The Jaeger family holds a special place in my heart. I’ve known Eric since high school; he was a star athlete, star academic, and an all-around good guy. Oh yeah, and he has killer pecs (you’ll see). He and Bethany met in college and I liked her instantly. She was intelligent, witty, kind, and fit right in with all of Eric’s female friends – for whatever reason, he always had numerous “girl” friends – maybe the pecs? Since then, we’ve gone to each other’s weddings, gone on vacation together, and have embraced this crazy thing called parenthood. I consider them lifelong friends.
I was so excited when I found out they were expecting their first child a little more than 3 years ago. I was just getting started as an Indianapolis newborn photographer and convinced them to let me take maternity photos – mind you she was only like 4 months along, but no matter. I then got to photograph their beautiful newborn girl in September 2011. She was a photographer’s dream – slept the whole time, easy to pose, and beautiful. Sadly, even though I have made several trips back to my hometown since then, I never got to catch up with Eric, Beth, and Miss Mae. I suppose life got in the way, like it always does.
Bethany emailed me when she found out they were expecting again and, this time, a boy! I was so glad they wanted me to come back to do his newborn photos. Fortunately for me, not so much for Beth, it was a scheduled c-section, so I was able to plan a nice little vacation back home around his arrival date. Baby Will was as sweet as pie, and just as mild-mannered as his big sister, who was actually no longer mild-mannered. He was a trooper for all 3 hours of our session; from being posed on an ottoman (I wasn’t about to haul my studio there,) to being manhandled by Mae, and passed around to all the grandparents for pictures, he was very tolerant. Of course, Mae managed to steal the spotlight for a few pictures, dodge the camera the rest of the time, and boss us all around at one point or another in typical 3 year-old fashion. She will have Will trained in no time.
I left the session with the promise of keeping in better touch and coming back for a real get-together next month. It is on my calendar. I look forward to seeing how much Will has grown, and see Mae and my girls go head-to-head in a “who’s the boss” showdown. It could get ugly. Or maybe, it will be the start of a lifelong friendship, because those are kind of great.
Raw Sugar Photography specializes in newborn, baby, maternity, child, family, couples and engagement photography in Indianapolis, Indiana and surrounding areas including but not limited to Fishers and Carmel.