Merry Christmas 2014 | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Merry Christmas everyone! I had to hop on the blog today to share my family’s annual Christmas tree photo. So many of you ask me about it each year, so I wanted to make sure I got it posted for you all. This is year number four that I’ve done this portrait, and this year is oh so special, as you can imagine! With the addition of baby Clarkson to our family, we have a new person in the photo. 🙂 He has just begun to sit up unassisted for a few seconds here and there. My husband was slightly out of the frame stabilizing Clarkson every time he started to wobble. I love how it turned out. Just perfect – our family of THREE little boys.

And of course I wanted to share each of the past year’s photos. It’s fun to see how much each of my “big” boys have grown over the years!

I hope you all have enjoyed your Christmas, and I wish you each a fabulous 2015!

xoxo,

Melissa

Clarkson at 5 Months | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

I just had to come on and share a sweet photo of my own baby boy, Clarkson. He just turned five months old yesterday. I’m not sure where these months are going…. he’s gotten to be so big. I’ve been taking a nice monthly photo of him so I can make a first year album for him after he’s turned one. This month, since we’re all in the Christmas spirit at my house, I figured I’d do a fun holiday set-up. And OMG, is he the cutest thing ever, or what?!? I’m just sooo in love with this photo and had to share it with all of you! 🙂 I love this sweet baby! So happy he’s mine!

Melissa is currently booking for Raleigh Durham newborn photography sessions in the Raleigh Durham Cary Wake Forest, North Carolina area for January 2015 and later. Be sure to contact her early to reserve your space!

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Baby Hayleigh | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Oooooooh you guys are in for a treat with this sweet little girl Hayleigh!!!! I have had QUITE the streak of baby boys this year, so a newborn session with a baby girl?!?!! I was thrilled!! Out came all of the pinks and purples and headbands and crowns, etc. etc. Oh, and I threw some neutrals in there because I do love those too! Precious baby Hayleigh came to my Raleigh newborn studio at 13 days old. I photographed her older sister too, and was delighted that they added a second little girl to their family. And Hayleigh was an absolute delight during her session. A true doll baby, who looked gorgeous in all things girly! So here she is… feel free to ooh and aah over her photos! 🙂

If you’re interested in booking a newborn baby photography session for 2015, please contact me at melissadevoephotography@gmail.com!

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Baby Zane | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

I am SO excited to share this newborn session with you all today! Baby Zane has got to be one of the most adorable babies I’ve ever had the pleasure of snuggling in my newborn studio! His photos really speak for themselves, but jeeeeez, those eyelashes are just killer! I’ve seen some pretty great eyelashes on babies over the last several years, but Zane’s are just above and beyond! Goodness gracious! This little boy was so sweet for his session too — a perfect sleepy little baby at 13 days old. I was lucky enough to photograph his older brother waaaaay back when he was in pre-school… it must be about 3 or 4 years ago now. So I was beyond delighted that this family wanted me to do Zane’s newborn photos. They’re just the sweetest family. And they have a perfect new addition!

Here’s baby Zane!

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My Baby Boy!!! | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST NC NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

I’m so excited to announce that my baby boy arrived early last month. Clarkson was born July 8th, and I am absolutely loving every minute I spend with him. I am reeeeally tired, as you can imagine. My two big boys are out of school for the summer and are making it hard for me to nap during the days. And my little boy is getting up quite a few times during the night…. so let’s just say I’m one tired mama. However, despite all of that, I made it my mission to bring Clarkson into the studio here and there to make sure I got a few shots of him. Some days didn’t go so well, and other days went pretty great. I’m head over heels in love with these, and sooooo glad I made myself do it even when I didn’t want to. 🙂

Day 5:

Day 12:

Day 13, one of my favorites *oh, who am I kidding? they’re all my favorites!!!*:

Day 16:

Day 17:

And lastly… Today Clarkson turned one month old, and of course I had to capture how much he’s changed. Here is my chunky, cuddly man on his one month birthday:

Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes we’ve received, they mean so much! And thanks to all of my clients for their patience and understanding as I spend this time with my family. I’ll be returning to shooting sessions in late September/October, and I look forward to seeing all of you!

Baby Elias | RALEIGH DURHAM NC NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

**Scheduling note — I’m currently on maternity leave. I’m accepting bookings for maternity, newborn, and Baby’s First Year sessions for October 2014 or later. Please e-mail me at melissadevoephotography@gmail.com to book your fall session, and please allow a few days for a response. Thank you! **

Well, the good thing about maternity leave is that I’ve been able to write up a whole lot of blog posts ahead of time and schedule them to post for me. So, hopefully I can FINALLY be caught up on blogging all of my sessions by the time I return to shooting in September/October. I think when I started maternity leave, I was about 25 sessions behind… yikes. Thank goodness for this break so I can get everyone’s sessions up and shared!!

This handsome boy is baby Elias at 14 days old. I just cannot get over the beautiful head of hair he has!! A friend of mine asked if I was now using baby wigs in my sessions, hehehehe. Nope – this is all natural! He is such a cutie!

Melissa is currently booking for Raleigh Durham maternity photography sessions and Raleigh newborn photography sessions in the Raleigh Durham Cary Wake Forest, North Carolina area for October 2014 and later. Be sure to contact her early to reserve your space!

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Baby Henry | RALEIGH DURHAM NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

The cute little guy I’m sharing today is newborn baby Henry at 9 days old. He was wide awake for a while at the beginning of our session, so I got some great photos of his gorgeous eyes, which I love! And then he fell right asleep like a good little boy so I could pose him. How polite of him, huh? Here’s a few from Henry’s first photo session!

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Baby Gabriel | RALEIGH NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

This handsome little guy is newborn Gabriel at 11 days old. His Mommy is the gorgeous Camisha, whose maternity session you might have seen on the blog! Gabriel’s Daddy is deployed right now and hasn’t gotten to meet him yet — can you believe that!?! I KNOW he’s dying to see him! Thank goodness for e-mail and Skype so he can see his little man that way! Camisha is doing everything herself, and I give her major credit for that… having a newborn is so hard!! Thankfully Gabriel is about as cute and perfect as they come. Camisha, thanks for making the long drive to Raleigh for your session, and for sharing your little sweetheart with me!! Such an honor!

I think babies really like to wink at me, hehe! 🙂

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Baby Brooklynn | RALEIGH DURHAM NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

This sweet baby girl is little Brooklynn, who came to my studio at 10 days old for her session! She happens to have older brothers, so I’m sure she’ll be well protected as she gets older! 🙂 And she has the best cheeks ever! Loved meeting her!

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Baby Patrick | RALEIGH NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

**Scheduling note — my maternity leave is starting in the next week or so. I’m currently accepting bookings for maternity, newborn, and Baby’s First Year sessions for October 2014 or later.**

The little fella I want to share with you today is baby Patrick, who was just 8 days old for his photo session. His family unfortunately went through quite a bit of heartbreak during the pregnancy. Sadly, Patrick’s Daddy passed away from cancer before he was born. So, we of course incorporated a lot of things that had been special to Patrick’s Daddy, including his army uniforms, some special hats, wedding rings, etc. Patrick’s Mommy is so wonderful and was one of the kindest, funniest people despite everything she’s been through. I’m so happy she has baby Patrick in her life, and I hope to see more of them as Patrick gets bigger!

Here are my favorites from Patrick’s newborn session.