A few months ago, I was talking with a couple of my friends about our upcoming 30th birthdays. We are exactly one week apart and we have always celebrated our birthdays together .. well since we have known each other which would be about 12 years now! 

I had probably recently done a smash session and I jokingly said , "You know, we should do one for our 30th ... all together!" They both agreed and I didn't really think much of it after that.

But then a couple weeks after that, one of my girlfriends asked me if I was serious about doing the smash session because it sounded like a lot of fun. You should have seen my face, ya'll. I was so pumped.

I shared some from their session last week on their birthday but here are more from the session ... with my girlfriends and also with my littles!

And a special shout out to Kristen (of K DiNenna Photography) and my hubby for helping take pictures and Susan from Creative Cake Designs for the gorgeous cake.

Happy birthday to two of my favorites <3
​...Who says cake smashes are only for 1 year olds???

I was lucky enough to photograph this little man for his newborn session and seeing this sweet family after a year was just incredible! We had a lot of fun with capturing some updated family photos and celebrating Archer turning one with a cake smash!

I had so much fun with these three! And Caleb gave the best smiles throughout the session ... especially when his dad told him he had stinky feet ;) Too cute!
Here are some of my favorites,
xoxo
Sarah

Of course, I always start smash sessions with some updated family portraits ;)

I love a good nose scrunch laugh!

Ah! That little leg kick ...

Thank you Susan for another amazing cake!!!

He seriously had the best faces <3

He ate that cake up!!! It's so delicious!
...Okay, maybe dad helped a little ;)

I absolutely LOVE this sweet family. I met them back in 2014 when I had my very first Fall Minis and I have been watching them grow ever since! This was the BEST smash session ever ... Ella was full of smiles and giggles and she just cracked me up the whole time! Here are some of my favorites and then enjoy a progression of Miss Ella ... maternity, newborn, and 1st birthday!
xoxo,
Sarah

First taste of cake!!

... THIS <3

This smash session was so fun! We met at a family owned farm and got to play with some of the animals before we dug into the cake ... I mean, it was fun for everyone!! 
xoxo,
Sarah

Newborn & 1st Birthday <3

Meet Jude and his family.
PS - I was digging the black and whites for this session ;)
xoxo,
​Sarah

One of my favorite parts of smash sessions is pulling the parents away for a quick minute and taking pictures of JUST THEM. I know ... it sounds crazy but if you're a parent of a little one, when is the last time you had a picture taken with just you two???? 

Can we stop a minute and talk about how amazing this egg cake is. 

I was so excited when Michelle contacted me about her twins turning one. This was my first double cake smash and I had SO much fun with these wild things! 
xoxo,
​Sarah

Oh, where do I begin with this small biz shoutout! Susan from Yorktown Creative Cakes is *beyond* amazing. She makes the most beautiful cakes to go with any theme and not only do they look gorgeous ... they taste SOOOO GOOD! Not only do I use Yorktown Creative Cakes for my clients but I also use them for my own cake needs too ... like birthday parties! 
Here are some of the cakes that Susan has made for me, my clients, and my family <3
xoxo,
Sarah

... And here are the cakes that Susan has made for Sophia's 1st and 2nd birthday parties!!

It was so great watching this girl grow from a newborn to the big o-n-e.  I absolutely love watching "my babies" grow!! This was one of my first smashes where I designed around a theme and got and made little props to go with it! I loved how it turned out and it was so fun watching her (and her older brother) dig into the cake!! To get started, a little flashback to a year before where I photographed Charlotte as a newborn!
Then, of course, some of my favorites from the session!
xoxo,
Sarah

Tomorrow, baby Valentina will be one! I was honored to have photographed both her newborn session and her cake smash session. It's incredible how much these little munchkins grow in just a year! I can't help but think of that video that has been going around about a child's first year. It brings me to tears every time I watch it. I think about how precious each and every moment is of life, especially your own child's. They learn and grow SO quickly it's unbelievable. I have, of course, added the video into the bottom of this post for those of you who haven't seen it. Get a kleenex now!

I just started offering these family/smash sessions and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. If you book a smash session with me, you get a family session too. That's just how I think it should be. Like I said, your baby grows up so quickly and, with technology these days, you probably have 8,291 pictures on your phone of *just* your baby but hardly any of the family (I'm guilty of this, too!) That's why I think it's so important to get some captures of your little family right before we celebrate with cake! So, each smash session starts with a little quality family time!
Enjoy some of my favorites from the session,
xoxo
Sarah

Miss V is learning to walk! She does pretty well when holding mommy and daddy's hands! Soon, she'll be off on her own...

I'm obsessed with this image. Her little scrunched up face is a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e <3

Now on to the celebration ...
Mom and dad made the lemonade stand and brought a couple of the decorations. Together with some gorgeous flowers, lemons, and an amazing cake ... it looked fab!

She was definitely more into the lemons than she was the cake! Haha :)

... and a small outfit change :)

Happy first birthday, mom!

I met this sweet family last Fall while I was at the Salazar's home photographing their precious new baby girl. Aurora and I bonded over the fact that our babies were one day apart and we talked a lot about how they were already growing too fast! When she contacted me to set up a cake smash for Mateo, I was super excited!
Since this family is full of early risers, I also got to do my very first sunrise session. Now I can relate to other photographers that say how dreamy morning light can be. So true!!
 Here are a few of my favorites from our session.
xoxo,
Sarah