Amanda + Tim - Waiting for Baby :)

Looks like I'm going to be an auntie again! Later this month, Amanda & Tim are expecting the latest addition to their super-cute and hilarious family :) We went out to visit just before Christmas, and had lots of fun out in the blizzard taking photos and playing in the snow!

 The blizzard didn't stop us from going to Santa's village, where Cooper had the whole train to himself, and got to feed "Rudolph the Rudolph" :) Cuteness overload!

When we got home, he got covered in kissing cooties, and then read one of his favourite
stories to the baby :)

 These two are a couple of the most fantastic parents I've ever seen, and I can't wait to see how awesome of a big brother Cooper will be!

Amanda & Tim: we are so excited to meet your new little one in a few weeks! Life at your house is about to get unbelievably cute!

xoxo

Jessica + Norman

Jacqueline & Ted - Twins on the Way!! :)

I've known Jacqueline and her fantastic business Soak for over a decade now, and it seems like just the other day we were photographing the awesome day when she and Ted got married at Soho House.. now they're having TWINS!! We are super-excited for them! But before their lives get totally taken over by these new little people, we got together to photograph their maternity session :) Here are some of my favourite images from that lovely day..

 I'm totally in love with Jacqueline's necklace! It was such a great pop of colour :)

 We finished off our walk around the neighbourhood by going for coffee and the craziest walnut chocolate chip cookies you've ever seen :)

Jacqueline & Ted - we are over the moon excited for you two! We can't wait to meet your tiny twins when they arrive!!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Baby on the Way: Andrea & Dave's Beautiful Fall Maternity Session at the Brick Works :)

We've known Andrea & Dave since they asked us to photograph their wedding a few years back - we loved doing their engagement photos at the Lakeview Restaurant, and their wedding day itself was both very personal and really beautiful (that's what happens when two designers get married, and their designer friends help out with the details!). So when they told us they were expecting a new addition to their family, we were so excited! And as luck would have it, the weekend we photographed their maternity photos at the Brick Works was also stunningly beautiful :) Here are some of my favourite images from their session..

My two favourite parts of this day: the way Andrea & Dave pop out of the orange backgrounds with their blue tops, and the amount of giggling that was done by all of us while Dave tried to teach Andrea how to do a "stoic" look ;)

 I love the reflection in the image on the left (below) :)

Andrea & Dave: we are over the moon happy for the two of you, and can't wait to meet your new little guy in just a couple of months! Then we can teach him how to be stoic too ;)

xo
Jessica + Norman

Sweet Baby Ewan at 22 days old :)

Ros & Hil are one of the sweetest couples we've ever met - adorable and romantic, and just generally a joy to be around :) We loved photographing their engagement session in the Roncesvalles and High Park area, and we had so much fun capturing their New Year's Eve wedding at Mildred's Temple Kitchen! So when we found out they were expecting an addition to their family, we couldn't wait to meet him. Baby Ewan has no trouble living up to high expectations.. he's super-sweet and even treated us to a couple of "practice smiles" :D

 Everywhere you look in Ewan's nursery, there's something that's been made by a friend or family member - so much love!

 And of course Paco - who is taking his role as "big brother" very seriously :)

 Roslyn & Hilary - a huge congratulations to you both and your families! We loved meeting Baby Ewan, and can't wait to see all of you again soon :)

xo
Jessica + Norman

{do you have a super-sweet baby in your family or in your future? If so, we'd love to chat with you about creating and capturing beautiful memories of this amazing time in your family's history! Email us now at photo@jessicalin.ca to learn more}

Welcoming Baby Oliver to the World :)

Almost 3 years ago, we saw how naturally parenting came to Sarah & Mike when they had their first baby, Cameron. Now that baby Oliver has arrived, we noticed that big-brothering seems to come very naturally to Cameron :) Admittedly, it's not a huge challenge with a baby as sweet as Oliver! It was so amazing to watch the two of them together.. If Oliver started to fuss, Cameron would take his hand and sing to him, give him kisses, and coo "It's okay, Oli-bear" - and Oliver would immediately calm down :) We spent a lovely afternoon with the family.. here are some of my favourite images from the session..

 

 tiny baby parts, and Oliver's "Mommy's Friends Blanket" :)

to decorate the nursery, Sarah crocheted rainbow bunting, and Cameron made the cutest collection of animal portraits at daycare! 

If Oliver's first 13 days are anything to go by, this is going to be a pretty adorable year for the whole family :) I can't wait to see how much fun we're all going to have at his 3-month session!

Sarah & Mike: congratulations on your beautiful new baby boy! It was so great to spend time with all of you, and we're really looking forward to watching Oliver grow over the coming year :) And thanks again for the rhubarb!

xo

Jessica + Norman

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}

Ben Becomes a Big Brother to Baby Sam :)

I swear - it seems like just a few months back that we were photographing Jane & Ned's wedding.. and then just a few day ago that we were there to capture their new baby, Ben, at 7 days old - but time flies; Ben is now 2 1/2 years old (!), and has just become a big brother to tiny new baby Sam :) It was amazing to see the whole family, and to be able to capture this newest stage in their history..

the only thing cuter than little nursery things is little baby toes!

 as you can see, Ben is auditioning for the role of "photographer's assistant" with his 

chicken puppet skills below ;)

This was my favourite - Ben has been a big brother for all of 10 days, and he's already an expert at soothing baby Sam.. first some gentle "shh-ing", then a nice pat on the head, and finally a kiss to make it all better :D I also love that I took pictures of his mom & dad doing all these things for him when he was that size :)

 This final images matches perfectly with one we did of Ned holding Ben when he was the newborn baby in the house :)

Jane & Ned - it was such a pleasure to photograph your family again! What a joy it is to see the little boy that Ben has become, and we loved meeting baby Sam :) And - as always - thanks for the yummy sandwiches!

xo

Jessica + Norman

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}

Baby On The Way - Sarah & Mike's Family Maternity Session :)

I love it when this happens - I first met Sarah & Mike 7 years ago when they were starting to plan their wedding. We photographed their engagement session in High Park in the spring, and their beautiful lake-side wedding that fall. 

A few years passed. They bought a house. They called again - they were expecting their first baby :) Cameron was one of the first babies I photographed, and we captured all the excitement and changes of his first year in 5 sessions spread out throughout the first 12 months. From his newborn session at just a week old, to his first birthday party with rainbow cupcakes, we had so much fun getting to know this little guy!

And now - he's about to become a big brother :) 

He's been reading up on learning to share, but only time will tell if that lesson extends as far as his Thomas trains.. 

Sarah is a star with knitting needles, and finished this amazing sweater for Cameron just in time for our session - thankfully he was eventually talked into wearing it when he found out it was a special "big brother" sweater ;) {check out those elbow patches - love it!}

Sarah & Mike - the next time we see your family, there will be four hands in the stack :D I can't wait to meet Cameron's tiny new brother next month!

xo
Jessica + Norman (+ the Chicken puppet ;) )

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}

Custom Holiday Card Templates Are Here!

It's that time of year again - time to dig out the mitts and scarves, trade your mojito for a Bailey's and hot chocolate, and watch the same movies you've watched every December since you can remember :) Time to think cozy thoughts. Time for bright starry skies at 5pm. Snow angels. And best of all... time to send out awesome holiday cards!
We're so excited this year, because we've been working with a very talented designer to do a re-fresh on our branding (more about that to come soon..), and he's created 4 amazing custom templates for our lovely clients to be able to send out the best cards ever! Here are a couple of examples of different images in each of the 4 templates available - which one is your favourite?
Scroll down to the bottom to get all the details about how you can order you own.. don't delay - all orders must be finalized by December 1st!

How to order your very own awesome custom holiday cards:

1. If we've photographed you and or your family this year, shoot us a quick email letting us know which template you'd like to use, and how many cards you will need. They come in sets of 25 4x6 folding cards + envelopes for $50 + HST. *Your order needs to be placed before December 1st!*

1a. If we haven't photographed anything for you recently, we've still got amazing cards for you! There are limited quantities of these three custom cards featuring images from a Festival of Lights that we went to in Pisa while we were travelling in Italy this past summer :) Just let us know which one you want, and how many sets of 25 (same pricing as above). Want your own custom cards for next year? Book your next photo session with us now!

2. Send your top 3 choices for which image to use (please be sure to specify which session if we've photographed you multiple times lately ie. engagement session and wedding).

3. We'll get in touch to see how you'd like to pay for your order. Email money transfer is preferred, but we can also accept Visa or Mastercard.

4. We'll choose the image that works best with your favourite template, and email you a mock-up by December 3rd for confirmation before it goes to print. Confirmation is required by December 5th at noon at the absolute latest.

5. You'll receive an email to confirm your pick-up time on Saturday December 7th. (If that day doesn't work for you we can make alternate arrangements, but I'm trying to get all holiday card orders printed and delivered as soon as possible!)

That's it - easy! 

If you know you want us to make custom cards for you, but are finding it difficult to pick a favourite template or image, just let us know and we'll send you a couple of suggestions to pick from :)

I'm so excited that we'll be creating such personal and colourful cards for all of you to share with your friends and families this holiday season!

Looking forward to hearing from you in the next couple of days..

xo

Jessica

p.s. here's the email address again, and feel free to call (416.806.1585) from 9am-8pm if you have any questions!

Welcoming Baby Cooper to the Family :)

I'll start off by admitting a bias - wee Cooper is my little sister's first baby - but I'm sure you'll all agree with me when I say he's pretty perfect :) We first photographed him back in the summer when he was still in his mommy's tummy, but this was our first visit to meet and photograph him now that he's out in the world. At 10 days old, he mostly slept and cuddled his way through our 3-day visit in September, but he did wake up long enough to give us a taste of his powers in the super-cute department.. this expression below was one of my favourites :)

I love this little hat that Amanda knit for him.. 

 adorable tiny baby parts :)

 with mommy and daddy under the big tree in the front yard (practicing his boxing poses, which will make my moms proud!)

Amanda & Tim - we can't thank you enough for bringing this perfect little guy into our lives :) We're looking forward to many years of chasing him around with and without cameras! And a special thank you for your infinite patience while waiting to see these images ;)

love you guys!

xoxo

Jessica + Norman

Amanda & Tim - Baby on the Way :)

For those of you who don't already know, Amanda is my sister. My little sister. If you have a little sister of your own, perhaps you've also had one of those moments in life when you suddenly notice that she's not a kid anymore. Somehow - without you noticing - she's gone and grown up. I was living with my sister when she graduated college, and when she and Tim decided to move in together. About a year later, they moved away from Toronto into their own house in Tim's home town of Lancaster. A couple of years later, they got married. For some reason, none of these events were "the moment". Not even when we were sitting around my moms' kitchen table and she told us all that they were pregnant. It was less of a milestone than any of these.. it was one evening when she was visiting, and the two of us were up later than everyone else. We were just sitting on the couch, talking. She was talking about morning sickness, and how she couldn't stop burping. And it hit me - this person, my sister, is going to be someones mommy. I found myself studying her face.. trying to figure out how she had - secretly and without me knowing - turned from my little sister into a woman.
It's been months now since that conversation, and in spite of all the pictures I've seen and taken of her as her belly grew it still took a long time for it to fully sink in that soon there will be a baby in our family. We went with Tim & Amanda when they did their hospital tour, and actually had the amazing experience of photographing a birth just a couple of weeks later, but it wasn't until I saw a friend's pictures last week of her holding her new nephew that I thought: "that's going to be me. I'm going to be an auntie!" and now I'm pretty much doing a constant impatient dance, calling every day to see what the heck is taking that baby so long to get here..
Anyways - a little while ago we went out for a visit and to do some maternity photos :) While I was looking over the images afterwards, I couldn't help but notice that Tim makes my sister laugh a lot. Pretty much non-stop giggle fits. Of all the things I like about Tim, I think this is the best :)

 

 {these wicker chairs are the ones my grandparents used to sit next to each other on, for the warm summer evenings on their front porch at their farm}

As much as I love Toronto, I have to admit this is a pretty great front yard to have..

 pregnant Charlie's Angels pose - of course ;)

tattooed wedding bands still fit when you're pregnant! 

 

Amanda & Tim - I don't know what to say.. I'm so proud and so excited for you guys, and absolutely cannot wait to meet the newest member of our awesome family! We love you guys so much, and are eagerly anticipating our visit in a couple of weeks :D (p.s. there'd better be a baby there by then!)

xoxo!

Jessica + Norman

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}

Beautiful Newborn Oliver

Last weekend we had the pleasure of meeting Baby Oliver, and of photographing him with his Mommy & Daddy. Rasha & Wil are two of the nicest, most relaxed and easy-going people I've ever met - they were such a joy to spend time with :) We had many things in common, from our taste in headboards and art (we even have a couple of paintings from the same artist!) to our agreement that Baby Oliver is pretty much perfect :) See for yourself..

this next image is one of my favourite shots EVER - love it!

I also really enjoyed all the cool owl details in his sweet nursery..

Baby Oliver is happiest when he's being snuggled :)

Love those tiny toes :)

Rasha & Wil - thank you so much for sharing your home and your family with us! We had such a great time snuggling with Oliver and playing with the cats, and can't wait to show you the rest of your adorable images :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}

Newborn Baby Sam at 6 weeks old :)

I've known Kim for years - she was actually one of my very first commercial clients way back when we both started our businesses. Since then, she's made a lot of beautiful jewellery and I've taken about a million photographs. We've both moved into our own studio spaces. I had the honour of photographing their day when Kim and Paul got married in October of 2008. And now, the sweetest thing I've ever photographed for Kim - her first baby boy: Sam. At 6 weeks he was the oldest "newborn" I've shot so far, and he had the hair and the strength to prove it! We spent a lovely and eventful afternoon capturing these proud new parents and their amazing little guy :)

I think this first shot is one of my favourite family photos ever..!

 Love this smile! We did a whole series of Sam on his tummy on the white duvet to match with a collection of awesome images taken of Paul when he was a tiny baby :)

 What I love best about this pose (below) is how Sam is only a cape away from being Superman! (the classic Bay blanket is pretty great too)

Kim & Paul - thank you so much for inviting us to be a part of this fantastic new step in your journey together :) With so much feisty character packed into such a small guy, I can't wait to see what he's like in the coming months!

xo
Jessica + Norman

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}