The Little Mermaid

Ok, you all know how we played the name game.
We had a very difficult time sealing the deal.

Matt joked while I was in labor that we were going to name her after our favorite nurse.

In fact, when Stella came out one of the first things the doctor and nurses said was

"well, what are you going to name her?"

We have it on video.

Us naming her.

I want to watch it, I haven't seen it yet.

Matt and I spent the night at the beach a few weeks before Stella was born.

I took a long nap in a dark, cold, quiet room and thought how awesome would it be to take the baby's newborn pictures on the beach?

It seemed different.

And that's what I was going for.

Then, I remembered that we had talked about Maris being an option for a middle name.

You can read about that here.

It means sea.

And Stella means star.

So her name means star of the sea.

So, I thought, if we name her Stella Maris I was absolutely going to do her newborn shots on the beach.

And then

coincidentally

my cousin-in-law who I just call my cousin,

Amy, who adorably blogs here, sent me a picture of a crocheted mermaid tail.

Ummmm what???

Was she reading my mind?

The tail was so cute it made me want to name her Stella Maris just so the shoot would have more meaning.

So I did.

Not just for the pictures.....well maybe just a little bit.

Ya'll know I do pretty much anything for a good picture.

Next, enter Mark, my uncle-in-law who is an amazing photographer.

After lots of idea bouncing we had a plan.

And whoa.
It worked.

Here are baby Stella's newborn pics.  

And I'm in love.

This poor baby got roughed up during the shoot.
Her daddy was having a heart attack at some of our ideas so we saved the shots where she got soaking wet in the freezing cold water for when he took the twins to the car.

Oops.
I told you I would do anything for a good pic. But even I wasn't expecting that wave.
I was watching her and it came out of nowhere.

I kept telling her she would appreciate me when she had the coolest newborn pictures to put in her graduation party slide show.

But,
even I felt bad when she got covered in sand so I took one for the team and licked it off of her sweet face.
Mark was kind enough to catch me in the act.

It was gross.

Mark's website: http://eclecticanima.zenfolio.com/

Stella's Mermaid tail: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77940916/mermaid-photo-prop

P.S. I have had a few people ask me if these pictures were real.

100% yes.