The four-year-old greeted me when I knocked gently on the door. "I'm eating breakfast!" she declared happily, letting me into the house and going back to the table. "We're kinda dragging here," her dad told me as I let myself into the kitchen to wash my hands. Her baby brother had spent most of the night in a constant state of "feed me now" and neither parent had slept very much. The joy of an in-home newborn photo session means it's no big deal if you (the client) are running behind. The baby is the boss, and they don't care about our schedule.

Tony took me to the nursery, which was flooded with beautiful morning sunlight. He and Christina took a few minutes to snuggle with their new son before Big Sister joined us, full of breakfast and ready for a dance party.

Baby requested a photo break for third breakfast (or first lunch) and Sis showed me all of her best twirls, with her doll and perfect-for-twirls princess dress.

I was so thrilled (and jealous) at how well Cassie loved on her little brother during our session. Aside from not knowing what to do when he started crying in her lap, she was really wonderful with him. She didn't even try to rip his face off with her fingernails, which was my personal experience with my toddler when I brought his sister home. *Rolls eyes*

We got some posed and candid sibling photos, and hung around the nursery for a diaper change and Baby’s second lunch. Newborns are just plain unpredictable, which is why we schedule 90 minutes for newborn sessions. It feels like a long time when you schedule it, but when you need to pause every 10 minutes for the Boss's feeding or a change, it goes by pretty quickly.

Christina and Tony, you've made some gorgeous children, and they are so lucky to have you as parents. Big Sister will no doubt teach him all the best dance moves and they'll both be twirling before you know it.

Are you adding a new member to your family? Wondering when the best time would be to schedule your newborn session? I have a blog post for that.