Can someone please tell me where 2012 is running away to?? I need to grab it and take it hostage so that I can catch up on everything, and then tell the world when I am ready to continue! Don't get me wrong... it has been a fantastic whirl-wind of a year so far!! Nearly April though?! Seriously world, slow down!!

I have been pretty insanely busy since November last year, and I am LOVING it!! It does however mean that sometimes blogs have taken the back-burner, as I have had to work hard on getting the images to the clients first! But I love sharing people's stories and photographs... so I have complied a wee blog of just three of the gorgeous little cuties I have been lucky enough to photograph recently!

Tamsin and Damian wanted some precious photos of little 8 week old Jordan before he grew up too much! Jordan rocked the photo shoot - he is one of the most smiley little boys I have ever photographed, and he was so incredibly chilled out the whole time!

His pensive thinking face... hmmmm....

2 year old Ella was very lucky to have her grandparents over from Scotland for a few months!! Before they left, we met for a shoot to mark this very special time. Ella is adorable. Such a sweet little personality, and very curious! She spent a very large chunk of the shoot right up in my lens like this, convinced that 'Dora The Explorer' was inside my "TV"!!

Snuggles with the grandparents!

3 month old Madison was a delight to photograph, with her gorgeous wee chubby cheeks and legs!! She was so placid and serious the whole time I photographed, trying to figure out what was going on!! 3 months is such a nice age, as they start to interact with the world and begin to develop their own personality. What an adorable little button...

Summer...
Warming. Joyful. Glowing. Blissful.

Drifting in and out of sleep, 9 day old Summer melted my heart. What an honour it is to meet tiny new friends like this, so soon after they arrive into the world. Summer is an absolutely gorgeous little bundle of perfection! Her parents are so smitten, and so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl to call their own.

Know in full how loved you are, wee Summer. Dream sweetly xoxo

This little baby (known as 'Baby Pea' during pregnancy) graced the world with his presence on his due date, which was remarkably convenient of him! His amazing parents, Catherine and Simon, needed to get home from Christchurch before he was born, and I was heading to Invercargill for a wedding just a few days after his due date... so the timing all worked in perfectly.

Meet little Ezra. He is 9 days old, and he is perfection all wrapped up.

There is only one thing more precious than a baby's wee hands and feet... and that is when those wee hands grab hold of yours. The first thing Ezra did when he was born, was to wrap his tiny little fingers around his mothers...

Isn't he just the sweetest little bundle you ever did see?!

I love the connection here with his Daddy...

Ezra was so chilled out the whole time. He didn't sleep... but he also didn't cry, grizzle, poo, or spew. He just lay, happy as Larry, placidly taking in the world around him.

Remember his wee pea-pod toys from the maternity shoot?!

This is what kisses for a hungry baby look like... hehe...

Love that little tongue trying to find food!

And this is what kisses for a well-fed baby look like...

Catherine and Simon, you are beautiful and loving parents. Ezra is very lucky to have you both. I wish you all the best as you enter the journey of parenthood!

Just fed, and zonked. Wee Ezra finally fell to sleep...

I hope to see you again precious wee thing! xx

_Beautiful little Georgia... you are Mummy’s everything.
What a sweet honour that is to be.

You are perfect in every way.

Your eyes connect and melt her heart.

Your tiny little toes make her never want to let you go.

Your quiet slumber brings her peace.

Your smile brings her joy like she has never felt.

You are loved with every inch of her heart, precious little baby xoxo

Newborns, newborns, newborns! There has definitely been something in the water around Dunedin... there seems to be a mini baby boom recently... and I loooove it!!

This time I had the pleasure of meeting gorgeous little William Elliot and his wonderful first-time parents, Karen and Zane. They were smitten, and rightly so! He is a beautiful little boy. William was sleeping sweetly when I arrived... but that didn't last too long! He was a very wriggly wee baby, with a strong wee set of legs on him!! Any little poses we put him in, he just wriggled his way out... we needed some good strong hands to hold down the bucket so that he didn't push himself right off! He will be an adventurous one when he grows up!

Elliot has the coolest little room, with these awesome hand-painted wall decor stickers!

Wee William wasn't so keen on his photo shoot and spent a good lot of it crying, but Karen and Zane managed to sttle him beautifully each time...

A gift from a friend...  one that represents the huge amounts of love abounding in this lovely little family...

Thank you Elliot family for inviting me into your lovely house to do this shoot! I wish you all the best for your lifetime of parenthood and family life! I have no doubt you will be fantastic parents! xx

Little Bella was just 8 days old when I met her and her three big brothers - Liam, Bailey and Lincoln. The boys love their new baby sister sooo much, it is just adorable! Their parents, Jo and Adrian, sure have their hands full with four little kids under seven, but what a job they are doing!

It is not often I photograph newborn babies who already have older siblings, and I just loved seeing the interactions between the three boys and their precious wee sister. She is going to be one over-protected girl when she grows up!! Lucky wee thing!

Lincoln and Bailey just wanted to smother her in smooches!

Liam thought kissing was a bit yucky, but really wanted a photo holding Bella...

The whole wonderful family!

Jo and her precious first daughter (and only, considering this is probably their last child!)

Four-year old Bailey was a super awesome poser throughout the whole shoot. The other two boys were slightly more camera shy, but Bailey had lots of good ideas about what photos I could take of him!

Thanks Jo and Adrian for bringing up such gorgeous little kiddies! You definitely have a beautiful little set of them! I loved doing this shoot for you, and I am so glad you like the photos so much that you couldn't choose! All the best with your first wee girl! xx

Little Caleb Dobier graced the world with his presence slightly earlier than expected, but healthy and absolutely adorable! At 5 days old, he only just hit the 5lb mark, and I got the pleasure of photographing him! He is so tiny... it is astounding that someone so little is a fully-functioning, learning, growing, adorable whole person! His parents Kim and Tim are doing an amazing job at loving him completely and utterly!

I have to say this is probably the most simple newborn shoot I have ever done. Caleb didn't cry once... not once! He slept so peacefully, breathing tiny little breaths that you could see filling his whole wee ribcage. Sometimes he would open his beautiful big eyes and just watch the world go by around him, taking in everything, and following the gaze of his parents. Then he would softly and calmly close his eyes, and fall back into the most gorgeous little slumber, that makes you just feel like everything is so perfect.

Squishiness!

Beauitiful Kim with her precious son...

And Tim holding his tiny wee boy... just after getting pooed on TWICE! You know how in the last newborn blog I said they always tend to poo as soon as the nappy comes off... well, yup... again! Tim had put a shirt on for the photos, then got pooed on... so while Kim nursed Caleb, Tim changed his shirt... then Kim handed him back and immediately Tim got pooed on again! Ah, mothers always know best... :)

A gorgeous little family.

I think he loves his Mum...

"Ohhh, do I get to go on holiday?!"

If you look closely here, you get a glimpse of behind the scenes of a newborn shoot - me and my camera reflected in his eyes, and Tim doing the 'look here Caleb!" dance...

Newborns are just the most precious thing in the world. Caleb, you have become the whole world to your parents... you are so loved and so amazing. Kim and Tim, enjoy this awesome time with your gorgeous wee boy xoxo

I met sweet little Zhavier at about 14 days old. His proud grandma booked a newborn shoot especially for him and his Dad as a gift, which I thought was so special! I arrived to see Zhavier getting cradled to sleep...all suited up in a gorgeous new outfit, and as peaceful as anything.

He has such beautiful soft skin, fluffy hair, gorgeous big eyes, and such a tiny wee body that makes you just melt when you see him. New life is such a blessing!

It's a tiring life when you sleep, feed, fill your nappy, then sleep some more! Big yawns...

... and then some more sleep!

I swear there must be an unwritten rule for newborn shoots that as soon as the nappy comes off, the baby must then do his toileting.... it always seems to be the way! But despite some number ones and twos, there was nothing here that Mum and Dad couldn't take in their stride. And then we got to see those gorgeous eyes as Zhavier woke from his slumber.

I love these shots with Hayden, Zhavier's father. There is something so precious about a father-son relationship, and I love the absolute contrast between strength and helplessness...

Zhavier, you precious wee thing you! I am so glad I could capture this time of your life. Thanks Hayden and Jana for a wonderful shoot with your adorable boy. All the best, I am sure you will both do a fabulous job of raising a great son! xo

She is captivating! We sat all weekend and just watched her as she went about the daily activites of a 5 day old human. She sleeps so peacefully, she breathes tiny wee breaths that make her lip quiver, she wriggles gently, and folds herself into positions only possible when you've spent the past 9 months squished in a tiny ball. She opens her eyes as much as she can to look out and take in the world around her. She cries when she is cold, she cries when she is hungry, she cries when she has pooed. She is helplessly gorgeous. And her parents give everything they possibly can to make her happy, comfortable, and loved. She is their world, and she always will be.

Penelope Jane Truman was born at 11:22am on the 13th of March. I met her on the 18th of March, 5 days old. She is my beautiful niece and I love her with all my heart! Sarah and Nick adore their beautiful little girl. Penelope has been born into a caring, nurturing, awesomely fun family. She didn't have a choice in the matter, but she will be greatly blessed by it!

We had a very special weekend in Invercargill, with lots of family from both sides there to meet the most precious, tiny wee addition to our family. We ohhhed and ahhhhed over everything she did. Apparently babies are just cute whenever they complete any normal bodily function. She is cute when she yawns, cute when she sneezes, cute when she fills her nappy, and especially cute when she pees all over her father.

Introducing Penelope Jane... who has already gathered up a variety of nicknames such as Penny, PJ, Pelle-loppy, Penelly-pod, Poppy, and my personal favourite - PelleNelleLoppyPoppy.

Everything about her is so soft and squishy.

These suitcases are very special. They were 'old, useless suitcases just gathering dust' in my Nana's garage in Ashburton. But they represent so much more than that! Now, they are a very special reminder of Penelope's Great-Nana and Great-Grandad, and the adventures they had together. They are used, worn, broken in places, and still labelled with their names and tickets. They are full of memories of travel, excitement, and love. Penelope has the great honour of meeting this same Great-Nana this weekend, who we all love to pieces. Oh how I wish I was there to photograph four beautiful generations!

Newborns are generally so sleepy all the time... except when you need them to be for photos. There is nothing more comfy than a bucket full of towels though, and the wee poppet fell fast asleep and was so content.

Life is very tiring when you are 5 days old. So just relaxing in Daddy's arms while you gently falling asleep is one of the best things you can do.

Music has always been a very big part of our family, and pianos represent a lot for us. When we were growing up, the piano was always being played - my sisters and I were practicing, Mum was teaching and playing beautifully, or we were all standing around it for a big sing-a-long! A little bit like the Brady Bunch, yes, but special none-the-less. This piano was a gift from Nick to Sarah a couple of years ago, and seemed the perfect place for a newborn.

If you like her gorgeous wee 'Shake Your Booty Booties' and 'Mad Hatter's Hat' outfit, you too can have your own! (For your baby, not you). Check out the fabulous 'Baby - By Emily Kerse' range. Emily is very talented fashion designer in Invercargill, and is recognised internationally. Actually, you will probably find something for you while you are there!

Sarah and Nick are gorgeous parents! They adore Penelope, and everything she does. Nick even gets really excited about changing her nappy. I am not sure how long that will last! Sarah and Nick, you are so perfect for Penny. What a beautiful family you now are!

Penny-Loppy, you are adorable! We all want to just cuddle you up, and snuggle in your warmth and softness. You are so, so treasured.

We can't wait to watch you grow and learn and become a gorgeous wee girl! You are loved beyond measure. Your parents are doing a fantastic job and there are so many people in our big extended family who think you now the most precious thing on earth xoxoxox

When I photographed beautiful Charlie, he was only 8 tiny days old. His proud first-time parents (Ellie and Nathan) were exhausted, but were doing an amazing job at loving this little boy to bits! I arrived to find him sleeping peacefully, but it wasn't to last for long... for the next few hours, he screamed. He sure has developed a great little pair of lungs! It didn't matter though - finally with a full little tummy, a lot of loving, and a lot of patience, this utterly gorgeous little boy let me photograph for a few minutes. Let me show you a wee selection of this perfect little miracle of life...

Charlie is so lucky to have such an amazing and adoring Mum and Dad...and just by the way, isn't Ellie gorgeous?!

What a great brand new wee family...

Isn't he precious?! Thanks little man, you are such a blessing xoxo