Although Dad is trying to raise 2 Yankees fans, I won’t hold it against him… too much!    This is a great family and I had a fantastic time capturing these moments for them!

Strawbridge Lake Park is always fun and it was a beautiful day outside!  The kids, especially, were excited to see quite a few momma geese and their goslings swimming in the lake.  Though, really, seeing that never gets old!  It’s tough to see, but the geese are swimming in the lake in the photo where the family is holding hands.

We also had fun skipping, laughing and eating cupcakes & grapes!  I hope you enjoy these few!

I’ve been photographing this family since their oldest, Benicio, was just a baby.  He and his sister Luciana are the best!  Cooperative, fun and absolutely adorable!!  Yet another great reflection on awesome parenting.

I simply love the shot of the kids kissing with the cupcakes!  I hope you enjoy these….

My mom ordered a carrot cake from a local bakery since carrot cake was my dad’s favorite.  She asked the baker to please write “Pop Pop Harry” on the cake since that is what the kids called my dad.  Instead, the baker had written “Pop Up Harry” which makes no sense at all but definitely had us all laughing! 

It was a beautiful Spring day and though my dad wasn’t there in person to celebrate with us, I know he was with us in spirit and maybe even enjoyed those balloons that we sent up to Heaven for him.

I told Gavin that if he hugged the balloon he could send hugs to Pop Pop too.  He got really happy and squeezed the balloon really hard.  I thought he might pop it!

Family photo just before releasing the balloons…..

And… a short video clip of the send off….

And for those of you wandering what I am looking like during the third trimester, well, here you go….

WARNING:  If you are trying to avoid craving sweets…. do not scroll down!! 

I was so happy to get to spend a short amount of time at Giovanni’s First Birthday Party!!  The party was held at the adorable Cafe Fontana in Mapleshade, NJ.  Gio’s creative and talented mom put together the goldfish themed party complete with delicious (and many homemade!) sweets, bowls of goldfish, personalized place cards and fully packed party favor buckets for the kids!  I consider her to be a mad party planner and think that she should go into business!  Wouldn’t you agree?

I wish that I could have stayed longer as I’m sure it continued to be a wonderful party.  That said, I am glad that I got to be there long enough to see the kids get their faces painted and catch a few smiles from the people that snuck some treats in before lunch (myself included!)

Happy Birthday, Giovanni!  At one, you are already a really awesome little dude!

Giovanni was passed around a lot that day but really lit up when he got to crawl around on the floor!

Sammy let us curl him into a fruit bowl, lay him in a baby bed, wrap him up in a basket and so on….  He didn’t complain one bit.  A perfect and sweet little guy!!  I am so lucky to do this for a living!

Congratulations, Missy & Joey, I am so happy for you and hope that our babies get to be friends in the near future! 

Anyway, Robin & Rob took the news amazingly well!  I knew that they were disappointed and that my personal life had certainly caused a snag in their wedding plans.  Though I would have understood them being angry, they instead were extremely gracious, understanding and excited for me.  As a gift to them for their troubles, I offered them a complimentary engagement session.  They chose Asbury Park, which I had never been to.  I was really excited and the location did not disappoint!  I would gladly go back there again in the future.

The two of them are absolutely adorable together as you will see.  They are also very easy going and fun!  I know that their wedding is going to be fantastic!  I am bummed to be missing it….

Thanks for all the laughs yesterday (and the grilled cheese!), Rob & Robin!  All the best to you both with your wedding and marriage!

And, yes, I took some liberties crossing out certain words in the mural below, but I like the effect… 

http://melissahassey.com/2012/02/maternity-portraits-3/

I was SO extremely excited when I got the message that baby Shawn was born on March 13th and couldn’t wait to meet him and photograph him!  The little man was having a bit of a rough day that day but we waited it out and did everything possible to cheer him up!  He eventually settled himself and became very peaceful.  I’m sure he slept quite well after I left that day…

Kate & Shawn were amazing!  They are both extremely laid back and clearly enjoy every inch of and every moment with Shawn.  How could you not though?  He is simply precious!  I truly appreciated Shawn & Kate’s calm during the session and was genuinely impressed with how quickly they seemed to adapt to parenthood (this is especially encouraging to me!)  Baby Shawn is certainly a lucky little guy!

Congratulations, Kate & Shawn!  Shawn is perfect and I couldn’t be happier for you both!!

Even his cry is adorable….

as are all of his little parts….