This family welcomed their little newcomer nine days ago and I had the pleasure of photographing them this morning. One of their friends, whose family I photographed during my spring mini-sessions, bought them a photo session from me as a present (brilliant idea, I should say!).

(I absolutely loved this little girl’s room!)

{Scott and Lucy, I hope you enjoy this little sneak peek! Thank you again for welcoming me into your home this morning. It was fantastic to meet you and will be in touch again soon!}

I mean 22 months.

In less than two weeks, she turns 22 months. Still hard to believe it has been that long ago when she came. I know I always say she is growing up too fast but it really is becoming more and more evident by the day. She copies me all the time. When I put make-up on, she stands in front of the mirror and pretends to apply make-up with her fingers. She sticks out her hand when she sees me putting lotion on. When I put on jewellery, she tells me, “Aeyen wear too!”.

I have started looking at pre-schools for her too. I still don’t know whether to feel proud or to feel sad that when we go and visit schools, she jumps off my arms the instant we get there and plays with the other children. And when it’s time to leave, I have to bribe her with snacks so she will go home with me!

Someone Up There must really like me. When I did my mini-sessions last week-end, the sun came shining even though weather forecasts said it was going to rain. After two days of blue skies and warm sunshine, Monday was cold, rainy and just plain grim. And now, a day later, on a scheduled photo session with this beautiful family, the sun came shining for me again! Just an hour after I got home, the weather became cloudy and miserable again! Coincidence? I think not!

It was such a lovely morning and here’s a quick sneak peek of this family I spent it with:

{Phil and Emma, thanks for being such good sports this morning even though you guys must be so tired from your week-end away! I hope you like the sneak peek and I will be in touch again soon. Hugs to Mia!}

Meet Bo and Herbie. The birth of these twins is a story of love, perseverance and hope. (Photographed at 14 days old.)

Their parents, Niki and Jason, have had trouble tried getting pregnant for years. When IVF didn’t work them, they both looked for other options and decided to give egg donation a go.

Finding an egg donor proved to be difficult. Their story was featured in one of the national papers and after it was published, 200 women contacted Niki and Jason, all willing to donate their eggs. For various reasons, they couldn’t find a suitable donor from the people who contacted them at that time. In the end, one of Niki’s old friends stepped forward to donate her eggs to the couple. Not too long after, Niki became pregnant.

And now, she is blessed with twins–a boy and a girl.

There is a huge shortage of egg donors in the UK where there is an average waiting list for two to five years. Moreover, since donor anonymity has been removed by the law, fertility clinics are seeing an adverse effect in the number of spem and eggs being donated. Niki and Jason supports the National Gamete Donation Trust, a government-funded charity which aims to raise awareness about egg donation and change the problem of donor shortage. For more details, visit the NGDT website.

{Niki, it was such a pleasure and a privilege to have met you and your beautiful twins! Your love and devotion was so evident and so beautiful to see. It’s my hope that other people get inspired by your story as I did . I cannot wait to show you the rest of your photographs!}

This family is very special to me as they are very good friends. I met the mum, Sarah, at our post-natal class when our girls were less than 12 weeks old. We continued seeing each other even when the classes finished and became fast friends, along with some other mums whom we met at the same class. Eventually, our husbands became friends and we just kept seeing each other more and more. We go to the same playgroups, we look after each other’s children and pretty much become part of each others’ lives. I don’t know what I would do without my sisterhood of mothers…..

It was such a joy and a privilege to photograph this growing family. (And I got to cuddle their newest addition loads too!)

Beautiful, aren’t they? And here are a couple of outtakes from the session. Izzy’s trousers kept falling off–it was hilarious. And my little girl had such a great time being attacked by ‘Izzy daddy’!

{Steve and Sarah, what can I say??? You were all a dream to photograph. I didn’t do much but aim and click! We feel truly blessed to know you and to be called your friends. Much love from us, R&B + A}

Spring has definitely come!

And I am very excited to show this season’s first photo session. The bluebell woods is definitely one of my favourite places to take photographs. This family was such a pleasure to meet and the little ones were so adorable!

{James and Natalie–it was so lovely to spend the afternoon with you and your children. I hope you enjoy the sneak peek and I will be in touch when the rest of your photos are ready!}

I am not so sure where my baby has gone….. Somewhere between nappies and Cheerios, my baby has officially become a toddler. With non-stop babbling, extra-shrill giggling, full-blown tantrums and all! Aeyen is now 20 months old and I cannot even begin to describe how much she has changed. Sometimes, she looks at me and I can only catch my breath. Her facial expressions are so grown up and it just hits me, she’s finally stopped being a baby. This little person here is, in fact, a little girl.

And before I know it, I will have to start thinking about another birthday party!

Spring has definitely come and it is the perfect time to launch Bitten Smitten Photography’s new website and blog. I hope that you are finding your way around easily around the website and enjoying the new photos on the galleries. I’m also excited about this new blog! I have so many photos to show from previous sessions and I am hoping the new blog design will work well.

A special shout-out to the superstars who helped make it all work: my sister, Rhea and friends, KP and Marchesa. They’ve been brilliant!

I hope you have enjoyed your visit and do drop by again soon!

{This post will remain on top of the blog until April 7th, 2009. Think of it as a welcome sign for everyone who is visiting the new home for the first time! Please scroll down for recent entries!}