This was a very special shoot with baby James Michael, who was born in the winter of 2020. Mom and dad, Kate and Joe, were as hesitant as I was about shooting an in-home newborn session due to the rising COVID numbers in our area. We decided together that the best course of action was to essentially shoot two newborn sessions - one mini shoot outdoors in December and then a more comprehensive newborn shoot a few months later when we all were vaccinated, which ended up being April. This first set of images were shot in December: For the outdoor newborn photos, I used my Canon RF 70-200 2.8 lens, so I was able to maintain some distance from the family but also get those beautiful details on baby James. We lucked out with a somewhat warm December day. I was so happy we got those first days because look how much he changed from December to April! Can you believe that adorable face? This little guy was so engaged and happy! Our shoot went very smoothly, and I was amazed at how much he had changed. Below you will find Kate's birth story and some details about life with a newborn. Baby’s Place of Birth: Magee Women's Hospital Describe your birth experience. I think my birth experience was as positive as it could get. I went into labor on my own the day before my induction day at 40 weeks,5 days. It went from 0 to 60 very quickly...meaning I went from thinking I might be having contractions to timing them two minutes apart within 30 minutes. I was fortunate that my favorite doctor delivered James (Dr. Anne Shaheen is incredible!). She was so supportive and reassuring throughout my entire labor and delivery. I felt like I was in the best care throughout the process and I have happy memories from it. The moment that James was born was an incredible sensation! I felt him leaving my body and becoming his own person in that moment. Describe life with a newborn. How has your life changed since giving birth? Is it like you expected or totally different? Life with a newborn was difficult! At first, it was difficult getting to know James and getting to know ourselves as parents. I felt like we had to start from square one and rebuild our lives. However, since we have settled into this process I think our lives are better than ever before. James helps complete our family! Does baby have siblings or pets? Siblings' ages? How did they react to baby coming home? We are very close to my parents' 12-year-old German Shepherd mix named Jack. Before we had James, he spent about 50% of his time at our house. Unfortunately, he was originally afraid of James and uncomfortable with the new situation within the "pack." Now that James is a bit older, he is very interested in Jack. He pets Jack and constantly is checking him out. Jack is starting to…