As a photographer, I was very excited about how I might capture the quick and rapid growth of our baby daughter during her first, but I also wanted to keep it simple. I chose to use letter garlands from Rifle Paper Co. (which you can find here) and an early baby gift of Wooly the Sheep Blabla Doll. I loved the combo – it was easy and quick to make the garlands each month and you can see how big Elle has gotten in comparison to her doll.

The thing that I love most about this photo project is being able to see her sweet little personality shine through each month! Also, I love seeing the subtle changes from being a newborn to a baby to a full-fledged toddler! I truly treasure these photos and hope that when she’s grown up that she will treasure these as well and hopefully be able to share these with her own children many decades down the line.

If you are hoping to do this for your own little baby, here are my tips!

• Make it simple – Seriously, babies keep you busy so you need something quick. There are tons of quick options like monthly stickers or even blocks to make labeling super easy.
• Keep things consistent – This really helps showcase your baby’s growth and changes from month to month. We always took the photos in the same location. I also encourage using a location near a big window for the light!
• Use something to showcase your baby’s growth – For us, we used Wooly the Sheep so we could see how big Elle was compared to this doll each month. I’ve also seen people use a large onesies and each month you can see your baby growing more and more into that onesie.
• Add some fun! – I decided to have Elle in a different outfit each month. Not only was it a great excuse to go shopping (as if I needed another excuse!), but it also helped add some character into each month’s photo.

I would love to see what you do with your baby’s monthly photos. Please share them with me! Cheers! xoxo, Huoy