Birth Announcements

Now that the birth announcements have been delivered I am happy to share them with the blogosphere! 

But first let me take you through the process of capturing this adorable picture! It was not easy.

I visited Pinterest and various blogs for advice and inspiration on this photo shoot. Newborn babies are so squirmy, after my first attempt in Dallas I realized this would be a big overtaking. 

The biggies mentioned on every website were:

• Keep the room warm
• Use natural light
• Be sure the baby is in a deep sleep

The first two were a Catch22 for me. It was mid March and cold outside, so if I set up near a window for natural light, it would be cold. I brought in a space heater, but it didn't warm the room well. 

And yes, newborns sleep, but not as much as they eat! MJ was up every hour so by the time I fed him, burped and rocked him to sleep, I had SECONDS before he would wake up for his next feeding. This is why he's awake in our photoshoot.

I was telling people I took over 700 picture of MJ during this photoshoot but it turns out I took less than 100! I was so exhausted afterwards I guess I over exaggerated! 

Now to the pictures....

Outtakes..

Did you see it?

Did you see the ONE perfect little smile? 

It was in 'Take 4'.

This was MJ's 2nd week on this earth so he wasn't at a developmental stage for smiling on demand or smiling in general. One smile in almost 100 photos. That one shot was a gem!!!

The other contenders were....

and

but this

is perfection.

You may remember my post about our Christmas cards and how I should have used Minted.com. Well I remembered my own advice and went to Minted.com for the birth announcements. They have a HUGE selection for baby announcements. It was very difficult to make a decision. 

I was torn between the following:

I really loved the B&W one, but I also really liked the picture being in color. 

I decided on this:

 and we couldn't be happier!