Rachel Ludwig Photography | Abbotsford Portrait and Wedding Photographer

This is my adorable nephew Pierce! I may be a teensy bit biased, but I think he’s terribly cute. It’s been fun to have a little baby around to snuggle again.

We are so happy for you Debby & Peter. It’s been fun watching you fall in love with your little guy and relish being parents. It brings me back to when Ethan was born almost 8 years ago. Almost makes me wish I could time-travel and revisit that time in our lives again (maybe minus the lack of sleep though!). Navigating the waters of parenthood for the first time and experiencing a whole new world through the eyes of your child is so amazing. Enjoy the journey…they grow up so fast.

Anyways, on to the pictures. I had a hard time choosing my favorites, he is just so darn cute…

Check out the fantastic nursery Debby put together (she created all the art and made the mobile herself!), and that gorgeous blanket is by Pierce’s Oma:

See that cute little divet above Pierce’s ear? His dad has the exact same thing…I love little genetic quirks!

Such a beautiful family

A few weeks after doing Andrea’s maternity photos, I got to meet sweet little Addison…isn’t she beautiful? I love her dark hair that’s just like her mama’s. I was so excited when I heard she was a girl, because I had bought the brown and pink blanket you see below in the spring, and all ‘my babies’ this year turned out to be boys. So I was pretty happy to finally put it to use.

And of course we had Kingston to keep us company. He thought my newborn beanbag setup was a perfect spot for a nap, and he kept on growling at my sheepskin…too funny! So of course I had to grab a shot of him too, he was too cute to resist.

Thank you for opening your home and letting me capture this special time with your sweet little girl, Andrea. Enjoy your sneak peek!

Check out Addison’s little sad face at the bottom of this first set, so cute!

And that mirror? Coolest one ever!

The first shot here is a teeny tine little smile…absolutely adorable. She must be thinking happy milk thoughts

This little man lives in a beautiful 108 year old house with the most gorgeous front porch…as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful September afternoon light and shoot outside. It was a record-breaking day for temperature (it was super hot!), which is perfect for babies as they like to be warm. Levi slept pretty much the entire session and didn’t make a single peep with all the different poses and shots we did. Check out the fabulous and colorful blanket that Laura made in the first picture, isn’t it awesome? I love the colors and patterns and just had to use it for a few shots.

A big thanks to Laura and AJ for being so relaxed and for making such cute kids! You have a beautiful family, and I enjoyed spending the afternoon chatting and shooting! Enjoy your sneak peek

The front porch had all these beautiful hanging baskets and planters…my orange wrap just happened to coordinate perfectly

As did dad’s firefighter hat! It was too small to put Levi into, but I knew we had to use it somehow!

Such a gorgeous mama…she just glows!

I love that we were able to grab some sibling, family and couple shots…the perfect way to end the session.

This little guy happens to be number six in his family…a much hoped for boy to even out the boy/girl ratio and to use Leanne’s long-time favorite name that she’d been saving up after two girls in a row. Judah happened to arrive right before school started (a new school for his big siblings) and just a few weeks prior to moving. Needless to say his first weeks of life have been a a little hectic, but I was so glad mom still made time for some newborn photos!

When I arrived for this session, Leanne informed me that little buddy had been awake all morning, so he would probably sleep. No such luck! So after about 2 hours of feedings and cuddles, and getting a few shots, I asked if maybe we could pop outside in the hopes of grabbing a few images. And then he totally zonked. It was perfect! I think I got half of the finished shots in about 10 minutes. This is why I always schedule lots of time for newborn sessions…you never know how much time they will need to settle in. It was definitely worth the wait, the outdoor shots are some of my faves.

See the little smile? And boy was he a happy camper once he got that thumb in his mouth.

After having two of my own thumb-suckers,  I think thumb-sucking babies are especially adorable!

Enjoy your sneak peek Leanne & Al!

Just over two years ago I photographed Mattias’ big brother Noah, and it was a joy to meet and photograph Noah’s adorable little brother. Noah also happens to be in my Portfolio galleries as the baby with the beautiful red painting as a backdrop. One of my favorite things about photographing siblings is seeing the similarities and differences between them, and these brothers definitely have lots of similarities I think (especially the cute little cowlicks ).

Karin is a close friend of mine that I’ve known since Grade Four, and we share a common love for photography and so much more. She is a fabulous photographer herself (some of my clients may remember her when she was a second shooter for a few of my weddings) and it’s always an honor to photograph another photographer. Her husband Art was super patient while we chatted about babies and photography and everything in between…and meanwhile I was able to catch some great shots of their beautiful little boy.

I believe that every person and every family has a story to be told, and that those stories not only mold, change and grow that person or family into who they are, but they can impact others too. Everyone’s story is special, but…some stories touch our hearts in extra-special ways. I believe that photographs have the ability to help tell those stories. It’s why I do what I do. One of my goals with photography has always been to capture a piece of that story. They say a picture can say a thousand words, but I think they can say even more when you know a bit of the background info. Which is why I often write a bit (or a lot, as the case often is) of a preamble before I share pictures.

In this case, it’s an extra-special story. Five years ago, if you would have asked Jen & Ken what their story would look like today, I know they couldn’t have imagined where God would lead them. After years of desperately wanting to have children, multiple miscarriages and their resulting heartbreak, they didn’t know if the children they had dreamed of would ever be part of their story. But, since then, they have been blessed with not one, not two, but three incredible miracles. Three handsome, vivacious, busy, fun-loving, wonderful boys through the gift of adoption. Not only have Jen & Ken received these special blessings to raise and nurture, these three boys have been blessed with a healthy, stable and loving home and family. Isn’t God amazing? It just gives me goosebumps when I think about it all, and how lucky this family of five is.

As I sat with Jen during a feeding/cuddling break for Liam, we chatted, and when I asked her if I could share their story here on my blog, her response was “absolutely”. She hopes that the telling of their story would open the doors for others to experience the miracle of adoption.

Thank you for sharing your story Jen & Ken, and for allowing me to capture a small piece of that story for you.

I have to start with this storyboard of the big boys…they were totally cracking me up with their expressions.

My favorite family shot:

They live on the best piece of property…fabulous barns and great grass fields, a perfect location for pictures!

I love the vibrancy of these shots of the three brothers, and how it matches their vibrant personalities:

and a black and white one for good measure

Check out those big beautiful brown eyes, and that adorable little belly button

Liam was the first of their boys who joined their family as a newborn. He was just over one month (the other boys were around 1-year and 6-months)

when they got him, so it was neat to see Jen experiencing being a mama to a little little baby for the first time.

This little boy was all about his mama. The connection these two have was amazing to witness.

I love how he’s holding onto her finger and hand here