Amanda&Andre&Esme

Jacqueline Mitchell
Jul 19, 2021
3 min read

Newborn sessions will forever be my favorite.

There’s something so raw and so intimate about entering that sacred and private space of someone’s home and nursery and showing the real side of adjusting to this new life as we know it.

Amanda and Andre met at the gym in 2013 while Amanda was doing volunteer work in England. Andre was working as a personal trainer and Amanda explains that they knew almost instantly that they were going to be together. Their journey to The States wasn’t an easy one but they did everything that it took to make it work and be together. Andre proposed to Amanda in Paris and the two of them married in 2015.

"We realized pretty quickly we wanted to get married".

After living in Philadelphia for a few years, Amanda and Andre decided last year that they were ready to call this place their forever home. They purchased a home built in 1860 which was, according to their realtor, used as a fisherman’s quarters for those working in the harbor.

Armed with this information, I became giddy instantly.

I grew up in an old farm house built at the turn of the century. The smell of an old home brings me back to my childhood and fills me with intense nostalgia. The nooks & crannies and the perfect imperfections. The craftsmanship and character. Ahhhh...

At 8 months pregnant, Amanda volunteered to design and repaint an outdated mural in the courtyard that her and Andre share with their neighbors. Amanda tells Esme that she helped her paint it and we both felt it was a special (and necessary) touch to add her art into our session.

You may not be able to tell, but Esme was having herself A DAY. There was just no part of her that wanted anything to do with being on camera. Or eating. Or sleeping.

I've worked with newborns for half of my adult life and have two children of my own, but Andre had some things to teach me. He gave me a little crash course on the C.R.I.E.S. method researched by the founder of the SNOO (If you don’t know what a SNOO is, I recommend you google it. Game Changer. LIFE changer).

Andre can’t remember what the acronym for C.R.I.E.S. stands for but that doesn’t matter because whatever it means, he knew exactly what he was doing and Esme was asleep almost instantly.

The Baby Whisperer

I have a hard time coming to terms with the notion that there are people out there who believe that newborn sessions aren't necessary or "worth it".

I disagree.

The endless diaper changes. The late night feeds. The frustration. The days that go by without sometimes as much as looking at ourselves in the mirror. That's life with a newborn, amirite?

An entire day will go by and then we look at the clock and realize that it's only been 10 minutes. Sometimes we find ourselves so wrapped up in these new duties bestowed upon us to care for this precious and helpless life that we created. Through all of that, have you ever stopped and caught your significant other staring at you with hearts in his eyes? That's where I come in.

Let’s be honest-

It’s not all peaches and rainbows. This stage is HARD. The lack of sleep, balancing schedules, midnight changes. It’s challenging. It’s unpredictable. It’s exhausting.

But boy, is it worth it.