If you had told me back in January, when I photographed Jess + Dereck’s maternity session, that it would take me 6 months to meet their baby girl, I would’ve told you you were crazy.  But then a pandemic happened and we were all faced with a lot of unknowns, and this brand new mama and daddy had to make some tough decisions, like foregoing the newborn session we’d scheduled, in order to keep little Gracie girl as safe and healthy as possible.  And just like I’ve seen them do every step of their journey to parenthood, these two faced this latest challenge and allowed it to pull them closer together and make them a stronger team.  So we waited (and we FaceTimed a BUNCH) and finally, we were able to reschedule our session for a couple of weeks after Gracie turned 6 months old!

And y’all, as much as I love newborn sessions, I have also now fallen in love with in-home sessions for little babes that are between the newborn and toddler stage.  I mean, I know I’m biased, but OH MY GOODNESS, every frame from this session is a new fave of mine!!!  (But really, though, can you blame me??)

Between capturing these two in their new roles as mama + daddy, and finally getting to meet my best friend’s little miracle baby, this day and these images will forever have a special place in my heart, and I am SO, so excited  to share my faves with you!!

I love, love, love the soft, neutral-and-blush color palette Jess went with in the nursery.  It’s simple and it’s feminine and between her decor choices and the GORGEOUS light this room gets, I could have shot in here forever!!

I LOVE their shiplap wall and flower hoops, and this adorable wooden measuring stick wall art Jess found!  How fun is that??

We got the stinking CUTEST little smiles and giggles out of this nugget, and it was SO fun to capture all her little expressions!

This little girl adores her daddy (see below), but I’m obsessed with this shot of her and her mama on the right!

If you know Jess + Dereck, you know their pups are 100% part of the family, so I couldn’t let this day go by without capturing a few shots of Max and Harper.  Just look at this sweet little hound face!!!

And I love that the dogs followed us into the nursery and laid down on the floor – all on their own – for this shot.  This is one of my favorites from the whole day, because it just feels like a normal, everyday moment in the Clegg house!

Um, y’all.  This next one on the left – HOW CUTE is this little nugget?!?

We even pulled out Jess’s wedding dress to use as the background in a few solo shots of Gracie girl!

I love this next one SO MUCH!

Have I mentioned this little girl is one of the happiest babies EVER?!   All. the. smiles.

We also added some time to our session to do a quick little mini-session outside in golden hour light, and I’m SUCH a fan of these, too!!

Ummm, I kind of can’t even with this next shot!

Jess, Dereck, I can’t even tell you how happy I am for you, how precious your Gracie girl is, and how much I adore watching you two be a mama + daddy.  They are roles that you fit perfectly into, and it makes my heart so, so happy!  I love you both and I’m so glad we were finally able to do this together!!!