. Fisher-Price Kick and Play Piano Gym – If your little one loves to kick this is the perfect little play gym for them. Andrew has always been a kid who loves to move and wiggle so being able to make noise with his feet was a perfect toy for him. He would get so excited when he would push hard enough on the keys to play the songs.
  10. WubbaNub Pacifier – My little guy no longer takes a paci but when he did this brand was perfect for us. Andrew loved to play the spit out game and due to the weight of the animal attached to the end of the paci it rarely fell out of his mouth.

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Have you used any of these items? Are there any items that you would add to my list?

Session Styling – New Studio Location {Libertyville IL, Newborn Photographer}

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So I have some exciting news to share with everyone! I’m expanding…and no, not physically – I’m trying to retract from the pregnancy.

Kate Fredrick Photography is expanding!

I now have a studio that I can capture amazing images of you and your little one in!  AHH…how awesome is that. The studio space is located in Libertyville and it is just pure perfection.

Why did I get a studio? The reasons are many…we live in the midwest where it’s freezing cold 90% of the time, you are a busy family and prepping for a photo session is hard enough to plan clothing wise to add cleaning to the list can be overwhelming, we live in the midwest where it rains, etc…

But the main reason I decided to get a studio space was to be able to capture more amazing images of your family. I fell in love with taking images of my little man in our guest bedroom…just him, a white blanket and beautiful light. I wanted you to have the option to get those same types of images of your little one and family.

Don’t worry…I will still be offering sessions at your home and outside but now there is also the option for a studio set up!

I hope you’ll join me in the studio!

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Mommy Chat – Breastfeeding

 

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Oh nelly…It’s about to get very open and honest here…

Want to know a little secret…My little man was fed 99% on formula.

Before you start to cast judgment and think “How could she do that?!?! Doesn’t she know breast is best?”

I do!

And I honestly put 100% into trying to feed my baby with the best possible food source there is…but, in the end, it just didn’t work for me.  I tried pumping around the clock, I spent hours on google and Pinterest trying every different pumping schedule possible, I took 5 different herbal pills that either made me smell like maple syrup or gave me terrible migraines, I spent money on nasty tasting lactation cookies that were dry and gross, and I spent time meeting with lactation consultants who said my little man’s latch was perfect, yet through everything I tried, nothing worked.  I was lucky if two days’ worth of pumping resulted in 2oz of milk for my little man, who was eating 4 ounces every 4 hours.  And I know that even the littlest amount is better than none…so, I continued to struggle and work at it for three months. At that time I was down to making less than 2 ounces in three days. I finally realized that I was missing out on spending time with my little man for very little in return and I stopped everything, the pills, put away the pump, deleted my saved Pinterest pins and I went to play with my little guy.

I could sit here and try to blame the fact that he was born via C-section and I had a rough recovery or that he was put in the NICU for 5 days after delivery or the fact that we never got any good skin-to-skin at the beginning because of my recovery or his monitoring cords and IV in the NICU but what good would that do? Nothing, but bring up those feelings of not being good enough or fear that others will think I didn’t really try.

They tell you in your breastfeeding class that everyone can feed their baby, it’s natural. But that’s a lie.  A lie, to make you feel like you are failing and something is wrong with you if you can’t feed your baby. But I want all the mommies who have struggled with feeding their babies to know that it’s ok!  We are still amazing moms who love our babies just as much as every other mommy out there!

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I remember being so afraid to leave the house when my little guy was first born because I didn’t want someone to see me giving him formula and judge me.  Then I would read people posting online about the struggle breastfeeding mommies were going through and part of me wished I would have that struggle…but I didn’t.  We tend to forget about the other side of the coin in situations.

Instead, I realized that no matter how I fed my baby I was open to scrutiny on my choices. The irony though is that it wasn’t a choice I got to make, it was a choice I was given.  My wish is that the next time you see a mommy feeding their baby, no matter how they are feeding their little one, we show them kindness for they are taking care of the next generation and tell them that they are doing a great job!  We need to raise each other up instead of tear each other down.

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Session Styling: Things that inspire my photography

Everyone sees the world differently, just like the old saying of the glass being half full versus being half empty. The reason we all see things so differently is because of who we are…our experiences, our personalities, our passions. A big part of the journey to becoming a photographer is understanding how you see the world and capturing that in a photo. For some photographers it can happen quickly, for others they will make multiple twists and turns to find their view…and in truth, a photographer’s view can be ever changing. For me, I’ve figured out a few things that have really helped me with how I view my world and how it has shaped my photography.

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  1. My baby

Becoming a mom has greatly changed my world and photography. I have a new found understanding of all the little details and nuances specific to a baby. I want to capture photos of my little man regarding who he is, his personality, his little details so I when I see them years later I am brought back to those moments and memories. Our children are only little once and they seem to grow at lightning speed. When I photograph your baby I want to capture images that you will be able to look back at and recall just who they were at that moment in life.

2. My personality

I am a quiet, calm, simple person. I’m not a large crowd type of person and would much rather stay home with my husband and son to going out to a bar or club. This calm, quiet, simple side of me is carried through my photography with soft colors, simple set-ups, and classic poses. I love working with newborns because they too do best in calm quiet situations. Newborns and I are a match made in heaven.

3. My guest bedroom

I am a natural light photographer…what does that mean? It means I love to use the sun as my light source instead of flash or any other external light. When we moved into our new house I found that our guest bedroom had the most amazing light coming through the windows and it’s where I spend a majority of my photography time capturing memories of my son. It’s the type of light that adds a soft glow to my images and an almost dreamy feel. I search for this same light in your home and my new studio. Clean white light is how I want my photos to look.

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When you think of your life, what inspires you? Is it your kids…your job…your hobbies?