Well, well.  Look who is finally hopping on to show off Gio’s newborn pictures on his 7th month birthday.  Let’s just say it’s not too easy finding spare time after you’ve had your third baby, ha!  

In all seriousness I am so in love with each and every one of these photos but I may be even more in love with the story behind them.  You see, Gio was born early at 36W5D.  And he landed himself a rather stressful 8 days in the NICU.  When I say stressful, I mean stressful.  Between him being at the hospital, recovering from my 3rd c-section and having 2 other kids who needed me the LAST thing on my brain was his newborn pictures.  

One morning I got a Facebook message from a sweet friend.  Congratulating me on the birth of Gio and reaching out as a fellow NICU mom to offer her support as she remembers sitting in those rocking chairs.  She told me that a good friend of hers was a photographer and wanted her to contact me and offer a complimentary newborn session as she too was the mom of a NICU warrior.  I am not going to lie I did a double take.  I almost didn’t believe it.  There had to be a catch.  Why would this photographer whom I didn’t even know offer to spend her time photographing my newborn son?  

Why? 

Because her heart is 10x the size of anyone else I know. 

That’s why.

I contacted the photographer, Alissa Delucca and we chatted for a while as if we were old friends.  Kids on both sides blaring in the background and the conversation just flowed.  She asked me all about Gio and what he was staying in the NICU for.  And she genuinely cared.  She explained that because she remembers what a struggle those NICU days were for her, when she heard from her friend that Gio was born early she had it in her heart to reach out and offer to take his photographs for me. 

Did I not tell you how big her heart is?

She invited me to her studio and told me not to worry, she would have everything I needed.  When I arrived, I was a complete mess.  Gio had just woken up (not a good start to a newborn shoot), I was hungry and tired and looked like I hadn’t slept in a month.  Her studio was quite possibly the cutest place I had ever visited.  Halos, flowers, hats and wraps in every color were hanging from the wall.  Gorgeous photographs staring down at me.  Quiet, calm and complete perfection.  She immediately shushed me as I apologized for being late, having no make up on and for Gio, who I was terrified would not sleep a wink for her.  She scooped him into her arms, and told me to sit and drink hot coffee and have snacks while she worked her magic.  You guys…hot coffee and snacks.  Literally a new mom’s dream come true.  

So I sat and watched her work.  She wrapped and soothed my baby.  She posed him perfectly.  He slept.  He didn’t sleep.  I prayed he wouldn’t poop on any of her adorable outfits.  We chatted.  It was really such a great morning. 

When we were all through she showed me a wall of photographs behind a curtain.  She invited me back for my reveal and explained that when I got there she would have the curtains drawn.  She would then pull the curtains back revealing row after row of printed and matted photo for me to fall in love with.  And I did just that. 

A couple of weeks later I returned and got to experience my reveal.  My mom came with me for the ride and we both stood there and stared at all these photos of a perfect, tiny, magnificent little boy.  My little boy.  Naturally I had to have the entire display, ha!  My mom purchased the reveal for me as a baby gift and I have since created a similar display to hang in Gio’s nursery.  My favorite part about it is that when I am ready to take them off the wall (if ever!) I can place all the photos right into the box they came in and it is the perfect keepsake.  

Alissa proves to me that there are still good people out there.  Who act out of kindness without expecting anything in return.  I will forever be grateful for her heart and her talent.   

XO, Danielle

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And just for the record — This is not a sponsored post by any means.  Alissa didn’t even know I was a blogger until we chatted on the phone.  She offered herself and her services to us simply out of the goodness of her heart.  She is a good person with a heart of gold.  She gifted me with the photography session and a bunch of digital files of my choosing just because she felt lead to do so.  I wanted to share her amazing photos and the experience I had with her with all of you.  I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as we do.  

Alissa’s studio is located in Boca Raton, Florida and you can find her here!

Here is a super quick, easy and best of all CHEAP diy project for ya.  About a year ago I became obsessed with portrait silhouettes.  I love the way they capture children’s profiles and I knew I wanted to have them made for my kids.  After doing a bunch of research, I found out that you can have these hand cut in Disney’s Magic Kingdom while you are there.  And it is only $8!!  Say what???  I couldn’t believe it.  But it is true.  There is actually a small kiosk on main street (down a side street off of main street) and you can have them done there.  In literally 5 minutes.  It is truly the greatest souvenir I have ever gotten at Disney.

Normally you see these framed in small, black, oval frames.  It is the classic way to showcase them.  Yeah, that was not going to happen here.  We needed bigger.  Bolder.  Dare I say..snazzier?

I had the idea to frame them in black frames with a big white mat.  I got the frames at Ikea and loved the size of them.  There was a large gap though since the silhouettes I got from Disney are not that large.  To make up the space I decided to grab some scrapbook paper and layer it.  I chose gold glitter because I just loved it.  But honestly.  Every time I am in the craft store I see another paper that I think would look so gorgeous layered in this frame.

It was super easy to create this look.  I had to cut down the scrapbook paper just a little.  I used double stick tape to adhere the silhouette to the paper and then made sure it was centered in the frame.  Taped the scrapbook paper to the mat and then sealed it all up.  I used command strips to hang them, so if I do decide to change out the paper it will be very easy.

I ended up hanging the frames on the wall in the kids hallway.  Between their rooms and their shared bathroom.  I love that I can see Joey’s little picture poking out while I am working in the kitchen.  I am super pleased with how this project came out.  It was cheap (total cost for both was just about $40.00) and really simple.  I love the modern twist on the classic old silhouette photos.

Oh and just to add, even if you don’t have a trip to Disney planned in the future, there are different ways to get the silhouettes created for you.  I have seen many DIY projects on pinterest and many cities have artists that specialize in this.  Good luck!  Let me know if you make one!

XO Danielle

I love to connect with my readers on social media, so feel free to share this with a friend, and find me on Instagram and Facebook.

I picked the clothes and location.

Our photographer created magic.